Lucrezia Tornabuoni | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lady of Florence | |
| Tenure | 1 August 1464 – 2 December 1469 |
| Born | 22 June 1427 Florence |
| Died | 28 March 1482(1482-03-28) (aged 54) Florence |
| Noble family | Tornabuoni |
| Spouse(s) | Piero di Cosimo de' Medici |
| Issue | |
| Father | Francesco di Simone Tornabuoni |
| Mother | Nanna Guicciardini or Francesca Pitti |
Lucrezia Tornabuoni (22 June 1427[1] – 28 March 1482[2]) was an Italian noblewoman, wife ofPiero di Cosimo de' Medici, de facto Lord ofFlorence[3] and his political adviser. Lucrezia had significant political influence during the rule of her husband and then of her sonLorenzo the Magnificent, investing in several institutions and improving relationships to support the needs of the poor. She was also apatroness of the arts who wrote several poems and plays.
Lucrezia was born in Florence,Italy on 22 June 1427. Her father was Francesco di Simone Tornabuoni, member of a noble family that could trace its lineage back 500 years. It is uncertain if her mother was her father's second wife, Marianna Guicciardini, known as Nanna, or the third, Francesca Pitti.[1] Her brotherGiovanni became abanker and diplomat.
Lucrezia was well-educated for a woman of her time. She was very capable inmathematics andfinances, well-versed inliterature,rhetoric, andtheology, and read many texts in bothLatin andGreek[4] besides her nativeItalian. Lucrezia may be represented in three scenes in Ghirlandaio's frescos in theTornabuoni Chapel: The Visitation, The Birth of the Baptist, and The Nativity of Mary.[5]
On 3 June 1444, Lucrezia marriedPiero di Cosimo de' Medici, son ofCosimo de' Medici, a wealthy banker andstatesman fromFlorence.[7] Her father was a friend and supporter of Cosimo, even through the latter's exile in 1434.[8] The marriage and herdowry of 1200florins helped to seal the alliance between their families.[7] Lucrezia and Piero developed a good relationship and frequently wrote to each other while apart with tenderness and concern.[9] She also became a good friend of her brother-in-lawGiovanni.[10]
Lucrezia and Piero ensured that their children acquired good taste in literary culture and the fine arts. They hired tutors to educate them in such subjects aspolitics,business,accounting, andphilosophy.[11]Gentile de' Becchi andCristoforo Landino were among the teachers.[12] The couple eventually had at least six children, though two sons didn't survive to adulthood:[9]
Lucrezia was notably wise and astute in political matters. Her father-in-law, the first Medicide facto ruler of Florence, admired her skills in deciding issues.[15] After Piero took over the government in 1464, hisgout kept him confined to bed[16] and thus transformed the couple's bedroom into something resembling a noble court.[17] Thus, Lucrezia was more free to move and was asked by others to bear their requests to her husband.[18] For a woman to travel alone and meet with the Pope and other influential officials was unusual and it was commented upon by contemporaries.[19] Her advice was sought by many high and low-born people, who she received.[20] After her husband's death in 1469, Lucrezia gained additional political influence as an advisor to their son. At her death, Lorenzo freely admitted that she had been one of his most important advisors.[21]
As a noblewoman, Lucrezia possessed more freedom to ownproperty and conductbusiness. She boughthouses,shops, andfarms in and aroundPisa and Florence.[22] Her shops would beleased to different businesses and thereby extended herpatronagenetwork.[23] In 1477, she took a lease on apublic bath facility nearVolterra, which she renovated into aprofitable venture.[14][24] Herinvestments in communities around Florence helped spread the Medici's influence network.[24]
Lucrezia became well known for giving solid donations to religious convents in order to help widows and orphans.[25] She used her ownincome to provide dowries for women from poor families so that they could marry.[26] This assistance was often provided by helping a family member to get a good position in the church or government.[27]
Lucrezia received many requests from citizens, which included appeals to end the exile orimprisonment of petitioners and to stop attacks by soldiers.[28] She was called upon to mediate disputes among others in the area, once ending a feud between two families that had gone on for twenty years.[29] Despite many Florentine problems having been resolved, conflict with the Medici continued. In October 1467, as part of a rivalry between Piero andLuca Pitti, there was an assassination attempt against Lucrezia and her son Giuliano.[30] Though the two survived, Giuliano was killed in 1478 as result of the Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici.
Since she was of noble birth, Lucrezia created bridges between her husband's family and the nobility.[20] In 1450, she and her husband visitedRome for an audience withPope Nicholas V, who gave them permission to build an altar in their family chapel.[31] The couple wanted to increase their influence outside of Florence, especially in the Roman courts.[32] In spring 1467, she visited the Pope again while seeking women suitable to marry her son Lorenzo.[33][19] To improve the family's social status, Lucrezia arranged for her son to marryClarice Orsini in June 1469.[32] Clarice’s dowry was 6,000 florins,[34] but Lorenzo wasn't very fond of his wife.[35]
Lucrezia was a significant patron of the arts. She commissioned theMorgante byLuigi Pulci, who called her "a famous lady in our century",[37] and supported many poets, includingBernardo Bellincioni andAngelo Poliziano,[38] who later became a tutor to her grandchildren by Lorenzo.[39] Similarly, religious institutions relied on Lucrezia's patronage.[40] She was responsible for the addition of the Chapel of the Visitation in theBasilica of San Lorenzo in Florence[41] and noted for donating manyvotive statues of her family to numerous churches.[40] She was known to be devoted toJohn the Baptist, patron saint of Florence.[42] After she became ill in 1467, she believed her recovery was due to the intercession ofSaint Romuald and supported the hermitage that he had founded atCamaldoli from then on.[40]
Lucrezia wrote religious stories,plays, and poetry. She wrote stories aboutEsther,Susanna,Tobias, John the Baptist, andJudith.[43] She recommended poets in her circle to usechivalric themes, which some of them did.[14] In part, her works were written to inspire and educate her grandchildren.[44] She read some of her poems to famous poets, comparing their compositions[45] and exchanging humorous poems with Bellincioni.[46] Poliziano admired her poetry[14] and would read her poems to his students.[39] Lucrezia's poetry work was printed and published four years after she died. Some of her poems were set to popular tunes and performed publicly.[43]
Lucrezia Tornabuoni suffered fromarthritis andeczema, conditions which caused her to seek treatments at baths aroundTuscany.[9] After suffering from lifelong illness, Lucrezia died in Florence on 25 March 1482 at the age of 54.[2] By the time of her death, she had many grandchildren.[13]
A young Lucrezia Tornabuoni is portrayed byValentina Bellè in the 2016 television series,Medici: Masters of Florence.[47] An older Lucrezia Tornabuoni was portrayed bySarah Parish in the second and third seasons. The series chooses to show her still living in 1485, seven years after thePazzi Conspiracy and also running the Medici bank in her son's stead, rather than her own business dealings.
