... personal goal of enhancing her image or those attached to her at a personal and public level. Art collecting became into a visual tool, which allowed members of the nobility, clergy and other elite groups to create representations of their status in the collective's subconscious. Therefore, it becomes evident how for Isabella the practices of collecting and patronage developed into outlets that gave her the capacity to present herself as a relevant figure inside the northern Italian socio-political sphere. Raised in Ferrara and daughter of Duke Ercole d'Este and Eleonor of Aragon, Isabella d'Este was to pursue a life of cultural illumination. After moving to Mantua in 1490, she was able to learn much about art, music and most importantly collecting, thanks to the cultural exposure that came along with her family's position and the environment in which she was raised. The search for artists to commission and antiquities was something ...

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