Medici Essay
Prior to this year, my knowledge of the Medici family was to say the least, non-existent. However, by reading the textbook, visiting the Museum of Natural Science and discussing The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance in class, I was able to gain an incredible amount of information about the Medici family. The Medici documentary, which we watched in class and was shown at the exhibit, taught me about the part Medici had in the renaissance. A few examples of facts I discerned while in class include: members of the family (e.g. Cosimo the Elder), when the renaissance took place (during the 1300s to 1500s) and famous artists, such Leonardo de Vinci, who was most commonly known as the greatest artist of his time. At the museum, I was able to learn about how the Medici ruled and the precious gems they owned. The museum went into great depth about how for almost three hundred years, generation after generation of Medici ruled over Florence by funding artists and artisans, who created some of the greatest sculptures and paintings to date.
The exhibit consists of the legendary collection of Gems of the Medici- something the book fails to mention.
Before going to the Medici Gem Exhibit, my knowledge on the subject of the renaissance was limited to what I learned from the textbook, World Civilizations. After reading Chapter fifteen, I knew the renaissance began sometime in the 1300s and was the rebirth of the arts as well as a major political movement in Florence, Italy. The textbook does not mention the Medici directly, so before going to the exhibit, the Medici family was all but insubstantial to me. The only thing I knew about the time period was the fact Italy stressed secular subjects in literature and...