The Klović miniature as a diplomatic tool

Abstract

The only so far known letter of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese to the famous miniaturist Giulio
Clovio (Julije Klović), in which he orders him to make a small painting for Géronima, wife of the
Spanish ambassador in Rome, not only reveals the complex relations between the Spanish Habsburg
Court and the Farnese family in Rome, but also the fact that Clovio’s miniatures were utilized as an
efficient instrument of diplomacy. At that time, Clovio was in the service of his patron cardinal
Alessandro Farnese, who was building relations with the Spanish crown. After the Emperor and King
Charles V/I descended the throne, he left to his son Philip II disputes with the Pope. Due to that, Philip
had to find a new strategy to secure his power in Rome, therefore the key people were his
ambassadors. Although the Spanish ambassadors in Rome, brothers Juan de Zúñiga and Luis de
Requesens, did not manage to accomplish their initial political mission to secure the Spanish
positions, they successfully acted as artistic agents in the name of King Philip II. In this context we
can read the above-mentioned letter as ambassador Requesens’ wife, on leaving Rome, ordering
Clovio’s miniature as an exquisite diplomatic present for the Spanish king.