Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Lorenzo de Medici

Lorenzo de Medici. Bronzino and workshop. Photo unattributed – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Lorenzo de Medici

Lorenzo de Medici, known as The Magnificent, was born in Florence in 1449 – son of Piero the Gouty and Lucrezia Tornabuoni – and died in 1492. One of the most famous and revered members of the Medici family, he played a vital part in Italy’s political games and the cultural life of Florence and was one of the foremost patrons of the Florentine Renaissance.

1. Magnifico went down in history as the youngest gonfalonier

Verrocchio Lorenzo de Medici. 15th or 16th-century terra-cotta bust, probably based on 1478 life-like wax sculptures by Andrea del Verrocchio and Orsino Benintendi. Photo by Andrea del Verrocchio – Wikimedia Commons

Historians have been calling him this for centuries, but how did he get the nickname? Was it because he was so extraordinary? Not really. When a man entered the Florentine Republic as Gonfaloniere di Giustizia (the highest rank) he was called “Magnifico Messere”. As a rule, no man younger than 45 could take on the role of Gonfaloniere, but for Lorenzo, an exception was made.

When his father died, his fellow citizens asked Lorenzo to take up leadership of the Florentine Republic. He was only 21 at the time. He went down in history as the youngest gonfalonier, and, given all his outstanding accomplishments, the nickname “Il Magnifico” stuck.

2. He wasn’t magnificent to look at

Lorenzo de’ Medici-ritratto. Photo by Girolamo Macchietti – Wikimedia Commons 

He had a flat nose, a nasal high-pitched voice, and didn’t look the part at all.  “His long flattened nose looked broken and badly set, his jaw jutted forward and his eyebrows above his big, dark, penetrating eyes were irregular and bumpy.

He was quite strikingly ugly“, writes Christopher Hibbert in his book (LINK). But he had a charming personality; animated and enthusiastic with a joyful nature that made him enormously popular.

3. He escaped death by a hair’s breadth

Ghirlandaio a-pucci-lorenzo-de-medici-f-sassetti. Photo by Domenico Ghirlandaio – Wikimedia Commons

During the Congiura dei Pazzi, there was a plot to assassinate him and his brother Giuliano. This Pazzi Conspiracy came to a head at Easter during Mass in Florence Cathedral, in 1478.

Lorenzo, an able swordsman, reacted promptly and managed to stop the would-be attacker who merely scratched him with a dagger. His younger brother wasn’t so fortunate, and died from 19 stab wounds, his blood staining the floor of Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral.

4. He was a gifted poet

Lorenzo de’ Medici Rubens. Photo by Peter Paul Rubens – Wikimedia Commons

Lorenzo was more than just an astute diplomat and politician out to secure power for himself. He was also a talented poet, and today Italian students study his poems as part of their literature curriculum. One of his most famous verses is a reflection on the brevity of life and his carpe diem philosophy.

” Youth is sweet and well / But doth speed away! / Let who will be gay, / Tomorrow, none can tell.”

5. One of Lorenzo the Magnificent’s passions was jousting

Lorenzo de Medici. Photo by Girolamo Macchietti – Wikimedia Commons

As a young man, he and his brother Giuliano entertained Florence by organizing and taking part in spectacular games and jousting tournaments in Piazza Santa Croce. The poet Luigi Pulci dedicated one of his poems to him: “La Giostra di Lorenzo de Medici“.

6. He didn’t marry for love

Portrait of Lorenzo de Medici MET. Photo by Lucas Vorsterman – Wikimedia Commons

Lorenzo married a beautiful young woman from Rome called Clarici Orsini. She was different from him in every way. Where he was extroverted and passionate, she was shy and reserved. Where he was versatile and curious, she was conservative and quite petulant.

The marriage was a political move, rather than a love match, and organized by his mother. Despite the nature of their alliance they stayed together in a peaceful marriage and had 10 children together. He is said to have been distressed when she died in 1488.

7. Lorenzo the Latin lover

Cast of the Dead Mask of Lorenzo de’ Medici. Photo by Orsino enintendi – Wikimedia Commons

He didn’t hide his restlessness or libido and often fell for married women. He’s described as “licentious and very amorous” (by Italian historian Guicciardini).

He had a romantic attachment to Lucrezia Donati, a woman who he had known since they were very young, and with whom he had more in common than his wife. But it seems that their relationship remained platonic, and lived mainly in the sonnets that we wrote praising her beauty.

8. He wasn’t good at making money

Lorenzo de Medici 02. Medici Family: Lorenzo the Magnificent, aged about 15,Detail from Category:Adoration of the Magi by Botticelli (Uffizi) Pala Zanobi. Photo by Sandro Botticelli – Wikimedia Commons

He used to say quite proudly that he didn’t know much about the world of banking. With Lorenzo, not so Magnificent when it came to business, the Medici bank started a slow decline from which it would never recover. He was much better at spending it than making money and put much of his finance towards entertainment and his great passion, art.

9. Lorenzo was the ultimate patron

Lorenzo de Medici. Photo by Bronzino – Wikimedia Commons

He practically adopted Michelangelo when the artist was still a young boy. Lorenzo had opened a School of Sculpture near his house, in the San Marco garden, where he collected ancient statues to allow young artists to learn and improve in the art of sculpting. Michelangelo was one of those young men chiseling away in his garden. Lorenzo immediately recognized the impressive talent of this young artist and decided to take him into his home and treat him like his son.

Other artists that he financed or helped in many ways included Leonardo da Vinci and his teacher Verrocchio, Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, and Ghirlandaio. He also lavished money on the patronage of writers and scholars and bought a vast number of manuscripts and with him, the Medici library grew immensely.

10. He had an extravagant taste in pets

MediciFamily: Lorenzo II de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino; son of Piero, the eldest son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Photo by Cigoli – Wikimedia Commons

Apart from his love of horses, he fed his own horse Morello himself, he’s known to have kept exotic pets including a giraffe in his Villa in Poggio a Caiano, just outside Florence. A gift from a sultan, it was very tame and gentle. In his estate, he also used to breed all sorts of animals including pigs, rabbits, and peacocks.