Lorenzo de Medici is one of the most important figures in the history of Italy. He lived and reigned during the golden age of the Renaissance in Florence in the late fifteenth century. Although not from a royal family or appointed to the throne, he held much political power as the ruler of Florence. Unlike the rulers of his day, he was among the few to directly immerse in the arts by commissioning works with some of the artists that led one of the most important eras in the world: the Italian Renaissance. Lorenzo de Medici was one of the most influential figures in this era due to his unorthodox politics as well as his generous contributions to the world of art. Because of these two themes, Lorenzo was the main proponent that helped start the Renaissance, and influenced Italian life thereafter.
Lorenzo was born into the aristocratic Medici family on January 1st, 1449 and at an early age was trained for power. He rose to become the ruler of Florence, after his father Piero died prematurely, assuming the title Prince of Florence. At first, he shared power with his younger brother Giuliano. Giuliano was assassinated during the Pazzi conspiracy at 25 years old, leaving Lorenzo as the sole ruler. The conspiracy was a plot by members of the rival Pazzi family to replace the de Medici as rulers of Florence, and took place on Easter Sunday, April 26, 1478. Although they attempted to assassinate Lorenzo and Giuliano, Lorenzo was able to escape with the help of poet Angelo Poliziano, wounded but alive. (Encyclopedia Britannica) Consequently, this strengthened the position of the Medici and the Pazzi were banished from Florence.
Similar to his father and grandfather, Lorenzo ruled Florence indirectly through his family’s extensive wealth, al...
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... hearts of people through peaceful action, not greed. His patronage of the arts produced some of the most prime examples of Renaissance painting and sculpture, no other person has come close to the amount of commissions of Lorenzo de Medici during his time. Michelangelo remains undoubtedly the greatest painter and sculptor of all time, and without Lorenzo taking interest in him and promoting him with his generous commissions, he might have never gone on to paint the Sistine Chapel and sculpt David and Pieta. The humble, uncrowned prince of Florence accomplished so much in such a short life, more than many crowned Italian rulers have in their time on the throne. Lorenzo de Medici was one of the most influential figures in this era due to his unorthodox politics as well as his generous contributions to the world of art. His legacy shall forever be embodied in history.
Under the Medici rule, especially the leadership of Lorenzo de’Medici, art thrived and new revolutionary ideas emerged, furthering the Renaissance in Florence while challenging the stronghold of the church. Florence became an edifice for art and the greatest painters of the time flocked to the city including Fra Filippo Lippi, Verrocchio, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo (Greenblatt 13)...
The Medici family can most certainly be regarded as the significant heroes of the Renaissance. This is due to their significant promotion and patronage in the arts, in turn bringing focus back to the antiquities, a major importance during the Renaissance period. Furthermore, the Medicis can be considered the great heroes of the Renaissance, due
Catherine de Medici’s culpability for the turbulent events in France in 1559-72 remains a topic of some debate. Highly personal protestant pamphleteers associated Catherine with sinister comparisons to the contemporary evil Machiavelli which eventually developed into the ‘Black Legend’. Jean.H. Mariégol consolidates this interpretation, overwhelmingly assuming Catherine’s wickedness; the Queen Mother was deemed to be acting for ‘personal aggrandizement’ without an interest in the monarchy. Neale provides a corrective arguing a ‘dominant maternalism’ drove Catherine’s policies. Sutherland critiques Neale, suggesting he is guilty of using misconceived qualifying phrases from the ‘Black Legend’ stemming from the contemporary pamphlets, instead Sutherland and Heller attempt to disentangle Catherine from the context of the xenophobic Protestant pamphleteers that shaped much of Catherine’s historical analysis thus far, revealing the ‘politique’ whose moderate policies were a force for stability. Knecht is most convincing in his assertion that whilst the ‘Black Legend’ is a misrepresentation of her character and policies, Sutherland goes too far in whitewashing Catherine. Ironically, Catherine as a ‘politique’ aimed for complex policies and yet her role in French politics was over-simplified by contemporaries and arguably even by modern historians contributing to overly polarised interpretations. Instead we should bear in mind the violent pressures Catherine faced in the context of the collapse of monarchical authority and follow the more nuanced interpretation of her role.
Lorenzo’s brother assassinated by the Pazzi (rival family), who plotted with the pope against the Medicis so Lorenzo was a cautious ruler
Lorenzo De Medici can be considered as one of the most influential men of the 13th century. His work in political affairs and administration were renowned in all Italy and his family could count on him in every aspect. Lorenzo was also a promoter of a new period called Renaissance. He was one of the first “mecenate” to explore this new way of art. In this project, I will concentrate how he developed art in Florence, giving a clear example through an Artist of that period that was working for him: Sandro Botticelli. His work “The Spring” is a well-defined example of what we can call “art in the Renaissance”, in particular for the Italian Renaissance.
