A brilliant and ruthless statesman, Lorenzo de' Medici's dexterous wielding of power helped nurture the Italian Renaissance. A statesman, scholar, poet and philosopher, Lorenzo was a generous and discerning patron to many of the most creative minds of this most creative age. But despite this, he lived surrounded by almost constant violence, and much of his genius was devoted to the art of survival in a world where the dagger was wielded as deftly as the painter's brush or sculptor's chisel. Through the pages of this fascinating biography walk many giants who benefited from Medici patronage: Botticelli, Fra Lippo Lippi, da Vinci and the teenage prodigy Michelangelo, whom Lorenzo discovered and raised almost as his own son. Other colourful characters include the grasping Pope Sixtus IV and the fiery preacher Savonarola, as well as great political leaders of the age including Lorenzo's grandfather, the shrewd and subtle Cosimo.
