Can anyone recommend a good book on the Medici's?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

I'm sort of specifically interested in Lorenzo, but something about the whole family would be interesting too.

I've been looking around, but everything I've come across so far looks either really, really dry or seems to focus on minor Medici figures.

[Radical Activist]

1. That would be interesting.

I watched the PBS documentary on them. But they were trying too hard to be like the history channel. Lots of fluff and too few details. It would be nice to follow up with a book.

[CTyankee]

2. There's a recent book by a brit called "Medici Money." What a delight that is!

You should read it! I got it from my local library because I am going to Florence in a few weeks for an art intensive study with Trinity College (Hartford).

Most books on the Italian Renaissance have tons of stuff on the Medici. Lorenzo was kind of the end of the quattrocento line of the Medici. He was a talented writer but couldn't really pull off what his familial predecessors had, bank and art. Lorenzo was quite the showman for art but the family had really done in the republic of Florence, so I am less sympathetic with him than others might be. However, it is up to you to decide. "Medici Money" is a really good read and answers LOTS of questions you might have about this family.

Almost any good, comprehensive book on the Italian Renaissance will have information on the Medici. I think the big controversy is whether the Medici was a major spur to the Renaissance. To me that seems to be an argument that capitalism advances art. That is not entirely true with Florence. Or, you might say, it advances art at the expense of the people's government in a democratic republic.

[CTyankee]

3. I really should edit some of what I said because Lorenzo, who spent a boatload of Medici money on

art, wasn't really interested in advancing the republican ideals that Florence held so dear. It is instructive. Florence lost its republic and the Medici really did them in, altho the Fiorintini were complicit in the deal, probably because they were clueless or ignorant of the politics of what was going on.

At any rate, it is an interesting story...

[rug]

4. These people will know.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=277

[david13]

5. I would start with the libraries. And the bookstores. They are all

online, you can do it all from your keyboard.
There is a list to be found, "Books in Print" which gives you every book ever published, ever, almost.
And you can then search for them, get them, and browse to see what looks the best and most interesting.
Have fun.
dc

[LibertyLover]

6. See if you can get a copy of The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall

by Christopher Hibbert. It's a nice canter through the family history.