Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Jonathon Keats is a writer and artist who critiques museum exhibits. When Cosimo I de’ Medici became the second duke of Florence, ...

The image of the virile duke dressed in immaculate armor with brilliant crimson trimmings, known as Cosimo I de’ Medici in armour (c. 1545), was replicated widely and has at least 25 versions, ...

The Albizzi were one of the oldest families in Florence and led the republican government for two generations. By 1427, they were the most powerful family in the city, and far richer than the Medici.

After centuries in which the Catholic Church has controlled thought and ideas, one city at the heart of fifteenth century Europe is poised on the threshold of an intellectual and artistic revolution.

In his 1963 book, 'The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank,' medieval economic historian Raymond de Roover likens the Medici banking dynasty to today's banking fortresses. And it makes sense. The ...

In 1648, Augustus the Younger, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, attempted to purchase Das Große Stammbuch, a “friendship book” from the collection of the recently deceased Philipp Hainhofer, a wealthy, ...