Medici and Michelangelo

• Lorenzo de Medici was the grandson of Cosimo Medici. 
• Artists of the Renaissance were sponsored to make sculptures and works of art. 
• Patrons supplied the artists with everything they needed while they did their work. 
• For Lorenzo, humanist aspects of life were to be revered and enjoyed.  
• The Pope and the Church did not agree with this view of life. 
• Botticelli was a painter whose work was loved by many except for the Church.. 
• The Bonfire of the Vanities was meant to destroy all humanist art, namely works by Botticelli.  
• Florence annexed the city of Pisa in 1406, making Florence larger. 
• One of the major strategies of campaigns across Italy was siege warfare. This meant that soldiers posted themselves outside of a city and burned the land around it, forcing the people inside to fight or die. 
• By 1454, Florence, Milan and Venice were the three major powers of Italy. 
• They signed the treaty of Lodi. 

• There were threats to Lorenzo's life by rival banking families. 
• The Pazzi family wanted the Medici family out of the way. 
• The Pope had debts to pay to the Medici family, and Lorenzo insisted for the money. 
• The Pope went to the Pazzi family, in the hopes that they would eliminate the Medici family, and in turn, eliminate his debts. 
• On Easter Day in 1478 during a mass in Florence Guilliano Medici, the brother of Lorenzo, was stabbed nineteen times and died. Lorenzo was missing. 
• Lorenzo showed himself to the church, bleeding, but assuring the people that the Medici family had not been destroyed. 
• Lorenzo soon heard that the Pope had sent troops to eliminate the Medici family. 
• He travelled to meet the troops. When he met them, they struck a deal with him. 
• The enemies left with bribes in their hands, and without murdering Lorenzo. 
• Lorenzo took over the city government, so that all legislation would have to go through him. 
• Lorenzo used his wealth and newfound power to his advantage over Florence. 
• This power also gave him the power to make or break an artistic career. 
• One artist who stood out in Lorenzo's mind was Leonardo da Vinci. 
• Da Vinci became Botticelli's rival and Botticelli tried even higher to make one of his paintings a part of Lorenzo's private collection. 
• Savonarola despised the Medici, claiming they were sacrilegious. 
• He thought that Pagan paintings led to Hell and he wanted this revolution to end in Florence. 
• Michelangelo and his talent were noticed by Lorenzo at a young age. Lorenzo wanted to teach this young boy and be a sort of mentor to him. 
• Lorenzo started Michelangelo's career in art and helped to fuel Lorenzo's own art collection. 
• Savonarola gained followers for his belief that if Florence went on the path it was already headed, it would fall into ruin. 
• Even though Lorenzo had helped Florence become a much greater city, he had forgotten to uphold his duties as the head of the Medici bank. 
• Lorenzo had lost the family a portion of their funding, and branches of the bank were forced to close. 
• In 1492, Lorenzo fell ill. 
• He felt that his illness was not only physical, he was worried about his city. 
• He called Savonarola to his deathbed, hoping to find some way to renew his faith. Savonarola judged him harshly and would not give him the promise he had wanted. 
• Lorenzo died at the age of 43, fearing that God would damn him. 
• Savonarola seized his chance to revolutionize Florence. 
• Botticelli embraced Christianity, mostly because he had to under the new rule. 
• He drew many depictions of the apocalypse as described in the Bible. 
• Prostitutes and homosexuals were killed and burned. 
• Jewelry, books, and paintings that were reminiscent of Lorenzo's rule were burned, reminding the people how powerful Christianity was.  
• Botticelli had to throw his own paintings from Lorenzo's time into the Bonfire of the Vanities.