Mother Christina of Lorraine | ||
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Born 29 June 1600
Pitti Palace, Florence ( 1600-06-29 ) Father Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Died 28 December 1633, Florence, Italy Parents Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Christina of Lorraine Grandparents Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Eleanor of Toledo, Charles III, Duke of Lorraine, Claude of France Uncle Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cousins Eleanor de' Medici, Marie de' Medici, Anna de' Medici, Antonio de' Medici, Philip de' Medici Similar Ferdinando I de' Medici - G, Catherine de' Medici - Governor, Anna de' Medici, Cosimo I de' Medici - Grand Du, Mattias de' Medici | ||
Maria Maddalena de' Medici (29 June 1600 – 28 December 1633) was an Tuscan princess, the eighth daughter of Ferdinando I and Christina of Lorraine, making her the sister of Cosimo II.
Life
Born disfigured, she was christened aged nine. On 24 May 1621 she entered the Palazzo della Crocetta, attached to the Convento della Crocetta (Convent of the Little Cross, now the National Archaeological Museum), though she never took the monastic vows. On her death at only 33 she was buried there.
Maria Maddalena had difficulties climbing stairs. The rooms built for her at the monastery by the architect Giulio Parigi were connected by a series of raised passages above street level across which she could move without use of stairs and, above all, without any need to cross the street and expose herself to public gaze. Today four arches of one of these passages remain, one opposite the Ospedale degli Innocenti, one above via della Pergola, one above via Laura (to reach another monastery), and one into the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (where, sitting in a small chamber at the end of the passage, she could watch the mass through a grate in the left wall of the nave). In the Palazzo della Crocetta was a similar, long elevated corridor, called the corridoio mediceo, which Maddalena used to move amongst the remaining first floor rooms. This corridor was reminiscent of the Vasariano.