Anna Maria Luisa: the Princess Elector of the Palatinate that Florence must thank

The city of Florence owes so much to the Medici dynasty as it was them who made it great in the world. With them, the city experienced one of the greatest periods of splendor from all points of view. They built monuments, palaces, churches, as well as having commissioned great works from the major artists of the time. Everything is appreciated by millions of tourists from all over the world who come to Florence to admire all this beauty. It is precisely thanks to them that Florence is what it is today.

Everyone focuses on Lorenzo the Magnificent, a leading member of the family and a great patron who promoted the spread of art, making Florence a very important cultural center of that era.

There is, however, another member of the Medici family, less well known but no less important, This figure is inextricably linked to the city of Florence. We are talking about Anna Maria Luisa de Medici, daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo III and Princess Margherita Luisa of Orleans, who went down in history as Princess Elector of the Palatinate. Living between 1667 and 1743, she was the last member of the powerful Florentine dynasty.

The name Electress Palatine is due to the fact that she married the German prince John Wilhelm, the Elector of the Palatinate, with the hope of having a legitimate heir to save the continuity of the dynasty.Unfortunately, the marriage ended childless, and after the death of her husband John, the Princess Elector of the Palatinate  returned to her beloved Florence, living at the Pitti Palace until her death. With it the grand ducal branch became extinct.

THE FAMILY PACT

After the death of his brother Gian Gastone in 1737, it inherited the immense and centuries-old Medici patrimony. Precisely to the last exponent of the dynasty that dominated the city for centuries, we owe one of the most famous and important wills in the world. With this act he wanted to make a grandiose gift to the city, linking his name to Florence forever.

October 31, 1737 was a day of vital importance for the city and all the masterpieces present in it. Precisely on this day the “Family Pact” was stipulated with Francis Stephen of Lorraine. The will provided that all the assets of the Medici collections were bound to the State (the Grand Duchy of Tuscany), which passed to the Lorraine family following his death. In doing so, the centuries-old artistic and cultural heritage of the Florentine dynasty became public.

In her will Anna Maria Luisa de Medici introduced the following condition:

"o levare fuori della Capitale e dello Stato del GranDucato ... Gallerie, Quadri, Statue, Biblioteche, Gioje ed altre cose preziose ... della successione del Serenissimo Gran Duca, affinché esse rimanessero per ornamento dello Stato, per utilità del Pubblico e per attirare la curiosità dei Forestieri”

(“or take out the Grand Duchy's Capital and State ... Galleries, paintings, statues, libraries, jewels and other precious things ... of the succession of the Most Serene Grand Duke, so that they remained as ornaments of the State, for the benefit of the public and to attract the curiosity of foreigners”)

Thanks to this pact, the Electress Palatine eternally bound the Medici patrimony to the city of Florence, thus preventing it from being removed from its place of origin in the future and being dispersed around the world.

The Electress Palatine is buried in the crypt of the Medici Chapels, along with all the other members of her family. Next to his tombstone, there is a life-size bronze statue of Alfonso Boninsegni, so as to celebrate this important, unforgettable and fundamental female figure for the magnificent history of Florence. HOW TO BOOK

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