Monsignor Lorenzo Corsi, mecenate di virtuose di musica nella Firenze del Seicento

Through an extensive unpublished documentation preserved in the Florence State Archives, the article illustrates the times and modes of the musical patronage of the Florentine Monsignor Lorenzo Corsi (1601–1656), an interesting case of the relationship with the arts that developed in the places where he dwelled: Rome, Avignon, and, above all, Florence, between the 1630s and 1650s. Lorenzo’s belonging to a family that could boast of a solid musical tradition is emphasized as his father had been Jacopo Corsi, whose name remains forever linked to the birth of opera in Florence, for having supported the performance of Dafne on a libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini set to music by Jacopo Peri. Corsi’s musical interests thus did not stop at that episode but found continuity in Lorenzo, who in the course of his life devoted himself to collecting, especially paintings, and bought, or had made, valuable musical instruments that were to be used for the musical performances he promoted in his Florentine residences. Frequent then was, on the part of Monsignor Corsi, the protection granted to the virtuose, singers and composers. At least three of these women emerge from his documents: the Paduan Emilia Bassano and the Florentine Lucrezia Secchioni and Maria Angiola Giunta. The methods adopted by Corsi to support these women artists appear worthy of interest insofar as they were widespread in Florence of the first half of the seventeenth century, especially in the circles he frequented, those of Medici princes and cardinals such as Carlo and Giovan Carlo, on whose behalf Corsi held prominent roles, sharing their artistic and cultural tastes.