The Medici Family

1
The Medici Family

• Their Patronage of the Arts and the Rise of
  Florence

2
Pre-Medici Florence - Territory

• At the end of the 14th century, Florence was
  ruled by a merchantile elite.
• Costly, continuous wars enlarged the territory
  of the city-state by conquering Arezzo, Cortona,
  Prate, Pistoia and Pisa.
• Pisas ports made the Republic of Florence a sea
  power and major economic power of the West

3
Pre-Medici Florence - Economy

• Banking was a major source of power and income,
  and the Florentine gold coin, the florin was so
  reliable that it was the standard coinage in
  Europe
• Much of Florence's wealth was dependent on the
  manufacture and trade of cloth, primarily wool.

The Florin
4
Pre-Medici Florence Ruling Families
Florence was controlled by the Albizzi and
Pazzi families until about 1438. (see
http//www.pbs.org/empires/medici/medici/index.htm
l

• The Albizzi family had controlled the republican
  government for two generations, but they led a
  lot of costly wars, so the people switched
  allegiances to the Medici.
• The Pazzi family were wealthy bankers that were
  in a semi-friendly competition with the Medici
  family. Eventually, they tried to depose the
  Medicis, failed, and their lineage ended.

5
Pre-Medici Florence The Arts

• Churches and public buildings, and houses
  constructed with Romanesque or Gothic
  architecture, reminiscent of northern Italian
  influence.
• Most of the architecture tried to combine
  utilitarian and aesthetic purposes, because these
  mercantile elite needed to rebuilt the city from
  disasters (a flood in the late 1300s) but they
  wanted to be impressive as well
• The Albizzi family supported a lot of artists
  and cultural icons

The Palazzo Davanzati is a good example of the
transition from the medieval tower house to the
Renaissance palace.
6
Family Tree
7
Beginnings of Medici Power

• Giovanni di Bicci deMedici
• First of the famous ruling Medicis and
  considered founder of Medici family fortune
• Giovanni is considered to be the first prominent
  patron of the arts
• Giovanni was a leader not concerned with
  politics, but rather the family fortune and the
  arts
• Giovanni died in 1429 and his son Cosimo became
  head of the Medici family

8
Church of San Lorenzo

• In the 1420s Giovanni di Bicci and Cosimo
  commissioned Brunelleschi to do extensive
  renovation, and it became the first church since
  Roman times to use the classical style.
• Attached to the church is the Laurentain Library
  which houses the Medici library.
• The Church also houses Michelangelo's famous
  Medici tomb

9
Rise of Cosimo deMedici

• Became head of powerful family bank, and amassed
  a fortune because he became banker to the pope,
  and his bank also spread to all the important
  financial markets throughout Europe.
• Cosimo was very interested in a rebirth of
  classical ideas and even went so far as to
  recreate Platos ancient academy in Carregi.
• Cosimo was also a very religious man and much of
  his patronage of the arts was rooted in his
  religious fervor.
• Cosimo spent a considerable portion of his wealth
  on the arts
• Amassed the largest library in Europe
• Supported artists such as Ghiberti, Brunellechi,
  Donatello, Alberti, Fra Angelico, and Ucello
• Florence became cultural center of Europe

10
Artists Commissioned by Cosimo
The Rout of San Romano, Ucello
11
The Nativity, Fra Angelico
12
Santa Maria Novella, Leon Baptista Alberti
13
St. Mark, Donatello
14
Fall of Cosimo deMedici

• Political career in shambles after Florences
  unsuccessful campaign against Lucca
• Campaign engineered by Brunelleschi to flood city
  of Lucca, containing water with giant dam
• Plan backfired when dam broke and flooded camps
  of Florence as well
• In September 1433, Cosimo was imprisoned on
  charges of plotting to overthrow the government
• Cosimo was then banished to Venice, resulting in
  the loss of Brunelleschis most powerful patron

15
Lorenzo deMedici

• Grandson of Cosimo
• Lorenzo, know also as Lorenzo the Magnificent,
  was is said to be the most brilliant of the
  Medici
• Lorenzo was also respected as a very talented
  Latin poet, and like his family members was very
  interested in texts of antiquity
• Lorenzo is considered to be the greatest patron
  of the arts
• Commissioned such artists and musicians as
  Michelangelo,Botticelli and Verrocchio
• Reasons for this patronage included genuine
  interest, continuing family tradition, and
  political motives
• Lorenzo even discovered the talented Michelangelo
  when the artist was only 15 years old

Lorenzo de Medici, Andrea del Verrocchio
16
Tomb of the Medici, Michelangelo
17
Political Ties to Art

• Lorenzo commissioned several French musicians for
  papal music
• Although did have genuine interest in music,
  reason for gaining the services of French
  musicians mainly a political move to enhance
  relations with France
• His influence encouraging experimentation in
  music led to the development of the early
  madrigal

18
Decline of the Patronage

• Lorenzo died in 1492, at the moment that a new
  historical era was beginning (King Charles VIII
  was about to great chaos on the Italian
  peninsula)
• Lorenzo was succeeded by the fervent leader,
  Savonarola who was a strong believer in
  aestheticism

19
Post-Medici The Initial Fall From Power
Girolamo Savonarola was a preacher who settled in
Florence in 1489. He attacked the tyranny of the
Medici family in his sermons, and when in 1494,
Charles VIII of France invaded Italy, the
Medicis lost power, and Savonarola took control,
putting Florence under extremely rigid control.
Eventually, Savonarolas followers turned on
him, and he was killed.
Girolamo Savonarola
More on Savonarola http//www.newadvent.org/cathe
n/13490a.htm
20
Post- Medici - Art and Science
At this point, most of the artistic products of
Florence were in music, and the numerous
academies of literature. The Accademia della
Crusca compliled the Dictionary. History of
the Accademia della Crusca http//italian.about.c
om/library/weekly/aa071900a.htm When the
Lorraine family took over Florence, they revived
the town's economy, but they also turned Florence
more provincial, so it didnt participate in a
thriving international cultural expansion. So
Florences culture remain unchanged at staid for
quite sometime.
21
Post-Medici The Final Fall
Cardinal Giovanni de Medici (Pisaros uncle)
regained control of Florence in 1512 for the
lineage. In 1569, Cosimo III became the Grand
Duke of Tuscany, after taking over many of the
surrounding areas. He ruled with a heavy hand,
not very popular.His heirs were far weaker. In
1737, Cosimo III dies, and both of his children
Gian Gastone and Anna Maria Luisa die childless.
The Medici line has died out, and Florence is
inherited by the Lorraine Dynasty.