Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
portrait by Antonio Franchi

Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, (August 11, 1667 - February 18, 1743, Florence), was the last of the Medici to live in the Pitti Palace. She was the daughter of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans and the sister of Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the last Medici grand duke of Tuscany. She officially married Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (1658-1716) on June 5, 1691.

Biography

Anna Maria was born in Florence on August 11, 1667. Her parents marriage had been arranged in 1661 and her unhappy mother Marguerite Louise d'Orléans returned to Paris in 1675 when Anna Maria was eight years old. Her grandmother Vittoria della Rovere raised her. Anna Maria also corresponded with her uncle, cardinal Francesco Maria de' Medici, governor of Siena.^[1]

Anna Maria Luisa and her husband Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine
painting by Jan Frans van Douven

Beginning in 1683, her father attempted to arrange her marriage several times, including to Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, King Peter II of Portugal, King James II of England, and King Charles II of Spain. Cosimo agreed to a dowry with Johann Wilhelm on April 21 1691. Anna Maria and Johann Wilhelm married in Düsseldorf where she remained until Wilhelm's death in 1716.^[1]

Upon her return to Florence, Cosimo tried to engineer her ascent as Grand Duchess, if and when, as he came to expect, none of his sons or brothers would produce heirs. However, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was enfeebled and the last Medici were, in general, a spectacle of degeneracy. She is described as haughty and aloof, venturing out with much help to attend Mass, donate to charity, or visit the family mausoleum being completed at San Lorenzo.^{[citation needed]}

In secret she had a lover called Giacomo IV Rise-Verdanté, the descendant of Giacomo (I) Rise-Verdanté, of the aristocratic family Rise-Verdanté-Casanova. Giacomo Casanova, the famous libidinous writer, was related to this family. Anna Maria gave birth to Paolo Rise-Verdanté (keeping naturally only his father's surname).

Her most notable action was the Patto di Famiglia, signed on October 31, 1737. In collaboration with the Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany Francis I, she willed all the personal property of the Medicis to the Florentine state, provided that nothing was ever removed from Florence.

Sources

References

• Hibbert, Christopher (1979). "The last of the Medici". The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici. Penguin Books, London. 

External links

• Media related to Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici at Wikimedia Commons
• La Principessa saggia (L-eredità di Anna Maria Luisa de- Medici, Elettrice Palatina) touring exhibit (Italian)