Revisions or Acts of Censorship? Forms and Examples of Medici Patronal Interventions in Benedetto Varchi’s «Storia fiorentina»

Authors

  • Dario Brancato Concordia University
  • Arianna Capirossi Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna
  • Giacomo Ventura Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60923/issn.1721-4777/23283

Keywords:

Baccio Baldini, Benedetto Varchi, Outrage of Fano, Siege of Volterra, «Storia fiorentina»

Abstract

This article examines the processes of revision and censorship imposed by Medici patronage on Benedetto Varchi’s unfinished Storia fiorentina (1503-1565). It is structured in three parts. The first outlines the different types of intervention carried out the text by Baccio Baldini and his collaborators. The second offers a detailed analysis of the manuscript materials transmitting accounts of the events at Empoli and Volterra in 1529-1530. The third provides new documentary evidence to reconstruct the textual genesis of the narrative concerning the ‘rape of Fano’ (the alleged scandal perpetrated by Pier Luigi Farnese in 1537).

Published

2026-01-08

How to Cite

Brancato, D., Capirossi, A., & Ventura, G. (2025). Revisions or Acts of Censorship? Forms and Examples of Medici Patronal Interventions in Benedetto Varchi’s «Storia fiorentina». Griseldaonline, 24(2), 63–104. https://doi.org/10.60923/issn.1721-4777/23283