Amerigo Vespucci: Father Of The Powerful Medici Family

His father was in Molfetta, Italy during World War II (1941-1945) when Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler declared war on the United States. By then my grandfather was 6 years old. His oldest brother Orazio (named after his grandfather) was in the Balilla Fascist Youth Movement in school. It was a comprehensive youth group movement for all ages from 8 years old on. It was created by Benito Mussolini himself. His other brother Corado was noted for his talents as an artist and an opera singer. My grandfather 's family came to the United States to get medical care for Corado who had suffered from kidney failure at a young age.

The Medici family commissioned many artists to make art for them. By the family commissioning them it basically made the artist’s name. In the early time of the Medici family when they were just building up their empire commission artists would help them to build their political prestige and their reputation in the community. Initially in the time of Lorenzo Medici the church wanted nothing to do with the Medici family’s art patronage because they believed that the works that they had commissioned were crude or inappropriate due to nudity or sexual scenes. About 70 years later right before Pope Julius died the Medici art patronage was brought into the church when he commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. By Michelangelo being brought into the light of the Catholic Church it opened doors for the Medici family to

To many, the name Lorenzo de Medici just sounds like an irrelevant Italian man. At a closer look, Lorenzo was one of the most important people in the history of Italy. Born to Lucrezia Tornabuoni and Piero di Cosimo de ' Medici, Lorenzo ruled Florence from 1469 until his death in 1492 after his father’s death. He helped make Florence the most important city-state from 1469-1492. Lorenzo de Medici was the most important ruler of Florence because he formed political alliances to protect his people, he was a strong supporter of education, and he was an advocate to many great artists.

* Political turbulence and warfare of the Renaissance period gave rise to the art of diplomacy and many despots established resident embassies and appointed ambassadors to other powerful city-states and nations

Ernesto’s father was a professor of ancient history at the University of Turin, his cousin was the eminent astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, another one of his cousins was the Arabist Celestine and his grandson was an illustrator of scholars of palaeography and diplomatic Luigi Schiaparelli, including teacher at the most eminent of the University of Florence.

For centuries there has been hostility between all different forms of religion. The Catholics and the Protestants are no exception. For many years these two branches of religion have been at each other’s throats defending their respective beliefs. Although in hindsight it is definitely wrong what these two groups did to one another, at the time they felt they were doing what was right. The question now was raised. Why did anyone need to die for their own religious beliefs? One thing lead to another and many people were put under scrutiny when the death tolls began to rise. No one was under more fire than Catherine de Medici. She became the scapegoat for what happened on Saint Bartholomew’s Day.

Giralamo Savonarola was born in Ferrara in 1452. He was brought to Florence by Lorenzo after Pico della Mirandola encouraged him to bring Savonarola to the city. In Ferrara, Savonarola was a traditionalist and a moralist and renowned as a preacher and a prophet. Upon his arrival, Savonarola did not intend on reforming the city and returning it to a religious centered state. Yet, after witnessing the atrocities of Florence, he became a reformer and an outspoken enemy of the Medici family.

Navigator and explorer Amerigo Vespucci came in to this world on March 9, 1451. He was born in to a cultured family as the third son of Ser Nastagio and Lisabetta Mini. Vespucci’s father worked as a notary in Florence, Italy. As a child, Amerigo was educated by his paternal uncle, a Dominican friar known as Giorgio Antonio Vespucci. While his older brothers headed off to the University of Pisa in Tuscany, Amerigo embraces a more mercantile life and was hired as a clerk by the Florentine commercial house of Medici. When

The political advantages of the bank also permitted the Medici family to maintain their control over Renaissance Florence. On an international level, the bank provided the Medici family a degree of favourable contact with the Pope and other Renaissance princes. The Medici thus relied on a system of diplomacy in which they attempted to cultivate and maintain personal ties with individual rulers. As historian Gene Brucker explains, “This [system of] personal diplomacy was most likely to succeed when it was reinforced by mutual interests; Medici loans to Francesco Sforza [the ruler of Milan] were repaid when the latter sent troops to Florence to thwart a revolutionary movement.” Milan was not the only state to trade the Medici political favours for bank loans. Economic historian Raymond de Roover, the author of the most comprehensive economic studies of the collapse of the Medici bank, also notes that male relatives of the Pope’s bankers (the Medici) received preferential treatment upon entering the holy orders, and were rapidly made bishops, cardinals, and in some cases, popes. Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici, for example, received the tonsure at age seven and became a cardinal at age fourteen because of the influence his father, Lorenzo il Magnifico, had with

