Laudatio ad funebrem concionem quae in Pissis habita est in exequis Cosmi Medicis, magni Hetruriae ducis

The funeral oration in honour of Cosimo I was composed in Latin by Pietro Angeli Bargeo (Pietro degli Angeli), a famed humanist who held a variety of diplomatic posts for the Medicis. This man of learning, who had formerly held the Latin professorship in Reggio Emilia, was summoned by Grand Duke Cosimo de Medici to teach the humanities at the University of Pisa. For more than 15 years, Angeli devoted himself to his preferred studies, while acquiring prestige with the Medicis, who often entrusted him with representation assignments on solemn occasions. For example, at San Lorenzo on 07 August 1559, Angeli delivered the solemn funeral oration of Henry of Valois, King of France, in the presence of Duke Cosimo and the court. In 1565, he also assumed the chair in ethics and Aristotelean politics in Pisa, while conserving his professorship in the humanities. It is worth noting that at this time in its history, the city of Pisa, having been chosen by Cosimo I de’ Medici and his children as the winter seat of the Medici court, held particular importance as the second capital of the Duchy of Tuscany, after Florence.

The eulogy was a practice with particularly deep roots among the patrician families of Greek and Roman Antiquity. Written in Latin, the Laudatio was recited at the Pisa Cathedral on 24 June 1574, two months after the death of the first Grand Duke of Tuscany on 21 April that same year. The funeral commemoration was published by Florence’s Giunti printing house and translated into the vulgar tongue to be presented to Johanna of Austria, wife of Grand Duke Francesco I, who succeeded Cosimo I dei Medici.

The item presents a remarkable woodcut frontispiece. The Medici coat of arms – and specifically the crest of Francesco I de Medici and of his wife Johanna of Austria – is emblazoned beneath the title of the work, at centre. Two allegorical figures appear to the sides of the coat of arms, bearing the Grand Ducal crown: Justice holding a scale, and an allegory of the Church – a crowned woman holding keys, a symbol of temporal power.

The scroll beneath the Medici coat of arms honours Pius V, the pope who granted the grand ducal title to the Medicis. The Latin text celebrates the pontiff for his extraordinary love for the Catholic religion, which gave impetus to the principles of justice and study. Appearing at the sides of the scroll are the personification of a river, most likely the Tiber, and the Capitoline Wolf.

Lastly, a woodcut portrait of Cosimo de' Medici appears inside an oval corresponding with the title.

Clearly recognizable on the endpaper is the signet of the Giunti publishing house, derived from Florence’s coat of arms and depicting the heraldic lily that is the city’s symbol: the fleur-de-lis with three petals terminating in a bud, and two stamens at the sides. This variant of the emblem, simpler and unendowed with frame or mottoes, appears frequently in colophons.