Lorenzo de' Medici and the Love of Women

Abstract

It was inappropriate for the leader of a republican regime to claim martial virtues - Lorenzo could not proudly say, as Lodovico Gonzaga did, that "nui vivemo da Marchese de Mantua et da soldato" – but he cultivated an image of himself as a virile and forceful political and dynastic leader dedicated to the tireless and successful pursuit of both women and game. Surrounded as he was by intelligent, able and often attractive women, they themselves – and Lorenzo's attitudes to and relations with them - deserve our close attention.