Art, religion, and diplomacy in the life of Costantino de’ Servi (1554 – 1622)

Some might see a contradiction between arguing for Costantino’s Florentine and Rudolfine identity and showing that he had a role as an informal Medici agent. The tension, however, is only apparent. Costantino’s identity was bred precisely by the opportunities to travel and reside abroad which the Medici Grand Dukes offered him: he was not born a cosmopolitan, he became one. This dissertation has followed such transformation, developing throughout its Chapters and Sections the complex picture of a man, holistic in ambition if not in reality, and of a chunk of the early modern period as lived by this man. This could be dubbed an anecdotal approach, for it relies on one individual perspective out of the myriad which make up an age. The adjective ‘personal’ should be used instead—for this, like most micro-history, aims to be the portrait of a person, and of the world as seen through the person’s eyes. To such person the reader will be able to relate in a way that might not be possible with ‘lifeless sociological categories’, or motionless theories about the past.^ccxliii

More specifically, Costantino de’ Servi is not anecdotal. No one really is, for a start. He himself is not because of his position at the crossroads of so many paths—Tuscany and Bohemia, art and diplomacy, irenicism and Catholicism, aristocracy and poverty. So much hybridity could be seen as a weakness, perhaps even a warrant of failure. A certain gloom does indeed seem to permeate Costantino’s last few years, from the loss of his house in Florence to the explosion of a great European conflict, to his death away from his native city.

His offspring dispel this sense of debacle. If his son Francesco appears to have followed in his father’s steps, becoming a skilled artisan employed by the Medici,^ccxliv it is the remarkable career of Giovan Domenico that attracts attention. He worked for the Grand Dukes of Tuscany as a diplomat in his youth, but before long he had settled in Neuburg, at the court of the Count Palatine Wolfgang Wilhelm, who was soon to make him Baron of Stepperg. Giovan Domenico’s son bore the name of his father’s patron, and rose even higher in the esteem of the House of Pfalz-Neuburg, whom he served as Chamberlain and State Counsellor.^ccxlv Their services were probably instrumental in negotiating and defending the neutrality of the Palatinate-Neuburg during the Thirty Years’ War. Like Costantino before them, in other words, Giovan Domenico and Wolfgang Wilhelm von Servi were true artists of diplomacy, rising above the confessional and geographical differences of early modern Europe.

Bibliography

PRIMARY MANUSCRIPT SOURCES

Florence, Archivio di Stato

Arte dei Medici e Speziali, Filza 257

‘Libro dei morti’ (book of the dead, i.e. register of the deceased) for the year 1622, which I have unsuccessfully searched to find details of Costantino’s inhumation.

Carte Strozziane, Filza 301, fol. 77

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, at Litomyšl castle, to Giambattista Concini in Vienna – 27 Feb 1574
Costantino updates Giambattista Concini, Tuscan ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor, on the latest news from the court of Wratislaw von Pernstein, where he is employed as an artist. He also acknowledges Concini’s request to send to Vienna a couple of Czech dogs.

Decima Granducale, Filza 2379, item 865

Arroti del Quartiere Santa Croce – Gonfalone Carro – Anno 1618 – Spoglio di decima di ‘Costantino di Francesco di Costantino di Francesco de Serui’
List of all imponible lands and buidlings owned by Costantino de’ Servi in the year 1618, compiled with the aim of calculating the total amount of tithe owed (3 ducati, 3 lire and 3 denari).

Decima Granducale, Filza 2386, item 95

Arroti del Quartiere Santa Croce – Gonfalone Carro – Anno 1623 – Spoglio di decima di ‘Francescho GiovanDomenico et Ferdinando di Gostantino di Francesco di Gostantino de Serui’
List of all imponible lands and buildings inherited by Costantino de’ Servi’s sons at the latter’s death, in 1622, compiled with the aim of calculating the total amount of tithe owed (2 ducati, 2 lire and 3 denari).

Decima Granducale, Filza 3585, fol. 12

Campioni del Quartiere Santa Croce – Gonfalone Carro
Alphabetical index of all ‘arroti’ (notarial acts) compiled in a citizen’s name in Florence, 1618 onwards. Under ‘Gostantino di Francesco di Gostantino di Francesco de Serui’, three are listed: two were found in Filze 2379 and 2386 (cf supra); the third was impossible to locate.

Depositeria Medicea, Parte Antica, Filza 644, fol. 375

Filza del Giornale della Depositeria Generale – Anni 1579 a 1587
Supplication by ‘lerede di GiovanBattista de Seruj’ (the heir(s?) of GiovanBattista de’ Servi) in relation to a financial transaction to be settled after the latter’s death.

