The Medici – Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance
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The Medici – Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance
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Florence started as a republic where the Medici family and their supporters become dominant. Later it became a duchy with the Medicis as Dukes. But. There’s no avoiding the homophobia so evident throughout the book. It’s somewhat interesting how Strathern manages to do what more historians should, aka recognise that gay people have existed always and some relationships truly are more than “a close friendship” - but he does it in such a cringey uncomfortable way. Furthermore, it seems like he blamed all the faults of people on their sexuality?? Not cool. I was able to ignore it at first but the more the book progresses the more it started to bother me. 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 Christopher Hibbert’s book The House of Medici: It’s Rise and Fall is a thoroughly researched and documented work on the members of the Medici family who controlled Florence, Italy for many years and influenced the power structure not only in the various Italian city states but also in the Vatican and Europe. While not making a significant mark on Florentine history, Piero was nonetheless a significant arts patron. He commissioned the fresco cycles in the Medici-Riccardi Palace. He encouraged the rise of the talented sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio. And he commissioned the architect Michelozzo to construct San Miniato al Monte.
Piero’s son, also named Lorenzo, regained power in Florence, and his daughter Catherine de Medici (1519-1589) would become queen of France after marrying King Henry II; three of her four sons would rule France as well.
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Catherine Fletcher tells the riveting tale of Alessandro's unexpected rise and spectacular fall, unraveling centuries-old mysteries, exposing forgeries, and bringing to life the epic personalities of the Medicis, Borgias, and others as they waged sordid campaigns to rise to the top. Arthur Field, The Intellectual Struggle for Florence: Humanists and the Beginnings of the Medici Regime, 1420-1440 (Oxford University Press, 2017) By all accounts, the pair were happily married. Eleanora was considered a “first lady” by modern standards, traveling with her husband and helping rule the city. Lorenzo emerged from the conflict with greatly increased prestige. From then on he was considered the Wise, “the needle on the Italian scales.” He did not take advantage of his position by imitating the Sforza and making himself a duke. He contented himself with creating a Council of Seventy that he hoped would be even more manageable than the old Cento (Hundred). This amazed Europe, for he had all the attributes of a true sovereign. His new villa, at Poggio a Caiano, had all the majesty of a royal residence. Lorenzo de' Medici il Magnifico, bronze medal with relief by Bertoldo di Giovanni, 1478; in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (more)
In 1540, the pair moved into the Palazzo Vecchio and began redecorating. What you see there today is mostly the effort of Cosimo I, including the amazing Hall of Five Hundred. I've already read Paul Strathern's Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City a while ago, and thought it was excellent. 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. But for others, the simple recitation of the Medici family's history in Florence might seem almost aimless, for there's no attempt by Mary Hollingsworth to draw any grand conclusions about history, or the Renaissance, or art patronage. "The Family Medici" is the story of this fascinating Italian family's journey through the complex politics and ugly realities of medieval life, and Hollingsworth does nothing to gloss over the less savory aspects of the time. In Episode 2 of Season 1 of Medici, we also meet Filippo Brunelleschi, famous for figuring out how to add the dome to the iconic Santa Maria del Fiore that dominates the skyline of Florence to this day.So begins a tale of one of the art world’s most beloved paintings, La Primavera, as Sandro, a confirmed bachelor, and Floriana, a headstrong artist in her own right, enter intoa turbulent relationship. One of the most surprising things I learned in this book was about the corrupt lives of many of the popes and cardinals who served the Roman Catholic Church. Hibbert describes many selfish and debauched men who held these offices. Not at all what I imagined. A Medici replaced the ruler with Machiavelli as advisor, who contructed a terrible Florent army that fled immediately. 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.
- Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
- EAN: 764486781913
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