Six Tuscan Poets

Dante and Petrarch dominate this depiction of the foundational literary figures of fourteenth-century Florence, which also includes Boccaccio and Guido Cavalcanti. At left, the fifteenth-century humanists Cristoforo Landino and Marsilio Ficino discuss their work. The objects on the table—including an inkwell, compass, quadrant, and globes—refer to the expansive scope of Dante’s writing. Painted for Luca Martini, who belonged to a circle of artists and writers cultivated by the outstanding literary figure Benedetto Varchi (portraits of both men appear in this exhibition), the picture evokes the activities of the Accademia Fiorentina sponsored by Cosimo. Vasari based each portrait on a famous pictorial or sculptural source.