The Plot that could have Changed the World: Lorenzo de’ Medici, Pope Sixtus IV and the Pazzi Conspiracy

PAVM/FRIENDS OF THE UFFIZI SERIES
The Medici and the Della Rovere Families: Power, Patronage and Princely Collections

On April 26, 1478, Giuliano de’ Medici lay dead on the pavement of Florence cathedral with 19 stab wounds serving as testimony to the vicious attack that he had just suffered. Had his assassins – who were backed by Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere – succeeded in eliminating his older brother, Lorenzo “il Magnifico” de’ Medici, that day as well, the history of the western Europe, and the world for that matter, would have been drastically altered. This lecture will examine the protagonists, motivation and plot behind one of the history’s greatest conspiracies.