Florence, Italy was a city like any other during the Renaissance. It was a city of 50,000 inhabitants, fewer than Paris and Venice but more than most other European cities. The busiest parts of the city were the Ponte Vecchio, a place lined with markets and houses, the Orsanmichele neighborhood, and Mercato Vecchio, or Old Market. Florence was a place of beauty and leisure. A Venetian visitor once said: "There is in my opinion no sweeter region than that in which Florence is situated, for Florence is situated in a plain surrounded on all sides by hills and mountains... And the hills are fertile cultivated , pleasant..." ( Unger, page 1). Florence was a very prosperous city; he made his fortune in wool and banking. A certain Florentine family also contributed to the enormous wealth. The Medici family was undoubtedly the foundation of prosperity for Florence. The Medici family was one of the most powerful families of Renaissance Florence. They were a banking family. The first Medici bank, founded by Giovanni di Becci de' Medici, was a small-scale business run in baths. The bank grew thanks to Giovanni's extraordinary sales ability and financial caution (PBS: Godfathers of the Renaissance). He made loans to those he believed would help the bank persevere and prosper. Known as patrons of the arts, the Medici family financed and encouraged the art of Botticelli, Brunelleschi and Michelangelo. Later members of the family such as Giovanni de' Medici, Cosimo de' Medici, Lorenzo de' Medici and Ferdinando I de' Medici helped increase the wealth of Florence during the Renaissance.Giovanni di Becci de' MediciIt would be a lie to say that Giovanni de' Medici he was the first in his f...... middle of paper ......use of these patrons of the arts.Works Cited PageFerdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. . November 19, 2009 .Hibbert, Christopher. The House of Doctors. New York: William Morrow & Company, Inc., 1975.Lorenzo de' Medici.November 24, 2009.November 25, 2009.Parks, Tim. Doctors' money. New York: WW Norton & Company, 2005.pbs.org/Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. Thirteen. September 21, 2009.The Medici family.October 16, 2009.Unger, Miles. Magnificent: The brilliant life and violent times of Lorenzo de' Medici. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.