Cesare Borgia, also called Duke Valentino, was named Duke of Romagna by his father, Pope Alexander VI. Borgia came into power through the arms and fortune of others, and according to Machiavelli, that is not a good sign because those rulers tend to not last very long. But Borgia showed tremendous efforts to make sure he would stay in power by strengthening his foundations, even when his father was no longer the Pope. He was able to conquer th...
Niccolo Machiavelli was born a citizen of Florence during a very turbulent period of constant p...
He was the first of the Medici political dynasty during the majority of the Renaissance. Giovanni was the founder of the Medici Bank which lead to the Medici supremacy. Unlike the rest of the medici family, Giovanni had to work extremely hard for money. He was born into a home with five siblings putting him in a position with no financial support. Vieri di Cambio de’ Medici taught Giovanni everything he needed to know about banking. Vieri owned his own bank chain from 1348 to 1392 in Europe. Once Vieri retired Giovanni created the Medici bank in 1397 in Florence and a branch in Rome. Due to the booming success of the first Medici bank, three more branches opened in Rome, Venice, and Florence. In 1402 Giovanni opened a wool factory. Six years later a new factory was opened for trading spices, olive oil, jewelry, and other goods. Soon after that there was a fourth Medici Bank branch open in Naples and Gaeta. Giovanni setup success for his family after marrying and having kids with business skyrocketing. Giovanni died at age 69. He had given the majority of control of the bank to his two sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo to carry on the family
Leonardo Da Vinci could be argued as one of the most famous persons in the Renaissance Era and one of the greatest painters to ever live. Leonardo is talented and has made many contribution throught his life. He did so many things such as painting, anatomy , mechanics, and architecture. And he is one of the reasons why the Renaissance era could be regarded at one of the greatest time periods in history.
The Medici Family was one of the most powerful families of Renaissance Florence. They were a banking family. The first Medici bank, started by Giovanni di Becci de’ Medici, was a small scale business run in the bathroom. The bank grew through Giovanni’s extraordinary salesmanship and financial caution (PBS: Godfathers of the Renaissance). He gave out loans to those who they believed would help the bank persevere and thrive. Known as patrons of the arts, the Medici family funded and encouraged art by Botticelli, Brunelleschi, and Michelangelo. Consequential members of the family such as Giovanni de’ Medici, Cosimo de’ Medici, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and Ferdinando I de’ Medici helped to increase the affluence of Florence during the Renaissance.
Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy in 1469 to a middleclass family. The time in which Machiavelli lived Italy as a country was not united but divide and split into little providences and republics. He latter became responsible for the Florentine militia against the Medici government and rule. When the Medici power reclaimed Florence Machiavelli was arrested for conspiracy he was tortured and then banished from Florence. During his banishment he wrote the book The Prince in 1513 which is dedicated to the new prince of Florence Lorenzo De Medici. The book was a discourse to the prince on how to run a country and also a way Machiavelli can get a job working in politics again.
Throughout history many art movements have emerged that artists and styles are classified under. One large contributing movement over the time period from about 1450 to about 1600 was known as the Italian Renaissance. However, what a large portion of people do not realize is that the Italian Renaissance was actually two main movements during that period of time. Each movement had key artists and a variation in style from the other movements. These two movements in the Italian Renaissance have been named the Early and High Renaissance.
Cosimo di Medici was born on the 10th of April, 1389 in Florence. His parents were Giovanni di Bicci de Medici and Piccardo de’ Bueri. He also had a twin brother Damiano, who died as an infant. They were named after the saints Damian and Cosmas
Medici: A Pleasant Florentine Family? The Medici family is sometimes called the Godfathers of the Renaissance. The Medici’s had a political dynasty, banking family, and royal house that began around the late fourteenth century. However, they remained citizens, not monarchs. The Medici dynasty became the most powerful family in the city state and consequently, they became the hereditary Dukes of Florence.
The Italian Renaissance was one of the most colorful, vital, and exciting times in history. Renaissance eventually comes from the French word "Renaistre," meaning "to be born again." The Renaissance was a revival or a rebirth of cultural awareness and learning among art, law, language, literature, philosophy, science, and mathematics. This period took place between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Renaissance in Italy flourished in the 15th century and spread throughout most of Europe in the 16th century.