Ercole Mattioli | autograph letter signed to the duchess of Savoy, Venice, 12 December 1676

Ercole Antonio Mattioli

Autograph letter signed ("Ercole Matthioli"), to the Duchess of Savoy ("Madama Reale"), dated Venice, 12 December 1676

containing news from Venice, folio (293 x 200mm.), 3pp. on a bifolium, docketed ("Il Conte Matholi") on blank verso with small blue ink stamp, small tear at foot of first page

Mattioli (1640-1694) was secretary to Carlo II Gonzaga, duke of Mantua, and counsellor to his successor, Ferdinando Carlo, before entering the service of other Italian rulers; his political manoeuvres resulted in imprisonment in Genoa on charges of espionage. Mattioli had obtained for his uncle, a Jesuit priest, the post of confessor at the convent of San Lorenzo so that he could obtain information from the aristocratic nuns in the convent. He is notorious for his betrayal of Louis XIV's plans to buy Casale Monferrato from the Duke of Mantua, for which he was imprisoned in France.

This letter is addressed to Marie-Jeanne Baptiste (1644-1724), duchess and regent of Savoy. It contains news about current visitors to Venice (the duke of Mantua), measures against the Turks on Zante and the provisioning of the army, the death of some hunters on the mainland from the cold, appointments to ambassadorial posts by the Venetian state, and the work starting on the two opera houses (Teatro San Luca and Teatro Grimani, the latter opening in 1678). He concludes his letter with an apology for being laid up in bed with a cold.