COSIMO DE MEDICI

ABOUT HIM

• Birth date: September 27,1389
• Where he lived/ worked: Florence, Italy
• Occupation: Italian Merchant; banking, patronage

HIS BANKING SYSTEMS

• Created "central banking"- responsible for providing it's economy with funds (loans)
• His banks spread all over Europe
• Many Florentines looked to him as a leader but others feared his power/ ambition
• Ruled Florence from 1434- his death (1464)
• Used his wealth to pay for art as a patron

WHY HIS BANKING WAS HUMANISM

• He used all of his wealth from being such a successful banker to become a very famous patron, which is a person who pays for art
• The majority of art was not created to get to heaven, but because the artists enjoy painting

WHY COSIMO IS A HUMANIST

• Increased his father's trading and banking business
• Believed to be the greatest patron of his time and introduced a new humanist conception of patronage
• Primarily an architectural patron
• Supported Donatello and Michelozzo di Bortolomeo