Lucrezia Tornabuoni De’ Medici and the Medici Family in the Fifteenth Century
By Maria Grazia Pernis, Laurie Adams
A Politically Advantageous Marriage: Lorenzo de’ Medici and Clarice Orsini
pp. 71-73
Of all the marriages arranged by the Medici, Lorenzo’s was the most complex, requiring delicate diplomatic preparation, and one of the most politically important. The choice of his wife could affect Medici policy for years to come. With a view to extending Medici power to Rome and the papal enclave, Piero and Lucrezia decided on a Roman bride. In so doing, they set the stage for two of their grandchildren, Lorenzo’s legitimate son Giovanni and Giuliano’s natural son Giulio, to become popes. In the sixteenth century, the patronage of the Medici popes, Leo X and Clement VII, would contribute substantially to the artistic flowering of the High Renaissance.
Because of Piero’s illness, Lucrezia was more directly involved in the search for Lorenzo’s bride than might otherwise have been the case. She was assisted in this venture by her brother, Giovanni Tornabuoni, who was particularly fond of his nephew. Living in Rome, Giovanni knew which girls of marriageable age would best satisfy Lucrezia’s ambitions. In addition, as general manager of the Medici Bank, Giovanni had first hand information about the financial status of Roman families and knew the amount of their daughters’ dowries.
Among the most eligible girls, Piero and Lucrezia favored Clarice Orsini. Lucrezia travelled to Rome, staying at her brother’s house, and personally inspected Lorenzo’s prospective bride. Insight into the Medici strategy is provided by Lucrezia’s letters to Piero, who remained in Florence. On March 28, 1467, Lucrezia wrote that one Thursday morning she met Madonna Maddalena Orsini, sister of Cardinal Latino Orsini, on her way to St. Peter’s. Maddalena, she said was accompanied by her daughter Clarice, then fifteen or sisteen years old, who struck her as beautiful, fair-skinned, and tall. But Lucrezia pointed out, she could not examine the girl because she was wearing a large fashionable mantle. A few days later, Lucrezia adds, she was invited to the Orsini Palace where she was able to study Clarice more closely. This time the girl wore a tight dress without a mantle.
Lucrezia describes Clarice as above average in height, having a round face, white skin, reddish hair, a delicate neck, and long, thin hands. Although her breasts were covered, they impressed Lucrezia as being of good quality and properly shaped. Clarice further struck Lucrezia as a pleasant girl, though she did not think her the equal of “Maria, Lucreza, e Bianca.” Nevertheless, she believed that Clarice would soon learn the ways of the Medici family.
Lorenzo must have travelled incognito to Rome. As the surviving correspondence between Lucrezia and Piero indicates. In another letter, Lucrezia confirms that Lorenzo saw Clarice in Rome and encourages her husband to ask Lorenzo directly whether he liked the girl. Lorenzo must have observed Clarice without her knowledge for Clarice’s relatives mentioned that Lorenzo had not yet been introduced to her.
Lucrezia reported to Piero on the details of the Orisini financial position. They owned a large estate, including half of a hill—Monte Rotondo—near Rome, the surrounding land, and three castles. They also had prospects of increasing their wealth through an inheritance. In spite of her praise, however, Lucrezia could not disguise her lack of personal enthusiasm for Clarice Orsini. When Piero inquired about this, Lucrezia attributed her restraint to the fact that she did not want to raise his hopes too high, and she assured him that there was no more handsome eligible girl in Rome.
In December, 1468, Clarice and Lorenzo were married by proxy in Rome—that is, the marriage contract was signed by representatives of the two families. The official wedding ceremony was to take place the following June. In the meatime, Clarice continued to live with their family in the orsini Palace. That Lorenzo himself was not particularly enthusiastic about his marriage is evident from the terse account in his Ricordi:
“I, Lorenzo, took to wife Clarice, the daughter of Signor Iacopo Orsino, or rather she was given to me, in December 1468, and the wedding celebrations in our house were held on June 4, 1469”
Estrusca Leda and the Dioscuri (1469-1478)
pp. 85-86
When Lucrezia became a widow in 1469, she entered a social category that was controlled by strict convention. Widows typically left with their dowry as their only financial asset, and if they had sons, they lived with them rather than with their daughters…Unlike most women in her position, Lucrezia did not cede the role of mistress of the house to her daughter-in-law. Instead, Clarice remained in the background, raising her children and spending several months a year in the country. Lucrezia tended to Lorenzo, Giuliano, and the household, and acted as a hostess on social occasions.
Lucrezia’s Last Years
pp. 143-145
Women, even the most beloved, were mourned in the privacy of their home. Thus, when Lorenzo’s wife Clarice died in Florence in 1488, her funeral was barely noticed.
Clarice was nearly thirty-eight years old when her health, which had never been strong, suddenly worsened. But Lorenzo, though he knew of her approaching death, remained at a resort near Lucca. From there, he wrote to Pope Innocent VIII to announce Clarice’s death. Lorenzo could not avoid doing so because his daughter by Clarice, Maddalena, had married the pope’s son, Franceschetto Cybo. Clarice’s funeral was so modest that the ambassador of Ferrara, in his report to the Este duke, excused himself for not having informed him at once because he thought that “it was not an important matter.”
Lorenzo’s different reactions to the deaths of his mother and his wife can be explained largely by the degree of his affection for the two women. Lorenzo had always been deeply attached to his mother, but he was never particularly fond of his wife. At the time of Clarice’s death, Lorenzo was an estranged husband with a Florentine mistress, Bartolommea Benci Nasi. Since Lorenzo was a public figure, he could have concealed his private feelings behind a formal screen, had he wanted to commemorate his wife’s death publicly. Clearly, he did not wish to do so.
In spite of her devotion to Lorenzo, Clarice had been an unsuitable confidante. She had no grasp of politics and was greatly attached to her paternal family. Even had Lorenzo loved Clarice, he could not have trusted her entirely because of the interests of the Medici and the Orsini often diverged. For political reasons, however, Lorenzo took advantage of Clarice to exploit her connections with the Orsini and also to impress them with his power. THis was no doubt the case when Clarice travelled to Rome in May 1472 accompanied by Luigi Pulci; she entered Rome escoreted by eighty knights and was received with “grande honore” wherever they went. In the end, Lucrezia was the only member of Lorenzo’s family whom he trusted completely, both in personal matters and in politics.
*We disagree with the assessment of Clarice’s role given by Tomas in The Medici Women: Gender and Power in Renaissance Florence, 31-32. Tomas calls Clarice “another Lorenzo,” and sees her as Lorenzo’s representative.” She claims that one letter in particular, ated May 1485 and written by Matteo Franco, the Medici chaplain, confirms this view. In fact, according to Franco, the community of Colle, where Clarice and her retinue stopped on their travel back to Florence had prepared presents of local products, as “bianda, cera, marzapani, vino,” to give to Lorenzo. Since Lorenzo was not travelling with his family, these rather inconsequential gifts were given to Clarice instead. Franco writes that, addressing Clarice, three members of the community said: “aspettando Lorenzo e non sendo venuto lui…a lei le presentavano come a uno altro lui;” see Isidoro Del Lungo, Un viaggo di Clarice Orsini de’ Medici nel 1485 descritto da Ser matteo Franco (Bologna, 1868), 14. This kind of ceremonial language was purely conventional and intended to please Lorenzo; it does not signify that Clarice played any role in Lorenzo’s politics or that she was considered an important figure in the political arena.
BOTTICELLI IN THE FIRE 