Lorenzo de’ Medici
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Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, '' de facto'' ruler of the
Florentine Republic The Republic of Florence, officially the Florentine Republic ( it, Repubblica Fiorentina, , or ), was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flo ...
and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (''Lorenzo il Magnifico'' ) by contemporary Florentines, he was a
magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
, diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists, and poets. As a patron, he is best known for his sponsorship of artists such as
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 ...
and
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 insp ...
. He held the balance of power within the Italic League, an alliance of states that stabilized political conditions on the Italian peninsula for decades, and his life coincided with the mature phase of the Italian Renaissance and the Golden Age of Florence. On the foreign policy front, Lorenzo manifested a clear plan to stem the territorial ambitions of Pope Sixtus IV, in the name of the balance of the Italian League of 1454. For these reasons, Lorenzo was the subject of the Pazzi conspiracy (1478), in which his brother Giuliano was assassinated. The Peace of Lodi of 1454 that he supported among the various Italian states collapsed with his death. He is buried in the Medici Chapel in Florence.


Youth

Lorenzo's grandfather,
Cosimo de' Medici Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician who established the Medici family as effective rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance. His power derived from his wealth ...
, was the first member of the
Medici family 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 Muge ...
to lead the Republic of Florence and run the Medici Bank simultaneously. As one of the wealthiest men in Europe, Cosimo spent a very large portion of his fortune on government and philanthropy, for example as a patron of the arts and financier of public works.Hugh Ross Williamson, ''Lorenzo the Magnificent'', Michael Joseph, (1974), Lorenzo's father,
Piero di Cosimo de' Medici Piero di Cosimo de' Medici (the Gouty), (Italian: ''Piero "il Gottoso"'') (1416 – 2 December 1469) was the ''de facto'' ruler of Florence from 1464 to 1469, during the Italian Renaissance. Biography Piero was the son of Cosimo de' Medi ...
, was equally at the centre of Florentine civic life, chiefly as an art patron and collector, while Lorenzo's uncle, Giovanni di Cosimo de' Medici, took care of the family's business interests. Lorenzo's mother,
Lucrezia Tornabuoni Lucrezia Tornabuoni (22 June 1427 – 25 March 1482) was an influential Italian political adviser and author during the 15th century. She was a member of one of the most powerful Italian families of the time and married Piero di Cosimo de' Medi ...
, was a writer of
sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...
s and a friend to poets and philosophers of the Medici Academy. She became her son's advisor after the deaths of his father and uncle. Lorenzo, considered the most promising of the five children of Piero and Lucrezia, was tutored by a diplomat and bishop,
Gentile de' Becchi Gentile de' Becchi (1420/1430 – 1497) was an Italian bishop, diplomat, orator and writer. He was a member of the Platonic Academy of the Medici of Florence and tutor of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his son Giovanni de' Medici, later Pope Leo X. ...
, and the humanist philosopher
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 reviver of ...
, and he was trained in Greek by John Argyropoulos. With his brother Giuliano, he participated in jousting,
hawking Hawking may refer to: People * Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), English theoretical physicist and cosmologist *Hawking (surname), a family name (including a list of other persons with the name) Film * ''Hawking'' (2004 film), about Stephen Haw ...
, hunting, and horse breeding for the
Palio Palio is the name given in Italy to an annual athletic contest, very often of a historical character, pitting the neighbourhoods of a town or the hamlets of a ''comune'' against each other. Typically, they are fought in costume and commemorate som ...
, a horse race in Siena. In 1469, aged 20, he won first prize in a jousting tournament sponsored by the Medici. The joust was the subject of a poem written by Luigi Pulci. Niccolò Machiavelli also wrote of the occasion, perhaps sarcastically, that he won "not by way of favour, but by his own valour and skill in arms". He carried a banner painted by
Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio (, , ; – 1488), born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was a sculptor, Italian painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently became known as ''Verrocchio'' after the ...
, and his horse was named Morello di Vento. Piero sent Lorenzo on many important diplomatic missions when he was still a youth, including trips to Rome to meet the pope and other important religious and political figures. Lorenzo was described as rather plain of appearance and of average height, having a broad frame and short legs, dark hair and eyes, a squashed nose, short-sighted eyes and a harsh voice. Giuliano, on the other hand, was regarded as handsome and a "golden boy", and was used as a model by
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 ...
in his painting of '' Mars and Venus''. Even Lorenzo's close friend Niccolo Valori described him as homely, saying, "nature had been a stepmother to him in regards to his personal appearance, although she had acted as a loving mother in all things concocted with the mind. His complexion was dark, and although his face was not handsome it was so full of dignity as to compel respect."


