The Medici - Patrons of Florence
Florence is the sparkling jewel in the Tuscan crown. Beautiful, historic, cultured and bursting with an almost obscene amount of deeply significant art and architecture, this city entrances all who visit it. And it’s all down to one family – the Machiavellian banking clan known as the Medici.
A Lasting Effect
The Medici are something of a paradox – but an extremely successful paradox. Their monetary habits spoke of a cautious conservatism and a ruthless resistance to any attempt to change the status quo as it related to their business. However, in matters artistic and cultural they were highly progressive – even revolutionary. This combination of conservative desire for security and progressive desire for aesthetic beauty is writ large in the streets of Florence. Gorgeous architecture and fabulous artworks combine with a solid and effective urban plan to make a city which combines beauty with purpose in a manner which seems effortless. Florence is a stunning location to visit, with a wealth of beauty and history, and an infrastructure more than capable of dealing with the recreational, travel, and wellbeing of any adequately prepared vacationer. Thousands of tourists come to Florence every year - largely drawn by the Medici-inspired aesthetic of the city. Florence – and the world at large – have much for which to thank the Medici.
Machiavellian Tactics
Despite their considerable cultural achievements, this legendary family bore some less than salubrious individuals, and were very much not above serving their own interests at the expense of any legal or moral code. This, arguably, serves to make them all the more interesting. Their enduring fascination for the world is quite an achievement for a family of bankers (never considered the most interesting of professions). The Medici, however, turned banking into an art form (as was appropriate for a family considered by many to be the progenitors of the Renaissance). Their style of business was invariably political, combining prudent investment with a complicate but expertly managed web of loyalties, friendships, political and familial connections, and oaths. They also understood that there was no loyalty more assured than that which was brought with the threat of blackmail, and used both threats and bribery to great effect. For this, they have often been described as ‘Machiavellian’ – which is perfectly appropriate, as ‘The Prince’ by Machiavelli himself is not only dedicated to the Medici, but is thought by some to be a satire upon them. Machiavelli had learned the hard way that it was never advisable to get on the wrong side of the Medici – and may have exacted a subtle vengeance for past ills through ‘The Prince’. On the other hand, some argue that ‘The Prince’, with its ‘divide and conquer’ ethic and deeply conniving, self-serving advice is in fact a pretty good rendition of Medici power games.
Godfathers of the Renaissance
Despite their dubious moral reputation, however, the Medici nonetheless managed to bring about the birth of a cultural an artistic revolution which still reverberates to this day. They have been described as ‘Godfathers of the Renaissance’, and are more or less single-handedly responsible for nurturing Tuscan artists like Brunelleschi and thus forming Florence into the beautiful city it is today. Brunelleschi, for example, was responsible for the famous and glorious dome of Florence Cathedral – a popular attraction to this day. They also nurtured the talents and funded the works of such greats as Michaelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, Ghiberti, Galileo and many more.
Salacious Tales
Privately, they were as fallible as the rest of us, and many lurid tales have sprung up surrounding them. Some must be taken with a pinch of salt – salacious gossip regarding the Medici was rife, and much of it must be discounted. Some tales, however, appear more verifiable. For example, Cosimo il Vecchio fell in love with a slave girl, and ran away to live with her rather than his legitimate family. They raised a son together – much to the dismay of his scandalized ‘rightful’ wife and children. Cosimo was not the only Medici to have a mistress – many of them did, and Medici bastards littered the streets of Florence – but falling in love with the mothers of your bastards was not considered the done thing by Medici males. One such Medici bastard was sired by Guiliano de Medici. Some years after his father was murdered during a spot of violent religio-political maneuvering during a Mass, this bastard would become Pope Clement VII. Clement arguably precipitate the English Reformation by forbidding Henry VIII to remarry. A subsequent Medici pope reputedly enjoyed the entertainment of having naked male models leap out of cakes at him – a taste which the cardinals tried hard to curb talk of.
Much For Which To Be Grateful
The Medici brought Florence and Tuscany up from the status of a rather nondescript little area to that of a major – if not THE major – player on the world scene. Art, architecture, culture, and business boomed. Despite their moral (and, eventually, gloriously physical) decadence, that which the Medici inspired was made to last. Walking the streets of Florence today, visitors can still feel the influence of the Medici all around, imbuing this lovely city with its very own awe-inspiring beauty. It’s a place which few ever regret visiting, and the Medici – for all their personal faults – are to thank for it.