The Pazzi Conspiracy

A Comparative Analysis of Machiavelli and Poliziano

Abstract

The present study aims to demonstrate how the Pazzi Conspiracy, which is assumed in the Discorsi to be a paradigmatic model, is transformed in Book VIII of the Florentine Histories into an ambiguous and unsettling narrative. A close analysis of the textual correspondences between the Histories and Poliziano's Commentarium reveals that Machiavelli's use of this source is not entirely neutral: it occasionally reveals a deeper layer of reference. The ensuing discourse shifts to an examination of Machiavelli's other sources, with a particular emphasis on two pivotal moments: Lorenzo de' Medici's address to the citizens and the portrait that concludes the work. The result is a chiaroscuro portrait: as in painting, where the interplay of light and shadow gives volume to the figure, so in Machiavelli’s text contrasts and ambiguities shape the complexity of power.