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some of the Genoese, but they must have been in full sympathy with the arts of painting, sculpture and gardening i.e. the very best of these then being practiced.
Yes, surely they knew or they would not have encouraged those great artists who did so much to make the Medici remembered today.  To fully appreciate this let one first visit the Academy then the Uffizi, next the Pitti, the Loggia dei Signori - the Bobli garden - afterwards drive to Castello and spend the day at Villa Castello and Villa della Petraia.  Then as one stands upon the terrace of Petraia after having [[insertion]] ^passed [[/insertion] hours amidst the most delightful flowers, trees and shrubs, and after having enjoyed miles of splendid avenues - and seen John Bologna's fountains, then, I say, as he stands upon the terrace of Petraia and sees Florence five miles distant, at sunset, and listens to the bells of the city, and the gentle wind sighing through the tall cypresses, and thinks of the history of what he has seen and then feels, he must [[strikethrough]] then [[/strikethrough]] say yes, the Medici were magnificent.