A short time later, on the 8 th of April 1492, Lorenzo the Magnificent died . King Henry IV (second from left) and Catherine de' Medici, painted by Marguerite-Louise Virginie Ancelot. ... Who had turned this building into a magnificent temple to the Medici family? Under Giovanni's son, the Medici Bank opened branches in Rome, Venice, Naples, Milan, Geneva, and as far away as London. He made an enormous amount of money doing this, as did many Florentine bankers." You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website. He ruled Florence with his younger brother, Giuliano (1453–78), from 1469 to 1478 and, after the latter’s assassination, was sole ruler from 1478 to … He completely rebuilt the Church of San Marco and commissioned its frescoes by Fra Angelico. | In a twist, the Florentines embraced Michelangelo's incomparable statue of David as a symbol of their struggle against the "Goliath" Medici clan and prominently displayed the statue near Florence's main square. The astronomer also did time as tutor to the teenaged Cosimo de Medici, the son of Ferdinando I, grand duke of Tuscany in the early 1600s. Banking was a relative innovation during the period, and the Medici were its most successful practitioners. The Medici Bank opened a branch in Bruges in 1439, branches in London and Avignon in 1446, and the Milan branch in 1452 or 1453; the Geneva branch was transferred to Lyon in 1464. Under his leadership, the family bank blossomed, and he soon became the richest man in Florence. But the next Medici would outshine them all. He restarted the ambitious renovation of the Church of San Lorenzo, which features stunning bronze work by Donatello and a library later designed by Michelangelo. The Medici family of Florence, Italy. For this reason, traders would deposit their money for a Medici letter of credit. The family went through a short period of decline afterward until Salvestro de Medici returned the Medici to prominence, holding the office of Gonfaloniere in 1370 and 1378. Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence, by Tim Parks. He was gravely wounded during the Pazzi conspiracy, when a rival banking family tried to stage a violent coup in Florence with the backing of the pope. Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images. Two popes and two queens came from the Medici line. As the ciompi fell, so did Salvestroís political fortunes . Meet the Medici Family" The Medici family originally originate in a small village to the north of Florence. We spoke with Kenneth Bartlett, a Renaissance historian at the University of Toronto and author of "Florence in the Age of the Medici and Savonarola, 1464-1498: A Short History with Documents," to understand the family's indelible stamp on the Renaissance world. The ultimate beneficiary of Medici patronage was Michelangelo, who shared both the Medici instinct for making money and the Medici determination to ignore it. Angelo Poliziano was his poet. After series of bad investments and shady dealings, the bank of the Medici fell into liquidation. That obsession with politics grew until the most powerful and charismatic Medici of all, Lorenzo the Magnificent, let the bank decay while he concentrated on running the Florentine state. They used the profits that they made in the wool trade to diversify their business interests. Nov 6, 2020. How the Medici Family Made Their Money. Galileo arguably made his greatest case for the separation of science and religion in his " Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina," wife of Grand Duke Francesco I, a Medici. Botticelli was Lorenzo's favorite painter. The grandson of Cosimo de’ Medici, he was the most brilliant of the Medici family. There is a glaring contrast between the art of Renaissance Florence, with its passionate recreations of classical myth and history, and the raw realism of northern European portraits of businessmen. Who did the Medici turn to their quest to complete the dome? Dave Roos Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (c. 1360–1429), increased the wealth of the family and established the … In the Sainsbury wing, you can easily see the fruits of Medici largesse. Catherine de' Medici (daughter of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino and great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent) married into the French monarchy at just 14 years old in 1533. Charles VIII, king of France, was making moves on Napoli and marching a huge army down the peninsula. Yet Cosimo did not earn his honorary title "Father of his country" through financial brilliance. Why? His popularity plummeted as he ceded land to the approaching French in unsuccessful attempts to buy them off. (It's unclear where their surname came from but "medici" is the plural of "medico" or "doctor" in Italian. The Medici Family Influence Lasted 500 Years, Producing Popes, Queens, And Artists. Their claim to fame? If you open up almost any world history textbook, you will read phrases like, 'The Renaissance gave us Michelangelo' or, perhaps, 'The Renaissance gave us Leonardo da Vinci.' Not every Medici was memorable. The attack left Lorenzo paranoid and led to a political reputation as a tyrant. Politics, not money, dominated this city's culture. But after a popular rebellion, the oligarchs were ousted, and Cosimo was welcomed back as a hero and "the first citizen of the republic," says Bartlett. The absence of financial imagery in Florentine Renaissance art may even explain why the city went into cultural decline after 1529. 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