The Last of the Medici: Gian Gastone and Anna Maria Luisa
Upon his death, Cosimo III was succeeded by his second son, Gian Gastone. Very much the opposite of his older brother, Ferdinando, Gian Gastone never enjoyed the esteem of his father who never hid his preference of his eldest son. Melancholic and reserved, when his brother was lively and extraverted, Gian Gastone preferred science and philosophy to active politics. His wife had been chosen for him by his father, Cosimo, and his grand-mother, Vittoria della Rovere. The choice required that he abandon Florence and the studies he enjoyed. In 1697, he married Anna Maria di Sassonia Laurenburg, the widow of the Elector Palatine Phillip of Neuburg, but she refused to leave her residence, Reichstadt. Moving to Bohemia, Gian Gastone was forced to live precisely the sort of life that was completely foreign to him: hunting, riding, and all sorts of other outdoor activities. Such a poorly matched couple was not fated to survive for long. Gian Gastone returned to Florence in 1705, but his character, never very strong, suffered even more now, especially after the humiliation of his forced exile. He assumed the throne in 1723 and, at first, behaved properly and wisely, guided by the counsel of his sister-in-law, Violante, who was always his affectionate friend. After her death, he had no interest in governing his state. He consorted with the shadiest and worst sorts of characters, and placed himself in the hands of his favorite, Giuliano Dami, who influenced all his affairs, public and private. Finally, he collapsed in an orgy of wine and bad behavior, refusing in his last years to leave his bed where he died in 1737.
In 1734 three years before his death, the European powers forced upon Gian Gastone an ignominious settlement of the succession in Tuscany. The Treaty of Vienna marked the end of the War of the Polish Succession and the end of the Medici's reign. It provided that, upon the death of Gian Gastone, the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany would pass to Francesco Stefano, formerly the Duke of Lorraine and husband of Maria Teresa of Austria. For a more complete discussion of the transfer of sovereignty from the Medici to the House of Lorraine, see the following chapter, The Succession.
In 1734 three years before his death, the European powers forced upon Gian Gastone an ignominious settlement of the succession in Tuscany. The Treaty of Vienna marked the end of the War of the Polish Succession and the end of the Medici's reign. It provided that, upon the death of Gian Gastone, the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany would pass to Francesco Stefano, formerly the Duke of Lorraine and husband of Maria Teresa of Austria. For a more complete discussion of the transfer of sovereignty from the Medici to the House of Lorraine, see the following chapter, The Succession.
While Gian Gastone’s sordid story unfolded, concluding two hundred years of Medici government in Florence, his sister, Anna Maria Luisa, had assumed the title of Electress Palatine. In 1691, she married Giovanni Guglielmo di Sassonia, Elector Palatine and brother-in-law of Emperor Leopoldo I of Austria. After his death, Anna Maria Luisa returned to Florence in 1717 and established herself in apartments on the piano nobile of the Volteranno wing that had belonged to her grand-mother, Vittoria. Here, she continued her collections, much of which remains in museums at Palazzo Pitti today. After the arrival of the new government from Lorraine, Anna Maria Luisa continued to live alone at the Pitti until her death in 1743 at the age of seventy-five. At the time of Gian Gastone’s death, she had composed a document of enormous importance, preventing the dispersal of the Medici’s many treasures across the face of Europe. In fact, with “the Family Pact”, Anna Maria Luisa conveyed to the new grand-ducal family from Lorraine the entire Medici inheritance – galleries, paintings, sculpture, books, and everything else that testified to the patronage of the Medici family -- but on the condition that “di quello che è per ornament dello Stato, per utilità del pubblico, e per attirare la curiosità dei Forestieri, non ne sarà nulla trasporto e levato fuori della Capitale, e dello Stato del Gran Ducato [this, which is an ornament the State, for public use and to attract the attention of foreigners, must never be transported or taken out of the Capital of the Grand-ducal state.]”
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