PATRONS OF THE RENAISSANCE

POPE LEO X

ITALIAN 1475 -1521

member of the Medici family, Pope Leo X was the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and a noted patron of numerous scholars and poets, including the prominent author Baldassare Castiglione. He continued the various artistic efforts left unfinished by the death of his papal predecessor, Julius II, including his work on St. Peter’s Basilica and the patronage of Raphael at the Vatican Palace. However, Leo also focused on his own numerous projects, in particular reforming the University of Rome and expanding the Vatican Library, as well as the building of a new church in Rome,