Politics

Lorenzo, groomed for power, assumed a leading role in the state upon the death of his father in 1469, when he was 20. Already drained by his grandfather's building projects and constantly stressed by mismanagement, wars, and political expenses, the assets of the Medici Bank reduced seriously during the course of Lorenzo's lifetime. Lorenzo, like his grandfather, father, and son, ruled Florence indirectly through surrogates in the city councils by means of payoffs and strategic marriages until 1490. Rival Florentine families inevitably harboured resentments over the Medicis' dominance, and enemies of the Medici remained a factor in Florentine life long after Lorenzo's passing. The most notable of the rival families was the
Pazzi The Pazzi were a noble Florentine family. Their main trade during the fifteenth century was banking. In the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy in 1478, members of the family were banished from Florence and their property was confiscated; the ...
, who nearly brought Lorenzo's reign to an end. On Sunday, 26 April 1478, in an incident known as the Pazzi conspiracy, a group headed by
Girolamo Riario Girolamo Riario (1443 – 14 April 1488) was Lord of Imola (from 1473) and Forlì (from 1480). He served as Captain General of the Church under his uncle Pope Sixtus IV. He took part in the 1478 Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici, and was assas ...
,
Francesco de' Pazzi Francesco de' Pazzi (28 January 1444 – 26 April 1478) was an Italian banker and one of the instigators of the Pazzi conspiracy. On Sunday, 26 April 1478, in an incident known as the Pazzi conspiracy, a group headed by Girolamo Riario, Franc ...
, and
Francesco Salviati Francesco Salviati may refer to: * Francesco Salviati (bishop) Francesco Salviati Riario was the archbishop of Pisa_in_1474_and_one_of_the_organisers_of_the_717,_Pisan_and_on_31_July_1725_ Giuliano in the [ Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in an attempt to seize control of the Florentine government. Shockingly, Salviati acted with the blessing of his patron Pope Sixtus IV">athedral of Florence">Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in an attempt to seize control of the Florentine government. Shockingly, Salviati acted with the blessing of his patron Pope Sixtus IV. Giuliano was killed, brutally stabbed to death, but Lorenzo escaped with only a minor wound to the neck, having been defended by the poet Poliziano. News of the conspiracy spread throughout Florence, and it was brutally put down by the populace through such measures as the lynching of the archbishop of Pisa and members of the Pazzi family who were involved in the conspiracy. In the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy and the punishment of supporters of Pope Sixtus IV, the Medici and Florence earned the wrath of the Holy See, which seized all the Medici assets that Sixtus could find, excommunicated Lorenzo and the entire government of Florence, and ultimately put the entire Florentine city-state under interdict. When these moves had little effect, Sixtus formed a military alliance with King
Ferdinand I of Naples Ferdinando Trastámara d'Aragona, of the Naples branch, universally known as Ferrante and also called by his contemporaries Don Ferrando and Don Ferrante (2 June 1424, in Valencia – 25 January 1494, in Kingdom of Naples, Naples), was the only so ...
, whose son, Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, led an invasion of the Florentine Republic, still ruled by Lorenzo. Lorenzo rallied the citizens. However, with little support from the traditional Medici allies in Bologna and Milan, the war dragged on, and only diplomacy by Lorenzo, who personally traveled to Naples and became a prisoner of the king for several months, ultimately resolved the crisis. That success enabled Lorenzo to secure constitutional changes within the government of the Florentine Republic that further enhanced his own power. Thereafter, Lorenzo, like his grandfather
Cosimo de' Medici Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician who established the Medici family as effective rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance. His power derived from his wealth ...
, pursued a policy of maintaining peace, balancing power between the northern Italian states and keeping major European states such as France and the Holy Roman Empire out of Italy. Lorenzo maintained good relations with Sultan
Mehmed II Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
of the Ottoman Empire, as the Florentine maritime trade with the Ottomans was a major source of wealth for the Medici. Efforts to acquire revenue from the mining of
alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , where is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium or a ...
in Tuscany unfortunately marred Lorenzo's reputation. Alum had been discovered by local citizens of Volterra, who turned to Florence to get backing to exploit this important natural resource. A key commodity in the glassmaking, tanning and textile industries, alum was available from only a few sources under the control of the Ottomans and monopolized by Genoa before the discovery of alum sources in Italy at
Tolfa Tolfa is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome, in the Lazio region of central Italy; it lies to the ENE of Civitavecchia by road. It is the main center in the Monti della Tolfa, an extinct volcanic group between Civitavecchia and ...
. First the Roman Curia in 1462, and then Lorenzo and the Medici Bank less than a year later, got involved in backing the mining operation, with the pope taking a two-ducat commission for each cantar quintal of alum retrieved and ensuring a monopoly against the Turkish-derived goods by prohibiting trade in alum with infidels. When they realized the value of the alum mine, the people of Volterra wanted its revenues for their municipal funds rather than having it enter the pockets of their Florentine backers. Thus began an insurrection and secession from Florence, which involved putting to death several opposing citizens. Lorenzo sent mercenaries to suppress the revolt by force, and the mercenaries ultimately sacked the city. Lorenzo hurried to Volterra to make amends, but the incident would remain a dark stain on his record.


