Cosimo il Vecchio (1389-1464) 
- Name:
-
Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici, known as Cosimo il Vecchio
- Dates:
-
Florence, 27 September 1389 – Careggi (Florence), 1 August 1464
- Attività:
-
banker; lord of Florence
- Places:
-
Florence. Also: Bologna; Lucca; Milan; Padua; Rome; Venice - France; Germany.
- Biographical information:
-
The first-born son of Giovanni di Bicci, Cosimo worked at length alongside his father in his commercial and banking activities, until he eventually took his place. Augmenting the profits and successes of the family, he became one of the wealthiest men of his time. In his father's lifetime, he was prior in 1415 and in 1417 he accompanied the Antipope John XXIII (Baldassarre Cossa) to the Council of Constance, where the latter was deposed. In 1416 he married Contessina de' Bardi, a faithful, parsimonious and austere woman who bore him two sons: Piero and Giovanni. He also had an illegitimate son, Carlo, by a Circassian slave, who was brought up together with his legitimate children. He travelled in Europe, particularly in Germany and France. He performed assignments as ambassador of the Florentine Republic in Milan (1420), Lucca (1423), Bologna (1424) and in Rome at the papal court of Martin V.
When Giovanni di Bicci died (1429), Cosimo was over forty and was a man of proven experience, renowned for the modesty, prudence and gravity of his character. As recorded by his biographer, Vespasiano da Bisticci, formerly librarian in the service of the Medici, Cosimo was a man of exceptional learning, a lover of classical and modern literature and passionately fond of the Holy Scriptures. As well as German and French, he also knew Latin and Arabic, which he learnt at the monastery of Camaldoli. His cultural education and his personal intellectual leanings adhered to the spirit of contemporary humanism. He frequented learned men such as Ambrogio Traversari, Leonardo Bruni, Niccolò Niccoli, Carlo Marsuppini and Poggio Bracciolini. As demonstrated by an inventory of 1418, Cosimo rapidly amassed a fine collection of classical and contemporary volumes, which was then augmented over time. This interest in literature and book collecting led Cosimo to make donations to important libraries, such as that of San Marco (in response to the wish of his friend Niccolò Niccoli), that of San Lorenzo (for which Vespasiano had to produce 200 volumes) and that of the Badia Fiesolana.
Over his long and active life, Cosimo gave increasing space to his patronage of the arts, turning this into a valid instrument of social and political consolidation. He became the most important Florentine art patron of his time. From the 1420s on he found his favourite referent in Michelozzo, to whom he entrusted numerous architectural works starting with the renovation of the residences of Trebbio and Cafaggiolo and the convent of Bosco ai Frati in Mugello.
Meanwhile, Cosimo's economic consolidation proceeded in parallel with his political ascent. Disliked by the Albizi family and the dominant faction in the city on account of his growing popularity, in 1433 Cosimo was arrested and sent into exile. He set off for Padua and Venice, where he was welcomed with great pomp as an illustrious guest. He was accompanied by friends and artists, including Michelozzo. Cosimo asked his architect friend to design the library for the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio in Venice, to which he then personally donated precious manuscripts, offering it to the Serenissima as a sign of gratitude for the hospitality of the city. He also took advantage of his sojourn in Venice to set up valuable diplomatic relations, albeit without neglecting his business interests, which on the contrary flourished.
In 1434, after not even one year of banishment, Cosimo was summoned by the Republic to return to Florence to respond to the pressing demands of the discontented populace. This return, which was followed by the exile of the Albizi and the principal exponents of the oligarchic faction, marked the political triumph of Cosimo, who took over control of the public offices of the civic government, working astutely behind the scenes to influence official political strategies within the municipal institutions, which were preserved.
