Medici
9
9.5
- proper noun
- /ˈmɛdɪtʃi/
- The Medici family were influential bankers who played a crucial role in the politics of 15th century Florence.
- the Medici family
- Medici patronage
- Medici Bank
Examples
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In December, Michelangelo visited him in Rome, and almost certainly discussed the Medici Chapel and the Laurentian Library.
Academic text (1992) -
The enthusiasm and financial support of the Medici were, at best, still in an embryonic state in 1418.
Academic text (2015) -
In Florence 'when my father recognized your work, you became a Medici artist.
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In the library next door was a portrait of Catherine de Medici as a young woman.
Fiction book (1997) -
It's the treasured wealth of the Medici family.
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The politics of that gesture were understood by the returning Medici in 1512.
Academic text (2011) -
His first major commissions came to him because the Medici wished to employ him as a sculptor.
Academic text (1992) -
That, for an analogy, is the way the Medici governed in Florence when they made themselves the rulers of that Republic.
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No doubt Michelangelo's involvement with the Medici tombs falls into this latter category.
Academic text (1992) -
Unlike the Old Sacristy, the Medici Chapel was planned from the start to admit tombs into its walls.
Academic text (1992)
Synonyms
A person who belonged to or supported the Medici family in Renaissance Florence
Surface Forms
Etymology
Medici is the Italian plural of medico, meaning 'doctor', from the old word medicus. You can see the same root in English words like medicine, medical, and medic. So the family name Medici originally meant 'the doctors', which helps explain the name even though the family later became famous as bankers and art patrons.