The Medici of Florence are one of the most important dynasties in the Italian history of the Renaissance and the early modern age. In the city of Florence, the Medici family had reached a certain political and economic weight from the thirteenth century, thanks to their activity as bankers and merchants. The Medici family has reigned over Tuscany for more than 300 years and we can also find them in Rome, with four popes.There were great changes in the fifteenth century in Florence. The first dates to 1434 when Cosimo de Medici returned from the exile in Venice. He became the lord of the city, without any official investiture. Florence was the last of the great Italian cities to leave the republican form. Cosimo manages power through a winning strategy that leads him to an easy control over the city.The other big change is in art. The Renaissance was born and developed in Florence during these years and then expanded to the rest of Italy. At the beginning, the first interpreters didn’t find full approval in the society. They also thought that they must continue to follow the late-Gothic current. This movement hadn’t actually influenced Florence, because it was still very much linked to the Romanesque period. The main exponent of the new current was Brunelleschi. Many great artists followed him, even in the sixteenth century, such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. Florence is the city of the Renaissance and with its great characters will have a central role from 1300 until 1500.