Why read Cosimo De' Medici and the Florentine Renaissance?

Book cover of Cosimo De' Medici and the Florentine Renaissance: The Patron's Oeuvre

Book description

Cosimo de' Medici (1389-1464), the fabulously wealthy banker who became the leading citizen of Florence in the fifteenth century, spent lavishly as the city's most important patron of art and literature. This remarkable book is the first comprehensive examination of the whole body of works of art and architecture commissioned…

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European history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Cosimo De' Medici and the Florentine Renaissance as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Francesca Fiorani

Author

Most art in the Renaissance was commissioned by specific patrons and this book superbly illustrates the complex interaction among patron, artist, and society by focusing on the greatest patron of art and architecture in fifteenth-century Florence. Cosimo de’ Medici was the most powerful figure in the city’s political and economic life, a fabulously wealthy banker, a devout Christian, but he had also an impeccable nose for great art. With the help of about 200 images, the book examines the religious, personal, and dynastic motivations behind Cosimo’s artistic patronage, both his direct commissions for the Medici palaces, villas, and chapels as…

From Francesca's list on the art and culture of Renaissance Florence.