Idolizing Mary: Maya-Catholic Icons in Yucatán, Mexico.

Abstract

from Ottoman Turkey. It begins with Piero Boccardo’s study of the embassy of Anton Giulio Brignole-Sale who represented the Republic of Genoa, including first-hand accounts of the complexities of the negotiations with the Spanish court. Next, Paola Volpini covers the translatability of scientific discoveries through Galileo and Medicean diplomacy from 1612 to 1632; the original idea was to share Galileo’s discoveries, including the measurement of longitude, in exchange for the right for Florentine vessels to commerce with the New World without passing through Seville. This is followed by Jorge Fern andez-Santos and H€ useyin Serdar Tabako glu’s account of the visit of Ahmed Agha in 1649–50, discussing the ensuing unsuccessful negotiations as well as disreputable behavior of the envoy and his servants. Finally Mercedes Simal L opez deals with Fulvio Testi, a Modenese poet and envoy to Madrid in 1636, and his return in 1638 with Francesco I d’Este, Duke of Modena, on his official visit to Madrid. The book concludes with MiguelAngel Ochoa Brun’s Epilogue, a scholarly assessment and synthesis of Philip’s own ambassadors, of which Peter Paul Rubens is probably the most famous. The volume ends with a list of foreign diplomatic representatives sent to Philip IV by the principal European powers. This important and interesting book, written by twenty-one scholars from twelve countries, is a major achievement, forming a significant contribution to Spanish and wider European diplomatic studies, court interactions, and art patronage, both through the scope and rich use of sources, manuscript and printed. It is very beautifully produced and enriched by 287 colour illustrations introducing whenever possible portraits of the protagonists, for example Diego Vel azquez’s Francesco I d’Este of 1638 (Modena, Galleria Estense) and Camillo Massimo of 1649–50 (Kingston Lacey, National Trust).