Talk:Piero the Unfortunate

Erroneous text
I cut out this text:
 * Upon taking over the family bank from his father, Piero quickly called-up on bad loans made to various Medici supporters. This subsequently drove many of the Medici supporters into bankruptcy.

because none of my reference books mention it. I do recall this story, but I think it was a different Medici - alas, I am unable to figure out which one! Feel free to put it back once we figure out which entry it goes into. Jnc 18:18, 9 Aug 2003 (UTC)


 * Contact! I found it; it was the other Piero, Piero di Cosimo (the Gouty). That's why it's important to use the full names, it's easy to get confused. Noel 13:58, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)


 * Aye, but don't forget that that anecdote comes from Machiavelli (who is not entirely trustworthy), and the war with the Ottomans is a perfectly acceptable alternate reason that all those bankruptcies could have occurred. -- Gwern (contribs) 03:55, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Birth date
says just 1472 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Urhixidur (talk • contribs) 03:25, 14 July 2005


 * Hmmm. I'm trying to remember where that birth date came from; it was probably some geneaology site (e.g. this one or this one). Also, 1471 has some good support; Hibbert, The House of Medici gives his birth year as 1471 (but not the exact date), as does the Columbia encyclopaedia. Now, perhaps there is more recent scholarship which has corrected that, but it's equally possible that the Britannica has a typo. (The 1911 Britannica gave it as 1471, too.) Noel (talk) 13:30, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

According to the genealogy in Hay and Law's Italy in the Age of the Renaissance (Longman, 1989), Piero, son of Lorenzo il Magnifico, was born in 1471. I think this is a pretty good authority. --SoniaUK 23:06, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Image of Peiro


I have uploaded an image of Peiro as a child. Thought it could go on the front page. Peiro is the Child looking at us.

Sorry, wrong kid!
I have come across this pic several times listed erroneously as a portrait of Piero. If you know the whole original picture, you would be well aware that this is the youngest son of the family, Giuliano. The other two boys are in the pic as well and Piero has the appearance of being mildly intellectually delayed. Giovanni, with his pretty blonde hair and snub features, looks as sharp as a tack. He became Pope Leo X. This child, Giuliano, named after his murdered uncle, was Lorenzo's delight. He said that he had three sons, Piero the Stupid, Giovanni the Clever and Giuliano the Good. A painting exists of Giuliano as an adult, with his beautiful big brown eyes.

Actually, the identification of the other picture on the site as Piero is not a simple error (like this). But it's also questionable. My POV as an art historian is that the other picture is either of Piero's son, Lorenzo, who became Duke of Urbino, or of the same little Giuliano who is in this pic. He is very much swarthier than Piero, who is also a teenager in the Ghirlandaio fresco, so that it is easy to compare.

Ghirlandaio's portraits are, on the whole, not idealised or stylised like, say, Botticelli's. He probably gives us the very best indication of what these people looked like. I'll try and find a reasonable pic of Piero.

--Amandajm 06:12, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

'Mysterious crimes'
I edited the Mysterious Crimes section heavily (re: deleted)as there is little evidence that this is correct. The link in question was a Bible passage and exposition. I've heard the rumour that Pico was poisoned before, but since this is a vague anecdote at the moment, I think it's better to remove it. Unless anyone has any reliable evidence? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.250.217.8 (talk) 07:46, 29 July 2010 (UTC)