A post Middle Age Italy was afflicted by medieval wars and the bubonic plague. A change was needed to restore the vision of what Italy could become. This change was found within one family: the Medici’s, who helped to return the glory and influence to Florence. The Medici’s saw the value in contributing to the advancement of the greatest minds of the period. This was evident in their patronage of leading Artists such as Michelangelo and of renowned Teachers such as Galileo. The sphere of influence the Medici’s enjoyed also extended to the political arena, which happened to be heavily influenced by the Catholic Church at the time. The Medici’s were able to capitalize on the power of the Church and through this influence and the use of

Giovanni Bellini, (born c. 1430, Venice [Italy]—died 1516, Venice), Italian painter who, in his work, reflects the increasing interest of the Venetian artistic milieu in the stylistic innovations and concerns of the Renaissance (metmuseum). Bellini was one of the most influential Venetian artists. He lived and worked in Venice all his life; his career spanned 65 years. Little is known about Bellini’s family. Bellini’s father, Jacopo, a painter was a pupil of the Gentile da Fabriano, in any case, Jacopo introduced the principles of the Florentine Renaissance to Venice before either of his sons (Britannica). Jacopo strove to ensure that his sons would become distinguished painters as well and, it is said, often pitted them each other.

Lorenzo was born in 1499 and was known as Lorenzo il Magnifico, the Magnificent. Lorenzo continued with his grandfather’s work and funded talented artists such as Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and also a public art school. Lorenzo was definitely more concerned with his power, popularity, and success rather than the banking business. He married a niece of a cardinal, and to keep his success locked in, Lorenzo married off his daughter to Pope Leo VIII’s son. Lorenzo also bought his son, Giovanni, the role of Cardinal. Giovanni eventually became Pope Leo X. In doing all of this, Lorenzo widened the Medici family’s influence, but he also lessened their personal bank account. Because the amount of money they had was getting smaller and smaller, the Medici power began to weaken. Luckily, Cardinal Giovanni de Medici had become Pope Leo X in 1513. Giovanni, Pope Leo X, was able to make the family wealthy again by selling the freedom from punishment of sins. Starting now, the Medici family turned its attention from the banking business to the business of the church. In 1523, Giulio, son of Giuliano and cousin of Giovanni, became Pope Clement VII. To keep the family full of wealth, Giulio married off his cousin, Catherine, to the heir of the French throne. The Medici family eventually had three French kings through this arrangement. Lorenzo had a great-great-grandson named Cosimo I who was born in 1569. As the Grand Duke of

As Doglioni records, Modesta Pozzo was born in venice in 1555, to Girolamo Pozzo a lawyer, and Marietta dal Moro. Both her parents came from moneyed families of the peculiarly venetian rank of cittadini originari, a secondary elite group, excluded from the patriciate and thus ineligible for political office, but clearly differentiated from the 'populace ' in terms of education and lifestyle.

Niccoló Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469, in Florence, Italy. This was during the golden ages of Florence, a powerful point in its history. His parents were Bernardo

The focus of this investigation will be “The Medici family supported the artists of the Renaissance era by providing them financial support, throughout mentorship and because of the prevailing philosophy and humanism.” This investigation will focus on the background of the Medici family and how they supported artists of the Renaissances era. This investigation will use a primary source from an artist's work and a secondary source relating to the Medici family uprising.San Lorenzo (church). Medici chapel. Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici which held Sculptures by Michelangelo and Adrien, De Roover Raymond. The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, 1397-1494. Norton Library, 2012.Both sources provide background to the Renaissance time period and how the Medic family treated artists with their power. The two sources are examples of how the Medicis changed the renaissance era through their money and power to pursue artists for their own benefit and for the time periods.