The Italian merchant prince Lorenzo de' Medici (1449-1492), called "il Magnifico," ruled both the Florentine state and a vast commercial empire. As a poet and a patron of poets, he stimulated the revival and splendor of Italian literature.

At a time when the major city-states of Italy were engaged in a fierce political and economic rivalry with one another, Lorenzo de' Medici managed to preserve the independence and territorial integrity of Florence. If he was the inferior of his Medici ancestors in financial acumen, he was their superior in artistic sensitivity and understanding, so that, during the latter half of the 15th century, when the despots of Italy strove consciously through lavish patronage of artists to enhance the prestige and stability of their houses, Lorenzo was acknowledged as the greatest Maecenas of his age.

Lorenzo de' Medici was born in Florence on Jan. 1, 1449. He was the son of...