Medicean Theater. Image and Message

The aim of this paper is to answer the question posed by the volume’s editors: in Fifteenth Century Florence the Medici were citizens or masters? Analyzing various theatrical events of Cosimo the Elder and Lorenzo the Magnificent times, in comparison with the feasts organized by real masters as the Sforza in Milan or the Este in Ferrara, the paper shows that, from a ceremonial and theatrical point of view, the Medici behaved as citizens in Florence and as masters abroad. This behavior is particularly evident in knightly and marriage feasts, when they always observed the Florentine traditions of merchant class, while when invited in courtly cities, they were considered as real masters. Besides these, many other examples of this ambiguous role are focused in the paper