The Medici – Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance

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I се случват малко интересни и заслужаващи споменаване факти, като сред тях е присъствието на Галилео Галилей, забележителен математик и астроном, музеят му във Флоренция е събрал невероятна колекция от научни открития променили света. By 1410, Giovanni was the wealthiest man in Florence and one of the richest in Europe. He was essentially an investment guru, akin to a Warren Buffet of the era. The Medici Bank became the most profitable business in Europe. There are brief narratives on the Medici’s who married into royalty particularly Caterina and Marie who became queens of France. Machivelli is noted, but having worked for enemies of the Medici, he does not feature much in the narrative. For the position of manager of a bank had transformed into that of Grand Duke. The logo had to change. Bronzino, Piero de Medici, circa 1550-70– in the National Gallery of London 3. Piero de Medici: the Gouty Medici

This novel draws the reader into the Renaissance to walk the streets of Florence, meet its famous men, loiter awhile in Botticelli’s workshop, and see one of the world’s greatest paintings grow from first sketches through to finished panel, even as daggers are drawn and blood spills. By the early 1520s, few descendants of Cosimo the Elder remained. Giulio de Medici, the illegitimate son of Lorenzo the Magnificent’s brother Giuliano, abdicated power in 1523 to become Pope Clement VII, and the short and brutal rule of Alessandro (reputed to be Giulio’s own illegitimate son) ended with his assassination in 1537. A New Medici Branch Comes to Power A scene of the plague in Florence in 1348 described by Boccaccio, by Baldassarre Calamai (1787-1851). Photograph: Dea Picture Library/De Agostini/Getty Images With these words, we start the tale of Florence. Hibbert explains the socio-economic factors that produced this remarkable city. A city of merchants and bankers with a rich history of republican thought and government. Into this mixture in 1296 the Medici family appears. It is interesting that both versions of the Medici emblem are explained, with it representing the dents on Averardo's shield during his service under Charlamange (this is certainly the Medici propaganda version), as well as the explanation more historically likely- the coat of arms displays three red balls which could be pills or cups, signifying the importance of their last name having to do with the medical practice.

Arthur Field, The Intellectual Struggle for Florence: Humanists and the Beginnings of the Medici Regime, 1420-1440 (Oxford University Press, 2017) Compared to the other books I have read of the period, this book seems to focus more on the people, the artists of the period and their artwork and is a bit lighter on the historical context, the events, battles and conspiracies that were rife at the time. I imagine history students would believe this edition does not provide enough substance. Paul Strathern does a wonderful job of telling the story of this fascinating Italian family. From the first to the very last person in the Medici bloodline, Strathern describes their lives, dealings and characters, always placing them within a historical and cultural context. In reading this book, one does not only learn of this unique family. The history of Florence, and Italy more broadly, Renaissance art, architecture, philosophy, science, war and the geopolitical struggles of the time are all dealt with to provide the reader with a detailed and comprehensive picture of the times. A Medici replaced the ruler with Machiavelli as advisor, who contructed a terrible Florent army that fled immediately. So if, like me, you are a fan of the work of such 14th-century Florentine masters as Botticelli and Donatello, you’ll be well entertained by Medici.

I am one of those who came to this book having braved my way through all three seasons of the Netflix show. (An idle bid to improve my knowledge of Florence, a city to which I have not yet traveled.) While I quite enjoyed the series, not least the theme song, I give it extra points for nurturing my interest in this hypnotically repulsive and constantly fascinating Italian dynasty who rose from modest money-lenders to become one of the most powerful families in medieval Europe.The Intellectual Struggle for Florence is an analysis of the ideology that developed in Florence with the rise of the Medici, during the early fifteenth century, the period long recognized as the most formative of the early Renaissance. Instead of simply describing early Renaissance ideas, this volume attempts to relate these ideas to specific social and political conflicts of the fifteenth century, and specifically to the development of the Medici regime. While the Medici influence in painting, sculpture and architecture is widely known, the book explores Medici influence on music, poetry, philosophy and science particularly through patronship of Gallileo. When I’ve enjoyed a historical series, I seek out novels set in the same period. Fortunately, the de' Medici family, with its renowned interest in and support of the arts, plays a role in several of the arts-inspired novels listed on Art In Fiction. Having founded the bank that became the most powerful in Europe in the fifteenth century, the Medici gained massive political power in Florence, raising the city to a peak of cultural achievement and becoming its hereditary dukes. Among their number were no fewer than three popes and a powerful and influential queen of France. Their influence brought about an explosion of Florentine art and architecture. Michelangelo, Donatello, Fra Angelico, and Leonardo were among the artists with whom they were socialized and patronized. Týmto by som chcela poďakovať autorovi knihy Medici: Mocný rod, ktorého fikcia bola tak nap*ču, že ma donútila siahnuť po literatúre faktu. Aj zlá literatúra je na niečo dobrá. :)

After a Prologue on events of April 1478, the book begins with Giovanni di Bicci de Medici (1389-1464), who founded what was to become the most famous bank of Italy, and his son Cosimo who expanded the bank’s geographical footprint and laid the political foundation for growing the family’s influence. As Cosimo was groomed for leadership, he groomed his sons. Strathern poses that because the Medici’s were not nobles and Florence was a republic the family built its political position by bonding with the people through buildings, public art, hosting dignitaries with large community events and presenting a modest demeanor. His son is the famous Cosimo, who was born in 1389, who lived during the inter-familial conflicts endemic to the Italian city-states. The famous Albizzi-Medici conflict occurs during this time. From this point on the book is a treasure trove of information about the various Medicis. From the great and mighty like Cosimo or Lorenzo the Magnificent, to the dregs of the family that appear near the end.

