Cosimo the Elder

Cosimo de’ Medici il Vecchio, or Cosimo the Elder, was one of the most influential Florentines of the early Renaissance not due to any artistic talent, but becaue of his role as a patron and unparalleled statesman. His de facto control over the city led to his epithet, pater patriae.

Cosimo di Giovanni de’ Medici (called ‘the Elder’ and posthumously Father of the Nation (Latin pater patriae); 27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician, the first of the Medici political dynasty, de facto rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance.