This essay is about the influence of the Medici family on Florentine art and the development of humanist thought. The Medici family had a lot of power for four generations (1418-1494) as they were a wealthy family who owned banks and got their money from “banking interests”. They “molded and manipulated, controlled and cajoled, persuaded and poked” the citizens of Florence until 1494, when the angry citizens overthrew the Medici family. The family created their own “personal work of art” in Florence by filling up the city-state with classical antiquity. They had so much of control over their citizens that later on, the citizens accepted and followed the way of living that the Medici family demanded. After a while of being ruled by the Medici family, Florence became the center for Italy politics and a very beautiful place with beautiful art work (Sayne 473). …show more content…
They hired some of the best architects of their time and authorized many of the paintings that are great examples of the art that the Renaissance was all about. The family is responsible for a heavy amount of art work and architecture in Florence, some of the most important buildings of the Renaissance are in this city-state. A great influence in the Renaissance was the competitions that the Medici family held, along with the fact that the winning artists got payed for their work allowing them to only focus on getting the job done instead of worrying about their