For as long as he lived, Cosimo de'

For as long as he lived, Cosimo de' Medici was in charge of the running of the city of Florence. He ruled by pretending not to rule at all. He did not hold a public office himself but the city council was loaded with his friends. Due to a charge in the laws it was impossible for these cronies to lose an election and the citizens of Florence did not even realize that they had relatively little to say about their government. In any case, the city prospered under this arrangement.
The Florentien artists benefited from Cosimo's rule, among them the sculptor, Donatello and two monk painters,