'The Splendour of the Medici', Museum Of Fine Arts, Until 18 May

This exhibition provides visitors with an insight into the Medici patronage and art collection, as well as into the culture and life of the period defined by this family, which left the most visible mark on the golden age of Renaissance Florence. 

The exhibition concept was built on the changing role played by the Medici during this time and which marked the difference between two periods, the Quattrocento and the Cinquecento. The Medici were one of the wealthiest merchant-banker families in 15th-century Florence although their political influence was not manifested in titles and ranks at the time. 

Their leading role was expressed openly and officially to the public when, supported by the Spanish Habsburgs, their members became dukes of Florence and grand dukes of Tuscany. The family produced two popes, Leo X and Clement VII, who further increased the family’s prestige, while two female members of the Medici family became French queens. 

Although stories of struggle for power and political influence are only recorded in chronicles, Medici patronage and art collection have left their lasting mark on culture in the form of outstanding buildings, sculptures, paintings, codices, gold- and silver objects, and many other works.
 
Florence in the 15th and 16th centuries was the fount of the Renaissance, as well as an outstanding artistic centre. Presenting the many facets of beauty, the rich selection of the Museum of Fine Arts’ exhibition wishes to illustrate the grandiose status of Florence in the noblest sense of the word.

Visitors will be able to see paintings by outstanding figures of the Renaissance and Mannerism, such as Fra Angelico, Andrea del Castagno, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi, Sandro Botticelli, Andrea Mantegna, Jacopo Pontormo, Agnolo Bronzino and Giorgio Vasari. Also on display will be portraits of the Medici family and other famous personages who lived in an era when the desire to immortalise people and their fame revived the genre.
 
The exhibition also includes sculptures and reliefs made of marble, bronze and terracotta by masters, such as Ghiberti, Donatello, Verrocchio’s workshop, Andrea della Robbia and Benvenuto Cellini, who aspired not only to revive the greatness of art in Antiquity but also to exceed it."

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