And for other patrons, like the Medicis, there was a sense of dynastic responsibility....
But her new study of the great Italian Renaissance families of the 15th and 16th centuries -- the Medicis, Sforzas, Gonzagas and other free-spending dynasties- has fired in her an almost missionary zeal for the rich as great art's only true promoters.
Merchants and bankers, such as the Medicis, used their money to ensure the creation of the finest artefacts.