The Medici legacy

The Medici family helped shaped the Renaissance for over 300 years. Based in Florence, they were bankers, merchants, art patrons and power-hungry politicians with connections all over Europe. The exhibition "The Medicis - People, Power and Passion," currently on show at the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum in Mannheim, revisits the enigmatic dynasty and explores its significant link to Germany.

Many in Germany don't know that the last member of the Medici family, Anna Maria Luisa (1667-1743), married the German Elector Palatinate Johann Wilhelm in 1691. The 270th anniversary of Anna Maria Luisa's death in February was an apt occasion for the Mannheim exhibition, since new information about her came to light last year.

When Anna Maria Luisa de Medici was exhumed in 2012, exhibition curator Wilfried Rosendahl and his team of experts made an unusual discovery: She was wearing her husband's crown. The headpiece was recreated for the Mannheim exhibition (pictured). A 3D image of her skull is also on display.

In the Mannheim exhibition, the Medicis are not just portrayed as patrons, bankers and powerful politicians, but as human beings with quirks and self-contradictions like the rest of us. Much of the information in the show stems from new forensic examinations of exhumed members of the family. This exhumation work is also explained, as pictured here.

Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492), both a clever politician and an esthete, was the most famous of the Medici clan. Florence is today a marvelous center for the arts, in part thanks to him. Pictured is a 19th-century marble bust of Lorenzo.

Cosimo I de Medici (1519-1574) worked hard to put Tuscany's governing council out of commission and become the region's sole ruler. He managed to do that when the pope named him Grand Duke of Tuscany shortly before his death. Despite his thirst for power, Cosimo also showed his compassionate side when he had the swamps near Pisa cleaned up to prevent the spread of malaria.

The Medicis pulled the strings of power and through their involvement in banking they also gained influence over the Catholic Church. With these connections, a family member was granted an elite holy post. Medici Pope Clemens VII (1478-1534), pictured, was considered a hardliner. It was during his papacy that England's King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church.

The Medicis weren't only important patrons of the arts but also helped fund scientific research. They supported, among others, the astronomer, physicist and philosopher Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who discovered Jupiter's moons while working for the family. Pictured is a 1906 model of one of his telescopes.

Over three centuries, the Medicis gained influence all over Europe in politics, business, culture and science. The Tuscan city of Florence practically serves as a living monument to their legacy. It was the heroine of the Mannheim exhibition, Anna Maria Louisa de Medici, who bequeathed her family's massive art collection to the city.