Maria Salviati

Maria Salviati was an Italian noblewoman, the daughter of Lucrezia di Lorenzo de Medici and Jacopo Salviati. She married Giovanni dalle Bande Nere and was the mother of Cosimo I de Medici. Her husband diedNovember 1526, leaving her a widow at the age of 27. Salviati never remarried after her husbands death she adopted the somber garb of a novice, which is how she is remembered today as numerous late portraits show her attired in black and white.

Maria Salviati was born in Florence. She descended from two of Florences most powerful banking families the Salviati on her fathers side, and the Medici on her mothers. Salviatis maternal grandfather was Lorenzo il Magnifico, a wellknown politician and grandson to Cosimo de Medici the Elder.

Source: Wikipedia