Skin disease in the Medici family and the illness of Contessina de' Bardi de' Medici: a dermatological puzzle

Abstract

For over 300 years, from the early fifteenth to the mid-eighteenth century, the Medici family was one of the most important dynasties in Italy. As wealthy bankers, patrons of the arts, and as the rulers of Florence throughout most of this period, the leading members of this family have attracted the attention of historians, political theorists, and students of Italian culture. The Medici family has also been the subject of medico-historical interest, as many of its most prominent figures were known to have suffered from debilitating illnesses throughout their lives. There were two lines of the Medici family, descended from the two sons of Giovanni di Bicci (1360–1429). The progenitor of the senior (primogenito) line was the Cosimo il Vecchio (1389–1464), a line that died out in the early sixteenth century. Cosimo's younger brother Lorenzo (1395–1440) founded the cadet branch, which continued until the eighteenth century and from which the Grand Dukes of Tuscany came. Although the diseases of the males in the family are better known, the illnesses of the Medici women have been less studied.