The Medici Family’s Role in the Renaissance

Jonas Junlang Huang(B)

RDF International School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

dao.sprefe@natains.org

Abstract. When one walks through the world’s most famous art museums, names
such as Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo always seem to
attract the most attention and financial value. Indeed, Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi
holds the world record for the most expensive piece of art ever auctioned at $450
million. The value of these pieces, however, is not just in their aesthetics; they
also represent a fundamental shift in the form and purpose of artwork during the
Renaissance. It can be tempting to explain such a change by pointing to the talent
and skills of the artists mentioned above, but that would ignore the underlying
cause. Undoubtedly, talented individuals did change the world of art, but it was
the rise of their patrons in the fourteenth century that facilitated, or to some extent,
were the true changers of it. One such family had a particularly enormous impact
in this field: the Medici Family. Through their innovations in banking, the Medici
accumulated a fantastic amount of wealth, enabling them to fund full-time artists
and fulfill their motivations to increase their Family’s social status, beautify Flo-
rence, placate the Catholic Church’s disapproval of usury, and extend their sphere
of influence. This influence enabled them to hold astonishing political power and
shape European and other western governments during the Renaissance to how
we know them today.

Keywords: Medici Family · Banking · Renaissance · Patronage · Protestant

Reformation

1 Introduction
As the European world became more and more secular, it led to the rise of a new powerful
class that exploited the political niche the Catholic Church once held, this new powerful
class is the capitalist class and it is compromised of wealthy merchants, businessmen,
and traders. They have a huge influence on the secular world and the Medici was amongst
the most powerful of them [1]. Controlling banks in Italy and throughout Europe and
with their revolutionary credit systems, they made trade prosper throughout Europe and
thereby accumulated huge amounts of wealth and political power, being able to influence
decisions throughout Europe.
The Medici, along with other families, to extend their sphere of influence, or simply
satisfy their artistic tastes, hired full-time artists to create works of art to beautify cities.
Being hired by a wealthy and powerful entity meant that artists now no longer needed
to comply with Church commandments as they did in the middle ages. This resulted in

© The Author(s) 2023

B. Majoul et al. (Eds.): ICLAHD 2022, ASSEHR 726, pp. 1389–1395, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-494069-97-8_178
1390 J. J. Huang

a shift of focus of art into more secular things as well. This also led to the rise of many
great artists such as Da Vinci and Raphael. However, all this was not possible without
the rise of the new wealthy like the Medici [2]. This all helped shape European politics
and art to the way we know it today.
To answer the question of how the Family of Medici had its influence on the great
civil achievement of the Renaissance, this study focuses on the banking and financial
system that Medici Family built and its function in patronization [2, 3]. The Family’s
interrelationship with the Church is also put into scrutiny. It is argued that the political
power based on the wealthy family and its influence both in the secular and sacred world
finally contributed to the civilization’s prosperity and the Renaissance.

2 Innovations in Banking Led to the Medici Family Being

Incredibly Wealthy
The Medici family was one of the families that didn’t gain power and status primarily
through warfare, the Medicis gained power mainly due to their outstanding business
talent [4]. In the 12th century, the Medici family came to Florence from the countryside,
it gradually got in touch with politics and started participating in political affairs in
Florence. The Medici at that time did not have much influence and did not have much
power until the Medici family founded the bank [4]. In a practical sense, the legacy of the
Medici family started when Giovanni de Medici started banking in the Medici family.
After Giovanni’s death, his son Cosimo de’ Medici successfully took care of the family’s
banking business and developed it into a huge financial empire [3]. Through banking,
the Medici family was able to claim the title of being the wealthiest family in Italy, they
were also able to claim the title of being the wealthiest family in entire Europe during
their peak [5]. Due to their wealth, they were soon able to gain a place in the politics of
Italy and Europe during their prime.
As Giovanni de’ Medici started banking in the Medici family they were needed to
track and grasp the capital flow through the bank precisely and accurately. To eliminate
errors to the maximum and to keep data accurate, Giovanni created and introduced the
double-entry bookkeeping method. This method uses the accounting equation “Assets
= Liabilities + Equity”. This means both borrowers and loaners are recorded down,
which can then be used to create an overview of how much money the business has and
what functions it is used for.
More precisely in the double-entry system, transactions are recorded in terms of
debits and credits. Since a debit in one account offsets a credit in another, the sum of
all debits must equal the sum of all credits. The double-entry system of bookkeeping
standardizes the accounting process and improves the accuracy of prepared financial
statements, allowing for improved detection of errors and allowing bankers and busi-
nessmen to better monitor their accounts and make more informed financial decisions.
This simple and efficient banking method led to expansion beyond traditional banking
activities of the time, setting up branches in other places and making it easier to transfer
money across Europe using exchange notes that could be bought in one country and
redeemed elsewhere. Through this method, the Medici family was able to gain a lot of
profit while Florence was at the center of world trade [6]. Eventually, they became the
 The Medici Family’s Role in the Renaissance 1391

