Duke of the Florentine Republic
The Duca della Repubblica Fiorentina, rendered in English as Duke of the Florentine Republic or Duke of the Republic of Florence, was a title created in 1532 by Pope Clement VII for the Medici family, which ruled the Republic of Florence. There were effectively only two dukes of the Republic of Florence, Alessandro de' Medici and Cosimo de' Medici, the second duke being elevated to Grand Duke of Tuscany, causing the Florentine title to become subordinate to the greater Tuscan title.
Image: Alessandro the moor
Image: Agnolo Bronzino Cosimo I de' Medici in armour Google Art Project
Pope Clement VII was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate of the popes", Clement VII's reign was marked by a rapid succession of political, military, and religious struggles—many long in the making—which had far-reaching consequences for Christianity and world politics.
Portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo, c. 1531 (oil on slate; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)
Hanging of Bernardo Baroncelli, Leonardo da Vinci, 1479. Pazzi Conspirator.
Giulio Cardinal de' Medici, left; with his cousin Pope Leo X, center; and Luigi Cardinal de' Rossi, right; by Raphael, 1519.
The Transfiguration, by Raphael, 1520. Commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici