Reaserch Entry II- The Importance of the Medici Family

Politics, Politics, and More Politics… With Some History In-between…

 

Florence Italy. The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.

(My attention grabber, as I am about to overwhelm you with names and dates) 

In 1494 Charles VIII of France invaded Italy in which their unimpeded pursuit took them through Naples- aided by modern cannonry. The results were devastating. Piero de’ Medici, Lorenzo the Magnificents’s heir as ruler of Florence, surrendered to the invasive force and as a result the Medici family was removed from Florence. With this the second Florentine Republic was established (6).
 

Italy in 1494, before the invasion by Charles VIII of France that year.

 

Dominican reformer, Fra Girolamo Savonarola saw this foreign invasion as a sign of God’s wrath against a corrupt people- an idea that fueled the most powerful political, moral and spiritual force in the city- the renewal. It aimed at transforming Florence back into a city of God. As part of the transformation- remnants of Renaissance Florence- portraits, books, poetry and finery were burned because they were considered vanity and worldly luxury. Eventually, after much civic revolt and Savonarola’s excommunication, he was burned at the stake in 1498. His ideas did not hold, but did continue to have an influence for nearly fifty years after his death (6).

 Although Florence had returned to a republican government, it was unable to protect itself against danger from abroad. In 1532 the city was forced to agree to the return of the Medici. The election of Pope Leo X (Lorenzo the Magnificent’s son, Giovanni), was a Medici dream, but a nightmare for the now Papacy-dependant Florence who was in turn exploited for its wealth (6, 7).

For 15 years 1512-1527 The major powers in Europe fought for posession of Florence.  In 1523, Giulio de’ Medici’s illegitimate son of Lorenzo’s murdered brother Giuliano, was elected Pope Clement VII. He ran Florence in a feudal manner and his disastrous policies eventually led to the sack of Rome by Emperor Charles V Clements. For the third time, the Medici family was expelled from Florence. With this, Pope and emperor found in each other a common cause. Charles wanted papal support against the English and German reformers- but he needed Florence’s riches for security (7). Meanwhile, Clement wanted Florence for the Medici- an act that could only be delivered by Charles. Charles promised to commit all of his resources to restore the popes family to Florence and did so by promising his 7 year old daughter, Margherita, to Clements nephew, Alessandro de’ Medici and placed a “deposit” of twenty thousand ducats on the proposition. (7)

 In 1527 the plague claimed 30,000 lives and nearly ¼ the population of Florence. In 1528, and marked by the beginning of the end of the plague and forfilling the desire of Savonarola, the Grand council voted Christ as the “sole and true lord and king.” (7).

 The battle for the third Republic faced civil strife and struggled against foreign powers. In 1529 the Florentines sent a declaration of defiance to the imperial troops set guard around their city. By this time in history, Florence had been now ravished by war, plague and hunger. 

 Ordained by Charles V, Alessandro de’ Medici then made his entry into Florence as “capo”- head of the city. From this point his power would be hereditary, the duchy- a territory over which a duke or duchess has jurisdiction- was established through a constitution in 1532. For the next decade Florentine exiles would cling to the ideals of the Republic and vent their hatred of the Medici from abroad. Many left Florence at this time, including Michelangelo, preferring to live under papal rule in Rome (8).  

Through the plague, revolutions and sieges, Bronzino and Pontormo remained in Florence. They became were of a civic culture based heavily on religious and political debate. “We need not revive old concept of Mannerism as a style of anxiety to understand that Pontormo and Bronzino’s representations of their own world would be neither conventional nor easy to understand.” (8). Florence’s politically stressed and reformed foundation is what defines a large portion of the artists evolution- and this is the essence and main subject of this research project.

 Holy moly that was a lot of information crammed in there, but it was all important for understanding Bronzino and Pontormo's artistic creations…. Up next, the beginning of Bronzino and Pontormo’s career under the Medici.