Page - 166 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

Chapter 3166 the Fugger vigna in Anton Francesco Doni’s treatise Le Ville of 1559.103 The ef- fect of Hans Jakob’s importance as a politician close to the Emperor, and as an intellectual and patron in his own right, was enhanced by his personal ac- quaintance with various eminent personalities, such as Cardinals Farnese and Granvelle. His recommendation alone would have opened almost any door in Rome, but Strada had taken care to be able to present some evidence of his own virtù: as we have seen, he probably carried with him the first copies of his Epitome thesauri antiquitatum. Perhaps on the strength of this Strada obtained the title of Civis Romanus, which was granted to him by the Roman Senate in April 1555, though the decision is motivated merely by the statement that Strada and thirteen other ‘signori nobili forestieri <…> con instantia desidera- no esser creati cittadini Romani’: rather a contrast with the explicit praise for his numismatic labour that motivated the decision to grant the citizenship to Hubertus Goltzius some years later.104 Nonetheless Strada prized the title so much that he not only used it on the title pages of the books he printed, but hardly ever omitted it even when signing his correspondence. Unfortunately it is not known what sponsors had supported Strada’s re- quest, if any were deemed necessary. But from other sources we can gather some information about the people with whom Strada established and main- tained contact during his residence in Rome. In some rather literary passages in the prefaces of the books he published Strada sung the praise of the Papal court as a centre or academy of scholarship and erudition, passages sufficient- ly interesting to paraphrase here. In his preface to Onofrio Panvinio’s Epitome pontificum Strada says, for instance: In those days there were in Rome many noblemen, members of the Curia Romana and the Papal Household, and others, who were greatly interest- ed in the history of the Popes, and to them Panvinio habitually referred any doubtful points or tricky questions he met with in his research. Chief 103 A manuscript illustrated version of the first book of Doni’s treatise, dated 1559 and en- titled La villa Fucchara is preserved in the bsb-hs, Cod. Ital. 36; cf. Bauer-Eberhardt 2007, pp. 97–115 104 Doc. 1555-03-18. On the honorary citizenship of Rome, see Gregorovius 1877; Goltzius was created a Roman citizen on 7 May 1567, with explicit reference to his merits for the Ro- man ‘res publica’ [Rome, Archivio Capitolino, Camera Capitolina, credenza 1a, tomo 1o, fol. 91v.]. Pirro Ligorio, himself a Neapolitan nobleman, doubtless far better known in Rome and better respected as an antiquary, and who could easily have found the neces- sary sponsors, was accorded the citizenship only in 1560 (Gregorovius 1877, p. 29). The grant to Strada probably reflects his financial means and the stature of his patron (Fug- ger) as much, or more, than his own prestige as an antiquary.