Le Prince de Machiavel

Dedicated to Laurent de Médicis, The Prince is a work nourished by the author’s experience as an ambassador. Machiavelli defi ned the government’s objectives: on the outside, to maintain its hold on the conquered territories at all costs; on the inside, to give itself the means to remain in power. Because men are selfi sh, the prince is not required to be moral. He must be feared but not hated by the people. Five drawings by Benjamin Van Blancke illustrate this book, picturing the Prince, war, and political intrigues in a Renaissance style, both in the architecture of the buildings and in the costumes, drawing on the family that marked the author’s time, the Medicis.