Leopoldo de' Medici

Prince Leopoldo
Leopoldo de' Medici by Justus Sustermans
Born	(1617-11-06)6 November 1617 Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Tuscany
Died	10 November 1675(1675-11-10) (aged 58) Florence, Tuscany
Burial	The Basilica of San Lorenzo
Names Leopoldo de' Medici
Grand Ducal	House of Medici
Father	Cosimo II of Tuscany
Mother	Maria Maddalena of Austria
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Leopoldo de' Medici (6 November 1617 – 10 November 1675) was an Italian cardinal, scholar, patron of the arts and Governor of Siena.^[1] He was the brother of Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.^[2]

Biography

Prince Leopoldo was born at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany then ruled by his father, Grand Duke Cosimo II. His mother Maria Magdalena of Austria was a sister of Queen Margarita of Spain and Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Leopoldo was educated under Jacopo Soldano, Father Flaviano Michelini and Evangelista Torricelli. When his brother was elected Grand Duke, Leopoldo acted as his advisor for manufactures, agriculture and trades. Leopoldo, a disciple of Galileo, took a real interest in the proceedings of the justly celebrated academy 'Del Cimento' (the test), signing its correspondence, following closely the work of Evangelista Torricelli da Modigliana, inventor of the barometer.

He took a great interest in science and technology. In 1638 he founded the Accademia Platonica, and, together with Ferdinando, the Accademia del Cimento ("Academy of Experiment") in 1657 to promote observation of nature through the Galileian Method.^[2][3] In 1641 Leopoldo had been named member of the Accademia della Crusca, for which he edited the entries regarding art for the 3rd edition of the Crusca Dictionary (1691).

Leopoldo was also a great collector of rare books, paintings (the Venetian collection at the Uffizi is inherited from him), drawings, statues, coins and self-portraits.^[4] He left a wide correspondence with artists and art collectors of his time. He experimented with telescopic lenses and all manner of scientific instruments, and also commissioned those thermometers, astrolabes, calorimeters, quadrants, hygrometers, quadrants and other ingenious mechanical devices which visitors to the Pitti Palace saw displayed in such profusion. Leopoldo spent four hours each day 'up to his neck in books'.

On 12 December 1667 Pope Clement IX named him cardinal of Santi Cosma e Damiano. From that point on Leopoldo made frequent trips to Rome, pursuing his artistic interests. He died in 1675. His large collections are included in several museums of Florence.

Leopoldo had a long correspondence with Christiaan Huygens.^[5]

Ancestors

Ancestors of Leopoldo de' Medici

16. Giovanni dalle Bande Nere 8. Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 17. Maria Salviati 4. Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 18. Pedro Álvarez de Toledo 9. Eleonora di Toledo 19. Maria Osorio Pimentel, Marchioness of Villafranca del Bierzo 2. Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 20. Francis I, Duke of Lorraine 10. Charles III, Duke of Lorraine 21. Christina of Denmark 5. Christina of Lorraine 22. Henry II of France 11. Claude of Valois 23. Catherine de' Medici 1. Leopoldo de' Medici 24. Philip I of Castile 12. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor 25. Joanna of Castile 6. Charles II of Austria 26. Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary 13. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary 27. Anna of Foix-Candale 3. Maria Magdalena of Austria 28. William IV, Duke of Bavaria 14. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria 29. Marie of Baden-Sponheim 7. Maria Anna of Bavaria 30. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (= 12) 15. Anna of Austria 31. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (= 13)

References

1. Mirto, Alfonso. "MEDICI, Leopoldo de'". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Treccani. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
2. "Leopoldo de' Medici". Brunelleschi.imss.fi.it. Museo Galileo. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
3. Luciano Boschiero (2007-09-04). Experiment and Natural Philosophy in Seventeenth-Century Tuscany: The History of the Accademia del Cimento. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 178. ISBN 978-1-4020-6246-9.
4. "Mèdici, Leopoldo de'". Enciclopedia Treccani. Treccani. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
5. Huygens, Christiaan. Oeuvres complètes, Tome VI: Correspondance 1666–1669 (1895)

Leopoldo de' Medici House of Medici Born: 6 November 1617 Died: 10 November 1675
Political offices
Preceded by Mattias de' Medici	Governor of Siena 1636–1641	Succeeded by Mattias de' Medici
	Governor of Siena 1643–1644