Cosimo de' Medici Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician who established the House of Medici, Medici family as effective rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance. His power derive ...

had two friar's cells reserved for him in the Dominican convent of

San Marco in Florence San Marco is a Catholic religious complex in Florence, Italy. It comprises a church and a convent. The convent, which is now the Museo Nazionale di San Marco, has three claims to fame. During the 15th century it was home to two famous Dominican ...

. This was intended as a place for personal retreat and was used as a guest room for other important guests. Cosimo de' Medici was not a member of the Dominican Order, but had a claim to the cell due to his patronage of the monastery.

Pope Eugenius IV Pope Eugene IV (; ; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 March 1431 to his death, in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and a nephew of Pope Gregory XII ...

slept the night of Epiphany 1443 when he came to consecrate the new church. The paintings in the double cell differ in some respects from those in the other cells. The pictorial language is more descriptive and the colours are brighter and the composition is more complex. Compared to the other cells the contribution from

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico, O.P. (; ; born Guido di Pietro; 18 February 1455) was a Dominican friar and Italian Renaissance painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Giorgio Vasari in his ''Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent" ...

is less and those of his assistants, particularly

Benozzo Gozzoli Benozzo Gozzoli (; born Benozzo di Lese; 4 October 1497) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. A pupil of Fra Angelico, Gozzoli is best known for a series of murals in the Magi Chapel of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, depicting festi ...

, is greater. The largest painting is the

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having fo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosimo Medicis cell San Marco, Florence Medici residences