Alfonso and the Eloquence of Bacchus
Alfonso d’Este is best known to music historians for losing the large and celebrated chapel choir that had been maintained by his father Ercole. This chapter reassesses Alfonso’s music patronage, placing it in relation to the contemporary vogue for the pastoral topos, and in particular the country scenes with which his studiolo was decorated. Examining two of Titian’s paintings for the room in connection with Willaert’s setting of Horace, Quid non ebrietas, this chapter argues that Alfonso sought in his studiolo to connect song and poetic inspiration with Bacchus, rather than invoking the more conventional patronage of the Muses. This is read as facilitating an overtly masculine musical identity. The chapter closes with a discussion of the style of Alfonso’s patronage of the arts, comparing his dealings with artists and musicians.
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