The Medici “Ricordi”

Chapter Summary

This chapter first gives some explanation about Ricordi. The ricordi examined in the chapter are not all the books of this kind written by the entire Medici family, but only those from Cosimo il Vecchio's branch up to the end of the fifteenth century, at the time when Piero di Lorenzo was exiled from Florence. The chapter also includes simple account books, but on those that by now are largely known as "family books", because of the attention they give to the life and memory of the family. It turns on more an absence than a presence, more a "not being" than a "being", since (as those familiar with the subject know) despite the importance of the Medici family, not much has remained. Nevertheless, that which survives is for the most part conserved in the Florence State Archive in the Archivio Mediceo avanti il Principato.

Keywords: Cosimo il Vecchio; Medici family; Piero di Lorenzo; Ricordi