Beee-zarre. "Archaeology" magazine july/aug 05 issue has the prelim results from the current dig in Florence. I think you'll find some of the hands-on forensic evidence a given by the Italian archaeologists to be "just a little" different. I'll cite all of the Eleanora's health tidbits from the article "Secrets of the Medici":
"When we found Eleanora's box, we found that though no soft tissue was preserved. the bones were in good condition. [Aside on the historical record elided.] She was pregnant most of her adult life and her skeleton showed it. Every birth is a trauma to the mother's pelvis and leaves it's mark. In Eleanora's case the bones that come together were extremely rough and irregular. She was a small woman, and everytime she had a child there was damage to the bones, followed by regrowth and remodeling of them. And the back of her pelvis, which is normally quite angular was flattened by the many children coming down the birth canal." "All those pregnancies, during which the calcium is leached from the mother for the bone development of the fetus, had had a serious effect on Eleanora's teeth. She had lost several and others were abcessed." There is much, much more in the article about Eleanora, Cosimo, even some light on the great debate as to whether or not Cosimo killed his own son Cardinal Giovanni in grief over younger son Garzia's murder. (I wont spoil the plot. You can read it yourself.) The 5th Medici exhumed in this year's dig was Gian Gastone di Medici, the last Medici Duke. He was found w all his grave goods intact, tho the tomb was disturbed in the 1966 flood. --cin Cynthia Barnes [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Beth and Bob Matney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [h-cost] Eleonora da Toledo To: <h-costume@mail.indra.com> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Interesting forensic info. "His forensic investigation revealed that Cosimo I's wife Eleonora da Toledo (1522-1562), beautifully portrayed by Agnolo Bronzino in a painting on display at the National Gallery in Prague, was five feet tall (1.58 meter), had a protruding chin, twisted legs, suffered from toothache and had shin splints, caused by an inflammation of the outer layer of the bone that occurs often during the later stages of syphilis. "However, the portrait shows a beautiful lady, and comparison with the skull reveals that the painting is rather realistic, except for the chin. The artist portrayed her from above, using a perspective trick. In this way the chin appears more regular," Rollo said. " "Renaissance Painters "Corrected" Portrait Features" May 10, 2005 http://www.sgallery.net/news/05_2005/10.php _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
