What did the Medici family do for the Renaissance?

The Medici family's extraordinary patronage of art in Florence, it's a story that fundamentally shaped the Renaissance and left a massive legacy.

Here's a breakdown, covering their history, motivations, key figures, notable artists and the impact of their support.

Michelangelo Buonarroti | Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici, 1524-1527

Donatello | The bronze David, 1440

David is the title of two statues of the biblical hero by the Italian early Renaissance sculptor Donatello, an early work in marble of a clothed figure (1408-09), and a far more famous bronze figure and dates to the 1430s or later. Both are now in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence.

Paul Henry R.H.A. | Post-Impressionist painter

Born in Belfast, Paul Henry (11 April 1877 - 24 August 1958) was for much of the 20th century, one of the country’s most identifiable artists, with prints of his paintings of the west of Ireland popularised by railway companies in the 1920s and Bord Fáilte in the 1940s.

In 1898 he went to Paris studying under Jean-Paul Laurens, with Constance Gore-Booth a fellow student.

The Story of Music: A Chronicle of Resonance

The impulse began, as all things do, from a foundational state of near-silence.

Not a void, mind you. A state of potential.

A world teeming with vibration, but lacking organization.

Consider the cave: a resonating chamber.

Water dripping, wind sighing… these were the first notes.

Not "music" as we understand it, but precursors.

The potential for pattern was always present.

Orazio Gentileschi | Young Woman with a Violin (Saint Cecilia), 1612 | Detroit Institute of Arts

Alexei Antonov, 1957

Alexey Antonov is a master of still life and portraiture, drawing inspiration from the techniques of Flemish masters.

He was classically trained in the prominent Russian Academy of Art in Moscow, which gave him a solid foundation for the future development and quality rarely found among young artists.

He studied the techniques of the Flemish Masters: Rubens, Van Dyke, Snyders, and others, in search of achieving refined detail, subtle tone and most importantly to capture the light and glow within the canvas.

August Macke: "The most important thing for me is the direct observation of nature in its light-filled existence"

• "I'm interested in creating a space through color contrasts, rather than by simple shadows of light and dark".

• "Mi interessa creare uno spazio attraverso contrasti di colore, piuttosto che attraverso semplici ombre di luce e buio".

August Macke | Promenade, 1913

Promenade is an oil-on-cardboard painting by the German artist August Macke (1887-1914), executed in 1913.

It is held at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich.

Chronologically, it is the first of the paintings that he created after moving to Hilterfingen in Switzerland.

Francois Fressinier, 1968 | Mixed media painter

Born in Cognac, France to scholarly portrait photographer parents with an affinity for aesthetics, it was fitting that modern figurative artist, François Fressinier, would develop a unique, enchanting style.

His father's admiration for the works of the Old Masters and his exposure to some of the world's most historic places, along with France's Gallo-Roman ruins and Gothic churches inclined François to explore and create figurative, symbolic artwork.

In addition, his education at the Ecole Brassart in Tours afforded him the opportunity to study the drawings and paintings of old and new masters.