Why Is The Medici Family Important In The Renaissance

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The Medici and the Renaissance During the Middle Ages art had predominantly been commissioned by and for the church. However, in the fifteenth century there was a shift in thinking and the Medici family became top patrons of art for the sake of personal enjoyment. With their aristocratic and cultural influence, they were hugely instrumental in enticing other aristocratic families into acquiring works of art as status symbols. Ultimately the Medici family helped shape the forces of the Renaissance at work in Florence, Italy. (Mee120/135).The Medici family was responsible for the emergence of the Renaissance in Italy to a great extent because of their wealth, pride and love for art and humanist tradition and their contribution and collaboration…show more content…
By the fifteenth century, wealthy individuals commissioned altar pieces or frescoes in churches and built palaces eager to demonstrate their wealth and outdo each other through artistic patronage (Cook). Chief among them was the Medici family, the most successful in commerce and trade. They owed much of their wealth to Giovanni de Medici, the founder of the Medici bank (Ducksters). With their wealth, the Medici family spent 663,755 florins supporting learning and the arts (Hancock 60). In one year alone Lorenzo De’Medici spent 30,000 florins on manuscripts, nearly half of them previously unknown in Italy. Commentaries on Plato, treatises on architecture and the writings of Ceaser and Homer were made available at the Palazzo Medici to be read and talked about(Mee 109).Lorenzo also donated to the University of Florence; a perfect model of a Renaissance school where students from all over Europe came to study in this prominent place of learning (Hancock 65). In 1488 Lorenzo used the Medici gardens as the venue to set up a school for talented young sculptors in Florence. His many paintings, busts and statues that were given to the students to copy and improve their skills (Hancock 69) contributed to making the gardens the world’s first museum (Mee 130). As a result of the Medici family wealth they were in a position to express and share their love of art with the rest of Florence and enhanced the…show more content…
The center of the humanist revival was the Platonic Academy; an informal group of brilliant men who gathered around Lorenzo De’ Medici and shared thoughts and ideas with scholars and leaders throughout the world (Mee 101). By bringing together artists, philosophers, scholars and architects, Lorenzo was happy to carry on the family tradition of patronizing learning and the arts (Hancock 60).The Platonic Academy influenced many artists of the Renaissance era with the thoughts of Neo-Platonism. As a result, the artist’s work glorified man (Hancock 14). Lorenzo however recognised that it would require more to keep humanism and the humanities thriving. In 1472, determined to make Florence prosperous and a centre of learning, Lorenzo persuaded the Florentine government to re-establish the declining University of Pisa. He went on to build a vast number of new buildings including a villa at Poggio and Caino which were designed unlike any other architecture of that time. Following the model of a Greek temple; a design which had never been reproduced before, it had a noble facade with columns, frieze and a vast dome at the centre intended for a library. Although Lorenzo never lived there it was intended to serve as a study centre for the learning scholars of the world and an institute for advanced study; the first of its

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