Princely Culture: Friendship or Patronage?

Abstract

Although sixteenth-century cultural production confronts us with the first steps towards what nowadays we should call an 'open market-situation', where the artist hopes to sell his creations, there is no question yet of the artist's being really independent: patronage remains the dominant factor. 1 The relationship between patron and artist, however, is a complex one and is not easily described: reality shows a myriad of possibilities, exhibiting in one way or another the tension between, on the one hand, the patron who likes to see his wishes respected and his exclusive status confirmed and celebrated, and, on the other, the individual creative artist who seems to accept the inevitability of his dependence but who nevertheless resents being treated as a subordinate and who tries to cast off the yoke. 2 Even if in earlier centuries artists-1 take this qualifi