LORENZO "il Magnifico" de' Medici
The Medici family held power in Florence intermittently for over 300 years, from the late 1300’s to the 1700’s. Having what was considered to be the largest bank in Europe definitely helped.
Lorenzo’s grandfather Cosimo [the Elder] had amassed quite a fortune in land and farming that he turned into loans, thus beginning a long legacy of financial control over the community.
Lorenzo was a quiet boy who enjoyed art and poetry in addition to his outdoor interests of jousting, hunting, and birding. When his father Piero died after a brief five-year Florentine rule, Lorenzo was thrust into the political limelight, not of his own choosing.
1469 was an important year for Lorenzo, punctuated by both love and loss. During that year, he married Clarice Orsini (of the Orsini lineage of popes). In that same year his beloved father Piero, riddled with gout, passed away. In addition, Lorenzo was handed the ‘reins’ of the city, much to his immediate chagrin. For, like his forebear Giovanni, Lorenzo was a quiet man who preferred to govern from the background.
During his tenure as the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo expanded his interest in the arts by focusing his keen eye (not to mention his even keener bank account) on discovering new talent. Lorenzo had a tremendous respect for the arts and sciences that included sculpture, painting, mathematics, poetry, literature and architecture. He sought out and invested in many artists whose names and works still remain important today. These would include Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Verrocchio and, of course, the enigmatic Michelangelo, in addition to many more sculptors, painters, writers and poets and architects.
Exerpt from Florence Travel book FLORENCE GEMS & GIANTS by Patty Civalleri.
1-Minute Medici
