{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.013859275053304905, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0010660980810234541, 'mean_word_length': 4.90566037735849, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Early Medicean Devices

The introduction and usage of devices by the early generations of the Medici family have not been thoroughly investigated, but tend to be taken for granted by historians of Early Renaissance Florence. Assumptions about who first used which emblem are often based on misleading sixteenthcentury sources, and may lead to misinterpretations of the evidence offered by devices. This paper attempts to analyse in detail the usage of devices by the first generations of the family, up to and including Cosimo il Vecchio's two sons Piero and Giovanni.1 Although inconclusive in parts, the evidence presented may help to clarify a complex and often misunderstood subject. It may especially be valuable in discussions of patronage, in which the Medicean patron of a work needs to be identified by means of devices represented. It also throws some light on the attitudes of the early Medici to the arts and to art-patronage.