FERDINAND I. -(1551-1609.)

The son of Cosimo I. and Eleanora of Toledo, who succeeded Francesco I., found Tuscany too small for him, and this prince, who had the instincts of a conqueror, was the first of his family since the fifteenth century who endeavored to make his influence felt beyond the frontiers of Italy.

There are two distinct phases in the career of Ferdinand. Brought up for the Church, he was made a cardinal, and lived in a monastery at Rome, with all the pomp that became one of his family.

Resolute and haughty, he was more feared than liked at the Vatican, though he had tact enough to exercise a considerable influence over the Sacred College, and it is even said that in questions of the first importance his opinions carried as much weight as those of the Pontiff himself. While wearing the purple, his undertakings were necessarily of a peaceful character, and he concentrated his attention upon what we now call " Missions." ' Combining, in the true spirit of a Medici, a zeal for intellectual research with his religious propaganda, he fostered the study of the Oriental languages, setting up at his own cost a printing-press in Oriental characters, and organizing foreign missions to which he attached young students, who came back to Rome and founded a college in which they taught Arabic, Sanscrit, and Hindustani. He also had translations made of philosophical, medical and mathematical treatises from the Arabic, and distributed them in all directions. Fond of display, amid all his peaceful occupations he followed the example of his ancestor, Cardinal Hippolytus, and had a large escort of cavalry. The Pope on one occasion having threatened to imprison him in San Angelo, Cardinal Medici took the bull by the horns, and came to seek audience of the Pope with a cuirass under his robe, and when the Pontiff angrily declared that it was in his power to deprive him of the hat which symbolized the dignity of Cardinal, Medici replied that if he lost his hat he should substitute for it the iron crown.

Having succeeded his brother as Grand Duke, he began by according a liberal patronage to art and literature, encouraging such men as Ammirato and Gabriel Chiabrera, building the Ferdinand College at Pisa, and that singular chapel within a church (the Medici Chapel in San Lorenzo), which is so profusely decorated with marbles and precious stones, but which testifies rather to lavish expenditure than to refined taste. If this chapel had been built a century earlier, when Brunelleschi, Bramante, Alberti, Michelozzo, and Michael Angelo were alive, it might have been the most magnificent in the world, erected as it was close beside the Sagrestia Nuova, where the twin figures of " Day " and " Night," of " Dawn " and " Twilight," kept watch over the tombs of Lorenzo and Julian.

Though Ferdinand I. has had the credit for the building of this chapel, it was not the work of a single reign, but at the same time it should be added that there is no doubt as to his having helped the architect, Matteo Nigretti, to draw the plans. Francesco I., however, had conceived the idea of a Pantheon of this kind, and later on the members of the Medici family were buried one under the high altar, another in the old vestry, a third in the new chapel, and so forth. In this connection a singular story, too well authenticated to be passed lightly over, is current. It is said that the Emir Facardino, who claimed descent from Godfrey de Bouillon, and who, full of hatred for the Ottomans, had gone to Italy, and been received by the Medici, had persuaded them that it would be easy to lay hands upon the tomb of our Saviour and bring it to Florence, where a temple worthy of Christianity might be built to receive it. Ferdinand accordingly constructed a sepulchre in the Chapel of the Princes, and when the design fell through the sepulchre was, perforce, converted into a Pantheon for the Medici family.

I repeat this, though perhaps it is without foundation ; but still the reader of Giovannio Mariti's " History of Facardino" (Livorno, 1787) will perceive that he places some amount of credence in it. The only objection against it is that the journey of the Emir to Florence dates from 1604. However, be this as it may, the chapel was built, and that, too, at a cost of twenty-two million crowns ; and when one sees it, it is easy to understand that there was nothing exorbitant in the price. Its solid grandeur is very imposing, whilst the actual materials used are of the most precious description ; it is, in fact, one mass of gold, marble, and solid stone. From the floor to the cupola the distance is sixty yards, and there is a marked disproportion between the statues of the last Of the Medici, the work of John of Bologna and Tacca, which stand in the niches, and this extraordinary monument. Beneath the floor is a crypt containing the coffins in which the bodies of the various members of the Medici family repose. Magnificent equestrian statues were often erected at Florence at this period, one of the finest being that which Ferdinand, who had a great taste for sculpture, raised beside the fountain of the Ammanati in the square of the old Palace to the memory of his father, Cosimo I.

