Lorenzo de'Medici Collector of Antiquities

Lorenzo de''Medici was a passionate collector of objects from antiquity and the post-antiquity period as well as an important patron of the arts in fifteenth-century Florence. His activities as a collector are documented in a group of 173 previously unknown letters included in this volume. As revealed in these letters Lorenzo had a preference for small objects: coins hardstone vases and gems. This book reveals how such objects were studied displayed selected and valued by de''Medici and other collectors during this period.