Magnifico (76 page)

* For an influential essay minimizing Lorenzo’s contribution to art history see E. H. Gombrich’s “The Early Medici as Patrons of Art,” reprinted in
Norm and Form,
in which Lorenzo’s contributions are compared unfavorably with those of his grandfather. For a recent corrective to this view, see F. W. Kent’s
Lorenzo de’ Medici and the Art of Magnificence.
While Gombrich emphasizes Cosimo’s role as a builder and patron and Lorenzo’s as a collector of precious antiquities, the Condivi and Vasari passages reveal that the two roles (collector and patron) were mutually reinforcing.

* Spedaletto was decorated with frescoes by Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, Perugino, and Ghirlandaio, all of them since destroyed. The notion that Lorenzo was less a connoisseur of painting than of other arts may merely be an accident of history.

* See Chapter XI.

* One scholar has made the intriguing suggestion that the dance of the Three Graces in the painting was literally choreographed by Lorenzo (see Emily Jayne’s “A Choreography by Lorenzo in Botticelli’s Primavera,” in
Lorenzo de’ Medici: New Perspectives
). Lorenzo’s interest in music is well documented; his interest in dance, however, is among the least studied aspects of this
uomo universale.

* See Chapter IX.

† It found its way into Christianity through the activities of the various monastic movements. While some orders see it as their mission to remove themselves from the world, others believe they are meant to go out into the world. It is no coincidence that the
Disputationes Camaldulenses
is set in a monastery located in the wilds of the Apennines.

* Rinuccini’s opposition to Lorenzo’s rule, like that of so many others, can be traced at least in part to his thwarted ambition. He began as a supporter of Lorenzo, having been among those urging the reforms of 1471. His career took a wrong turn in the middle of the decade when, while on a mission to Rome, he reported a papal diatribe against Lorenzo to the
Signoria
. Thereafter, though he continued to hold various offices, he was never trusted by Lorenzo. His “Dialogue on Liberty” was written in 1479, during this period of political exile. For a brief sketch of Rinuccini’s life see
Humanism and Liberty
(Watkins, chapter 9).

* When the Emperor Frederick toured Florence in 1452 he made sure to visit Cosimo’s palace. This was almost certainly the
casa vecchia,
an indication that even before the move to the new house the Medici collections were renowned throughout Europe.

* There is an undated letter from Bertoldo to Lorenzo so chock-full of obscure puns that scholars have never been able to convincingly elucidate its meaning, which is a pity since among the topics it covers is his disdain for Count Girolamo Riario. He concludes his mocking letter, “I pray him that I may see the Pope, the Count [Girolamo], and
Messer
Luca suffocated in a vat full of pepper, and you, beware of their treachery” (see Ross, chapter 8).

* Among other inducements, Lorenzo offered Michelangelo’s father a job as a customs official, a typical example of Medici patronage.

* Piero was deeply involved in the latter two projects. It is difficult to apportion responsibility for many Medici commissions, but as head of the family Cosimo had the final say. Another major ecclesiastical project was the monastery known as the Badia in Fiesole, which, like so many of Cosimo’s projects, was give to the architect Michelozzi.

* The truth is that while Lorenzo was often strapped for ready cash, that never seemed to prevent him from pursuing those things that meant a lot to him. In building, buying up real estate, purchasing rare manuscripts and rare antiques, Lorenzo never appeared to be short of funds. This was no doubt made simpler by having his friends like Antonio di Bernardo Miniati put in control of all the major financial institutions of the state.

* The difficulty of making the transition from merchant banker to feudal noble is illustrated by a Florentine who noted that Piero was described in the French court as “the Great Money-Changer, because he did not have any legitimate title of lord in Florence.”

† History has vindicated Lorenzo’s strategy. While the republic had little future in a Europe soon to be dominated by vast nation states, the Medici “money-changers” endured by marrying into the great noble families, including the royal house of France, where Medici queens became mothers to French kings.

* It was referred to as the Barons War because it began with a rebellion by the feudal barons against King Ferrante and the ruling house of Aragon.

* De Roover’s analysis demonstrates that the bank did not in fact prosper during the reign of Innocent as Lorenzo and Giovanni Tornabuoni had hoped. (See
The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank,
especially chapter 11 and chapter 18.) Heavy borrowing by the pope and by Lorenzo’s Orsini relatives ate away at profits. The main benefits, ultimately, were political and dynastic, but these shouldn’t be underestimated.

* Francesco lost so much gambling at cards to Raffaele Riario, the same young man who had been used as the dupe in the Pazzi conspiracy, that the cardinal used the windfall to build the famous Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome.

† Though Innocent frankly acknowledged Franceschetto as his own son, Lorenzo apparently felt it necessary to maintain the fiction, at least when putting pen to paper.

* Many scholars have seen in the exotic costumes a visual echo of the famous Council of Florence of 1438 in which Cosimo played host to the Byzantine emperor John Paleologus and his entourage. These easterners’ opulent garb made a deep impression on Florentines, but Gozzoli’s fresco seems more closely modeled on local customs and costumes.

