Interesting item from another site (longish)

I hope I'm permitted to do this...this newspaper article was posted
on another site, and I thought it was interesting in light of our
recent discussions of Dem Bones.

Katy

Can dynasty detectives unearth the Medici secrets?
By Bruce Johnston in Rome
(Filed: 13/12/2003)


The bodies of 50 members of Florence's Medici dynasty - some of whom
are
believed to have been poisoned - are to be exhumed for forensic tests
to
determine how they lived and died.

The first members of the family who ruled Florence from the 15th
century to
1737 will be removed from the Medici Chapels in Michelangelo's church
of San
Lorenzo in June.

Experts say DNA testing could yield some "sensational surprises" and
also
provide a true family tree, showing who was related - and who not -
and who
their natural fathers were.

The bodies, including eight grand dukes, will be submitted
individually to
medical and scientific tests for biological and genetic data under a
programme run by the Universities of Florence and Pisa and Florence's
museum
authorities.

The declared purpose is to tap into the secrets and reconstruct the
lifestyle of the colourful family of uncertain origin who went on to
decide
the destiny of Florence.

Through the enormous wealth they reaped from commerce and banking, the
Medicis rose to power and influence first in the city, then the whole
of
Italy and finally Europe, producing three popes and two queens of
France.
They also became patrons of the arts, with a huge influence on
renaissance
Florence.

Specialists expect to discover what they ate, their health problems
and the
causes of death.

Licia Bertani, in charge of the Medici Chapels in Florence, said: "It
is an
operation that will be carried out far away from indiscreet eyes, in
the
intimacy of the Laurentian Crypt.

"We will need at least a couple of years to complete the project,
which
calls for the exhumation of no fewer than 50 people, each kept in
separate
coffins."

A laboratory will be set up in the crypt, where the first tests will
be
carried out. Samples taken from the remains will then be transferred
to the
University of Pisa for more in-depth tests.

"By exhuming these illustrious corpses we will discover what
illnesses they
had, how they lived and how they died," Mrs Bertani said. "For
example,
there is supposed to have been gout in the family. But it might have
been
deforming arthritis instead."

Mrs Bertani said the Medicis had come to Florence from the Mugello
area in
northern Tuscany. "But their more distant origins may have been in
the East.
Some believe they may have been Jewish.

"We hope to find some in good condition. Cosimo the Elder's body,
which is
buried elsewhere, was exhumed not long ago, and it was still wearing
a blue
garment that was in quite good condition."

One likely outcome of the exhumations is that the faces of some of the
family will be reconstructed in 3D. "The Medicis were a rather ugly
lot,
especially after they became inter-related with the Habsburgs," Mrs
Bertani
said. "The one exception was Lorenzo's brother Giovanni, who was
supposed to
have been a handsome man."

The dynasty was dominated by the figures of Cosimo the Elder, who was
a
patron to Brunelleschi, Donatello and Ghiberti, and his grandson
Lorenzo the
Magnificent, who supported Michelangelo and Botticelli.

Lorenzo's son Giuliano, who became Pope Leo X, was patron to Raphael.
Under
his papacy, the Protestant Reformation began.

Alessandro de' Medici, who was made head of the Republic of Florence
with
the help of Pope Clement VII (also a Medici and then head of the
family), is
thought to have been Lorenzo's illegitimate son.

Some believe Alessandro had his cousin Ippolito poisoned shortly
before
Alessandro himself was assassinated by another relative, Lorenzino de'
Medici.

The project has been given the blessing of the latter-day family.
Ottaviano
de' Medici is understood to have offered himself for DNA testing "in
order
to demonstrate that he descends from Lorenzo the Magnificent".