| |
| | NGA - Monumental Sculpture from Renaissance Florence |
 | | As Medicean power rose in the second half of the fifteenth century, the Guelph party's importance waned, and it was most probably Medici influence that, in 1462, persuaded the party to sell its prominent niche at Orsanmichele to the Mercanzia, a body that regulated the guilds and served as a merchants' court. |
 | | The Mercanzia seems not to have had an official patron saint, but the incredulity of Saint Thomas was a very appropriate subject for a merchants' court since, in the fifteenth century, it was typically associated with justice and, specifically, the truth sought by Thomas and the clemency of Jesus. |
 | | The Medici seem to have been particularly fond of Saint Thomas; since both Piero de' Medici and, later, his son Lorenzo were on the committee in charge of the commission, their influence was probably also at work. |
| www.nga.gov /exhibitions/2005/orsanmichele/verrocchio.shtm (976 words) |
|