Description
(At the instructor’s request, the date of this class has been changed from September 19 to December 5.) “Medici” – their mere name conjures up images of breath-taking works of art that they commissioned; murderous plots, counterplots, and subterfuges that propelled them to be key figures in the scheming, convoluted world of Renaissance Italy, as well as their involvement in the wider history of western Europe. This course traces the roots of the family from one of provincial bankers to a clan that produced three popes and two Queens of France. Examine their guile, their wealth, their sense of art and excess, their dumb-founding combination of political acumen and sheer folly, and their relentless ambition, as they interacted with many of the famous figures from the world of Italian art, letters, and politics during the course of four centuries.
