In this new tour about the Medici family, we’ll explore three Renaissance sites directly connected to the Medici family: the Museum and Convent of San Marco, the Medici Palace and San Lorenzo’s Basilica. Led by an expert art historian guide, we’ll focus on the history of the Medici and their contribution to the development of the Renaissance.

SAN MARCO AND COSIMO THE ELDER

We will begin our tour in the Museum and Convent of San Marco, which was entirely renovated by Cosimo de’ Medici “the Elder”. Michelozzo de’ Michelozzi, Cosimo’s favorite architect, built this convent in 1438 and its history is linked to important historical figures, such as the notorious Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola. Cosimo spent an enormous fortune building the common areas of the convent and the friars’ cells (and his own!) on the upper floor, and he also paid for the fresco cycle painted by the most celebrated painter of the time, Fra Angelico. We will also visit San Marco Library, the first public library in the world, with original illuminated manuscripts from the 15th century.

THE MEDICI PALACE AND PIERO THE GOUTY

After San Marco, we’ll head to the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, the Medici family’s first residential palace. Here, we’ll observe the distinctive rusticated stone structure and learn about the history of Renaissance architecture and how this type of mansion became the foundation for patrician palaces throughout Europe. Inside the courtyard, we’ll continue the Medici family story, focusing on the second figure, Piero the Gouty, the eldest son of Cosimo, who commissioned the Chapel of the Magi. In this plethora of animals, plants, colors, and portraits of illustrious figures, the painter, Benozzo Gozzoli, offers a reading somewhere between realism and symbolism of the glory of the Medici family and its relationship with 15th-century Italian communal society.

SAN LORENZO AND LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT

Finally, our tour will end in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, the first entirely Renaissance basilica in the world. Here, we will have the opportunity to discuss the most famous and controversial figure in the history of the Medici family, Lorenzo the Magnificent.

Inside the basilica, we’ll observe works by Michelangelo, whom Lorenzo had hosted in his home after discovering his talent and establishing his success as a sculptor! We’ll tell you about Donatello‘s art through his two bronze pulpits, which have been fully restored after a lengthy restoration. Above all, we’ll visit the Old Sacristy, an absolute masterpiece by the renowned artist Filippo Brunelleschi. We’ll tell you about the perspective and purity of his Renaissance style, but also about his surly temper, which often erupted into fits of rage, especially with poor Donatello, whom he believed had ruined his sacristy by decorating it too much with his terracotta medallions!