Customer Reviews

Treasures of the Medici

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The review by the Library Journal is an accurate description of this book. I found it filled with large color photos that are closeups so that you can see the workmanship. I really liked that the authors went to various collections to reassemble what was once a single collection by generations of the Medici family. After this book, you can see why all the royal houses of Europe created their own collections and attempted to add new categories of decorative arts. The book is a visual feast with descriptions of the objects and a text recapping the history of the family members who added to the treasury with the exception of the two Medici Popes whose purchases are in the Vatican.

If you enjoy the brief history of the Medici family in this book, there are a lot more details in "Medici Money" by Tim Parks. Pope Leo's activities are detailed in "White Robe, Black Robe" by Charles Mee which explains how they became the basis for Luther's Reformation conflict with him.