Bernardo Rucellai (11 August 1448 – 7 October 1514), also known as Bernardo di Giovanni Rucellai or Latinised as Bernardus Oricellarius, was a member of the Florentine political and social

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

. He was the son of Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai (1403–1481) and father of Giovanni di Bernardo Rucellai (1475–1525). He was married to Nannina de' Medici, the elder sister of

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (; 1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492), was an Italian statesman, the ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lore ...

, and was thus uncle to Popes Leo X and Clement VII, who were cousins. Oligarch, banker, ambassador and man of letters, he is today remembered principally for the meetings of the members of the Accademia Platonica in the Orti Oricellari, the gardens of his house in Florence, the Palazzo Rucellai, where

Niccolò Machiavelli Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was a Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Italian Renaissance. He is best known for his political treatise '' The Prince'' (), writte ...

gave readings of his ''Discorsi''.

Family

Rucellai was born in Florence on 11 August 1448, second son and one of seven children of the wealthy merchant Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai and of Iacopa Strozzi, daughter of the banker Palla di Noferi Strozzi. Giovanni Rucellai remained loyal to Strozzi after the banishment of the latter to

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

by Cosimo de' Medici in November 1434, and for about 27 years he took no part in public life. However, he became friends with Cosimo, and in 1461 Bernardo, then about 13 years old, was married to Cosimo's granddaughter Nannina de' Medici, daughter of

Piero di Cosimo Piero di Cosimo (2 January 1462 – 12 April 1522), also known as Piero di Lorenzo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, who continued to use an essentially Early Renaissance style into the 16th century. He is most famous for the mythologica ...

and elder sister to Lorenzo. Nannina was brought to her husband's house five years later, on 8 June 1466. The wedding feast was famous for its opulence: 500 guests were seated on a dais which occupied the Loggia Rucellai and the whole of the piazza and the in front of Palazzo Rucellai, the family palace built by Giovanni Rucellai to designs by

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, Catholic priest, priest, linguistics, linguist, philosopher, and cryptography, cryptographer; he epitomised the natu ...

. The couple had five children: Cosimo, Palla, Piero, Giovanni and Lucrezia; it is likely that Tommaso Masini da Peretola was an illegitimate son of Rucellai.

Political career

Rucellai was a member of the political elite of late fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and held numerous positions in public office. He was on good terms with the ruling Medici family, and was close to his brothers-in-law Lorenzo and Giuliano. Rucellai and Lorenzo were about the same age and were tied by friendship and by common intellectual interests; Rucellai undertook many diplomatic missions either with, or on behalf of, Lorenzo. In September 1471 he was with Lorenzo in Rome to offer congratulations to Francesco della Rovere on his election as Pope Sixtus IV. Sixtus gave Lorenzo two marble heads, of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

and of Agrippa, allowed him to buy precious items belonging to his predecessor, Paul II, and confirmed that the Medici would continue as papal bankers and as agents for the

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , such that is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium ...

mines at

Tolfa Tolfa is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome, in the Lazio region of central Italy; it lies to the ENE of Civitavecchia by road. It is the main center in the Monti della Tolfa, an extinct volcanic group between Civitavecchia a ...

. Rucellai was one of the Consiglio dei Cento ("council of one hundred") in 1474. In 1480 he was, with Lorenzo, on the council for the reform of the Studio di Pisa. From 1482 to 1485 he was ambassador to Lorenzo's Sforza allies in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. In 1483 he accompanied Lorenzo to

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

where they hoped to establish an alliance against

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. In July–August 1485 Rucellai was Gonfaloniere di Giustizia, but remained in Milan. In March 1486 he was one of the Dieci di Balìa, and in the same year was also in Venice. In 1486, Rucellai paid a visit to

Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII (; ; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death, in July 1492. Son of the viceroy of Naples, Cybo spent his ea ...

on his way to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

to represent both Florence and the Medici. The family business included negotiating the marriage of his nephew Piero to Alfonsina Orsini. In November 1498, after the demise of the

Savonarola Savonarola is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), Italian Dominican friar and reformer * Michele Savonarola (1385–), Italian physician, humanist and historian {{Surname, 2=Italian-la ...

n republic, he was Gonfaloniere di Giustizia. In 1512, Rucellai helped lead the effort to remove Piero Soderini from power and restore the Medici.

Intellectual accomplishments

After the death of

, he opened his gardens, the Orti Oricellari, to the Accademia Platonica in order that they might continue their discussions about literature, classical heritage, rhetoric and Latin grammar. Other famous Florentines in attendance include

and

Francesco Guicciardini Francesco Guicciardini (; 6 March 1483 – 22 May 1540) was an Italian historian and politician, statesman. A friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli, he is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. In his maste ...

Writings

Rucellai wrote mainly in Latin. In 1474, after Niccolò Vitelli was besieged by papal forces under Giuliano della Rovere (later pope Julius II) in Città di Castello, Rucellai wrote an ''Oratio de auxilio Tifernatibus adferendo''. He wrote five histories, ''De urbe Roma liber'', ''De magistratibus Romanis'', ''De bello italico commentarius'', ''De bello Pisano'', ''De bello Mediolanensi''. He left a large body of letters, some of them in Latin. Many of them relate to political matters, including a large number between him and Lorenzo de' Medici. He also corresponded with humanists and intellectuals, among them Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, Andrea Conero, Pietro Dolfin, Marsilio Ficino, Bartolomeo Fonzio, Antonio Ivani da Sarzana and Filippo Redditi.

Family

Political career

Intellectual accomplishments

Writings

References

Further reading