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Founded the Medici fortune by making his family’s bank the bank for the papal Curia. He also served as head of the priori government and was a sponsor of Ghiberti’s Baptistry commission.

Adroitly managed his family fortune, political clout and personal image to become the de facto ruler of Florence. Each time he was exiled or imprisoned by rivals, popular sentiment brought him back to power.

Most beloved of the Medici. A devout humanist and patron of the arts (and a fair poet himself) who, alongside many accomplishments of his own, sponsored Michelangelo’s early career. Able ruler of the city.

Lorenzo the Magnificent’s son continued to call the shots from Rome, exclaiming “God has risen us to the papacy; let us enjoy it.” The younger brother and nephews he groomed to take over Florence all died, and so his cousin, Cardinal Giulio, took the reins.

Cardinal Giulio fared well when running Florence himself, but once he became Pope spent his energies fighting Emperor Charles V, leaving Florence in the hands of his incompetent young relatives Alessandro and Ippolito.

Clement VII’s bastard son inherited the ducal mantle at 19, and soon became a despot, carousing with his cousin Lorenzino, who eventually grew jealous and murdered Alessandro.

The first Medici to gain the title grand duke was created Duke at the age of 17, when the first primary Medici line petered out. He conquered Siena, built a port (Livorno) and ruled judiciously but with something of an iron fist.

Popular, hands-on grand duke who founded hospitals, gave poor girls dowries, promoted agriculture and hosted grand parties. He married Christine of Lorraine, whose family would inherit the grand ducal title.

The last of the main Medici line. She willed all Medici possessions – including the collections in the Uffizi, Pitti and Bargello – to the Lorraine grand dukes on the stipulation the patrimony could never be removed from Florence.

The last Medici ruler was an obese sensualist who rarely stirred from bed, where he frequently cavorted with nubile young men. Occasionally he ventured forth to prove he was alive, guzzling wine inside his carriage and leaning out only to vomit on his subjects. Unsurprisingly, his death was unmourned, and with his demise the Grand Ducal title passed to the Austrian Lorraines.