By 1427, they were the most powerful family in the city, and far richer than the Medici. They had been the patrons of genius and cultural icons, but the family was more interested in waging war ...

Vasari recorded the lives of artists and the contribution of the Medici, in a precursor of today's PR. Machiavelli, the Godfather of Realpolitik, wrote the first modern manual for leadership ...

Laurent Binet’s Renaissance epistolary novel blends the postmodern playfulness of Umberto Eco with the vigour of Dashiell ...

“Catherine de’ Medici” is not overburdened with images, but among its small assembly of colored prints it does include a ...