Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai

Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai was a member of wealthy family of wool and silk merchants in Renaissance Florence, and most likely its most prominent member.

As a young man, Giovanni joined the banking house of Palla di Noferi Strozzi, and following a common custom at the age of 25 he married his master’s daughther, Iacopa di Palla Strozzi. They had two sons and five daughters. The business and family connections naturally made him loyal to the Strozzi, even in the unfavorable circumstances that followed the banishment of Palla by Cosimo de' Medici in 1434.

However, despite his family affiliation, Giovanni managed to become a friend of Cosimo de’ Medici, which is additionally enhanced by marriage of his second son, Bernardo di Giovanni Rucellai and Cosimo’s grand-daughter, Nannina de' Medici. Soon afterwards Giovanni, who didn’t participate in the public life of Florence for three decades, became a Prior in 1463 and Gonfaloniere di Giustizia in 1475.

During his lifetime Giovanni was also known as a prominent patron of the arts, and for his saying that spending money was more fun than stacking it up. He is principally remembered for building the Palazzo Rucellai, as well as for his patronage of the S. Sepolcro chapel and of the marble façade of the church of Santa Maria Novella, and as author of the Zibaldone with the classic authors.