Joyce de Vries Auburn University (Auburn, AL 36849-0001)
FT-53635-05
Summer Stipends
Research Programs
|
Totals:
$5,000 (approved) $5,000 (awarded)
Grant period:
6/1/2005 – 8/31/2005
|
Power, Gender, and Cultural Production in the Court of Caterina Sforza (1463-1509)
My project focuses on the collection and patronage practices of Caterina Sforza and cultural production and consumption within her court. I argue that visual and material culture was fundamental in Sforza’s self-creation as a magnificent and indomitable regent in late 15th-century Italy. Within my analysis, I reveal the complexities and paradoxes of Renaissance women’s agency and sexuality; argue that provincial courts provide information crucial to our understanding of the relationship between politics and culture; and demonstrate that a comprehensive study of the princely courts requires a broad range of visual and material sources and interdisciplinary methods. I am seeking support for the final stage of work on this book project.
|