ABSTRACT
The role of Piero, who succeeded Cosimo, is best seen as an intermission between the more spectacular activities of his father and his son, Lorenzo. The Medici were marking time. A younger son, Piero, came to power because of the earlier death of his brother, Giovanni. He hated violence and all forms of ostentation, and it is difficult to believe that he expected office or enjoyed it. He suffered badly from gout and is remembered for this by his sobriquet ‘II Gottoso’.
