Renaissance Patrons Essay

Patrons who sponsored the artists in the Renaissance helped build up and stabilize the economy of Italy’s city-states by increasing the amount of trade and promoting the different ideas and methods of foreign cultures, which helped it gain prestige among the city-states of Europe. One of these families who are well known for patronizing famous artists are the Medicis. They gained their immense stock of wealth through trade with foreign powers and banking that helped them raise themselves above the middle class.1 The Medicis already had background in trade and knew how to be economically successful within their own territory in Florence, so they were crucial to its economies’ upkeep. Other Florentine bankers followed the Medici’s lead and "in
the fourteenth century the money transactions of almost every country of Europe passed through their hands."2 This shows that Florence was viewed highly in terms of economic knowledge. The rest of Europe wanted someone to control their transactions with other countries that have people who they could trust to do so. Europe's dependence on the Florentines also is a testament to their own economy’s strength.