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" Family Tree of the House of Este"

This important genealogy of the noble House of Este, as conceived by Gerolamo Falletti, is grafted onto a large oak designed and watercolored by Enea Vico, an engraver and numismatist who settled at the Este court in Ferrara. Falletti was an ambassador, scholar and historian of Piedmontese origins. In 1558 he was asked by Alfonso II to draw up a hefty history of the Este family to put an end to a long-standing dispute over a right of precedence with the Medici of Florence. In addition to the Annales Estenses, he was also entrusted with the realisation of this family tree. Falletti died in 1564 and his studies were carried out by Giambattista Pigna, who took over, again on behalf of Alfonso II, all his files, including the genealogical studies that merged into this tree. The work definitively saw the light at the beginning of 1565. In the lower part of the tree great prominence is given, albeit with considerable freedom, to the most ancient and remote ancestry with the clear intention of demonstrating the historical and genealogical superiority of the House of Este over the House of Medici. In the centre of the tree a part, deriving from a subsequent printed edition, was applied probably to remedy a serious gap or correct any inaccuracies. It is easily identifiable by its darker colour, due to the ageing of a less valuable paper. Location: Modena State Archive