Medici, Giuliano de'

Medici, Giuliano de' dā mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1479–1516, duke of Nemours (1515–16); younger son of Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo il Magnifico) and brother of Pope Leo X. He entered Florence in 1512 when the Holy League restored his family to rule the city. Having married a princess of the Nemours branch of the house of Savoy, he was invested with the duchy by Francis I of France, who also intended to place him on the throne of Naples. Giuliano was a patron of the arts and letters. His statue, by Michelangelo, together with the statues of Day and Night, adorn his tomb in the Church of San Lorenzo, Florence. Ippolito de' Medici was his illegitimate son.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Italian History: Biographies