Abbess P iera de' M edici and her kin: gender, gifts, and patronage in R enaissance F lorence

This essay advances our understanding of early M edici patronage by focusing on the intriguing figure of P iera de' M edici ( c. 1400–1482), who matured into one of the most powerful abbesses in R enaissance F lorence. As a religious woman, P iera used her ties to the city's ruling family to benefit her V allombrosan community of S . V erdiana; in turn, it was through her agency that the M edici established long‐term claims on the convent, its consecrated virgins and its sacred cult. This case study shows how P iera combined rhetorical skills, political acumen and gift exchange to build a relationship with G iovanni de' M edici (1421–1463), whose patronage activities are less well known than those of other family members. It also invites a reconsideration of the role F lorentine women played in producing visual culture by comparing G iovanni's donations to gifts made by his wife, G inevra A lessandri. This perspective is especially valuable given that scholars have commented on the scarcity of female artistic patrons in fifteenth‐century F lorence compared to other areas of I taly. By considering different classes of objects and models of exchange, this essay contends that F lorentine women played a more expansive role in cultural production than previously recognized.