Patrons
Giovanni di Bicci de Medici – 1369 - 1429
Cosimo de Medici was Giovanni's son 1389 –
1464 - Patron of Donatello and Brunelleschi
among others.
Piero was the son of Cosimo de' Medici (not
pictured), known as Piero the Gouty ruled
Florence from 1464 to 1469
Giuliano de' Medici, (not pictured), Piero’s son,
was co-ruler of Florence, but was assassinated in
the Pizzi Conspiracy in 1478
Lorenzo de' Medici (Cosimo’s grandson,
Piero’s son) was born in 1449, Ruler of
Florence from 1469 – 1492.
Commissioned
art from Botticelli and Michelangelo
Renaissance
Artists
Leonardo da Vinci was born in Vinci in the region of
Florence in 1452. At the age of 30, he wrote to
Ludovico described the many marvelous and diverse
things that he could achieve in the field of engineering:
collapsible bridges, machines for draining trenches,
siege equipment, armored cars – and also mentioned
he could sculpt, paint and was an architect.
Ludovico Sforza (left): Duke of
Milan from 1494 until 1499 was
Leonardo da Vinci’s patron. Da
Vinci was in Milan for 17 years.
Piero the Unfortunate, (not pictured) Lorenzo's
heir was his eldest son. Piero ruled from 14921494. He squandered his father's inheritance and
brought down the Medici dynasty in Florence.
Pope Julius II
Pope from 1503 to 1513
commissioned the destruction and
rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica,
plus Michelangelo's decoration of
the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
(Portrait to the right was painted
by Raphael)
Savonarola preacher
active in Renaissance
Florence in the 1490s.
He was executed in
1498.
Michelangelo was born in 1475. Lorenzo invited
Michelangelo to his villa at the age of 14 (in
1489). Michelangelo sculpted the reliefs Madonna of
the Steps and Battle of the Centaurs. He left Florence
when the Medici were expelled from Florence as a
result of Savonarola. But,
he returned to Florence after Savaonarola’s
death. He worked on the Statue of David
and completed that in 1504.
In 1505-1512 Michelangelo was invited back to Rome
by Pope Julius II. He worked on the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel from 1508
to 1512.
When Rome was being excavated to make room for new
structures ancient Roman artifacts were unearthed including
Apollo Belvedere and Laocoön and His Sons which were
added to a papal collection under Pope Julius II.
Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, Lorenzo’s
second son.
Pope Leo X was Pope from March 9, 1513 to his
death in 1521
He was known for granting indulgences to
raise money for the reconstruction of St. Peter’s
Basilica
Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici
Pope Clement VII from 1523 to 1534: Giuliano's
illegitimate son by his mistress Fioretta Gorini.
His father, Giuliano de' Medici, was assassinated.
He was the nephew of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
©homeschoolden.com
Raphael settled in Florence in 1504. He studied
the works of da Vinci and Michelangelo and
incorporated their techniques in his work.
In 1508 Raphael was commissioned by Julius II
to paint the walls of a suit of chambers in the
Vatican Palace:
Below left: School of Athens 1509 -1511
Raphael died in 1520 (age 37)
leaving Transfiguration
unfinished.
Leonardo da Vinci:
Adoration of the Magi, started in 1480, was his first major commission. It was never finished because the
following year he went to Milan.
In 1494, Leonardo moved to Milan to work under Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. In
order to get this commission, he described the many marvelous and diverse things that he could achieve in the
field of engineering: collapsible bridges, machines for draining trenches, siege equipment, armored cars – and
also mentioned he could sculpt, paint and was an architect.
He painted a portrait of Ludovico’s young mistress, Lady with an Ermine
He also painted Madonna of the Rocks.
In 1495 he started The Last Supper, a fresco decorating the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle
Grazie
The French invaded Milan. Da Vinci returned to Florence. It was there
when he began work on the Mona Lisa in 1503.
Leonardo wanted to understand human anatomy. He dissected over
thirty corpses until Pope Leo X barred him from the mortuary in Rome.
He died May 2, 1519.
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Michelangelo:
Michelangelo was commissioned by a cardinal in Rome to carve the Pietà in 1498:
In 1501 the directors of the Duomo in Florence Commissioned him to
carve a monumental statue of the biblical hero, David.
In 1505 Julius II asked Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel. He was to recreate biblical history from the creation of Adam to
the coming of Moses:
In his later years, he created the Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. (This was commissioned
by Paul III, Julius’s successor)
©homeschoolden.com
Raphael:
He settled in Florence in 1504. He studied the works of da Vinci and Michelangelo and incorporated their
techniques in his work.
In 1508 Raphael was commissioned by Julius II to paint the walls of a suit of chambers in the Vatican Palace:
Disputation over the Holy Sacrament and (right) The Parnassus
School of Athens
His last work, on which he was working up to his death, was
The Transfiguration, which was unfinished when he died at
the age of 37:
©homeschoolden.com
Renaissance Patrons
Lapbook/Interactive Notebook Pieces:
Print the following pieces out on card stock. Cut out the pieces below along the solid line and
fold along the dotted line.
In the inside, you can have your student glue the art work and write a brief description of each
artist.
Donatello and Brunelleschi
Cosimo de’ Medici was the patron
of which great artists?
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Botticelli and Michelangelo
Lorenzo de’ Medici was the patron
of which great artists?
©homeschoolden.com
Pope Julius II was the patron of
which great artists?
Michelangelo and Raphael
©homeschoolden.com
The kids also had a lot of fun with this activity: I had purchased the Sistine Chapel Coloring Book (affiliate
link) and made photocopies on thick drawing paper. I snuck downstairs where the ceiling is really low in the
basement and set up our very own Sistine Chapel ceiling for the kids! They laughed SO hard when they saw
the ceiling. They quickly got to work. This activity was a huge hit! They *LOVED* it!! :) A famous movie
(the Agony and the Ecstasy) depicts Michelangelo lying on his back to do his paintings, but scholars today
believe he was standing (after analyzing the brush strokes, etc.)
Disclosure: Please note that some of the link in this packet are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I
will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.
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