The Genoese Nation

• Structure of the Genoese Nation
• Patronage of the Genoese Nation
• Giovanni Giacomo Fiesco: De Castro's first patron

From the end of the 15th century onwards foreign merchants came down to reside in Antwerp after the decline of Bruges and formed Nations. Unlike the English, Spanish and Portuguese Nations, the Italian merchants in Antwerp grouped themselves separately, according to their city of origin (for example Genoa, Lucca, Florence) thus reflecting the politically fragmented character of Italy itself.

In 1532, the Emperor Charles V recognized the Genoese Nation in Antwerp. It became one of the most powerful trade communities. Most members were rich bankers, specializing in maritime insurance and loans, and were known for their influential role in the financial world. Together with the Augsburg Fugger family they were the most important moneylenders to the Spanish Crown in the 16th century, and were sometimes hailed as the saviours of the Spanish government. Their money was needed in the first place for the maintenance of the Spanish troops in the Netherlands.

The financial contributions for the maintenance of the Spanish troops in Antwerp, made by the Nations residing in Antwerp, to the City Council, as recorded on 29 April 1574, is listed below:

Register vande Leninghe: Hiernae volghen de partyen van diverschen cooplieden ende borgheren die geaccordert hebben int Collegio inde generale leeninghe Natiën: Portugesen XIIm ll Arthois Florentinen Xc ll Arthois Genevoisen XXXm ll Arthois Lucoisen XXm ll Arthois Milanoisen Xm ll Arthois

[Translation] Register of the loans: The groups of merchants and citizens who have agreed for general loans to the [City] Council Nations: Portuguese XIIm ll Arthois [12.000 pounds Artois] Florentine Xc ll Arthois [1000 pounds Artois] Genoese XXXm ll Arthois [30.000 pounds Artois] Lucese XXm ll Arthois [20.000 pounds Artois] Milanese Xm ll Arthois [10.000 pounds Artois]

© Antwerp, City Archive, PK 1570, fol. 52r

• General
• Stefano Gentile and Giovanni Grimaldi : two distinguished patrons in Antwerp
• Summary of the patronage of the Genoese Nation

Most of the Genuese traders belonged to the nobility and displayed a genuine interest in the arts and sciences. Their generous patronage undoubtedly influenced the local trade élite who were eager to adopt a touch of aristocratic prestige. The highly influential role played by the Genoese patrons on the career of young composers is a relatively unknown feature in current art and music histories (see Table II).

One of the most favoured artists of the Genoese Nation, was the poet Jan van der Noot Esq:.

His greatest work, the Poeticsche Werken, is a collection of multilingual odes, accompanied by explanatory comments, verses by other authors and occasional woodcuts, which were published in Antwerp in separate issues between 1580 and 1595.

In 1593-4 Jan van der Noot devoted an entire issue of the Poeticsche Werken to the members of the Genoese Nation. In 1585 Alexander Farnese made a triumphant entry in Antwerp after having conquered definitively the Protestant troops. On occasion of this entry the Genoese Nation erected a triumph column on the Antwerp Meir.
The poem on the column was Jan van der Noot's. Years later van der Noot published an issue of the Poeticsche Werken, spent to the Genoese column.

Stefano Gentile and Giovanni Grimaldi : two distinguished patrons in Antwerp

Stefano Gentile and Giovanni Grimaldi, two rich Genoese bankers, revealed themselves as particularly generous patrons and considered their support of artists an effective way of displaying their wealth and prestige. In 1565 the humanist and poet Guillaume De Poetou wrote his debut, a collection of odes entitled La grande liesse en plus grand labeur and addressed to both Gentile and Grimaldi as a New Year present.

Other authors who enjoyed the protection of Gentile:

• The Genoese poet Stefano Ambrosio Schiappalaria (+1581); he was a businessman and poet from Liguria, active in the Genoese milieu in Antwerp and applied himself in economy and history, as well as architecture and poetry.

  Il quarto libro dell'Eneide which he had published at the firm of Christopher Plantin in 1568, includes an Italian translation of Vergile's fourth book of the Aeneïs. Addressed to the Genoese Pier Francesco Spinola, the book also contains verses for Grimaldi and Gentile.

• The Augustinian monk Johannes Garetius (ca. 1499-1571): his Catholic publications appeared in a period of growing Protestantism. One of them was Mortuos vivorum precibus ... with a preface addressed to Stefano who is thus unambiguously revealed as a Catholic (and pro-Spanish).

• The Hungarian humanist Johannes Sambucus (1531-1584); he was a close friend of Stefano Gentile. During a brief stay in the Low Countries in 1564 he had his Emblemata cum aliquot nummis antiqui operis printed by Plantin. One of the emblems is dedicated to Gentile.
  

  In the same year and at the same printing house Sambucus' comments on Horace's Ars Poetica were published. They were edited by his friend Daniël Rechnitz who addressed the dedication to Stefano's brother Francesco Gentile in memory of the friendship between Sambucus and Stefano.

Gentile and Grimaldi also helped to launch the career of Lassus and De Monte, respectively.