largest and wealthiest banking family in Europe. Not only did it make the Medici family
more respected, but it also made the city of Florence more respected as well.
Along with the double-entry bookkeeping method, the Medici family came up with
the concept of a letter of credit to improve the efficiency of international money trans-
actions between countries in Europe. A letter of credit is an agreement signed by the
buyer’s bank to guarantee repayment to the seller’s bank after the delivery of the goods
or services. For example, A merchant in Florence is buying cloth from a seller in Lon-
don, during the 15th century, it is dangerous and unreliable to transport physical cash
across continents. Therefore, the merchant could buy a letter of credit and pay it in
florins, then send this to the seller for it to redeem in British pounds, but before the
seller receives its money it would need to provide evidence that the clothes were sent
or shipped off. The introduction of the concept of a letter of credit made international
trade progress massively at that time. During this period, it was very difficult and risky
to transport large amounts of money from one country across Europe to another. But
when the Medici Bank came up with the concept of a letter of credit, merchants would
deposit their money into a Medici letter of credit in order to protect their property. During
medieval times in Europe, especially in a country like Florence where the Pope reigned
supreme, the church saw usury as a sin due to the high interest. Instead of usury letters
of credit can sneak up on interest in transactions. In all these transactions, the Medici
family sneaks up upon the exchange rates to gain profit.

3 The Patronage
Before the Renaissance, most artworks made by craftsman needed to follow Church rules
or commandments. Artists weren’t able to create artworks freely. Before the Renaissance
and the rule of the Medici family, art is centered around the Church. Yet, this all changed
after the rise of the Medici family and the coming of the Renaissance. They first started
to give patronage to artists to create architecture, sculptures, and then paintings. Starting
with Giovanni di Bicci de ‘Medici, was the first member of the Medici Family to give
patronage to contributions to architecture. He aided Masaccio and commissioned Filippo
Brunelleschi for the reconstruction of the Basilica of San Lorenzo. The reconstruction
making the basilica of San Lorenzo, one of the largest churches in the city of Florence,
was finished with support from Giovanni’s son Cosimo. This reconstruction of the basil-
ica lighted up the architectural revolution throughout Europe and formed the basics for
artworks and architecture during the Renaissance.
The Medici family had contributed a significant amount in artworks, not just for
visual entertainment and money, but also to placate Catholic disapproval of charging
interest on loans, to beautify Florence, and to extend the sphere of influence. For an
increased political power not just in Italy but beyond Italy and throughout Europe, the
Medici family plans to gain influence in the protestant German Empire. Such gain in
power and spheres of influence is supported by the gifts of the Medic family towards
the Saxon Electoral court in Dresden. Such progress of the German Empire accepting
international relations with the Medici family could be interpreted from the utopian
marriage project of the two families in the 17th century.
Terms of the Medici family giving patronage to beautify Florence could be proven
by the famous sculpture of David [7]. If one was to look at David closely, it could be
1392 J. J. Huang

seen that its proportions of size differentiation are poorly done. This is because when the
Medici family gave patronage to create the David, it was meant to be placed on top of
a cathedral instead of being placed on the ground. Hence, Michealangelo the creator of
David made the sculpture from a perspective that is to be looking and be observed from
a lower level to a higher level. Not only was David created for beautification, but it was
also used to please the catholic church by accusing the Medici family of using interest
to gain money through the method of letter of credit. Not only was David made for this
reason but also many other masterpieces of art.
During the Renaissance, artworks shifted from abstract forms, which focus on record-
ing biblical scenes for people to relate to, into representational forms focusing on human
beauty and nature and more secular topics [8]. Artworks in the renaissance come in
forms such as architecture, sculptures, and paintings. During the Renaissance, Cosimo
had given patronage to many people but he wasn’t the most famous one, he gave high
hopes to his son, but he died young, what he didn’t expect is the rise of his grandson
Lorenzo. During the Renaissance, the most famous member of the Medici family that
was known for giving patronage to artists is Lorenzo de ‘Medici. He is an Italian states-
man, diplomat, artist, and de facto ruler of Florence during the Renaissance. He was
called “Lorenzo the magnificent” by other people during that period. The era he lived
in was the most flourished time of the Renaissance. He worked hard to maintain the
peace between the Italian city-states, and his death represented or led to the end of the
golden age of Florence. During his lifetime he was a friend, a protector, and a person
who was able to provide shelter to many artists influenced by his grandfather Cosimo.
His grandfather Cosimo patronized Donatello who after created the bronze, David. His
Bronze David was one of the most radical artworks in the 15th century, it is also the first
from roman times a person to create a bronze naked sculpture of a man, this work was
also considered to be one of the greatest works during the early renaissance. Cosimo
gave more freedom and a place for imagination to artists he gave patronage and tried
to extend the limits of artwork. Later in time, Lorenzo started to give patronage. One
of the most famous is Michaelangelo, under the patronage of Lorenzo he created the
sculpture of David, one of the masterpieces of Renaissance sculptures. Not only did
Lorenzo patronize artists he also used his status to influence architecture such as the
façade of Florence Cathedral.

