Don Giovanni de' Medici (13 May 1567, in Florence – 19 July 1621, in Murano) was an Italian military commander, diplomat and architect. Medici was born the illegitimate son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora degli Albizzi. Medici was later legitimated by his father. He was born 5 years after the death of his brother, Giovanni, and was given the same name. He moved to Spain where he began his military career. In 1598 he was a Grandee of Spain and Florentine

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

in Madrid. In 1600 he was Master of the Field for the Imperial army, but his most important appointment was as Commander-in-Chief of the army of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

(1616–1617). He married Livia del Vernazza, with whom he had two sons; Gianfrancesco Maria (1619–1689) and another that was born

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

but died as an infant. Giovanni was also a painter and an architect, and collaborated with Matteo Nigetti in the design of the Cappella dei Principi for the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. On his return home he caught the smallpox at Padova. He died at Murano in 1621.

Patron of the arts

Don Giovanni took special care in dealing with artists, he was an architect, he designed the construction of the Chapel of the Princes and the Church of San Lorenzo, but he also had a special relationship with the ''

commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

'', in fact from 1612 to 1621 he oversaw relations with the comedy troupe of Confidenti, with whom he had extensive correspondence with famous comedians Flaminio Scala and Nicholas Barbieri Beltrame in art, as with other patrons such as Gonzaga and the owners of theatres in which Confidenti had to act.

Patron of the arts

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