Italian Renaissance art
Cosimo de' Medici was intelligent, deeply religious, very rich, and wanted to be remembered as a man who did great things for Florence. He was a great patron of the arts and learning. He paid artists to make many beautiful paintings and sculptures. He collected many books, that were given to the Friary of St Mark so that a library could be made and many people could use them. After Cosimo, his sons Piero and Giovanni, and his grandsons Lorenzo and Giuliano continued to be patrons of the arts and of learning. They gathered a group of philosophers, poets and artists together in the "Medici Academy".