by F. Cesati - publication year: 1999 - paperback. 150x210 mm. 144 pp. - 209 colour illustrations -

This concise and brilliant book reads like a piece of journalism in the best sense of the term. It is an account of the more and less celebrated events that made the Medici into Italy’s most illustrious historic family. one that produced two popes. two Queens of France and such a multi-faceted and extraordinary figure as Lorenzo the Magnificent.With an entirely original and non-provincial approach. the author traces the dazzling rise and fall of this dynasty. from the first standard-bearer to the last Grand Duke. tirelessly bringing out its historical links with Florence. Italy and Europe. The many illustrations. clarified by ample captions. do not add up to a mere gallery of official portraits. but attempt to capture the individual figures in their more human and quotidian aspect.