Room One: Cosimo Medici and the fuel of the Rebirth.

The medieval world left little room for rich citizens to have a great influence on society. Rather than employing wealth as a means to gain control, rulers like Constantine catered to the rise of Christianity with stories of dreams and crosses. With the shift of the renaissance however, stories such as this lacked in effect, and it was wealth that held the ultimate power in the eyes of the people.

The Medici family was of no noble birth, nor were they dignitaries in the church. However, they formed an impressive enterprise of international banking which made them the richest family in the area and, consequently, the most influential. They held power in politics, trade and the direction of artists within their vicinity. Cosimo Medici had a progressive mind and loved digging up the ideas of the past and renewing them into the modern society.  It was because of this tendency that he was such an enthusiast of Greek art and philosophy. Needless to say his preferences were reflected in his rule. While he was never officially in public office, Cosimo exercised his power to shape Florence how he saw best. He hired artists and architects to reshape streets and create buildings of epic proportion.

            In this room, we will survey three important facets of his efforts.  First, his influence in bringing back classical ideals by way of his Platonic academy, where instruction and translations of Plato's original works took place. Second, his influence over the western world by looking at the legend of italics, a type face that roots in Cosimo's personal preference and has become a standard type throughout the world today. Thirdly, we will bring in Donatello's David, which reemphasizes Cosimo's love for classical art and his desire to secularize society while still keeping God involved to some degree. This video is a brief tour through all of these subjects.


*Note: the graphic presentation is meant to be viewed several times so as to grasp each aspect of the subject. A full screen option is available if you click the youtube icon at the bottom of the player. This will take you to the youtube site where you can watch both full screen and high res (720p)