Stefano Bonsignori or Buonsignori (died 21 September 1589, in Florence) was an Italian Olivetan monk and cartographer to Francesco I, Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was born in Florence and is most notable for his eponymous Bonsignori Map of Florence.
Stefano Bonsignori or Buonsignori (died 21 September 1589, in Florence) was an Italian Olivetan monk and cartographer to Francesco I, Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was born in Florence and is most notable for his eponymous Bonsignori Map of Florence.
Little is known about Bonsignori's life before he came to be in the service of the Medicis. He was born in Florence and became part of the Olivetan monastic order before being invited in 1575 to become Francesco's cartographer. [1]
According to a letter sent to the superior of his congregations, the Grand Duke intended to entrust him with the completion of the cycle of maps for the Guardaroba (cloakroom) in the Palazzo Vecchio, which remained unfinished after the dismissal of Ignazio Danti. Of the 53 cartographic panels painted on the doors of the cloakroom, 23 are by Bonsignori, with the most recent one being from 1589. [2] [3]
His famous axonometric map of Florence was created under the patronage of Francesco between 1576 and 1584 and etched by Bonaventura Billocardi. [4] [5] The prominence of the Arno River and the detailed depiction of a variety of often quite minor water-related structures is telling of the way in which water management had been an important aspect of the policies of Francesco's father, Cosimo I, whose achievements had transformed the city's landscape. [6]
In 1588 his role as Grand Ducal cartographer was confirmed by Francesco's successor, Ferdinando I. [7]
Stefano Bonsignori died in 1589 [1] and was buried in the church of Santi Michele e Gaetano, but his tomb disappeared during the seventeenth-century reconstruction of the building. [7]
Pope Leo XI, born Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 April 1605 to his death, on 27 April 1605. His pontificate is one of the briefest in history, having lasted under a month. He was from the prominent House of Medici originating from Florence. Medici's mother opposed his entering the priesthood and sought to prevent it by having him given secular honours, but after her death he eventually was ordained a priest in 1567. In his career he served as Florence's ambassador to the pope, Bishop of Pistoia, Archbishop of Florence, Papal legate to France, and as the cardinal Prefect for the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars. He was elected to the papacy in the March 1605 papal conclave and served as pope for 27 days.
The House of Medici was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici, during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of Tuscany, and prospered gradually until it was able to fund the Medici Bank. This bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century and facilitated the Medicis' rise to political power in Florence, although they officially remained citizens rather than monarchs until the 16th century.
Marie de' Medici was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as regent legally expired in 1614, when her son reached the age of majority, but she refused to resign and continued as regent until she was removed by a coup in 1617.
Cosimo I de' Medici was the second duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first grand duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death.
The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo's David statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi.
Agnolo di Cosimo, usually known as Bronzino or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, Bronzino, may refer to his relatively dark skin or reddish hair.
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I.
Bernardo Buontalenti, byname of Bernardo Delle Girandole, was an Italian stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, military engineer, artist, and inventor of Italian ice cream.
Joanna of Austria was an Archduchess of Austria. By marriage to Francesco I de' Medici, she was the Grand Princess of Tuscany and later the Grand Duchess of Tuscany. One of her daughters was Marie de' Medici, second wife of King Henry IV of France.
The Order of Saint Stephen is a Roman Catholic Tuscan dynastic military order founded in 1561. The order was created by Cosimo I de' Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany. The last member of the Medici dynasty to be a leader of the order was Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The order was permanently abolished in 1859 by the annexation of Tuscany to the Kingdom of Sardinia. The former Kingdom of Italy and the current Italian Republic also did not recognize the order as a legal entity but tolerates it as a private body.
The Villa Medicea di Cafaggiolo is a villa situated near the Tuscan town of Barberino di Mugello in the valley of the River Sieve, some 25 kilometres north of Florence, central Italy. It was one of the oldest and most favoured of the Medici family estates, having been in the possession of the family since the 14th century, when it was owned by Averardo de' Medici. Averardo's son, Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, is considered to be the founder of the Medici dynasty.
The Villa di Pratolino was a Renaissance patrician villa in Vaglia, Tuscany, Italy. It was mostly demolished in 1822. Its remains are now part of the Villa Demidoff, 12 km north of Florence, reached from the main road to Bologna.
Don Pietro de' Medici was the youngest son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo.
The Villa di Castello, near the hills bordering Florence, Tuscany, central Italy, was the country residence of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1519-1574). The gardens, filled with fountains, statuary, and a grotto, became famous throughout Europe. The villa also housed some of the great art treasures of Florence, including Sandro Botticelli's Renaissance masterpieces The Birth of Venus and Primavera. The gardens of the Villa had a profound influence upon the design of the Italian Renaissance garden and the later French formal garden.
Eleanor de' Medici was a Duchess of Mantua by marriage to Vincenzo I Gonzaga. She served as regent of Mantua 1595, 1597 and 1601, when Vincenzo served in the Austrian campaign in Hungary, and in 1602, when he left for Flanders for medical treatment. She was a daughter of Francesco I de' Medici and Joanna of Austria and the sister of Marie de' Medici, Queen of France.
The Fountain of Neptune in Florence, Italy, is situated in the Piazza della Signoria, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The fountain was commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1559 to celebrate the marriage of Francesco de' Medici I to Grand Duchess Joanna of Austria. Cosimo I de' Medici was the Duke of Florence from 1537-1569 and responsible for a vast number of architectural and artistic elements in Florence that still exist today.
Alessandro Pieroni was an Italian architect and painter. He was active mainly in a Mannerist style, working for the courts of Grandukes Francesco I and Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
The Buonsignori Map was an axonometric map of the city of Florence, produced as an etching in 1584 and later reissued in 1594. It was drawn by and named after the Olivetan monk Stefano Buonsignori, etched by Bonaventura Billocardi and edited by Girolamo Franceschi. One of the 1594 copies belongs to the Museo di Firenze com'era and hangs in the local history rooms at the Palazzo Vecchio. Its full Latin name is Nova pulcherrimae civitatis Florentiae topographia accuratissime delineata.
Francesco Rondinelli was a Florentine scholar and academic of the Seicento.
Giovanni Battista Lorenzi, known as Battista Lorenzi or Battista del Cavaliere, was an Italian sculptor.
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