With and without the Medici

Medici dominance in the political and cultural life of Italy, and of Florence in particular, has been well explored. Previous patronage studies have shown how the Medici invested great wealth in both private and public art and how the skills of Florentine artists and their products were an important part of the self-representation of Florence and the Medici in Italy and abroad. The six studies in this volume investigate the evidence for patronal interests expressed in a variety of commissions by different social groups and consider how far Medici activity as patrons can be considered paradigmatic.