The Italian Renaissance: Cosimo And Lorenzo Medici

Leonardo and other Renaissance artists would not have been as successful or have the impact that they had if it were not for Patronage. Again, the influence the Medici family had upon the to the Italian Renaissance cannot be stated enough. Particularly Cosimo and Lorenzo Medici used their family’s financial capital to achieve political power, but also affect many Italians perception of reality. The Renaissance was about the move away from scholasticism toward humanism, but to not fully devoid the scholasticism’s existence and doing so by providing balance between the two. There is an important lesson to take from this its application to contemporary leadership. In order for leader’s ideas to take shape and reach the masses, we to need patrons who are willing to sponsor our visions. This sponsor does not necessarily need to be in the form of financial capital, rather, it is the support by believing and understanding that greatness comes from the unknown. Leadership in the 21st century is filled with qualified candidates that would serve as a “Modern-Day Medici”. These notable people include the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, or Paul Allen to name a few.

One that could be considered the patriarch of Modern Day Medici men and women is Otto Khan.
Kahn was born in 1867 and immigrated to the United States in 1893 from Mannheim, Germany.

His financial success allowed him leisure time to pursue a life-long dream, being a patron to budding American and European artists (Drake, 2003).  Kahn often stated that he had wanted to be a poet/playwright.  However, his parents refused to encourage—and sometimes openly condemned—his aspirations.  Kahn claimed it was his parents’ response to his dreams that hardened his resolve to become a patron to artists. Many artists during Kahn’s era did not enjoy the financial support of the state, church, or individuals that artists had during the Renaissance. During his life, Kahn was sometimes even referred to as ‘Manhattan’s Maecenas’ or ‘Otto the Magnificent,’ after Lorenzo the Magnificent of the Medici family (Drake,

2003).
Kahn was no Medici and certainly did not have the same wide ranging effects. However, his patronage was modern in approach. Where the Medici provided patronage to show their power and generosity, Kahn insisted on making loans, not grants, to artists.  Collins (2001) speculates that loans were preferred because they could be deducted as losses from his personal assets under federal tax laws.  However, there is a similarly between the Cosimo and Kahn. Cosimo commissioned Filippo Lippi for several works of art to include The Annunciation and the Seven Saints. Lippie was known to be rather rebellious, loose with women, and would often sneak out of the quarters (XXXX). However, Cosimo did not impose rules or threaten to not provide Lippi with less freedom. Cosimo understood that artists needed to be give space to birth creativity. Cosimo knew people worked best when happy. Kahn, on the other hand saw his funds as a method of relieving an artist’s “material cares for a while.” In fact, he demanded very little of the artists by way of accounting, other than updates through visits or correspondence (Drake, 2003).