Depositeria Medicea., Filza 645, fols. 425, 556, 652, 860, 948, 966, 1135

Filza del Giornale della Depositeria Generale – Anni 1598 a 1614
Lists of expenses incurred by the Mannelli family, in Venice, in handling correspondence between Florence and the Holy Roman Empire, between 1612 and 1614.

Guardaroba Medicea, Filza 225

‘Ristretto del rolo della famiglia di Sua Altezza Serenissima et dirato al netto, e fatto questo di primo di ottobre 1599 con quanto attiene che Prouisione in denari’
List of employees at the Medici court in Florence in 1599, which I have unsuccessfully searched to find details of Costantino’s employment.

Guardaroba Medicea, Filza 254, fols. 113, 121, 122, 128, 131,

Copialettere della Galleria
Various lists, letters, and transaction records relating to Costantino de Servi’s activity as a ‘maestranza’ (master craftsman) in the Galleria, over the period 1608–09.

Guardaroba Medicea, Filza 279

‘Ristretto del Ruolo della famiglia di Sua Altezza Serenissima et Inviato al netto il di primo di dicembre 1606 per quanto attiene alla Prouisione in denari – rivisto e riaccomodato 1608’
List of employees at the Medici court in Florence in 1606, updated in 1608, which I have unsuccessfully searched to find details of Costanino’s employment.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 918, fol. 353

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Bologna, to Belisario Vinta in Cafaggiolo – 21 Sep 1603
Costantino recounts the difficulties in crossing the Apennines from Florence, and reminds Belisario Vinta to recommend his daughter to the Grand Duchess.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 920, fol. 133

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta in Florence – 20 Nov 1603
Costantino reminds Belisario Vinta to recommend his daughter to the Grand Duchess; describes with approval and gratitude the hospitality of the Florentine Ambassador in his own house; and asks to be sent information about the price of wine in Paris, so as to win a bet about wine being more expensive there than in Prague.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 920, fols. 273–74

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Ferdinando I in Florence – 20 Nov 1603
Costantino asks for permission to remain at the Imperial court in Prague, for it is the Emperor’s will to have some of his artworks, before pursuing on his way to France. He also describes briefly the different precious and semi-precious stones he has been able to see at court.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 920, fol. 440

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta in Florence – 1 Dec 1603
Costantino expresses anxiety at the idea of being held up in Prague by the Emperor’s will, even though he should be moving on to Paris to put a formal end to his service to the French king. He also relates Johann Barvitz’s interest in a Medici princess, and asks for one of the portraits he had made of her in to satisfy Rudolf II’s curiosity.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 920, fol. 692

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Ferdinando I in Pisa – 19 Dec 1603
Costantino thanks the Grand Duke for having accepted that he shall remain in the Emperor’s service.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 921, fol. 27

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta (?) – 2 Jan 1604
Costantino is anxious that an old rivalry between him and a ‘Cancelliere’ (chancellor, or better clerk) will influence for the worse the outcome of a litigation he (via the proxy of his wife) is involved with in Florence, and asks Vinta to counterbalance such influence.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 921, fol. 686

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta (?) – 23 Feb 1604
Costantino is here chiefly concerned with the rivalries internal to the Tuscan mission to the Emperor, which are empoisoning the relationship between the Secretary, Mr Guidi, and Ambassador Uguccioni himself (he appears to side with the former).

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 922, fol. 1

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta in Pisa – 1 Mar 1604
Costantino asks Belisario Vinta to intervene on his behalf in a suit his wife has started against her step-mother, fearing the antipathy of the official dealing with it.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 922, fol. 445

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta in Pisa – 28 Mar 1604
After signalling that his previous letter might have gone missing, Costantino relates how he has stabbed (albeit with the handle, not the blade, of the sword) a man who had dared calling him ‘pittore’ (painter), thereby degrading his gentility. He also warns Belisario Vinta that, after having heard the merits of the Caccini family, the Emperor is likely to attempt to call them into his service.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 924, fol. 457

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta in Florence – 9 Aug 1604
Together with news of the arrival in Prague of the Cardinal d’Este, and of a series of fires which have been ravaging the Bohemian countryside, Costantino sends an attached letter containing some money for his wife.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 925, fol. 350

