Chapter 17

Part 1: Florence and the Medici

Ponte Vecchio over the Arno

Loggia dei LanziGalleria degli UfficiDavid by

Michelangelo

1. Florence

Piazza della

Signoria in the

18th century:

-Palazzo Vecchio

-Galleria degli

Uffici

-Loggia dei Lanzi

Cosimo (1389-1464)Piero (1416-1469)Lorenzo (1449-1492)

Bankers of the Papacy with offices in Rome, Venice, Avignon, Lyon, Geneva, Cologne, Bruges, London…

Patrons of the arts.De facto rulers of the

Republic of Florence through their influence.

Lorenzo the Magnificent

Palazzo Medici-Riccardi by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo. 1444.

Chapel and patio of the Medici Palace (1944)

Adoration of the

Magi by Sandro

Botticelli , 1470.

-Meaning for the

donors?

2. The Medici family (1418-1494)

The Medici embody the wisdom of the Magi and their kingship.

They belong to the Confraternity of the Magi and participate in the procession every January 6th.

MichelangeloLaurentian Library

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Primavera

Lorenzo the Magnificent: Laurentian Library:

Contains one of the most important collections of manuscripts and papyri in the world. How many?

Papyri: 2,500 Manuscripts: 11,000How important?Plato, Vergil, Aeschylus,

Sophocles, Tacitus, Pliny…