In her meticulously researched book, Adelina Modesti explicates the multifaceted patronage of the well-educated, fashion-forward, and pious Vittoria della Rovere (1622–94), who reigned as grand duchess of Tuscany (1637 to 1670) and then served as dowager. A Medici and Della Rovere princess with political, affective, and familial bonds across the Italian peninsula and Europe, Vittoria della Rovere serves as a compelling subject for a definitive exploration of how women rulers effectively exerted their power, especially in cultural spheres. The book is situated within the stimulating scholarly discourse examining early modern European women's patronage developed by pioneering scholars in the last twenty-five years. Modesti challenges the old-fashioned scholarly dismissal of women leaders as frivolous and ineffective, and overturns Vittoria della Rovere's vituperative reputation. Modesti's book makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing scholarly examination of the grand duchess by Riccardo Spinelli, Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, and Modesti herself.

Part 1 introduces Vittoria della Rovere's “Gendered Networks,” establishing her emotional life, education, and library, and presenting the formidable Medici women who raised her. Based on the grand duchess's personal account books, chapter 2 elucidates her relationships with and care for her ladies-in-waiting, while the third chapter explores her female social network. Part 2 surveys the grand duchess's “Self-fashioning and Display,” considering her numerous portraits in various media and sundry guises, her importation of French luxury material goods, and her procurement of clothing, furnishings, and theatrical costumes.

Part 3 appraises the Vittoria della Rovere's “Cultural Patronage.” The seventh chapter examines the grand duchess's art patronage, arguing that her avant-garde collection of fine and applied arts of different genres, including newly developed categories such as still-life paintings, demonstrates her discriminating taste. Chapter 8 concentrates on Vittoria della Rovere's discerning matronage, about which more below. The ninth chapter studies the grand duchess's patronage of domestic architecture and interior decoration, focusing on the suburban Villa del Poggio Imperiale, site of her female court and salon. Part 4 investigates Vittoria della Rovere's “Piety and Spiritual Philanthropy,” explicating her active collecting of relics and commissioning reliquaries, her devotion to and active revival of the cult of Saint Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, and her religious and civic charitable work, especially her patronage of female conservatories and colleges.

This wide-ranging, thoroughly researched, and well-illustrated book convincingly argues, on the basis of numerous archival documents, for the important influence on and involvement of Vittoria della Rovere in the cultural, social, and religious spheres of Baroque Florentine society. Modesti successfully critiques traditional patronage studies for its emphasis on the male hero, rightly arguing that ignoring women's contributions risks neglecting more complex patronage contexts involving gender and social class. However, the author might have analyzed the gendered structures and roles the grand duchess lived within and required of others in her female circles. Also, the author's well-meaning assiduousness occasionally tips into minute explications, such as discussions of the grand duchess's numerous contacts and their relations; but this is a quibble ameliorated by three handy genealogical tables.

An important achievement is Modesti's thorough documentation of Vittoria della Rovere's matronage—that is, the patronage by wealthy and powerful women of women painters, writers, musicians, artisans, and other female artists. While chapter 8 addresses the grand duchess's patronage of creative women, Modesti touches upon matronage throughout the book with valuable considerations of Vittoria della Rovere's identification of talented women from lacemakers to singers, and her provision for their educations to further their artistic practices. To cite only one example, the grand duchess's support of women writers led her to found Le Assicurate (the Assured Ones), a Sienese writing academy for women. She also displayed approximately twenty paintings by Giovanna Garzoni. Modesti further indicates the matrilineal communication of the practice of matronage from Vittoria della Rovere's guardians through the grand duchess herself to her granddaughter, the last Medici, Anna Maria Luisa, who bequeathed her extensive art collection to Florence, resulting in the Uffizi and Pitti galleries.

This thought-provoking examination of Vittoria della Rovere's cultural and gendered patronage is a welcome addition to the ongoing discussions of the Medici women and the Medici family and to the flourishing scholarly discourse on women leaders, their patronage networks, their patronage, and, most importantly, their matronage.