Vincenzo I Gonzaga

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Vincenzo I of Gonzaga (September 21, 1562-February 9, 1612) was ruler of the Duchy of Mantua and Montferrat from 1587 to 1612. He was married to Eleonora di Medici in 1584 and his daughter, Eleonore Gonzaga, married Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.

[edit] Biography

He was a son of William I, Duke of Mantua and Eleanora of Habsburg. His maternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.

Vincenzo I was a major patron of the arts and sciences, and turned Mantua into a vibrant cultural center. Vincenzo employed the composer Claudio Monteverdi and the painter Peter Paul Rubens. In 1590 Vincenzo Bellini became a viol-player and cantor in the music cappella of Vincenzo; in 1602 Vincenzo appointed Bellini maestro di musica. Vincenzo was also a friend of the poet Torquato Tasso. A small book published in Verona in 1589 describes how a comic actor named Valerini in the service of Vincenzo imagines an ideal gallery of art, in which statues of the most important art collectors are featured rather than the work of the artists themselves. Vincenzo was described as a colossus who would dominate the entire ideal gallery, called the Celeste Galeria di Minerva.[1]

The astronomer Giovanni Antonio Magini also served as tutor to Vincenzo's sons, Francesco and Ferdinando.

Magini's life’s work was the preparation of the Atlante geografico d'Italia (Geographic Atlas of Italy), printed posthumously by Magini’s son in 1620. This was intended to include maps of each Italian region with exact nomenclature and historical notes. A major project, its production (begun in 1594) proved. Vincenzo, to whom the atlas is dedicated, assisted him with this project and allow for maps of the various states of Italy to be brought to Magini.

During the winter of 1603-1604, Galileo visited the Mantuan court in an effort to obtain a position there, and was offered a salary, but could not agree on the terms with Vincenzo, who instead presented him Galileo with a gold chain and two silver dishes.

Vincenzo's spendthrift habits are considered to have accelerated Mantua's economic and cultural decline.

Vincenzo was rumored to have been impotent and he is said to have sent a secret expedition to the New World in order to obtain a legendary aphrodisiac.[2]

On July 20, 1588, Emperor Rudolf II granted Vincenzo the right to an escutcheon of Austria, surmounted by an archducal coronet. Vincenzo created the Order of the Redemptor (or of the Most Precious Blood), approved by Pope Paul V, on May 25, 1608 [3].

[edit] Sources

Bellonci, Maria (1956). A Prince of Mantua: The Life and Times of Vincenzo Gonzaga. Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Brinton, Selwyn (1927). The Gonzaga. Lords of Mantua. Methuen.