Patronage

Lorenzo's court included artists such as Piero and Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli,
Domenico Ghirlandaio Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (, , ; 2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio, also spelled as Ghirlandajo, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of ...
and
Michelangelo Buonarroti 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 insp ...
, who were instrumental in achieving the 15th-century Renaissance. Although Lorenzo did not commission many works himself, he helped these artists to secure commissions from other patrons. Michelangelo lived with Lorenzo and his family for three years, dining at the family table and participating in discussions led by
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 reviver of ...
. Lorenzo was an artist and wrote poetry in his native Tuscan. In his poetry, he celebrates life while acknowledging with melancholy the fragility and instability of the human condition, particularly in his later works. Love, feasts and light dominate his verse. Cosimo had started the collection of books that became the Medici Library (also called the
Laurentian Library The Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana or BML) is a historic library in Florence, Italy, containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. Built in a cloister of the Medicean Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze ...
), and Lorenzo expanded it. Lorenzo's agents retrieved from the East large numbers of classical works, and he employed a large workshop to copy his books and disseminate their content across Europe. He supported the development of humanism through his circle of scholarly friends, including the philosophers
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 reviver of ...
, Poliziano and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. They studied Greek philosophers and attempted to merge the ideas of Plato with Christianity. Apart from a personal interest, Lorenzo also used the Florentine milieu of fine arts for his diplomatic efforts. An example includes the commission of Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, Pietro Perugino and Cosimo Rosselli from Rome to paint murals in the Sistine Chapel, a move that has been interpreted as sealing the alliance between Lorenzo and Pope Sixtus IV. In 1471, Lorenzo calculated that his family had spent some 663,000 florins (about US$460 million today) on charity, buildings and taxes since 1434. He wrote,
"I do not regret this for though many would consider it better to have a part of that sum in their purse, I consider it to have been a great honour to our state, and I think the money was well-expended and I am well-pleased." From 1479 Lorenzo became a permanent member of the committee supervising the rebuild of the ''signoria'' in Florence. He created a court of artists in his sculpture garden at San Marco which allowed him to exert ‘enormous influence on the selection of artists on public projects’.


