Editing House of Medici (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:Sandro Botticelli 056.jpg|thumb|The family of [[Piero di Cosimo de' Medici|Piero de' Medici]] portrayed by [[Sandro Botticelli]] in the ''[[Madonna del Magnificat]]'' (circa 1483–1485).]]
The greatest accomplishments of the Medici were in the sponsorship of [[art]] and [[architecture]], mainly [[Renaissance art|early]] and [[High Renaissance]] art and architecture. The Medici were responsible for a high proportion of the major Florentine works of art created during their period of rule. Their support was critical, since artists generally began work on their projects only after they had received commissions. Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, the first patron of the arts in the family, aided [[Masaccio]] and commissioned [[Filippo Brunelleschi]] for the reconstruction of the [[Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence]] in 1419. Cosimo the Elder's notable artistic associates were [[Donatello]] and [[Fra Angelico]]. In later years the most significant [[protégé]] of the Medici family was [[Michelangelo|Michelangelo Buonarroti]] (1475–1564), who produced work for a number of family members, beginning with Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was said to be extremely fond of the young Michelangelo and invited him to study the family collection of antique sculpture.<ref>Howard Hibbard, ''Michelangelo'' (New York: Harper and Row, 1974), p. 21.</ref> Lorenzo also served as patron to [[Leonardo da Vinci]] (1452–1519) for seven years. Indeed, Lorenzo was an artist in his own right and an author of poetry and song; his support of the arts and letters is seen as a high point in Medici patronage.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

[[File:Gozzoli magi.jpg|thumb|Medici family members placed allegorically in the entourage of a king from the [[Biblical Magi|Three Wise Men]] in the Tuscan countryside in a [[Benozzo Gozzoli]] fresco (c. 1459).]]
After Lorenzo's death the puritanical Dominican friar [[Girolamo Savonarola]] rose to prominence, warning Florentines against excessive luxury. Under Savonarola's fanatical leadership many great works were "voluntarily" destroyed in the [[Bonfire of the Vanities]] (February 7, 1497). The following year, on 23 May 1498, Savonarola and two young supporters were burned at the stake in the Piazza della Signoria, the same location as his bonfire. In addition to commissions for art and architecture, the Medici were prolific collectors and today their acquisitions form the core of the Uffizi museum in Florence. In architecture, the Medici were responsible for some notable features of Florence, including the [[Uffizi|Uffizi Gallery]], the [[Boboli Gardens]], the [[Belvedere (fort)|Belvedere]], the [[Medici Chapels|Medici Chapel]] and the [[Palazzo Medici Riccardi|Palazzo Medici]].<ref>[http://www.florentine-society.ru/Medici_Chapel_Mysteries.htm Peter Barenboim, Sergey Shiyan, ''Michelangelo: Mysteries of Medici Chapel'', SLOVO, Moscow, 2006] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704121633/http://www.florentine-society.ru/Medici_Chapel_Mysteries.htm |date=2017-07-04 }}. {{ISBN|5-85050-825-2}}</ref>

Later, in Rome, the Medici popes continued in the family tradition of patronizing artists in Rome. Pope Leo X would chiefly commission works from [[Raphael]], whereas Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint the altar wall of the [[Sistine Chapel]] just before the pontiff's death in 1534.<ref>Hibbard, p. 240.</ref> [[Eleanor of Toledo]], a princess of Spain and wife of Cosimo I the Great, purchased the Pitti Palace from [[Buonaccorso Pitti]] in 1550. Cosimo in turn patronized [[Giorgio Vasari|Vasari]], who erected the Uffizi Gallery in 1560 and founded the [[Accademia delle Arti del Disegno]] – ("Academy of the Arts of Drawing") in 1563.<ref>Official site of the ''Accademia delle Arti del Disegno'' of Florence, Brief History (it. leng.){{cite web |url=http://www.aadfi.it/index.htm |title=Accademia delle Arti del Disegno |access-date=2009-06-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603055318/http://www.aadfi.it/index.htm |archive-date=2009-06-03 }}</ref> [[Marie de' Medici]], widow of [[Henry IV of France]] and mother of [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]], is the subject of a commissioned cycle of paintings known as the [[Marie de' Medici cycle]], painted for the [[Luxembourg Palace]] by court painter [[Peter Paul Rubens]] in 1622–23.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Although none of the Medici themselves were scientists, the family is well known to have been the patrons of the famous [[Galileo Galilei]], who tutored multiple generations of Medici children and was an important figurehead for his patron's quest for power. Galileo's patronage was eventually abandoned by [[Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Ferdinando II]], when the [[Roman Inquisition|Inquisition]] accused Galileo of heresy. However, the Medici family did afford the scientist a safe haven for many years. Galileo named the [[Galilean moons|four largest moons]] of [[Jupiter]] after four Medici children he tutored, although the names Galileo used are not the names currently used.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}