How Historically Accurate Is the Medici Season 2

The Medici has recently been released and it cover the period of Lorenzo the Magnificant (Lorenzo de' Medici), one of the most influential Medici family members who ruled or influenced Florence and the birth of the Renaissance. The period covered is around 1469-1477, with the series culminating in the Pazzi conspiracy on Easter Sunday April 26, 1478.

The Key Characters

Lorenzo the Magnificant: Lorenzo is depicted as a smart and wise leader of the Medici family. His father, Piero di Cosimo de' Medici dies at the beginning of the series, in 1469. His father was shown as somewhat a weak character who could not always deal well with all the intrigues of the Signoria, which was the seat of government and ruling body in Florence. Lorenzo is energetic, ambitious for his family, and displayed traits like his grandfather Cosimo Medici by supporting the arts, with the series concentrating on his patronage of Sandro Botticelli.

Giuliano de' Medici: Guiliano is the brother of Lorenzo. He is shown as a skilled fighter, handsome, and a someone who who always showed interest in women, refusing to settle down and instead bedding different women, including Simonetta Vespucci. In fact, he appears to fall in love with Simonetta, although she is married to one of the members of the Signoria. His youthfull love of life and handsome appearance influences Botticelli to pain him as his Mars character, but that is not certain. Giuliano did father an illigitamte child that later became pope (Clement VII), but for some reason this was not even brought up by the series despite the historical significance of this. Clement VII was the pope who witness the fragmentation of Christianity during the Protestant Reformation.

Clarice Orsini:

Botticelli: The series depicts Botticelli as well regarded painter patronized by the Medici. The series depicts the painter as being inspired by Simonetta Vespucci, who inspired Venus and Mars and later Primavera, with his later Birth of Venus painting alluded to. The actually history of these paintings is not certain, as Venus and Mars may have been painted much later. Nevertheless, Simonetta is a possible muse inspiring Botticelli's depiction of her as Venus, but that is also disputed by historians. Giuliano is purported to be the one inspiring Mars, but he had died long after this, although the series showing him posing, along with Simonetta, for the painting. None of this is historically clear, but some historians do accept the two as inspiring the well known painting.