“I heard about the negotiation with Agostini”. Leopoldo de’ Medici and the acquisition of Leonardo Agostini’s collections (1667-1673)

The article focuses on the negotiations that took place between 1667 and 1673 leading to the purchase of the bulk of Leonardo Agostini’s collections by Prince-Cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici. This was one of the most important acquisitions by the Medici family in the second half of the seventeenth century and brought different types of objects into the grand-ducal collections: medals, intaglios, cameos, and ancient metal objects. Several go-betweens and experts were involved, the most important being the antiquary Ottavio Falconieri, Leopoldo’s agent in Rome. Recently discovered letters from Leopoldo to Falconieri shed crucial new light on the whole story.