Jacopo Pontormo: a Scholarly Craftsman
Résumé
Several studies have been consecrated to the culture of Jacopo Pontormo and his rapports with the scholars of Cosimo I's court. For Pontormo, the sole indications concerning the contents of his private library - supposing him to have possessed sufficient books to merit speaking of a library as such - are contained in his diary. This chapter aims to hypothetically retrace Jacopo Pontormo's literary education: how he learnt to write and read and how he acquired his knowledge of Latin. Pontormo's basic education endowed him with the type of Florentine culture common for craftsmen. The chapter considers the books that the painter may have possessed, the libraries which he would have had access to and the circulation of books in early sixteenth-century Florence. Lastly, the chapter analyses Pontormo's interest, attested by his diary, in scientific works and in questions of natural philosophy.