Palazzo Medici: Scandal, Power, and Politics
Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, c. 1444-1460, Florence.
Florentine history has its share of scandalous commissions. Legend has it that the leading architect of the fifteenth century, Filipino Brunelleschi, refused to share his plans for the Duomo just because he feared they would be stolen. Instead, he challenged patrons to make an egg stand on its own. The key to his design, he said, lurked therein. No one could accomplish the task. Satisfied, Brunelleschi smashed an egg onto the table, causing it to stand upright. Hence, the Duomo was built.
Unknown artist, Filippo Brunelleschi holding the plan for the Duomo.
But this is far from the only such story. Giorgio Vasari’s writings are filled with tales of artistic rivalries, capricious patrons, and commissions that reshaped Florence. Perhaps no commission exemplifies this better than the city’s first grand palace: Palazzo Medici Riccardi.
In Quattrocento (fifteenth century) Florence, the home reflected the family that occupied it; just as the city, at large, reflected the character of its inhabitants. Palazzos were seen as an expression of familial and state identity, ennobling the patron and their homeland. They were, if you wish, the family’s most conspicuous assertion of identity, the bane of their PR, their business card.
Aware of this, the Medici family realised they could use the family residence to shape public opinions, for, in the land of Machiavelli, perception was power. As one of the leading families in Italy, the Medici had gained unrivaled social, economic, and political power. Their patriarch, Cosimo the Elder, had led the Medici bank to its apex, forging connections with European merchants, bankers, royalty, and the Pope. But his success came with a price: Cosimo and his sons were under constant scrutiny, with accusations of usury (lending money for exorbitant interest) threatening their public image. Because of this, they turned to art to solidify their still fragile reputation, carefully crafting an image of prestige that, in a republic where public opinion still mattered, would elevate their standing without inviting backlash.
Cosimo knew this better than anyone. In choosing a design for his palazzo, he had to balance two conflicting demands: embodying his family’s power and maintaining an appearance of Republicanism (civic virtue). Any overt displays of dominance could trigger resentment, and too much grandeur could be fatal.
Thus, when this time around, Brunelleschi actually presented his design, Cosimo rejected it. According to Vasari, the design was “too sumptuous and magnificent, and would be more likely to foster envy among the citizens than bestow grandeur and adornment on the city.” Cosimo, having already suffered exile at the hands of his rivals, understood that an overly ostentatious residence could be perceived as an attempt to assert princely status—an unacceptable move in republican Florence. This sent Brunelleschi into an angry fit, smashing the design just as he had whacked the egg.
Cosimo, however, was unimpressed. He turned to another architect–the younger and more reputation-conscious Michelozzo Michelozzi. Michelozzo had already undertaken Medicean commissions in the countryside, proving his ability to toe the fine line between majesty and restraint. Thus, Palazzo Medici Riccardi was born—imposing yet measured, magnificent yet tactful.
Drawing on classical style–and even referencing the center of the Florentine Republic, the Palazzo della Signoria–it balanced magnificence and humility, prestige and republicanism, and familial and social identity. It exuded dignity without excess, projecting power while avoiding ostentation. The people of Florence watched, whispered, and speculated, with other members of the Florentine elite rushing to also commission grand palaces of their own. Amid this, Cosimo had done it again: he had established the Medici locus and negotiated his family’s reputation while leaving his rivals with nothing concrete to condemn.
Palazzo Medici Riccardi