“Of Rhinos, Peppercorns, and Saints”
This chapter argues for the significance of Thomas’s cult, and objects produced in that milieu, in a nexus of exchange between Medici Florence and India. I show how generations of Medici Grand Dukes were arbiters not only of a conventionally ‘exotic’ image of India Orientale as a place filled with strange beasts and wonderful riches, but of India as a Christian pilgrimage site, fixed to geographic coordinates.
Citation: Benay, Erin. “Of Rhinos, Peppercorns, and Saints: (Re)presenting India in Medici Florence.” In Art, Mobility, and Exchange in Early Modern Tuscany and Eurasia, edited by Francesco Feddolini and Marco Musillo, 121-145. New York and London: Routledge, 2020.
Christ as the Good Shepherd, “Rockery,” 17th century, ivory, 17.4 x 6.8 x 5 cm., Walters Art Museum 71.324.