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta in Florence – 5 Oct 1604
Costantino fulfils the Grand Duke’s curiosity by surveying in detail the artistic life of the Imperial court. He then describes a lunch he has recently had with the Persian Ambassador to the Emperor, before expressing optimism: his financial situation might be improving.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 926, fol. 673

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta in Florence – 20 Dec 1604
After a renewed demand for assistance in the Florentine litigation, for which the magistrate appears to have changed again, Costantino comments on the Imperial army’s struggle against the Turks and the rebels in Hungary. He also suggests a few names to replace Ambassador Uguccioni, debilitated by illness.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 927, fol. 383

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta in Florence – 6 Feb 1605
Costantino warmly thanks Belisario Vinta for having secured the appointment of a honest judge to decide on the old Florentine litigation. He explains that he is held up in Prague by work on some bas-reliefs and medals, and describes his attempt at offering to serve the Emperor from Florence, travelling back and forth at times if required, so as to be able to join his family again.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 928, fol. 320

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta in Florence – 22 Mar 1605
Costantino writes at length to attempt to convince Belisario Vinta that his recent imprisonment for debts contracted with Dr Peza is to be blamed on the latter’s impatience rather than his own insolvency.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 928, fol. 690

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Belisario Vinta in Florence – 16 Apr 1605
Costantino has to defend himself against the Florentine Secretary’s allegation that he would have publicly declared that the new Florentine Pope (Leo XI) is in bad terms with the Grand Duke. He also expresses his willingness to leave Prague immediately—and wishes that the Grand Duke might send him to Rome, given the new pontifical appointment.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Ferdinando I, Filza 929, fol. 112

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Prague, to Marcello Acolti in Florence – 9 May 1605
Costantino is leaving Prague in 20 days, after having been made a ‘Gentilomo della sua Casa’ (Gentleman of his House) by the Emperor, and having received a carriage with horses from him. He is not planning to go to France, too much time having elapsed since he last heard form the French king; instead, he will travel through Saxony and Bavaria, hoping to reach Florence by September.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Cosimo II, Filza 971, fol. 9

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in London, to the Grand Duchess in Florence – 6 Aug 1611
Despite his old age, the problems of confessional difference, and the desire to see his family, Costantino is enthusiastic about Henry Prince of Wales’s appreciation of his works and his personal company, and relays the latter’s request to retain him in his service for four years rather than the two originally agreed. He adds that he would very much like his wife to join him, to render the stay less lonely—but his foremost concern is to secure the salary in absentia which his family receives from the Medici court.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Cosimo II, Filza 972, fol. 714

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in London, to Belisario Vinta in Florence – 8 Jun 1611
Costantino praises the Florentine Secretary Ottaviano Lotti for introducing him to the Queen Anne of Denmark, who has already commissioned him with a few paintings. He also expresses astonishment at the high cost of living in London.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Cosimo II, Filza 996, fol. 75

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Weimar, to Curzio Picchena in Florence – 5 Apr 1619
Costantino is bitter about the slowness with which he received an agreed lump sum from the local Treasury, for it forced his wife to sell their house in Florence to pay their debts. Eager to leave an Empire where the Bohemian uprising is exacerbating tensions between Protestants and Catholics and desperate for an income, he lobbies Curzio Picchena to be appointed Capitano of Fivizzano upon his imminent return to Tuscany.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio Universale di Cosimo II, Filza 996, fol. 900

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Weimar, to Curzio Picchena in Florence – 25 Sep 1619
After describing in great detail the palace which he is building for Duke Johann Ernst I of Saxe-Weimar, Costantino discusses the onset of the Thirty Years’ War. He has privately attempted to dissuade the Duke from joining the Protestant League, in vain, and he is worried about the lack of Papal support for the Catholic side.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio dei Segretari, Filze 1325, fols. 202ff.

‘Lettere de’ Serenissimi a Curzio Picchena dal 1580 fino al 1610’
Series of letters concerning the lobbying of the Papacy (where Curzio Picchena is based) to obtain its support for the Pacha of Aleppo’s uprising against his Ottoman overlord, in 1607.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio dei Segretari, Filza 1363, fol. nn

Letter from Giovan Domenico de’ Servi, in London, to Andrea Cioli in Florence – 2 Nov 1615
Brief letter in which Giovan Domenico offers his services to Andrea Cioli, compliments him on his marriage, and informs him he will leave London within two weeks in the company of the Venetian ambassador.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio dei Segretari, Filza 1363, fol. nn

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in The Hague, to Andrea Cioli in Florence – 10 Nov 1615
Costantino informs Andrea Cioli that his son Giovan Domenico will not be travelling back to Tuscany with him, but will instead remain in London, employed by the Florentine Resident Quaratesi. He asks Cioli to pass the news on to his wife, before describing his artistic works at the Dutch court. He also spends some time discussing the military skirmishes between the Dutch and the city of Cologne.

