Giovanni da Verrazzano. Studies for the 16th Century the Quincentenary

A new book curated by our Foundation has been released.

In 2024, the five-hundredth anniversary of Giovanni da Verrazzano’s voyage to America was commemorated. This collection of studies, written by eminent scholars, aims to go beyond the mere celebration of the great navigator by offering meaningful contributions to the advancement of Verrazzano-related historiography and beyond. The volume focuses on specific topics such as the role of Florentine merchants and navigators in trade with the New World, the growth of cartographic and anthropological knowledge, and the context in which the three expeditions of Giovanni da Verrazzano took shape and were carried out. Equally significant is the literary value of his accounts, which belong to the rich tradition of travel narratives.

Moreover, a team of medical researchers has reconstructed the pernicious exchange of diseases between Europeans and Indigenous peoples following the American colonization. The volume also highlights how Verrazzano’s explorations fully align with the broader context of Florence’s early sixteenth-century expansionist maritime policy under the Medici—demonstrated by the founding of the fortified city of Livorno and the creation of a war fleet entrusted to the Knights of Saint Stephen.

This collection of essays is valuable both for specialists and for passionate readers interested in exploring such fascinating themes as travel literature, the relationship between Europeans and Indigenous peoples, the political and symbolic value of cartography, Florence’s maritime ambitions under the Medici, and the still somewhat mysterious profile of the Navigator as presented here.
The book is published by Polistampa Florence.