Marriage and children

Lorenzo married Clarice Orsini on 7 February 1469. The marriage in person took place in Florence on 4 June 1469. She was a daughter of
Giacomo Orsini The House of Orsini is an Italian noble family that was one of the most influential princely families in medieval Italy and Renaissance Rome. Members of the Orsini family include five popes: Stephen II (752-757), Paul I (757-767), Celestine II ...
, Lord of Monterotondo and
Bracciano Bracciano is a small town in the Italian region of Lazio, northwest of Rome. The town is famous for its volcanic lake ( Lago di Bracciano or "Sabatino", the eighth largest lake in Italy) and for a particularly well-preserved medieval castle Cast ...
by his wife and cousin Maddalena Orsini. Clarice and Lorenzo had 10 children, all except Contessina Antonia born in Florence: * Lucrezia Maria Romola de' Medici (1470–1553), who married
Jacopo Salviati Jacopo Salviati (15 September 1461 – 6 September 1533) was a Florentine politician and son-in-law of Lorenzo de' Medici. On 10 September 1486 he married Lorenzo's daughter Lucrezia de' Medici, with whom he had ten children. The son of Giovan ...
on 10 September 1486 and had 10 children of her own, including
Cardinal Giovanni Salviati Giovanni Salviati (24 March 1490 – 28 October 1553) was a Florentine diplomat and cardinal. He was papal legate in France, and conducted negotiations with the Emperor Charles V. Biography Salviati was born in Florence to Jacopo Salviat ...
, Cardinal Bernardo Salviati,
Maria Salviati Maria Salviati (17 July 1499 – 29 December 1543) was a Florentine noblewoman, the daughter of Lucrezia di Lorenzo de' Medici and Jacopo Salviati. She married Giovanni delle Bande Nere and was the mother of Cosimo I de Medici. Her husband d ...
(mother of
Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 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 ...
), and Francesca Salviati (mother of
Pope Leo XI Pope Leo XI ( it, Leone XI; 2 June 153527 April 1605), born Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 April 1605 to his death in April 1605. His pontificate is one of the briefest in his ...
) * Male twins who died after birth (March 1471) * Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici (1472–1503), called "the Unfortunate", was ruler of Florence after his father's death; grandfather of
Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...
, queen of France * Maria Maddalena Romola de' Medici (1473–1528) married
Franceschetto Cybo Franceschetto Cybo (baptized Francesco) (c. 1450 – July 25, 1519) was an Italian nobleman, noteworthy for being the illegitimate son of Pope Innocent VIII (Giovanni Battista Cybo). Later naturalized by his father into becoming his legitimate he ...
(illegitimate son of
Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII ( la, Innocentius VIII; it, Innocenzo VIII; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death in July 1492. Son of th ...
) on 25 February 1487 and had seven children * Contessina Beatrice de' Medici, died shortly after her birth on 23 September 1474 *
Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...
(1475–1521), ascended to the papacy as Leo X in 1513 *
Luisa de' Medici Luisa de' Medici (25 December 1476 – 1488) was an Italian noble. She was the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici and Clarice Orsini. She was going to marry with her fiancé Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, but she died in 1488 at the age of ...
(1477–1488), also called ''Luigia'', was betrothed to
Giovanni de' Medici 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 ...
, but died young * Contessina Antonia Romola de' Medici (1478–1515), born in
Pistoia Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typi ...
, married Piero Ridolfi (1467–1525) in 1494 and had five children, including Cardinal Niccolò Ridolfi * Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici (1479–1516) was created Duke of Nemours in 1515 by Francis I of France Lorenzo adopted his nephew Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici (1478–1534), the illegitimate son of his slain brother Giuliano. In 1523, after serving four years as ruler of Florence, Giulio ascended to the papacy as Pope Clement VII.


Later years, death, and legacy

During Lorenzo's tenure, several branches of the family bank collapsed because of bad loans, and in later years he got into financial difficulties and resorted to misappropriating trust and state funds. Toward the end of Lorenzo's life, Florence came under the influence of
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 of ...
, who believed Christians had strayed too far into Greco-Roman culture. Lorenzo played a role in bringing Savonarola to Florence. Lorenzo died during the late night of 8 April 1492, at the longtime family villa of
Careggi The Villa Medici at Careggi is a patrician villa in the hills near Florence, Tuscany, central Italy. History The villa was among the first of a number of Medici villas, notable as the site of the Platonic Academy founded by Cosimo de' Medici, w ...
. Savonarola visited Lorenzo on his deathbed. The rumour that Savonarola damned Lorenzo on his deathbed has been refuted in
Roberto Ridolfi Roberto Ridolfi (or di Ridolfo) (18 November 1531 – 18 February 1612) was an Italian and Florentine nobleman and conspirator. Biography Ridolfi belonged to a famous family of Florence, where he was born. As a banker he had business connections ...
's book ''Vita di Girolamo Savonarola''. Letters written by witnesses to Lorenzo's death report that he died peacefully after listening to the Gospel of the day. Many signs and portents were claimed to have taken place at the moment of his death, including the dome of
Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally c ...
being struck by lightning, ghosts appearing, and the lions kept at Via Leone fighting one another. The Signoria and councils of Florence issued a decree: Lorenzo was buried with his brother Giuliano in the Church of San Lorenzo in the red porphyry
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
designed for Piero and Giovanni de' Medici, not, as might be expected, in the
New Sacristy The Sagrestia Nuova, also known as the New Sacristy in English, is a mausoleum that stands as a testament to the grandeur and artistic vision of the Medici family. Constructed in 1520, the mausoleum was designed by the Italian artist Michelangelo ...
, designed by Michelangelo. The latter holds the two monumental tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano's less known namesakes: Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, and Giuliano, Duke of Nemours.Hugh Ross Williamson, p. 270-80 According to Williamson and others, the statues of the lesser Lorenzo and Giuliano were carved by Michelangelo to incorporate the essence of the famous men. In 1559, the bodies of Lorenzo de' Medici ("the Magnificent") and his brother Giuliano were interred in the New Sacristy in an unmarked tomb beneath Michelangelo's statue of the Madonna. Lorenzo's heir was his eldest son, Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, known as "Piero the Unfortunate". In 1494, he squandered his father's patrimony and brought down the Medici dynasty in Florence. His second son, Giovanni, who became Pope Leo X, retook the city in 1512 with the aid of a Spanish army. In 1531, Lorenzo's nephew Giulio di Giuliano – whom Lorenzo had raised as his own son, and who in 1523 became Pope Clement VII – formalized Medici rule of Florence by installing
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 city's first hereditary duke.


