M E D I C r. 9 
vicinity indicated his moderation and love of peace. In 
-fine, he conducted the republic of Florence to a degree of 
tranquillity and profperity which it had fcarcely ever 
before known ; and, by procuring the inftitution of a 
deliberative body of the nature of a fenate, he corrected 
the too-democr-atical plan of its conftitution. 
In the encouragement of literature and the arts, Lo¬ 
renzo diftinguiflted himfelf beyond any of his predecef- 
fors, as might have been expedted from the fuperior ele¬ 
gance and cultivation of his own genius. His proficiency 
in Italic poetry would have conferred diftinction even 
upon c-ne who had no other merit to boaft of. The pro- 
dudtions of Lorenzo de Medici (fays Mr. Rofcoe) are 
diftinguiflted by a vigour of imagination, an accuracy of 
judgment, and an elegance of ftyle, which afforded the 
firft great example of improvement, and entitle him, al- 
lstoft exclufively, to the honourable appellation “ of the 
reftorer of Italian literature.” This is laid with refe¬ 
rence to the Angular degradation into which it had fallen 
from the period of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccacio. His 
compofitions are fonnets, canzoni, feftine, and other 
lyric pieces; fome longer works in ftanzas, forne comic 
fatires and jocofe carnival-fongs j and various facred 
poems; the latter not the lefs ferious on account of the 
licentioufnefs of fome of the former. This incongruous 
mixture is however fo far from being peculiar to the age 
or the author, that we find it in many modern poets of 
our own country. Some of t-hefe pieces, efpecially of the 
lighter kind, in which he imitated the ruftic dialed!:, be¬ 
came extremely popular. His regard to literature in ge¬ 
neral was teftified by the extraordinary attention he paid 
to the augmentation of the Laurentian library, for which 
purpofe he employed the fervices of learned men in dif¬ 
ferent parts of Italy, and efpecially of his moft intimate 
literary friend and companion Angelo Politiano, who took 
feveral journeys in order to difcover and purchafe the 
valuable remains of antiquity. “ I wilh,” faid Lorenzo 
once to him, “ that the diligence of Pico and yourfelf 
would afford me fuch opportunities of purchafing books, 
that I might be obliged even to pledge my furniture to 
poffefs them.” On the difcovery of the invaluable art 
of printing, no one was more folicitous than Lorenzo to 
avail himfelf of it in procuring editions of the beft works 
of antiquity corrected by the ableft fcholars, whofe la¬ 
bours were rewarded by his munificence. When the cap¬ 
ture of Conftantinople by the Turks caufed the difperfion 
of many learned Greeks, he took advantage of the cir- 
cumftance to promote the ltudy of the Greek language 
in Italy, and eftabliflted an academy for that purpofe at 
Florence. 
His fervices to the fine arts were certainly not lefs con- 
fpicuous than thole which he rendered to letters. It has 
already been mentioned in the life of Cofmo, that the col¬ 
lection of the moft valuable remains of ancient tafte and 
fkill was an objedt of that great man’s attention. His 
treafures were greatly augmented by Lorenzo, who, with 
a fpirit infinitely fuperior to that of an ordinary collector, 
propofed to himfelf the improvement of modern art as the 
principal end of his magnificence in this point. He ac¬ 
cordingly appropriated his gardens in Florence to the efta- 
blifliment of an academy for the ftudy of the antique, 
which he fumifhed with a profufion of ftatues, bufts, and 
other relics of art, the molt perfeCl in their kind that he 
could procure. The attention of the higher rank of his 
fellow-citizerrs was incited to thefe purfuits by the exam¬ 
ple of Lorenzo ; that of the lower clafs by his liberality. 
