Vincent I, Duke of Mantua
Vincenzo I of Gonzaga (
September 21,
1562-
February 9,
1612), son of
Guglielmo I, was ruler of the
Duchy of Mantua from
1587 to
1612. He was the fourth Duke of Mantua and the second duke of
Monferrato. His daughter,
Eleonore Gonzaga, married
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.
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 IV (ruled 1612)
*Ferdinando I (1612-26)
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 1603-4,
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,
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor 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
Paul V, on
May 25,
1608.[
3]
*
Is Vincenzo I Gonzaga impotent?: The Medici Archives*
Museo di Mantova: Heraldic Arms*Selwyn Brinton. (1927).
The Gonzaga--Lords of Mantua. London: Methuen.
*Maria Bellonci. (1956).
A Prince of Mantua: The Life and Times of Vincenzo Gonzaga. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