In popular culture

* Lorenzo de' Medici is depicted as a teenager in CBBC's ''
Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate ...
'', played by actor Colin Ryan. * Lorenzo de' Medici appears as a supporting character to the protagonist, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, after they help foil the Pazzi conspirators in '' Assassin's Creed II''. * Lorenzo de' Medici is portrayed by
Elliot Cowan Elliot Aidan Cowan (born 9 July 1976) is an English actor, known for portraying Corporal Jem Poynton in ''Ultimate Force'', Mr Darcy in ''Lost in Austen'', and Ptolemy in the 2004 film ''Alexander''. He also starred as Lorenzo de' Medici in ''Da ...
in the 2013 TV series ''
Da Vinci's Demons ''Da Vinci's Demons'' is a historical fantasy drama series that presents a fictional account of Leonardo da Vinci's early life. The series was conceived by David S. Goyer and stars Tom Riley in the title role. It was developed and produced in ...
''. * Lorenzo de' Medici is portrayed by
Daniel Sharman Daniel Andrew Sharman (born 25 April 1986) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Isaac Lahey on the television series ''Teen Wolf'' (2012–2014), Kaleb Westphall / Kol Mikaelson on '' The Originals'' (2014–2015), Troy Otto on '' ...
in the TV series '' Medici: The Magnificent''.


References


Further reading

* Lorenzo de' Medici,
The Complete Literary Works
', edited and translated by Guido A. Guarino (New York: Italica Press, 2016). * Miles J. Unger, ''Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de' Medici'' (Simon and Schuster 2008) is a vividly colorful biography of this true "renaissance man", the uncrowned ruler of Florence during its golden age. * André Chastel, Art et Humanisme à Florence au temps de Laurent le Magnifique (Paris, 1959). * Christopher Hibbert, ''The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall'' (Morrow-Quill, 1980) is a highly readable, non-scholarly general history of the family, and covers Lorenzo's life in some detail. * F. W. Kent, ''Lorenzo de' Medici and the Art of Magnificence (The Johns Hopkins Symposia in Comparative History)'' (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004) A summary of 40 years of research with a specific theme of Il Magnifico's relationship with the visual arts. * Peter Barenboim, ''Michelangelo Drawings – Key to the Medici Chapel Interpretation'' (Moscow, Letny Sad, 2006) , is a new interpretation of Lorenzo the Magnificent' image in the Medici Chapel. *
Barenboim, Peter (with Heath, Arthur). ''500 years of the New Sacristy: Michelangelo in the Medici Chapel''
LOOM, Moscow, 2019. * Williamson, Hugh Ross, ''Lorenzo the Magnificent''. Michael Joseph, London. (1974) * Parks, Tim, ''Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence'' (W. W. Norton & Company 2005) , is a mixture of history and finance, documenting the logistics of Lorenzo and the Medici Banks ;Historical novels * Robin Maxwell, ''Signora da Vinci'' (NAL Trade, 2009), a novel that follows Leonardo da Vinci's mother, Caterina, as she travels to Florence to be with her son.


External links


Lorenzo de' Medici as patron


* {{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, Lorenzo De 1449 births 1492 deaths 15th-century rulers in Europe Burials at San Lorenzo, Florence Lorenzo I Italian Renaissance humanists Patrons of literature 15th-century people of the Republic of Florence Rulers of Florence Italian art patrons