Don Fadrique Enríquez de Ribera (1476-1539), El Viaje a Jerusalén (c. 1518-1520)

Sevillan Don Fadrique Enríquez de Ribera was Marquis of Tarifa, Governor of Andalusia, Lord of Bornos, as well as proprietor of Ribera and Alcalá de los Gazules. His socio-political position among the Andalusian elite was thanks to his descent from an old Castilian line, his marriage to Beatriz and later Catalina Ribera, and his kinship…Continue reading

Raffaele Maffei (1451-1522), Commentariorum urbanorum (1506)

Raffaele Maffei was an Italian humanist, historian and theologian. He was also a member of the Servite Order. The Commentariorum urbanorum from 1506 is an encyclopedia. It consists of three parts: in “Geography,” Maffei writes about history and the whole world arranged by location; the second part, “Anthropology,” is devoted to contemporaneous history; and the…Continue reading

Raffaello Roncioni (1553-1618), Delle Istorie pisane (1592-1606)

Raffaello Roncioni was born in Ranieri in the middle of the sixteenth century. In his Delle Istorie pisane from 1592 to 1606, Roncioni tells the story of Pisa. For our concerns, it is important that he writes about the founding of the Camposanto. He describes how the holy earth got to Pisa thanks to Archbishop Ubaldo…Continue reading

Anonimo Magliabechiano (c. 1540/1550)

The anonymous author of the Codice Magliabechiano cl. XVII. 17 probably had close connections to the Medici court and the manuscript is the most comprehensive source for the biographies of artists in Italy before Vasari’s Vite. The manuscript has been attributed to many different authors. The author is likely to be Bernardo Veccietti (1514-1590), a…Continue reading

Giovan Battista Totti, Dialogo sul Camposanto (1593)

In this unpublished manuscript from 1593, Giovan Battista Totti writes a dialogue concerning the Camposanto. Totti was a canon of the Cathedral of Pisa for about 30 years between 1567 and 1595. In choosing to write a dialogue, Totti followed the taste of his time. This dialogue was only accessible in a series of manuscripts,…Continue reading

Raffaelo Borghini (1537-1588), Il Riposo (1584)

Not much is known about Raffaelo Borghini. He was probably born in Florence in 1537, and he may be identified with Raffaelo di Francesco di Raffaelo, the son of Francesco Borghini. In Il Riposo, his friendship with a certain Giambologna is mentioned. Raffaelo Borghini probably travelled to France in 1579, and he seems to have had a…Continue reading

Written Camposanto