Monica Azzolini

Abstract: Historians have recently paid increasing attention to the role of the disputation in Italian universities and humanist circles. By contrast, the role of disputations as forms of entertainment at fifteenth-century Italian courts has been somewhat overlooked. In this article, the Milanese "scientific duel" (a courtly disputation) described in Luca Pacioli's De divina proportione is taken as a vantage point for the study of the dynamics of scientific patronage and social advancement as reflected in Renaissance courtly disputes. Pacioli names Leonardo da Vinci as one of the participants in the Milanese dispute. In this paper I argue that Leonardo's Paragone and Pacioli's De divina proportione are likewise the outcome of the Milanese "scientific duel." By challenging the traditional hierarchy of the arts, they both exemplify the dynamics of social and intellectual promotion of mathematicians and artists in the privileged setting of Renaissance courts, where courtly patronage could subvert the traditional disciplinary rankings.

TL;DR: The Paragone of da Vinci is often taken as the first significant testimony of the newly acquired status of the Renaissance artist in society as discussed by the authors, however, it is not clear how much input (if any) Leonardo had in its composition.

TL;DR: Azzolini et al. as discussed by the authors examine the important political role played by astrology in Italian court culture, and explore the powerful dynamics existing between astrologers and their prospective or existing patrons, illustrating how the "predictive art" of astrology was a critical source of information for Italian Renaissance rulers, particularly in times of crisis.

TL;DR: Gaurico's chart is one of many that are preserved in Italian libraries and archives as discussed by the authors, and it can be seen as an example of a specific practice, namely the casting of a chart tracing the exact position of the planets at the time of someone's birth.

TL;DR: It is argued that, as indicators of deeper political tensions otherwise not always explicitly manifest, astrological prognostications are privileged sources of information providing a better understanding of the political history of the period.