To the latter lie not only allowed competent ftipends, 
while they attended to their Itudies, but appointed confi- 
derable premiums as recnards of their proficiency. To this 
inftitution, more than any other circumltance, Mr. Rofcoe 
afcribes the fudden and aftonifuing proficiency which, 
towards the ciofe of the fifteenth century, was evidently 
made in the arts, and which, commencing at Florence, ex¬ 
tended itfelf to the reft of Europe. The gardens of Lo¬ 
renzo de Medici are frequently celebrated as the nurfery 
of men of genius; but, if they had produced no other 
Vol. XV. No. 1019. 
artift than Michael Angelo, they would have fufficiently 
anfwered the purpofes of the founder. It was here that 
this great man began to imbibe that fpirit which was de- 
ftined to effedt a reformation in the arts ; and which, per¬ 
haps, he could have derived from no other fource. Ar- 
chitedture Lorenzo encouraged by the numerous buildings 
which he eredted, or induced others to eredt, in Florence 
and its vicinity, after defigns furnifbed by the ableft ar- 
tifts. By thefe exertions he prepared the way for thofe 
wonders which have rendered the age denominated from 
his fon Lea X. one of the moft fplendid in the records of 
mankind. 
Lorenzo, in his domeftic concerns, deferves confiderable, 
but by no means unmixed, praife. The licentioufnefs 
which charafterifes feveral of his poems is faid to have 
tainted his manners with refpedt to the female fex. He 
was neverthelefs a very affectionate and attentive father, 
folicitous for the inftrudtion of his children, whom lie 
placed under the care of Politiano; and he was fond of 
partaking in their fports and amufements. The exigencies 
of the republic, in confequence of its wars, had obliged 
him to borrow, in his own name, large fums, which the 
negligence or infidelity of his commercial agents and 
correspondents rendered it difficult for him to repay; and 
a decree for the difcharge of his debts out of the public 
treafury was neceffary to relieve him from his embarrafs- 
ments. From this period he determined to quit his mer¬ 
cantile concerns, and retire into the country. He had 
feveral villas in the vicinity of Florence, of which that of 
Poggia-Cajano was his favourite refidence; and he made 
it the centre of a great agricultural eftablifiiment. He 
chiefly entertained his friends at his delightful feat of 
Fiefole, where his table was graced with a fociety of learned 
and ingenious men not often paralleled. 
Lorenzo had a numerous family, in the fettling of which 
he was as fuccefsful as an ambitious parent would gene¬ 
rally defire. His eldeft fon Piero, defigned for his fuc- 
ceffor in the Florentine ftate, was fent at the age of four¬ 
teen to vifit the pope, and cultivate the family-intereft at 
Rome ; for which purpofe he was married to the daughter 
of one of the powerful houfe of Orfini; and foon after¬ 
wards, Lorenzo’s daughter Maddelena was married to the 
pope’s fon, Francefco Cibo. The object of his ciofe con¬ 
nection with- this pontiff, and the profound refpedt he al¬ 
ways teftified for the holy fee, was the attainment of tile 
favourite point of his ambition, the elevation of his fe- 
cond fon Giovanni to the cardinalate, with the future 
profpeft of his filling the papal chair; and which hap¬ 
pened accordingly. By means of inceffant application, 
he prevailed upon the pope to confer upon Giovanni, at 
the age of thirteen, the high dignity of one of the princes 
of the Roman church ; which was unqueftionably a fla¬ 
grant violation of decorum, dilhonourable to both. “It 
was,” fays one of the biographers of Lorenzo, “ a deferved 
confequence of this proititution of ecclefiaftical honours, 
that this cardinal, when arrived at the popedom, fhould, 
by his levity and extravagance, have given the immediate 
occafion to that defection from the church of Rome, which 
has fo much reduced her powerand authority.” (See Leo X. 
vol. xii. p.490.) Of his other children, Giuliano became 
allied to the royal houfe of France, and obtained the title 
of duke of Nemours; and his daughters married into no¬ 
ble families. 
In the year 14.88, Lorenzo’s domeftic comfort was much 
impaired by the lofs of his wife. He was at this time ab- 
fentat the warm-baths, which he was often obliged to ufe, 
on account of a gouty complaint that feverely afflidted 
him, and had made an early breach in his conftitution. 
In the intervals of eafe and health, he appears to have flat¬ 
tered himfelf with the expedtation of enjoying the reward 
of his public labours, and partaking of the genera! happi- 
nefs which he had fo efientially contributed to promote, 
in a peaceful and dignified retirement, enlivened by focial 
amufements, by philofophic ftudies, and literary purfuits. 
Thefe expectations were built upon the moft fubftantia! 
foundation, the confcioufnefs that he had difcharged his 
D more 
