Francesco Camilliani and the Florentine garden of Don Luigi de Toledo : a study of fountain production and consumption in the third quarter of the 16th century

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the most ambitious sculptural complex created for a private garden in Florence in the third quarter of the 16th century. The main feature of this complex was a large fountain, which was sold to the city of Palermo soon after its creation. It was erected in a modified form in one of the city’s main squares, the Piazza Pretoria. The fountain became known as the Fontana Pretoria and was recognised as one of Sicily’s most notable artistic monuments. My chief contribution to scholarship consists in clarifying the circumstances of the fountain’s commission, reconstructing its original appearance, explaining its subsequent history, and interpreting its cultural significance by reference to the concrete historical and artistic circumstances that accompanied its creation. I therefore draw attention to two important protagonists of 16th-century Florentine culture, the sculptor Francesco Camilliani and the patron Don Luigi de Toledo. The Fontana Pretoria is the only significant work associated with the Florentine sculptor Francesco Camilliani (1524-86). The design of this fountain and the appearance of its individual statues defines our overall conception of the sculptor’s style, technique, and artistic objectives. I provide a survey of the principle works associated with Francesco Camilliani, emphasising the confusing and often contradictory nature of the historiographic accounts of the sculptor’s career and the history of his fountains. The sculptor’s professional development is shown against the backdrop of the main artistic trends in Florence in the middle decades of the 16th century. The reconstruction of the history of large ongoing artistic projects undertaken in the Renaissance involves the analysis of their financial, organisational, ideological, and cultural aspects, involving the study of patrons, artists, and artistic products. I consider the range of factors that brought about the creation of the sculptural complex in the Florentine garden of Don Luigi de Toledo, determined its progress, and conditioned its subsequent dissolution. The considerable modification of the design of the main fountain from this garden is explained by the necessity to transform it from being a garden structure into a civic monument. The history of this fountain is discussed in the context of fountain production in late 16th-century Florence, which is viewed as an industry where changing fashion, improved workshop organisation, and an expanding art market conditioned the evolution of fountain design to the same extent as the creative effort of individual sculptors.