4 - Political Tyro at Home and Abroad, 1484–1486

Summary

Piero’s life has so far been described through the fond eyes of his family and his tutor Poliziano, who protected his childhood years with loving care. In 1484, however, Piero left Florence for his first semi-official mission abroad when he went with the Florentine embassy to Rome to congratulate and offer obedience to the new pope, Innocent VIII. Aged twelve, he was four years younger than his father had been when sent on his first ‘quasi-diplomatic mission’ to Milan in 1465, but unlike Lorenzo he was not on a solo visit but merely one of several young men accompanying the six ambassadors.¹ It was a suitable occasion to launch him on the political scene not only because of the presence there of so many of his Orsini relatives, including his uncle Rinaldo who was put in charge of him, but also because Florence’s official delegation included his great-uncle, Giovanni Tornabuoni, as well as the chancellor Bartolomeo Scala, both sound mentors for Piero’s first diplomatic venture.²