Giovanni di Bernardo Rucellai | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Giovanni di Bernardo Rucellai (1475–1525) with Castel Sant'Angelo in the background, engraved by Giacomo Malosso from a painting owned by the Rucellai family | |
| Born | Giovanni Rucellai 20 October 1475 |
| Died | 3 April 1525 (aged 49) |
| Nationality | Florentine |
| Occupation | man of letters |
| Known for | Oreste, Rosmunda, Le Api |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai (paternal grandfather) Piero di Cosimo de' Medici (maternal grandfather; see there for aunts and uncles) Lucrezia Tornabuoni (maternal grandmother) Lorenzo de' Medici (maternal uncle; see there for cousins) |
Giovanni Rucellai (20 October 1475 – 3 April 1525), known as Giovanni di Bernardo Rucellai (with a patronymic), was an Italian humanist, poet, dramatist and man of letters in Renaissance Florence, in Tuscany, Italy. A member of a wealthy family of wool merchants and one of the richest men in Florence, he was cousin to Pope Leo X and linked by marriage to the powerful Strozzi and de' Medici families. He was born in Florence, and died in Rome. He was the son of Bernardo Rucellai (1448–1514) and his wife Nannina de' Medici (1448–1493), and the grandson of Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai (1403–1481). He is now remembered mostly for his poem Le Api ("The Bees"), one of the first poems composed in versi sciolti (blank verse) to achieve widespread acclaim.