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Continue ShoppingArt Patrons throughout History: Isabelle d'Este by Stephen Koenig
What separates a talented artist from the da Vinci's and Michelangelo's of history? Patrons.
A patron, as described by the Oxford Dictionary, is a person who gives financial or other support to a person, organization, cause, or activity. These are the people that allow artists to flourish. As long as there have been artists, there have been art patrons. Their names may not be as well known as the artists they supported, but we believe they deserve some credit for putting their wealth towards making the world more beautiful.
As customers of Rainbow Bridge Jewelers, you join the diverse ranks of art patrons, like Isabella d'Este and Lorenzo Medici, that have spanned the globe for centuries. Your purchases, interactions, commissions, and support help all of the artists featured at Rainbow Bridge Jewelers to continue designing precious and beautiful pieces of jewelry for your enjoyment and those who see you.
Let us first introduce you, then, to Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua.
Isabella d'Este was Marchioness of Mantua in Northern Italy in the late 15th and early 16th Century. She was a powerful political figure of the Renaissance, and one of the biggest patrons of the arts.
She was a patron of some of the most famous artists of the Renaissance, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Titian. She had a private studiolo which was set aside for the express purpose of displaying art, one of the first home galleries'.
At age six, she was betrothed to Francesco, the heir to the Marquess of Matua. Two weeks later, the duke of Milan asked for her hand for his son. Instead, her younger sister Beatrice was betrothed to him. Over the next 10 years, Francesco courted Isabella with letters and poetry. When they married, he had already succeeded to the Marquisate, as well as becoming captain general of the armies of Venice. Over the next several years, she would integrate herself with some of the most powerful families of Renaissance Italy using her charm and wit. She was praised not only for her beauty, but also for her mastery of words and the craft of statesmanship.
Italy in the early 16th century was a place of intense conflicts. Isabella had the misfortune of being present for several battles and sieges. In 1509, her husband was captured in battle and she was left to take over both the regency of Mantua as well as its military, until his release three years later. She was praised as a much more competent and aggressive statesman than her husband, who was so humiliated that the two lived apart until his death seven years later in 1519. At this point, she took over as regent for her son, advancing the status of Mantua to that of a duchy, all while successfully politicking against some of the most powerful men in Europe. She was present for the infamous sacking of Rome in 1527, at which time she hid some 2000 people in her home, including clerics, nobles, and common folk, later helping them escape the city.
When Isabella returned to Mantua, she made it a center for culture. She converted her ducal apartments into an art museum where priceless works of art are still displayed today. She founded a school for girls, and, not satisfied with retiring into comfort, returned to the political world where she ruled the city of Solarolo until her death in 1539.
To you a cherished patron of Rainbow Bridge Jewelers - Thank You!
Portraits of Isabella d'Este by Titian(left) and Leonardo da Vinci(right).
