Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

Cosimo I de' Medici succeeded his cousin as Duke of Florence in 1537, inheriting a title at eighteen. He built the Uffizi to organize his administration—offices for the apparatus of power. He took Siena by force, consolidating Florence's grip on the region. In 1569 he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, elevating the rank and formalizing what he'd already made real. He expanded the Pitti Palace and oversaw most of the Boboli Gardens during his reign. He died on 21 April 1574, having redrawn the map.