Mediceo del Principato, Carteggio dei Segretari, Filza 1363, fol. nn

Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in The Hague, to Andrea Cioli in Florence – 20 Nov 1615
Boldly self-confident letter, in which Costantino highlights Prince Maurits of Nassau’s appreciation for his work, which allows him to indulge in self-commendation of his ability to gain the favour of rulers, by his skills but most importantly by his gentlemanly manners.

Miscellanea Medicea, Filza 609, fols. 69–70

‘Patente à Gostantino de’ Serui del primo Nouembre 1609 – Per la sua Gita in Persia’
Copy of Costantino de Servi’s passport to Persia, where he is to travel in the company of Sir Robert Sherley, in 1609.

Miscellanea Medicea, Filza 612, fol. 191

No title
Original (?) of Costantino de Servi’s passport to Milan, where he is to travel together with his son Giovan Domenico in 1617.

Miscellanea Medicea, Filza 667, Inserto 9, fols. 109–10

No title
Estimation of expenses to be incurred by the grand-ducal Treasury in the construction of a theatre in a non-specified garden, compiled by Francesco de’ Servi. Not dated.

Notarile Moderno, Repertorio dei Testamenti, Bobine 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Alphabetical index of all testaments compiled by Florentine notaries between 1570 and 1630, which I have unsuccessfully searched to find details of Costantino’s will.

Raccolta Sebregondi, Filza 4910

Biographical information on the Gonfalone Vaio branch of the de’ Servi family, compiled in the nineteenth century by Sebregondi.

Raccolta Sebregondi, Filza 4911

Biographical information on the Gonfalone Carro branch of the de’ Servi family (i.e. Costantino de Servi’s branch), compiled in the nineteenth century by Sebregondi. Includes a genealogical tree.

Ufficiali poi Magistrato della Grascia, Filza 194

‘Libro dei morti’ (book of the dead, ie register of the deceased) for the year 1622, which I have unsuccessfully searched to find details of Costantino’s inhumation.

Tratte, Filza 991, fols. 30, 33, 34, 48

Lists of citizens appointed to various ‘uffici estrinseci’ (administrative posts outside Florence) from 1586 to 1612. The folio numbers refer to those in which Costantino de Servi’s name appears.

-- ibid., Filza 992, fol. 33

Lists of citizens appointed to various ‘uffici estrinseci’ (administrative posts outside Florence) from 1612 to 1642. The folio number refers to that in which Costantino de Servi’s name appears.

Florence, Biblioteca degli Uffizi

Ms 71 : ‘Inventario di tutte le fighure quadri, e altra Cose della tribuna cominciando da mandestra della porta da basso – dal 1589 al 1634’

The inventory records five items ‘di mano di ghostantino de’ serui’ (by the hand of Costantino de’ Servi): two bas-reliefs of the Dukes of Mantua; one painted portrait of the Duchess Eleonora di Mantova; one of Cristina di Lorena, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and one of Eleonora di Toledo, the late Grand Duchess.

PRIMARY PRINTED SOURCES

Florence, Archivio di Stato

Ceramelli-Papiani, fasc. 4372 (‘Famiglia Servi’), digitised at http://www.archiviodistato.firenze.it/ceramellipapiani2/

Gaye, G., Carteggio inedito d’artisti dei secoli XIV. XV. XVI. Pubblicato et illustrato con documenti pure inediti, 3 vols (Florence: Giuseppe Molini, 1840), Vol. III ‘1501–1672’, pp. 473–6: transcription of:
Carteggio di Artisti, Codice 1, Inserto 36, Lettere 1 (Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Rome, to Antonio Serguidi in Florence – 18 Oct 1585) & 2 (Letter from Costantino de’ Servi, in Naples, to Antonio Serguidi in Florence – 21 Dec 1586)

Urbani, P., unpublished transcriptions of :

Mediceo del Principato, Filza 6371, fol. nn (Letter from Flavia Peretti Orsini, in Florence, to Cristina di Lorena – 2 Mar 1597)
Miscellanea Medicea, Filza 142, fol. 106r (Letter from Vincenzo Giugni, Guardarobiere in Florence, to Belisario Vinta in Florence – 21 Jul 1612)

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