Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Jonathon Keats is a writer and artist who critiques museum exhibits. When Cosimo I de’ Medici became the second duke of Florence, ...

The image of the virile duke dressed in immaculate armor with brilliant crimson trimmings, known as Cosimo I de’ Medici in armour (c. 1545), was replicated widely and has at least 25 versions, ...

The young duke is dressed in a splendid suit of armour, lined with carmine velvet, and with rather alarming spikes at the pectorals. His long, elegant fingers rest on his helmet, by his side, and his ...

The Albizzi were one of the oldest families in Florence and led the republican government for two generations. By 1427, they were the most powerful family in the city, and far richer than the Medici.

For over three centuries the Medici family dominated Renaissance Florence and much of its economic, political and cultural life. In the arts, the wealthy family is largely remembered for its patronage ...

Cosimo de’ Medici was the first of the Medici dynasty during the Italian Renaissance. Though he only held public office for a short while, thanks to his immense wealth and effective leadership style, ...

A 28-year-old bachelorette visiting Florence damaged the Italian city’s 16th-century Fountain of Neptune—to the tune of ...

The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums) has announced that Filippo Lippi’s 1459 painting The Adoration in the ...