The Life of a Renaissance Gunmaker

Bonaccorso Ghiberti and the Development of Florentine Artillery in the Late Fifteenth Century

Bibliographic Data

ID4842128
AuthorsFabrizio Antonio Ansani (0000-0002-1015-7525, corresponding author), Fabrizio Ansani
Year2017
Volume58
Issue3
Pages749-789
Publication date2017-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueTechnology and Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0040-165X • E-ISSN: 1097-3729
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/tech.2017.0080
PMID28890458
OpenAlexW2752987383
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited15

This article examines the technological development of artillery production in Florence during the last two decades of the fifteenth century, before and after the assimilation of the most efficient French ordnance into Italian warfare. The study starts from the notes, drawings, accounts, and guns produced by Bonaccorso di Vettorio Ghiberti (1451-1516), the heir of the foundry of his illustrious ancestor Lorenzo di Cione (1378-1455). Data have been collected from the historical archives of the Istituto degli Innocenti, from the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale of Florence, and from the Florentine State Archive. This article demonstrates the existence of a lively and reactive war-related industry in Renaissance Italy, which was aware of new ideas and new techniques. The article highlights, moreover, the leading role of public demand in fostering military innovations

Archaeology · Art history · Artillery · Fifteenth · The Renaissance · Classics · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Military History and Strategy

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