Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici (4 August 1463 – 20 May 1503), nicknamed ''the Popolano'', was an Italian banker and politician, the brother of

Giovanni il Popolano Giovanni de' Medici, in full Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, later known as il Popolano (the commoner) (21 October 1467 – 14 September 1498) was an Italian nobleman of the Medici House of Florence. He was the son of Pierfrancesco di Loren ...

. He belonged to the junior (or "Popolani") branch of the

House of Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the M ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

Biography

Lorenzo was born in

, the son of Pierfrancesco de' Medici (the Elder) and Laudomia

Acciaioli The Acciaioli, Acciaiuoli, Accioly, Acciajuoli or Acioli was an important family of Florence. Family name is also written Acciaioli, Acciainoli, or Accioly, Accioli, Acioli and Acyoly in Portugal and Brazil, where there are branches of it. Descent ...

. Relations between the senior Medici branch and the younger "Popolani" branch had been tense since the 1440s, and Pierfrancesco had tried to shield his sons from the influence of the senior branch.Brown, A. (1993) ''The Medici in Florence: the exercise and language of power''. Florence: Olschki But Lorenzo and Giovanni were still boys when their father Pierfrancesco died in 1476, and they promptly came under the tutelage of their older cousin, Lorenzo (il Magnifico), the effective ruler of Florence. Facing financial difficulties after 1478, Lorenzo il Magnifico plundered the Popolani boys' inheritance with "forced loans". By the time they came of age, they claimed Lorenzo il Magnifico owed them over 100,000 ducats (il Magnifico eventually repaid a little over half of that in 1485). Nonetheless, Lorenzo il Magnifico ensured his ward obtained the best education that could be bought at the time. Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco studied under notable Florentine Renaissance humanists

Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a revive ...

Angelo Poliziano Agnolo (Angelo) Ambrogini (14 July 1454 – 24 September 1494), commonly known by his nickname Poliziano (; anglicized as Politian; Latin: '' Politianus''), was an Italian classical scholar and poet of the Florentine Renaissance. His sc ...

and Giorgio Antonio Vespucci (uncle of the navigator Amerigo Vespucci; Amerigo was a fellow-student and, from the 1483, became an employee and friend of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco; in the early 1500s, Amerigo Vespucci would send most of his famous letters on the "

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

" to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco). Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco emerged with the reputation as a man of liberal views, a poet and art connoisseur in his own right. In ca. 1485, he commissioned an illuminated manuscript of Dante's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...

'' featuring

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered ...

Sandro Botticelli - Pallade e il centauro - Google Art Project

Sandro Botticelli - La nascita di Venere - Google Art Project - edited

In 1482, Lorenzo il Magnifico arranged for the marriage between the young Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco and Semiramide Appiano, daughter of the Appiani lord Jacopo III of

Piombino Piombino is an Italian town and '' comune'' of about 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno ( Tuscany). It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma. ...

, who brought not only lucrative commercial ties but also political connections (the Appiani were related by marriage to the Aragonese of Naples). Lorenzo il Magnifico may have commissioned

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian Renaissance painting, Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th cent ...

's '' Pallas Athene Taming a Centaur'' as a wedding gift to the new couple, presumably suggesting that Semiramide (represented by Pallas) should endeavour to "tame" young Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco (represented by centaur) (or more metaphorically, the surrender of brute instincts to the goddess of reason, a reference to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco's entrance to manhood). It is believed that also on this occasion, either Lorenzo il Magnifico or Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco himself, commissioned Botticelli's '' Allegory of Spring'' to celebrate the wedding - with Mercury representing Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco and Semiramide represented by the central Grace (or possibly Flora). Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco is believed to have later commissioned Botticelli's ''

The Birth of Venus ''The Birth of Venus'' ( it, Nascita di Venere ) is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, probably executed in the mid 1480s. It depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea ...

'', one of the most famous paintings of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

. Lorenzo di Pierfranceso was the proprietor of the

Villa del Trebbio The Villa del Trebbio is a Medici villa in Tuscany, Italy. Description The villa is located near San Piero a Sieve in the Mugello region, in the province of Florence, in the area from which the Medici family originated. It was one of the f ...

, inherited from his grandfather

Lorenzo the Elder Lorenzo the Elder (c. 1395 – 23 September 1440) was an Italian banker of the House of Medici of Florence, the younger brother of Cosimo de' Medici the Elder and progenitor of the so-called "Popolani" ("populist, i.e. for the people") line o ...

, and

Villa di Castello The Villa di Castello, near the hills bordering Florence, Tuscany, central Italy, was the country residence of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1519-1574). The gardens, filled with fountains, statuary, and a grotto, became famous thro ...

, acquired in 1477 on the instructions of Lorenzo il Magnifico. In 1483, he was dispatched as the Florentine ambassador to Paris, to witness the coronation of

Charles VIII of France Charles VIII, called the Affable (french: l'Affable; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13.Paul Murray Kendall, ''Louis XI: The Universal Spider'' (Ne ...

. Quarrels over the inheritance lingered. The rupture with Lorenzo il Magnifico came to a head in October 1484, when the strongman secured the erasure of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco's name from the lists of persons eligible for election to the Florentine political institutions. As part of the settlement in 1485, which involved outside arbitration, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco and his brother Giovanni il Popolano received the Medici family property of Villa Cafaggiolo in the

Mugello region The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Flor ...

. Nonetheless, it was clear that Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco would have to shelve any public office or political ambitions during il Magnifico's rule. When Lorenzo il Magnifico died (1492), Lorenzo and Giovanni sided against the il Magnifico's son, Piero (il Fatuo). Two years later they were exiled, but returned when King

invaded Italy and Piero was ousted from Florence by a Republican government. The two brothers sided with the Republican party, and received the nickname ''Popolano'' ("of the people"). Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco became one of the most outstanding figures of the new administration, and was regarded by many as the cultural heir of il Magnifico. He protected

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was ins ...

Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (April 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. Biography Filippino Lippi was born in Prato, Tu ...

, Bartolomeo Scala, and in 1494 he founded a workshop of ceramics at

Cafaggiolo The Villa Medicea di Cafaggiolo is a villa situated near the Tuscan town of Barberino di Mugello in the valley of the River Sieve, some 25 kilometres north of Florence, central Italy. It was one of the oldest and most favoured of the M ...

. He was overshadowed by

Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction ...

, but after the latter's death it was rumoured he would receive the effective personal rule of the Republic; however, he refused. In 1501, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco was suspected of a plot with

Cesare Borgia Cesare Borgia (; ca-valencia, Cèsar Borja ; es, link=no, César Borja ; 13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was an Italian ex-cardinal and ''condottiero'' (mercenary leader) of Aragonese (Spanish) origin, whose fight for power was a major i ...

to favour the latter in the conquest of the city, but the accusations were never confirmed. He died in Florence in 1503. His grandson Lorenzino de' Medici was the assassin of

Alessandro de' Medici Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

, the last ruler of

from the "senior" branch of the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...

, thereby passing power to Lorenzo's great-grandson

Cosimo I de' Medici Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. Life Rise to power Cosimo was born in Florence on 12 ...

Biography

References

Further reading