My best thanks are due to Cavaliere Angelo Bruschi, librarian of the Marucelliana Library in Florence, without whose valid assistance and advice I should have had great difficulty in collecting the letters; to Dr. Dorini of the Florentine Archives, whose aid was invaluable in helping me to decipher the almost illegible manuscripts; and to Signor Gugliemo Volpi, several of whose pamphlets and articles are quoted. I must also thank the Baroness Mollinary of Como for so kindly having photographed for me her most interesting early portrait of Lorenzo the Magnificent, never before published; and Dr. Giovanni Poggi, director of the Bargello in Florence, for giving me the photograph of Lorenzo’s portrait at Poggio a Caiano. The Baroness Mollinary’s picture is one of the many that belonged to her ancestor Paolo Giovio, and bears a strong resemblance to the fine miniature of Lorenzo, the property of M. Prosper Villon, reproduced in _Le Musée de Portraits de Paul Jove_ by M. Eugène Muntz, in which, however, Lorenzo looks rather older. Both show the same humorous, kindly face, with a strong mouth, determined jaw, and fine eyes. In the miniature the head and shoulders are against and under a baldaquin, on each side of which is a small bit of landscape. Below is inscribed _Laur M P P_ and the Medici arms (with six balls), surmounted by Lorenzo’s device, three ostrich feathers, white, green, and red (faith, hope, and charity), while a floating ribbon behind bears his motto _Semper_. The portrait at Poggio a Caiano is perhaps by Alessandro Allori, therefore of course not contemporary; it may be a copy of an older and lost picture. I must also express my great gratitude to the Rev. Principal Lindsay of Glasgow for kind help and criticism during the progress of my work. The portrait of Piero de’ Medici in the chapel of the Riccardi palace, by Benozzo Gozzoli, has been given sometimes as that of his father Cosimo, or even of his son Lorenzo. But if the bust by Mino da Fiesole, in the Bargello, represents Piero, then he is the man grasping his horse’s mane with one hand as he rides by the side of his father Cosimo, who, as we know, generally rode a mule. JANET ROSS. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTORY 1 COSIMO DI GIOVANNI DE’ MEDICI (1389-1464) 7 Contessina de’ Medici to her husband Cosimo in Ferrara 10 Cosimo de’ Medici to Averardo de’ Medici, Ambassador to Ferrara 11 Contessina de’ Medici to her son Giovanni at Ferrara 14 Cosimo de’ Medici to Averardo de’ Medici at Pisa 15 Cosimo de’ Medici to Averardo de’ Medici 16