As a result of the power of the Medici bank, Cosimo entered into close relations with the Popes and Princes of Europe, and effectively transformed his residence into the nerve centre of Florentine foreign policy. Among the influential and prestigious friendships of Cosimo was that with Pope Eugenius IV, who resided in Florence from 1434 to 1443, in which period, among other things, he also consecrated the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore and the church of the convent of San Marco. The Pope offered Cosimo support and favours in return for significant financial backing. Thus, in 1439 Cosimo was able to manoeuvre the transfer of the seat of the Council between the Western and Eastern Churches from Ferrara to Florence. The Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople, with their respective retinues, were welcomed as Cosimo's personal guests. This event, which ended with the drafting of a document of union between the churches, ratified in Santa Maria Novella, set the seal on Cosimo's political success.
The artistic enterprises commissioned by Cosimo in the churches and convents of the city from the fourteen-thirties on were principally architectural works: the church and convent of San Marco, designed by Michelozzo and adorned with frescoes by Fra Angelico; the completion of the decoration of the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo, executed by Donatello and assistants; the church of San Lorenzo, designed by Brunelleschi, of which Cosimo became the exclusive patron in 1442; the Noviziato Nuovo with the annexed chapel, again designed by Michelozzo in the Franciscan convent of Santa Croce, the Badia Fiesolana which was then continued by his son Piero. According to Vespasiano da Bisticci, Cosimo's predilection for the "art of building" had divers motivations: the personal satisfaction of bringing major building works to completion; the prestige that the same brought to him and his family; a sincere religious sentiment and the desire to alleviate his conscience of the weight of "that money not very well gained", since it was obtained thorough illicit practices such as usury.
Cosimo also entrusted to Michelozzo the renovation of various villas and country residences: in addition to those of Trebbio and Cafaggiolo in Mugello, mentioned above, he also commissioned the villa of Careggi. But the most important project promoted by Cosimo was that of Palazzo Medici itself, the new family residence on Via Larga, built by Michelozzo from the mid forties on, and destined rapidly to become the prototype of Renaissance civic architecture.
However, Cosimo's commitment went beyond the mere completion of the buildings belonging to him, or under his patronage; he was also concerned to provide them with furniture, liturgical accoutrements or books that enhanced their importance and their beauty. Thus his predilection for the architectural enterprises did not prevent Cosimo from making important commissions for sculptures and paintings. More specifically, Cosimo established with Donatello an intense relationship of reciprocal affection, which gave rise to outstanding works such as the bronze David (Florence, National Museum of the Bargello), registered in 1469 in the centre of the courtyard of Palazzo Medici. He also commissioned works from Desiderio da Settignano, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Luca della Robbia, Beato Angelico, Paolo Uccello, Andrea del Castagno and Filippo Lippi. As well as ordering works from contemporary artists, Cosimo was also a keen collector of antiquities, an activity that was to characterise the activities of his successors. Among the most outstanding pieces in his collection was the Red Marsyas, later set up in the garden of Palazzo Medici and now in the Uffizi.
In Milan he purchased a palazzo previously belonging to the Sforza where he set up a branch of his bank, after renovation by Michelozzo. His activity as a patron extended even beyond Italy: in Paris he restored the Italian College (later destroyed) and he built the Pilgrims' Hospice in Jerusalem.
Cosimo died on 1 August 1464 in his Villa of Careggi. He was buried in the crypt of San Lorenzo beneath a tombstone made by Andrea Verrocchio set at the crossing of the transept and the central aisle, in front of the pulpit. On 20 March 1465, at the wish of the Signoria of Florence the legend PATER PATRIAE was inscribed on the tomb inserted in the pier beneath. In the following year, the body of Donatello was interred next to the sepulchre of Cosimo, since the artist had been so loved and esteemed by Cosimo as to deserve this honour.
The sixteenth-century frescoes illustrating Scenes from the Life of Cosimo il Vecchio painted by Giorgio Vasari in Palazzo Vecchio in the room of the same name are the second great tribute to Cosimo, designed to underscore and celebrate the events of his life. They were commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici, Duke of Florence, who had been given the name of his illustrious forebear as a good augury, and who effectively ushered in another significant chapter in the history of the Medici family.
informazioni generali - apparati e documentazione
