Medici, Lorenzo De'

Related Category: Italian History: Biographies

1492–1519, duke of Urbino (1516–19); son of Piero de' Medici. His uncle, Pope Leo X, made the youthful Lorenzo duke of Urbino. After his early death, however, Urbino reverted (1521) to the Della Rovere family. A patron of the arts and humanities, Lorenzo has been immortalized by Michelangelo, who designed and made his tomb in the Church of San Lorenzo, Florence. Of the three statues adorning his tomb, one represents Lorenzo in a pensive attitude (hence it is known as the Pensieroso) and the other two represent Dawn and Dusk. Lorenzo was the father of Catherine de' Medici, queen of France.