In the past half century scholars have downplayed the significance
of Lorenzo de' Medici (1449--1492), called "the Magnificent," as a
patron of the arts. Less wealthy than his grandfather Cosimo, the
argument goes, Lorenzo was far more interested in collecting
ancient objects of art than in commissioning contemporary art or
architecture. His earlier reputation as a patron was said to be
largely a construct of humanist exaggeration and partisan
deference.
Although some recent studies have taken issue with this view, no
synthesis of Lorenzo as art patron and art lover has yet emerged.
In Lorenzo de' Medici and the Art of Magnificence historian F. W.
Kent offers a new look at Lorenzo's relationship to the arts,
aesthetics, collecting, and building -- especially in the context
of his role as the political boss (maestro della bottega) of
republican Florence and a leading player in Renaissance Italian
diplomacy. As a result of this approach, which pays careful
attention to the events of his short but dramatic life, a radically
new chronology of Lorenzo's activities as an art patron emerges,
revealing them to have been more extensive and creative than
previously thought. Kent's Lorenzo was broadly interested in the
arts and supported efforts to beautify Florence and the many Medici
lands and palaces. His expertise was well regarded by guildsmen and
artists, who often turned to him for advice as well as for
patronage. Lorenzo himself was educated in the arts by such men,
and Kent explores his aesthetic education and taste, taking into
account what is known of Lorenzo's patronage of music and
manuscripts, and of his own creative work as a major Quattrocento
poet.
Richly illustrated withphotographs of Medici landmarks by Ralph
Lieberman, Lorenzo de' Medici and the Art of Magnificence offers a
masterful portrait of Lorenzo as a man whose achievements might
have rivaled his grandfather's had he not died so young.
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