I Gaddi da pittori a uomini di Governo: Ascesa di una famiglia nella Firenze dei Medici. Daniele Giusti. Biblioteca Storica Toscana 79. Florence: Olschki, 2019. xxvi + 234 pp. €32

Present in Florence from the beginning of the Trecento, when the first records are found of the eponymous founding member of the dynasty, Gaddo di Zanobi, the family saw, over the arc of a little more than two centuries, a notable growth in economic and social circumstances, elevating it from the original status of craftsmen in the artistic professions, to a level in the Cinquecento that equated them to much more eminent families, as they were able to count among their members magistrates, priors, and high prelates, among which even two cardinals. [...]the uncommon cultural interests of some members of the family were significant, as shown by the vast collection of books and manuscripts assembled in the Trecento and added to in the two following centuries. The book traces the Florentine history of the Quattrocento through personal and family events, not only adding additional details to well-known facts but also delineating the aspirations, strategies, and viewpoints of figures who comprised one of the most important social groups in late medieval Florence—those who slowly transitioned from the artisan to the aristocratic class.