New research led by St Andrews academics has provided fresh insights into the life and work of one of the greatest intellectuals of the 16th Century.
A two-year study into the man painted by Titian and Veronese, Renaissance writer and patron of the arts Daniele Barbaro, has shed new light on the one-time ambassador to the UK.
Co-ordinated by St Andrews art historian Dr Laura Moretti, the two-year international research collaboration, Funded by the Leverhulme Trust, has now culminated in a major new exhibition staged in Venice.
Dr Moretti has been studying his life and work since 2009. Using a wealth of previously little-known archive material, Dr Moretti said the project had resulted in a better picture of this complex intellectual.
In the course of the study, the research team made a number of important discoveries, including an entire 16th Century mass hidden in the binding of one of Barbaro’s books.
Barbaro, following a trip to Scotland, made clear his view of the country while serving as an ambassador to the court of Edward VI.
Network facilitator Dr Lenia Kouneni, also from the School of Art History, said: “Following the trip, in his diplomatic relazione of April 1551, Daniele admired the extremely safe natural harbours, but thought that the people were ‘treacherous, having no regard for truces or peace’.”