The next few years marked the high point of Medici influence in Europe, as Leo X followed in his father’s humanistic footsteps and devoted himself to artistic patronage. In 1512, thanks in part to the efforts of Piero’s younger brother Giovanni (a cardinal at the time and the future Pope Leo X), the Medici family was able to return to Florence. After only two years in power, he was forced out of the city in 1494, and died in exile. Lorenzo de Medici (1449-1492), also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, was a poet himself, and supported the work of such Renaissance masters as Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo (whom the Medicis commissioned to complete their family tombs in Florence).Īfter Lorenzo’s premature death at the age of 43, his eldest son Piero succeeded him, but he soon infuriated the public by accepting an unfavorable peace treaty with France. During Cosimo’s time, as well as that of his sons and particularly his grandson Lorenzo de Medici, the Italian Renaissance flourished, and Florence became the cultural center of Europe. Known to history as Cosimo the Elder, he lived a spartan life but was a devoted patron of the humanities, supporting artists such as Lorenzo Ghiberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello and Fra Angelico. Giovanni’s elder son, Cosimo de Medici (1389-1464), rose to political power in 1434 and ruled Florence as an uncrowned monarch for the rest of his life.
Cosimo de MediciĪnother branch of the family, descended from Salvestro’s distant cousin Giovanni di Bicci de Medici, would begin the great Medici dynasty. The building is now the site of Florence's famed Uffizi Gallery, home to many great Renaissance-era treasures amassed by the Medicis since the time of Cosimo the Elder. Their influence had declined by the late 14th century, however, when Salvestro de Medici (then serving as gonfaliere, or standard bearer, of Florence) was banished from the city in 1382 due to his oppressive policies and was forced to live in exile.ĭid you know? When Cosimo I moved the Florentine administrative offices into a building known as the Uffizi, he also established a small museum.
Through banking and commerce, the Medicis rose to become one of the most important families in Florence. The Medici story began around the 12th century when family members from the Tuscan village of Cafaggiolo emigrated to Florence.
0 kommentar(er)