* Lorenzo’s youngest son, Giuliano, did not marry until 1515 when he took a princess of the French royal house for his bride. The fruits of Lorenzo’s matchmaking were to have long-term consequences for the history of Europe. One granddaughter of Piero and Alfonsina was Catherine de’ Medici, wife of Henry II, King of France and mother of François II. Cosimo I, the first grand duke of Tuscany, was a grandson of Lucrezia, as well as a Medici through his father, the famous
condottiere
Giovanni of the Black Bands, descended from Pierfrancesco de’ Medici. Two of Lorenzo’s descendants who are more famous than they deserve are his son Giuliano and his grandson Lorenzo (son of Piero), who are known to history primarily as the occupants of Michelangelo’s famous tombs in San Lorenzo. His nephew Giulio, whom Lucrezia had brought to the palace after Giuliano’s assassination and who was raised as one of the family, was destined for a life in the Church. Elevated to cardinal by his cousin Giovanni, he also became a pope. As Clement VII he was the reigning pope during the horrific sack of Rome by Hapsburg troops in 1527.

* Guicciardini’s account of Lorenzo’s death is revealing. “It was also a great sorrow to the population of the city, especially to the lower classes, always kept by him in abundance, with many pleasures, entertainments, and feasts. It grieved all those in Italy who excelled in letters, painting, sculpture and similar arts, because either they were commissioned by him with lavish salaries or they were held in higher esteem by the other princes who feared that if they did not make much of them they would go off to Lorenzo.” (Guicciardini,
The History of Florence,
IX.)

* It can be argued that this delight in material things is inconsistent with Platonic philosophy, which views physical reality as a pale reflection of eternal truths. But logical consistency was never Lorenzo’s strong suit. He was, after all, a poet, not a philosopher.

† The exact nature of his final illness is not known, though recent exhumations of some of his relatives confirm that many suffered, like Piero and Lorenzo himself, from severe gout and chronic arthritis. These diseases often confined him to his bed, forcing this once athletic man to lead a life of unhealthful sedentariness. In his final months he suffered from repeated fevers and complained of a swollen neck that prevented him from swallowing. It is likely that the treatment of his physicians, rather than relieving his symptoms, hastened his end. The quality of his medical care may perhaps be suggested by the fact that his personal physician killed himself shortly after his master’s death.

* The current king of France was Charles VIII, who had succeeded his father, Louis XI, in 1483.

* The one exception was in the years following the
Ciompi
Revolt of 1348, when the workers seized power, but even the most liberal-minded Florentine had no wish to repeat this experiment in democracy.

* Michelangelo continued to move back and forth between Florence and Rome, quarreling with popes and with whoever was in charge of the Florentine government at the moment. The greatest work he completed for his native city was the monumental
David
(in 1504), while, despite his contempt for Lorenzo’s son Piero, his services to the Medici family continued, most notably in the Medici tombs in San Lorenzo. His patriotism was most directly expressed in the fortress he designed during the years the republic was struggling to maintain its independence.

* The descendants of Cosimo’s brother, Lorenzo, continued to occupy the
casa vecchia.
The descendants of this older Lorenzo eventually became in the sixteenth century the granddukes of Tuscany.

* See Chapter XIX.

* This seat of the Florentine government went by many names. The Palazzo (Palace) della
Signoria
refers to the capital’s role as home to the city’s highest governing body, the
Signoria
(lordship), a council of eight men who, along with their leader, the
Gonfaloniere di Giustizia
(Standard-Bearer of Justice), constituted the chief executive of the state. These men, elected on a bimonthly basis, were also referred to as the Priors; hence the capital also went by the name the Palace of the Priors. Florentines also often referred to the building simply as the Palazzo Vecchio, the Old Palace.

* Luigi Pulci’s ribald and rollicking poem
Morgante,
for instance, is dedicated to “the most noble lady Lucretia di Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici.”

* The splendor of these parades is recalled in Benozzo Gozzoli’s
Adoration of the Magi
in which the retinues of the kings, especially that of the young Caspar, are based on contemporary
brigate,
complete with mounted escort and attendants.

* “What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god!”(
Hamlet,
II, ii.)

* Lorenzo, though fascinated by ancient Greek culture and literature, was probably not fluent in the language. His love of Hellenic culture is amply demonstrated by his commissioning of numerous beautifully illuminated manuscripts in Greek (over six hundred were recorded in his library), but he probably relied on friends like Angelo Poliziano to reveal their treasures. (See E. B. Fryde’s “Lorenzo’s Greek Manuscripts, and in Particular His Own Commissions,” in
Lorenzo the Magnificent: Culture and Politics
.)

† Alberti came from an aristocratic family but poverty forced him to earn his wages as a secretary in the papal curia.

* The all-male societies could also provide opportunities for homosexual activity. In 1469, for instance, three men were expelled from the flagellant company of San Paolo “because they were condemned by the office of sodomy” (see Michael Rocke’s
Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence,
chapter 9).

* The most significant conflict between Florence and the pope was the so-called War of the Eight Saints (1375–78). Often the pope’s spiritual powers were more devastating than his armies. By excommunicating the citizens and placing their city under interdict, the pope could subject Florentine businessmen throughout Christendom to the threat that their property would be confiscated.