The Medici – Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance

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As able businessmen they made plenty of money, and owned the most important banks in Europe at the time.

Featherwork and Aztec masks shared the same space as precious jewels and painted masterpieces, Vasari’s Lives was shelved in the same library as illustrated histories of Mexico, and Florentines costumed as Indians marched in public pageants alongside those dressed as mythological heroes. Lauren Beck, SHARP News “The book’s scholarly apparatus and color illustrations make it a valuable resource.Many refer to him as a proclaimed “Renaissance man,” dazzling his peers with his undeniably magnetic personality and his many talents. More importantly, this study changes Heikamp’s basic picture of the Medici and the New World by demonstrating that the Medici and their artists were incredibly knowledgeable about the Americas. The treasures bequeathed to Florence by the Medici came at a substantial cost to the ordinary citizens of Florence who had no choice but to bear the increasingly heavy tax burdens that also supported the wars and intrigues of this dynasty as they fought to remain in power. The Medici court’s collection and representation of the Americas were driven by this new knowledge and a desire to contribute to it.

So if, like me, you are a fan of the work of such 14th-century Florentine masters as Botticelli and Donatello, you’ll be well entertained by Medici. It would not be until the late sixteenth century that the Medici family would attempt to make their own incursions in the Americas. Selected items may be purchased early for dispatch from the future date given in their product information.From her childhood in Florence, to the marriage with the son of the King of France, then becoming the queen, and fighting to protect the throne for her sons’ birthrights. She just never expected the fantasy to come true, or for it to lead her to answers about her mysterious family.

Starting from Giovanni di’Bicci de’Medici to Gian Gastone de’Medici, the book covers all; interspersed with the times of artists, architects, political figures and socialites for whom the Renaissance is known. begins this bright, novelistic history with the 14th-century banker Giovanni di Bicci, who laid the groundwork for his family’s wealth. These include his masterpieces Primavera, Birth of Venus, and Venus and Mars (which, as mentioned, appears in Medici). A dazzling piece of Italian history of the infamous family that become one of the most powerful in Europe, weaving its history with Renaissance greats from Leonardo da Vinci to Galileo.

But when the artist dismisses her without payment, Luciana impulsively steals an unfinished version of the painting - only to find that someone is ready to kill her to get it back. But at the same time that the New World was becoming a profitable reality for the Medici, representations of the Americas in Florence became more fantastical. On the promise of a dowry fit for a king, Catherine has left her true love in Italy, forced into trading her future for a stake in the French crown. By the mid-1580s the excitement over the novelty of the New World in Europe was beginning to dissipate.