Contrary to general belief, the history of the Florentine patriciate did not end with the establishment of the State of Tuscany under de’ Medici in 1532. Proud and self-confident patricians did not become subservient courtiers overnight, but remained significantly influential for a long period. They retained their urban identity and longstanding family traditions, while acquiring noble titles, estates, and villas at the same time. The mark that these patricians continued to leave on the city’s cultural and artistic life was not ignored by the Medici grand dukes; on the contrary, they embraced these manifestations by incorporating them into their own visual expressions of power and prestige. A Cultural Symbiosis highlights these artistic expressions through eight specific case studies, focusing on the Valori, Pucci, Ridolfi, Vecchietti, Del Nero, Salviati, Guicciardini, and Niccolini families.

The history of the Florentine patriciate did not end with the establishment of the Medici Duchy and Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Proud and self-confident, these patricians were not subservient courtiers; on the contrary, they continued to exert a considerable influence on Florentine culture and politics for centuries. The patrician class in sixteenth-century Florence were the descendants of wealthy, sophisticated, and politically savvy families who, while acquiring noble titles, estates, and villas, retained their long-standing urban identity. The mark they left on the city’s cultural and artistic life was embraced by the Medici, who used their political and diplomatic knowhow, eleborate artistic commissions, and European networks to enhance their power and prestige. A Cultural Symbiosis highlights the contributions to Florentine art and culture of eight patricians, focusing on the Valori, Pucci, Ridolfi, Vecchietti, del Nero, Salviati, Guicciardini, and Niccolini families.

Klazina D. Botke holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Groningen and is currently a Getty Paper Project Fellow at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.
Henk Th. van Veen is Professor Emeritus in Art History at the University of Groningen.

The prolonged influence of patricians on the cultural and artistic life in Florence