Novel Featuring Donatello

Florence is a very noir city,” a film-maker once told me 10 years ago, on learning that I wrote thrillers set there. (The sixth in my Florentine detective series, The Viper, is out now.) We were looking down on lovely Piazza Santa Croce, scene of a thousand years of bloody jousts and tournaments and the staggeringly violent Florentine football, Calcio Storico, and the words made perfect sense to me. The House of Medici, chronicles the life, rise and fall of the De Medici dynasty from the early 15 century through the renaissance and the prominence of Florence on the European and world stage. A family heritage deeply rooted in banking, Finance and Commerce, are elevated to become a prominent family in Italian politics. The story is interwoven with the greatest renaissance artists Leonardo DaVinci, Donatello, Michelangelo who were nurtured and championed by Lorenzo De Medici earning him the title of patron of arts and Godfather of the renaissance. As history has it, the powerful dynasty falls, is strengthen and weakened through the years and with the appointment of two Popes their fate cannot be reversed.

Florence started as a republic where the Medici family and their supporters become dominant. Later it became a duchy with the Medicis as Dukes. Magnifico is a vividly colorful portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici, the uncrowned ruler of Florence during its golden age. A true "Renaissance man," Lorenzo dazzled contemporaries with his prodigious talents and magnetic personality. Known to history as Il Magnifico (the Magnificent), Lorenzo was not only the foremost patron of his day but also a renowned poet, equally adept at composing philosophical verses and obscene rhymes to be sung at Carnival. You can see Venus and Marsat the National Gallery in London and Primaveraand Birth of Venus atthe Uffiziin Florence. Celá Florencia je touto históriou poznačená, a Hibbert si to dobre uvedomuje. Preto nájdete okrem podrobných líčení kto-s kým-kedy-kde aj informácie o umelcoch, čo rodine Medici slúžili, aj primary sources z listov pápežov a vždy, keď sa spomenie nejaký kostol / obraz / socha, máte na konci knihy poznámky. Práve tie robia z knihy skutočne "živú históriu" - Hibbert ponúkne detailnejšie info o umelcoch / diele samotnom a aj popis, kde sa toto dielo v súčastnosti nachádza. 6/10 v Uffizi a inak dostanete presný návod ako sa na tú-ktorú ulicu dostať. Giovanni de Bicci de’ Medici was the first Medici of import. He initiated the Medici’s rise to power. Born in 1360, he essentially founded the Medici dynasty. Giovanni was a self made man with a rags to riches story, bringing his family from abject obscurity to nationwide fame.

In some ways (in strange ways, for that matter), this book came across homophobic and in some instances, anti-religion. Neither are things I would have expected to deal with when reading about Renaissance Italy or Florence in particular, which was a haven of artists, many of whom we would now place somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Michelangelo was given the worst treatment in this regard because he was looked down upon by the author for being both homosexual and highly religious. Aspects and "flaws" of his character, as well as of other big names like Leonardo, Donatello, and members of the Medici family itself, were explained by their sexuality being "abnormal." Religion was spoken of disparagingly only every now and then, especially when making reference to Michelangelo's zeal or how Leonardo was greater than all the others because he was agnostic/atheistic, though even he could "fall prey" to the thinking of the church. Again, this could have been an interesting contrast and way of speaking on art patronage, where artists may not necessarily have believed in what they were creating or even the church they worked for. But once more, we were left feeling like the author just wanted to disparage anyone who believed, especially someone like Michelangelo, who could have been maligned because of his sexuality. These things are not mutually exclusive and certainly weren't in the age of the Renaissance. We love Paul Strathern’s writing. It pulls you inside the story and gives you an overview of how the Medici were influential in the Italian Renaissance. It’s a story of endless ambition, power and drama and is interesting particularly for the way it shows how the Medici family’s involvement with the great painters and scientists of the age. Ever gone into a second-hand bookshop? Have you glanced over the shelves of books, dusty and overlooked, their authors fading into forgetting? Writing a book is a tilt against futility, a challenge to eternity and entropy – but the shelves of second-hand bookshops tell us that almost all such challenges end in failure. Run your finger along the spines, reading off the names of the authors. Have you heard of any of them? There have been a number of books on the Medici, unsurprising considering their lasting effect on the modern day worlds of finance and culture, but this is definitely one of the more accessible reads.