Florence, the center of the wool and cloth
trade, was the cultural capital of 15thcentury
Europe. Merchants accumulated
great wealth, and banking became a
major industry. The Medici family emerged
as the controlling force in Florentine
affairs, with power assumed initially by
Cosimo the Elder (1389–1464). Cosimo
was a great patron of the arts and supporter
of humanistic studies. His efforts
to gather around him the great minds of
the day at his country estates led to the
consideration of the villa suburbana as a
place for productive leisure. The escape
from the city to the countryside (the
concept of villeggiatura) embodied both
the classical values of otium (withdrawal)
and negotium (engagement). The Medici
villas at Careggi and Fiesole serve as
good examples of early Renaissance
gardens that functioned as philosophical
retreats