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private archive of the Spinelli, acquired by Yale University's Beinecke
Library in 1988, constitutes the largest fund of information about
a Florentine family anywhere outside Italy. The Spinelli of Florence tells the story of these merchants and their ascent to social and
economic prominence during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
This book gives an intimate portrait of daily life—the worlds of
papal finance, silk and wool manufacturing, and household affairs—as
recorded in letters and financial ledgers preserved for two hundred
years since the extinction of the male line.
The fame of this family rests largely on the extraordinary success
of one individual, Tommaso Spinelli, who broke into banking through
the Alberti and Borromei organizations, later to serve as depository
general under Pope Eugenius IV and financial officer to three subsequent
popes. Tommaso sought to raise his status in society through ties
of marriage and business rather than entering the political arena,
which had led to the demise and exile of older, established Florentine
families, notably the Peruzzi and Alberti. Like his contemporaries,
Cosimo de'Medici, Giovanni Rucellai, and Francesco Sassetti, Tommaso
poured his considerable wealth into the patronage of private palaces
and villas in Rome and Florence, as well as through donations to
the great Franciscan churce of Santa Croce. Despite his reputation
for magnificence, it was Tommaso's obeisance to the codes of religious
decorum and his adherence to older artistic traditions that allowed
him to commemorate himself and his family without censure.
The authors of this collaborative study, an architectural historian
and economic historian, add significantly to our knowledge of private
and papal banking, wool and silk manufacturing, and patronage of
the arts. The Spinelli of Florence is important for scholars
of history, economic history, social history, and art history. |
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