Atti Soc. tosc. Sci. nat., Mem., Serie B, 118 (2011) pagg. 81-88, figg. 4; doi: 10.2424/ASTSN.M.2011.26 V. Giuffra (*), A. Fornaciari (**), S. Marvelli (***), M. Marchesini (****), G. Fornaciari (*), A. Vitiello (*) THE CHILDREN OF THE MEDICI, GRAND DUKES OF FLORENCE: EMBALMING IN RENAISSANCE ITALY (XVI-XVII CENTURY) Introduction The Medici represent one of the most powerful and influential families of the Italian Renaissance. As a result of their successful commercial and banking activ- ities, they built long-lasting social power and political prominence, initially in Florence, and later in the entire Tuscany region. In 2004 the «Medici Project», a multidisciplinary research for the study of the 49 burials of the Medici in San Lorenzo, was officially launched, involving research groups of the University of Pisa, the Univer- sity of Florence and the Superintendence for Florentine Museums. Up until now 20 tombs, including the buri- als of nine children, have been investigated (Fornaciari et al., 2006; 2007). The bodies of the Medici were treated before burial, as imposed by the political and economical prominence of these personages, and also attested by the written sources (Pieraccini, 1986). However, most of these burials had already been explored in the second half of the XX century (Sommi Picenardi, 1888) and again during the Second World War (Genna, 1948). All traces of soft tissues have disappeared; in fact the bodies are currently skeletonized, although they were originally almost all artificial mummies. Nevertheless, 11 out of 20 individuals showed signs of autopsy and/or embalm- ing (Fornaciari et al., 2008); the damage of infantile bodies during the flooding of Florence in 1966 pre- vented the observation of further signs of embalming in many children of the family. Materials and methods Examination of the intact tomb of Gian Gastone, the last Medici Grand Duke (1671-1737), located under the floor of the Medici Chapels in an unknown hidden crypt, brought to light, besides the large sarcophagus of Gian Gastone, also many small wooden coffins, belonging to unidentified children of the Medici fam- ily. Although the coffins were collapsed to the floor and covered by a layer of dry mould, residual of the (*) Natural History Museum, University of Pisa, via Roma 79, Calci; Laboratory of Paleopathology, via Roma 79, 56011 Calci, Pisa; Depart- ment of Oncology, Transplants and Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Division of Paleopathology, History of Medicine and Bioethics, University of Pisa, via Roma 57, 56126 Pisa, Italy. E-mail: v.giuffra@med.unipi.it; g.fornaciari@med.unipi.it; angelicavit@tiscalinet.it (**) Department of Archaeology and History of Arts, Section of Medieval Archaeology, University of Siena, via Roma 56, 53100 Siena, Italy. E-mail: a.fornaciari@tele2.it (***) Palynological Laboratory - Archaeoenvironmental Laboratory, C.A.A. Giorgio Nicoli, San Giovanni in Persiceto, via Marzocchi, 17, 40017 San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna, Italy. E-mail: smarvelli@caa.it (****) Superintendence to Archaeological properties of Emilia-Romagna, via Belle Arti 52, 40126 Bologna, Italy. E-mail: marco.marchesini@beniculturali.it Abstract - The exploration of the unknown crypt of Gian Gastone de’ Medici, the last Grand Duke (1671-1737), under the floor of the Medici Chapels in San Lorenzo (Florence), brought to light the remains of several unidentified children of the family. In particular, the skeletons of a 5-year-old child, probably a male, and of a newborn, showing evidence of autopsy and artificial mummification, were discovered and examined. Comparison of the anthropological data and the information provided by archival and documentary sources allowed us to suggest an identification with infant members of the family. In the thoraco-abdominal cast of the 5 year- old child and in the endocranial and endothoracic cast of the newborn we observed the presence of filling material of vegetable origin which was sampled and submitted to palyno- logical analyses. The results of this study are presented here and compared with contemporary medical literature, which describes the embalming method practised during the Renais- sance Age and the vegetable material used to preserve bodies. Key words - Plants, pollen, mummies, embalming, Medici, Florence, Renaissance Riassunto - I bambini della famiglia Medici di Firenze: metodi di imbalsamazione nel Rinascimento italiano (XVI- XVII secolo). L’esplorazione della cripta di Gian Gastone de’ Medici, ultimo Granduca (1671-1737), scoperta nell’ambito del Progetto Medici sotto il pavimento delle Cappelle Medi- cee in San Lorenzo a Firenze, ha permesso di indagare le sepolture di alcuni membri infantili della famiglia. In parti- colare sono stati indagati i resti scheletrici di un bambino di circa 5 anni, di probabile sesso maschile, e di un neonato. Un confronto tra i dati antropologici e le informazioni for- nite dai documenti d’archivio concernenti i membri della famiglia Medici deceduti in tenera età ha permesso di pro- porre un’identificazione dei due bambini. All’interno del calco toraco-addominale del bambino di 5 anni e del riempi- mento endocranico ed endotoracico del neonato è stato rinve- nuto materiale di riempimento di origine vegetale e i cam- pioni prelevati sono stati sottoposti ad analisi palinologiche. I risultati di questo studio vengono discussi e comparati con le informazioni fornite dalla letteratura medica contemporanea, che descrive i metodi di imbalsamazione in uso durante il Rinascimento e le piante usate per la conservazione dei corpi. Parole chiave - Piante, polline, mummie, imbalsamazione, Medici, Firenze, Rinascimento