ABSTRACT
This essay examines the demand for artistic and collectible goods of one celebrated Italian Renaissance house, that of the d'Esté of Ferrara, during the first half of the sixteenth century. In addition to the ducal court at Ferrara, the d'Esté house comprised a group of independent courts from the late fifteenth century onwards, which also included princely courts of Alfonso, Ferrante, Sigismondo, and Giulio. The duke, Ercole I, provided their members with a small salary and personally maintained a proverbially iron control over the purse-strings. In 1496, the principal heir, Alfonso I together with his first wife Anna Sforza, and his brothers Sigismondo and Giulio, were all living in one palace while the second son, Cardinal Ippolito I, resided in the Certosa palace. By 1501, Alfonso I and his second wife, Lucrezia Borgia, were residing in castel Vecchio, while the junior princes Sigismondo, Ferdinando and Guilio lived in the residences of San Francesco, Schifanoia, and via degli Angelí. Alberto, Rinaldo and Sigismondo, brothers to the duke, occupied palaces in San Luca, Paradiso, and Diamanti. After the duke's death in 1505, the number of salary holders saw a dramatic increase. From a figure of sixty-five around 1500, Alfonso's establishment soon expanded to more than 300, Ferrante's from twenty to hundred, Sisigmondo's from twenty-five to over sixty, while Giulio's staff of fifteen doubled in size.
