Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

This lecture will examine the important role of the Medici family in the history of Florence. The Medici imposed de facto rule on the city from 1434 until their exile in 1494 and controlled the city’s political, economic and artistic policy. Their power and patronage are best expressed in their unofficial “official” church of San Lorenzo, which was designed by the visionary Filippo Brunelleschi and is celebrated as the first-ever Renaissance style church. The Medici also commissioned the construction of the first-ever Renaissance style family palace which became the model for domestic Renaissance architecture for centuries after.