First off, I want to say - Thanks SO much for 10k page-views! Logged on this morning and I saw it had just gone over. KLJFDA;LK Exciting! So in somewhat of a celebration, I give you:

Lorenzo de' Medici (Il Magnifico) of Florence, 1449-1492

Since Copernicus wasn't directly related to my school stuff, I had to find someone that coincided a bit better since I'm a bit fickle when it comes to history - in essence, if there isn't some kind of ugly/strange-looking dark haired man I can relate events to, I really don't care. Definitely an excellent basis for all of my grad school research....

So Lorenzo has filled that role since the middle of September since I have a class on the Italian Renaissance. Essentially, he's my uglier, Italian version of Copernicus: [link] [link]

Why do I find him fascinating? Not sure but there's some compelling in his rough, serious face. He also had a profound degree of influence in all aspects of late Quattrocento Italy. For my term paper, I wrote about his methods of consolidating his power in Florence, which depended heavily on promotion of his own myth of magnificence. This included his charisma, his considerable intellect, his political, economic, and social influence, his skill as a poet and his wide-reputation as artistic connoisseur. Yet keeping up this constant image was a huge source of stress for him - as one author writes, "it wrecked his nervous system." So he could be very tempermental - apparently his rages were terrifying. Yet at the same time, he was hugely devoted to his family. Machiavelli writes disparagingly of him taking part in the games of his kids, feeling it wasn't proper for a man of his station. Shove it, Machiavelli.

This is why I find Lorenzo interesting. Though he died over five hundred years ago, you can feel his personality coming through. It's as though he has just left the room. Though he had such historical influence, he was still very human, subject to the same anxieties and passions as the rest of us.

I'm not entirely happy with the painting here but it was still hella fun to do. Had been working on and off at it for a couple of months and finished it up Tuesday night at 3 AM, when I was wired with coffee and nerves, for I had to present all of my Lorenzo research in class the next day. Used this image in the presentation when I was discussing his joust of 1469. It's all pretty much based on a condottiere portrait done by Castagno in the 1450s: [link] Oh, and textures from the completely awesome *resurgere

Once again, thanks for the 10K! You guys pwn my sockies off.