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Lot Essay
As early as the fifteenth century, the Medici were enthusiatic collectors of animals, especially exotic ones, whose very rarity made them symbols of wealth and social distinction. Hunting and the maintenance of a menagerie gave the Medicean rulers scope to display such prized creatures as cheetahs and leopards, highly valued gifts from contemporary rulers. Particularly celebrated was the arrival in Florence of a cheetah, a leopard, a lion and lioness, a dromedary and a giraffe, all sent to Lorenzo the Magnificent by the Sultan of Egypt in 1489. The eclectic nature of the sixteenth-century collection, which combined natural and artificial exhibits, began to be classified more systematically in the second half of the seventeenth century. Cardinal Leopold de' Medici was largely responsible for this rearrangement, which created separate departments for natural and scientific objects, paintings, and drawings. Cosimo III, Grand Duke from 1670 to 1723, followed the example of his uncle Leopold and formed a rich collection of paintings from nature, divided according to subject, with the flower studies in the villa at Castello, the vegetables in the villa of Topaia, and the animals in the Ambrogiana.
Other than scientific rarities the Medici also staged combats of rare animals in Florence. One, involving sixteen lions, bears, wolves and other wild animals, was organised in the Piazza Signoria during a visit of Pope Pius II. A spectacular combat between lions was staged for the marriage celebrations of Ferdinand II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 1621-70, and Vittoria della Rovere in 1634 (see the catalogue to the exhibition, Natura viva in Casa Medici, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 14 December 1985-13 April 1986).
The date, 1660, on the cannon balls and the Medici coat of arms, suggest that this pair of lions, Pino and Pina, were part of the menagery at the court of Ferdinando II de' Medici in Florence or in one of their villas in Tuscany. The paintings are likely to have been commissioned by the Marchese Giovanni Battista Schinchinelli, a member of the Cremonese Schinchinelli family whose coat-of-arms is depicted in the middle (see G.B. di Crollalanza, Dizionario Storico-Blasonico, Milan, s.d., II, pp. 508-9). From the correspondence of Francesco Redi, the first physician of the Grand Duke, it appears that Schinchinelli was working at the court in Florence and was the Capo Maestro for the Villa Orti, Redi's villa near his home town Arezzo (letter 31 December 1672). This explains the presence of not only the large coat-of-arms of the Dukes of Mantua, under whose protection Cremona was, but also that of the Medici on both pictures. Following the example of the members of the Medici family, the Marchese Giovanni Battista Schinchinelli, probably commissioned this pair to decorate his villa in the hills of Florence.
We are grateful to Doctor Philippe Palasi for the identification of the coat-of-arms of the Schinchinelli Family.
Other than scientific rarities the Medici also staged combats of rare animals in Florence. One, involving sixteen lions, bears, wolves and other wild animals, was organised in the Piazza Signoria during a visit of Pope Pius II. A spectacular combat between lions was staged for the marriage celebrations of Ferdinand II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 1621-70, and Vittoria della Rovere in 1634 (see the catalogue to the exhibition, Natura viva in Casa Medici, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 14 December 1985-13 April 1986).
The date, 1660, on the cannon balls and the Medici coat of arms, suggest that this pair of lions, Pino and Pina, were part of the menagery at the court of Ferdinando II de' Medici in Florence or in one of their villas in Tuscany. The paintings are likely to have been commissioned by the Marchese Giovanni Battista Schinchinelli, a member of the Cremonese Schinchinelli family whose coat-of-arms is depicted in the middle (see G.B. di Crollalanza, Dizionario Storico-Blasonico, Milan, s.d., II, pp. 508-9). From the correspondence of Francesco Redi, the first physician of the Grand Duke, it appears that Schinchinelli was working at the court in Florence and was the Capo Maestro for the Villa Orti, Redi's villa near his home town Arezzo (letter 31 December 1672). This explains the presence of not only the large coat-of-arms of the Dukes of Mantua, under whose protection Cremona was, but also that of the Medici on both pictures. Following the example of the members of the Medici family, the Marchese Giovanni Battista Schinchinelli, probably commissioned this pair to decorate his villa in the hills of Florence.
We are grateful to Doctor Philippe Palasi for the identification of the coat-of-arms of the Schinchinelli Family.