Florence

Florence

If Ferrara is the city of the Este family, then Florence is the city of the Medici family. Dukes, popes, bankers, merchants, poets and patrons: all these were members of the Medici family, who governed the city for three centuries. And they didn't only reign Florence: in the sixteenth century first Caterina and then Maria de'Medici sat on the throne of France for almost half a century.

The Florentines have always had politics in their blood: Dante Alighieri depicted in a very expressive way the struggle factions of his time in his "Divine Comedy" and Machiavelli wrote with his "Prince" the first modern treaty about reasons of State.

But by far the most important merit of the Medici family is supported by their assistance to culture: during their courtship emerged, with artists like Brunelleschi, Masaccio and Donatello, a new artistic movement that also represented a new vision of the world: Renaissance. Botticelli, Beato Angelico, Della Robbia, Leon Battista Alberti brought forward this movement and made Florence the cultural center of the Western world. Even Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo represented part of the Medici courtship. The artistic treasures that came about during that epoch belonged to the cultural inheritance not only of Florence but of the entire world, which has made this city one of the most visited destinations in Italy.


Florence
	If Ferrara is the city of the Este family, then Florence is the city of the Medici family. Dukes, popes, bankers, merchants, poets and patrons: all these were members of the Medici family, who governed the city for three centuries. And they didn't only reign Florence: in the sixteenth century first Caterina and then Maria de'Medici sat on the throne of France for almost half a century.
The Florentines have always had politics in their blood: Dante Alighieri depicted in a very expressive way the struggle factions of his time in his "Divine Comedy" and Machiavelli wrote with his "Prince" the first modern treaty about reasons of State.
But by far the most important merit of the Medici family is supported by their assistance to culture: during their courtship emerged, with artists like Brunelleschi, Masaccio and Donatello, a new artistic movement that also represented a new vision of the world: Renaissance. Botticelli, Beato Angelico, Della Robbia, Leon Battista Alberti brought forward this movement and made Florence the cultural center of the Western world. Even Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo represented part of the Medici courtship. The artistic treasures that came about during that epoch belonged to the cultural inheritance not only of Florence but of the entire world, which has made this city one of the most visited destinations in Italy.

Last update 04/05/2003	Search inside "Italian In Italy"
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