4 Impacts on the Renaissance

What did the Medici patronize beyond visual art that links to “the Renaissance spirit”
would be a much more difficult question for the scholars in the research fields of Renais-
sance history [9]. There are a couple of answers to this question. Poetry, political tracts,
and humanist writers are the most preferred ones.
The Medici family’s impact on the Renaissance is extremely significant, as they were
the wealthiest family of Italy, if not of all of Europe. Not only have they proposed new
aspects and more freedom for creativity in art, but they also have set the very bases of the
artworks that link with the renaissance spirit. Once again mentioning the reconstruction
of the basilica, it had motivated and settled an example of a new form of art, the art with
the spirit of rebirth, a part of the renaissance.
 The Medici Family’s Role in the Renaissance 1393

Compared to those artworks that were made before the renaissance, the artworks
made are focused mainly on biblical stories, little art was created outside this purpose.
Those artworks look dry and dull. They are created only for biblical and religious pur-
poses. The Medici family helped extend the freedom of creating artwork during the
Renaissance, this led to a new focus on artistic subjects and new methods of creating
art, specifically, the new renaissance art introduced to the world 4 different concepts
of forming art. First, compared to the past, artists had started to use perspective, which
means drawing three-dimensional things in two-dimensional. This may sound confusing
but thought his method would give the audience a more realistic impression of depth
and the figures in the artwork are placed compared to each other.
Take the example of the school of Athens by Raphael, in the painting it could be
perceived that each figure is not on the same line or line in the same depth of perspective.
The second concept is humanist ideas, which focuses not only on biblical stories but
also leads to a new area of art self-portraits or landscape. In a self-portrait, Mona Lisa’s
smile is the most well-known one of the works by Leonardo da Vinci which also uses
humanistic ideas. The third concept is the subject matter in individuals or known by
the term individualism, this is where each figure in the painting has different faces or
characteristics. Take the painting of the last supper by Leonardo Da Vinci as an example,
if we look at the different people in the painting, they all have different characteristics
instead of just the same plain face for them and that is individualism. Forth and last
concept is paintings start to focus on myths rather than copying and pasting the Bible
onto a drawing. This movement brings back lots and lots of old Greek mythology and
takes the birth of Venus as an example. It was painted by the famous artist Botticelli, this
painting has no relationship with any Biblical stories, and it perfectly reflects mythology
and shows that the restrains of the catholic church had gone less and less.
The shift of focus on artistic subjects also represented the shift of power in Euro-
pean politics. The Renaissance put more focus on more human subjects, this can also
be interpreted as the transition of political, cultural, and economical events into a more
secular focus. This can be reflected through a variety of instances. For example, through-
out Europe, we see the decline of the Catholic Church, or in other words, religion as
a political entity. This was extremely apparent, for during the Renaissance there was
the Protestant Reformation. Whether it was a move made by some powerful family to
weaken the Church’s political power or an outcry from a disillusioned priest, this was a
severe blow to the Catholic Church and its influence [10]. It could no longer maintain
a religious hegemony over Europe as hundreds, if not thousands of new denomina-
tions of Christianity sprang up all around Europe, and governments happily accepted
these denominations to strengthen their own domestic influence. Although the Church
remained powerful, it could not hope for the same amount of power it had during the
middle ages.
Besides the decline of the Church, we have the rise of the capitalist. The rise of
the wealthy. Wealthy men and families, with the Medici being representative, had huge
influences over European politics during the Renaissance. Though wealthy men did
have some power during the middle ages, it was negligible compared to what they could
achieve during the Renaissance. Power in the middle ages was more or less inherited.
Barons, Dukes, Earls, Kings, Queens, and knights took almost all the political power a
1394 J. J. Huang

nation has. There is little room for a lower-class man, which the wealthy were consid-
ered part of, to fit into the political power spectrum. However, during the Renaissance,
everything changed for the rich. As the Pope lost power, the focus of Europe became
increasingly secular. The wealthy thus gained more power during this process as they
have the greatest influence on the economy, a secular being in itself. Great artists and
their works are thus only a byproduct of the overall trend of this time, being hired for
secular needs such as beautifying cities and increasing the influence of the wealthy. If
it wasn’t for the rise of these wealthy, such as the Medici, or the decline of the Church,
these great works would have to wait for another few hundred years before becoming
remotely possible.

5 Conclusion
Overall, the Medici family gained power and influence in Florence around the 14th
century through rising in their economic status. With the Medici Bank, they easily
gained status since they were the richest in Florence at the time. Not only did they focus
on rising power economically, but they also got themselves involved in the political area.
When they got to Florence, they have been actively a part of the politics at that time. With
the high status and economic powers, they, in a sense funded or started the renaissance
and a revolt against the church rules. They paid or patronized artists to work for them
and create art pieces freely regarding the church rules. Without the Medici family, it
would have taken Europe at least a few more centuries to produce equivalents of Da
Vinci or Michelangelo. In conclusion with the power and status, the Medici family was
a major contributor to the renaissance through the patronage of artists and funding for
other architectures.

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 The Medici Family’s Role in the Renaissance 1395

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