His own statue, which is that of an equestrian cast in bronze by Tacca, is a magnificent work of art, and stands in the square of the Annunciation. It was erected by his son, Ferdinand II. Pisa and Leghorn are indebted to him for many of their monuments. At Florence he continued that work of adornment which his father and brother had commenced. His external policy was marked by a certain spirit of adventure, for this was the time when so many incursions were made by the Turks and African corsairs, who, crossing the Adriatic, bombarded the towns on the coast, Otranto for instance, which was destroyed, and has never recovered from the blow inflicted on it by the Porte.

Charles V. took his fleet to Algiers, Bona, and the coast of Morocco, the chevaliers of the order of St. Stephen, instituted by Cosimo I., taking part in this attack against the infidels. Ferdinand fitted out a number of cruisers, and from pure love of glory sailed with his fleet for Bona, his enterprise receiving the support of the Pope. He won several victories at sea, and many portraits of him are extant in naval uniform. He distinguished himself on land, also, by sending troops to the Danube in order to relieve the Emperor, who was being harassed by the Turks. A careful inspection of the scutcheon at the base of his statue on the Piazza Annunziata shows that he had altered the " Imprese " of the Medici of the elder branch, and adopted the swarm of bees and the motto, "Majestate tantum." The most striking allusion to this part of his career is to be seen at Leghorn, where he took ship, and where still stands a marble statue representing him in military uniform, with three Turkish slaves in chains at the base. This statue is by Tacca, the greatest sculptor in Florence during the seventeenth century.

Ferdinand cannot be charged with excessive pride, nor with any such blood-guiltiness as tarnishes the memory of several of his ancestors. He died at the age of fifty-eight, on the 7th of February, 1609, and was succeeded by Cosimo, the only son born of his marriage with Christine of Lorraine.

COSIMO II. -(1590-1621.)

The son of Ferdinand was very delicate, cared more for the arts of peace than for military enterprise, and was fond of poetry, music, theatrical and equestrian spectacles. Jousts and tournaments were held almost daily, and the literary men of the day were constantly inventing entertainments, which were carried out by painters and skilled workmen. Upon one occasion a large square was converted into an inland sea, over which ships floated to represent the capture of Bona and the landing of the troops. A record of all this is to be found in the concetti of the time, which, however, are so exaggerated that it is difficult to distinguish between what is true and what is false. These later artists had not so much genius as their predecessors, and though their love of art was equally profound, they seem to have lost something of the spirit of manliness, and their touch something of its firmness. Their mincing and effeminate method was very different from the masculine and austere lines with which their ancestors were content; and, with its complicated and contorted designs, led to the creation of the singular school which afterwards made disciples everywhere. The death of Giovanni da Bologna left Tacca the sole representative of the great sculptors, while architecture was represented by Giulio Pasigi, and painting by Cigoli, Passignani, Christoforo Allori, and Rosselli. The sun was fast setting, and another twenty years bring us to the decadence of art in Florence.

Cosimo II., however, had the honor of befriending Galileo ; he recalled him from Padua and appointed him " philosopher and mathematician extraordinary," in return for which his name has been handed down to posterity in the dedications of a number of the great astronomer's works, the latter likewise giving the title of " the Medici stars " to the four satellites of Jupiter discovered by him while sweeping with his telescope the azure of the Florentine sky.

His reign was short, but not inglorious ; succeeding to the throne in 1609, he died in 1621, leaving by his wife, Maria Maddalena of Austria, a son, Ferdinand, who was only ten years of age at the time of his father's death.