I never met a Medici I didn't like

“Il Duomo, check”, “La Academia, Ponte Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery - check, check, check.” Mr. Steves’ 2010 Tuscany, Eyewitness Top 10 Tuscany and Fodor’s Best of Tuscany joined us in bed a few weeks before departure. There were almost 30 hill towns we had yet to explore, we had already decide to venture out to Ligura’s Cinque Terre as well as the pride of Umbria, Assisi. But what about Tuscany’s own capital, Florence? We thought we had seen all there was on previous visits. So, it was a late night research session that lead us to La Palazzo Pitti - palace of the Medici family .

What I knew (well let’s be honest know) about the Medici’s wouldn’t fill a single shot espresso cup.

Medici facts according to Pam:
1.Ruled Florence with an iron fist for 500 years (it was actually almost 400 and the iron fist would depend on who you were talking to).
2.Italian royalty or nobility (Sort of. By making the family bank the bank of the papal Curia, they founded the Medici fortune. By managing the family fortune, political clout and personal image to become the de facto rulers of Florence).
3.“The ends justify the means” Machiavelli based The Prince on the Medici family. True, but that only scratches the surface.

“Madam, we have a problem - the Firenze Marathon it is today- we will get you a close as we can”, said the taxi captain outside Santa Maria Novella train station. Close were the banks of the Arno river - just south of the Ponte Vecchio. David took my hand and we did something totally new for us, we crossed the Arno. The brown directional signs directed us through the winding streets towards the Palazzo di Pitti. We emptied out onto the largest square I had seen in Florence. What was even more impressive, two entire sides were one massive building - the Pitti Palace, Florence‘s royal home from 1560 until the 1860s. Inside the former residences of the Medici Dukes, Napoleon’s brother and the Lorraine /Hapsburg dynasty the opulent room décor was completely overshadowed by the sheer volume of art. Raphael, Titian, Van Dyck, Caravaggio masterpieces were interspersed with minor pieces by unknown medieval, Renaissance, and 18th century artists. The only impression you can have upon leaving is, the Medicis knew how to live.

Our next stop was San Lorenzo, the parish church of the Medici family. San Lorenzo is the oldest church in Florence, since 938 A.D. a church has stood on this site. The church’s façade is only partially complete, still showing its medieval roots (the Pope of the time felt too much money was being spent on San Lorenzo and pulled the plug - cut backs my friends are nothing new). The Medicis filled the church with priceless paintings and sculptures. The interior is light and thanks to its baroque Medici funded overhaul in the late 1600s.

The light interior of San Lorenzo wasn’t the only thing that was different. Two minutes after entering a lovely young Italian woman came over and introduced herself as a docent. She told us she was here to answer any question we may have about the church, the church art or anything at all (my previous experiences with museum/ church staff was an occasional ’Silencio!’ when the noise level got too loud). We ended up getting a 20 minute lecture on the Old Sacristies, where the earliest Medicis were buried (right inside San Lorenzo church itself) and the New Sacristies, built in part by Michelangelo,contained the later grand duke Medici family. She explained the two Medici coat of arms. The earliest family crest was 8 red balls representing both the size of the family and 8 the symbol for eternity. The second crest represented the later family with 5 red balls and a 6th blue ball with the Fleur de Lis representing the sister who married into French royalty, the house of Aragon. We thanked her and continued on our stroll through the church.

On our way out we met another docent, this one an Italian man of about 24. Our discussion with him made the greatest impression of the Medicis. He explained many people think the crest’s red balls represent pills, implying the Medicis were doctors before their banking and real estate empire. He snorted, “Doctors?! They were wool merchants who sold their goods on the Silk Road to China!” The balls represent the weights of how they measured and sold their goods.” At this point, he leaned over as to tell us a secret. “You know what?” he exclaimed, “Medicis aren’t even from Florence, they are from Scarperia!” At that he laughed like it was the greatest joke ever. He then sobered to speak of the last Medici, Anna Maria Luisa. With no heirs, Anna Maria willed all her holdings to the Lorraine (later the Hapsburgs) of Austria, with the strict stipulation, nothing was ever to be removed from Florence. She was as good in life as she was in death he explained, founding schools, hospitals a great humanitarian. But it was the signing of Patto di Famiglia that ensured the Medici legacy would forever remain in Florence.

As I walked back to the train station I thought about all I had learned. This family who in my mind was a 15th century version of the mafia, wasn’t just around during the Renaissance, they caused it to happen. Just a few examples, Medici cousin commissioned Botticelli’s Venus Rising and Primavera as a wedding gift to his bride. Michelangelo, a personal friend of the family, decorated the family crypt (New Sacristies) with his masterpiece Dawn,Dusk,Day and Night. It was only through the influence of Cosimo Medici II that Gallieo's sentence was commuted from death to house arrest,at a Medici university teaching science. The family office in downtown Florence was as filled with art as their home, the building and its collection are better known as the Uffizi Gallery. As I returned back to Villa Casagrande, once home of the noble family Serristori, I smiled as I passed the Medici crest and plaque inlayed in the villa walls which said Medici son and friend of the family, Pope Leo X had once slept here, just like me! And did I mention they were gardeners? You should see the family gardens, a little place called Giardino di Boboli, the Boboli Gardens. I knew I liked those guys.