Lorenzo de'Medici, Collector of Antiquities: Collector and Antiquarian

by Laurie Fusco, Gino Corti

Lorenzo de'Medici was a passionate collector of objects from antiquity and the post-antiquity period as well as an important patron of the arts in fifteenth-century Florence. His activities as a collector are documented in a group of 173 previously unknown letters included in this volume. As revealed in these letters, Lorenzo had a preference for small objects: coins, hardstone vases, and gems. This book reveals how such objects were studied, displayed, selected and valued by de'Medici and other collectors during this period.

446 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2005