Giovanni di Cosimo de' Medici (3 June 1421 – 23 September 1463) was an Italian banker and patron of arts. Giovanni was the son of

Cosimo de' Medici Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician who established the House of Medici, Medici family as effective rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance. His power derive ...

the Elder and

Contessina de' Bardi Contessina de' Bardi (1390–October 1473), was an Italian noblewoman from the Bardi family, House of Bardi. Her marriage into the House of Medici provided her husband's family with much needed nobility, prestige, and military support as they e ...

, and brother to

Piero the Gouty Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, known as Piero the Gouty (), (1416 – 2 December 1469) was the '' de facto'' ruler of the Republic of Florence from 1464 to 1469, during the Italian Renaissance. Biography Piero was the son of Cosimo de' Medi ...

. Unlike the latter, Giovanni enjoyed good health and was seen by Cosimo as his probable successor. From 1438 he directed the branch of the family bank in

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

. He received also a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

ic education, showing a major interest in music. In 1454 Giovanni was elected Prior of Florence and the following year he was a member of the delegation which received

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...

in the city. The following year Cosimo made him general director of the Medici bank, but, unsatisfied because of Giovanni's distraction in arts and other activities, assigned to him Francesco Sassetti as tutor. Giovanni married Maria Ginevra di Niccolò Alessandri, daughter of Niccolò Alessandri, in 1452. This marriage recognized the support that Niccolò had provided to Cosimo during his exile in 1433, and bound the families together. The couple had one child, a son, Cosimo ( – 1459), known as Cosimino (little Cosimo). Ginevra frequently visited thermal baths for her health. There she built up a network of influential women who she regularly corresponded with. Ginevra died after 2 Aug 1478. He died in 1463, and was buried in the

Sagrestia Vecchia The Sagrestia Vecchia di San Lorenzo, or Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo, is the older of two sacristies of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy. It is one of the most important monuments of early Italian Renaissance architecture. Designed ...

of the Basilica di San Lorenzo. Later a monument was sculpted for him and his brother by

Andrea Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio ( , , ; born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni; – 1488) was an Italian sculptor, painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently became known as ''Verrocchio'' after the ...

. Giovanni de' Medici was a famous patron of arts. He had the

Villa Medici in Fiesole The Villa Medici is a patrician villa in Fiesole, Tuscany, Italy, the fourth oldest of the villas built for the Medici family. It was built between 1451 and 1457. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed as Medici Villas and Gar ...

built by

Michelozzo Michelozzi Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi (; – 7 October 1472), known mononymously as Michelozzo, was an Italian architect and sculptor. Considered one of the great pioneers of architecture during the Renaissance, Michelozzo was a favored Medici ...

(but probably in collaboration with Giovanni's friend,

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, Catholic priest, priest, linguistics, linguist, philosopher, and cryptography, cryptographer; he epitomised the natu ...

). He had a large collection of sculptures, coins, manuscripts, jewels, musical instruments and other material. Artists who worked for him included:

Mino da Fiesole Mino da Fiesole (c. 1429 – July 11, 1484), also known as Mino di Giovanni, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Poppi, Tuscany. He is noted for his portrait busts. Career Mino's work was influenced by his master Desiderio da Settignano and ...

Desiderio da Settignano Desiderio da Settignano, real name Desiderio de Bartolomeo di Francesco detto Ferro ( 1428 or 1430 – 1464) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor active in north Italy. Biography He came from a family of stone carvers and stonemasons in Settigna ...

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

Domenico Veneziano Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410 – May 15, 1461) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany. Little is known of his birth, though he is thought to have been born in Venice, hence his last name. He then move ...

Filippo Lippi Filippo Lippi ( – 8 October 1469), also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Quattrocento (fifteenth century) and a Carmelite priest. He was an early Renaissance master of a painting workshop, who taught many paint ...

and

Pesellino Francesco Pesellino (probably 1422 – July 29, 1457), also known as Francesco di Stefano, was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Florence. His father was the painter Stefano di Francesco (died 1427), and his maternal grandfather was the p ...

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, Giovanni 1421 births 1463 deaths Businesspeople from Florence

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

Medieval bankers Burials at San Lorenzo, Florence Italian art patrons 15th-century Italian businesspeople Italian Roman Catholics Nobility from the Republic of Florence 15th-century people from the Republic of Florence 15th-century Italian nobility