Strength: 2
Type: Melee Unit
Flavor Text: A man is an empty vase, a putrid vessel full of dregs and terror.
Flavor Source: Saint Augustine, Soliloquia animae ad Deum
Artwork: Portrait of a Halberdier by Pontormo (1530)
About the card:
This portrait could have a few sources. One interpretation is that the Halberdier is Cosimo I de Medici, the second duke of Florence (since his father Alessandro overthrew the Florentine Republic) and the first Grand Duke of Tuscany. The republicans in exile wanted to oust the Medicis after the death of Alessandro but were quickly defeated by the young Duke. The Medicis had long been known as the most prominent family in Florence and the largest banking family in Italy (see also Usury). Aside from some brief exiles from power, the Medicis had remained the rulers of Florence since the original Cosimo de Medici took power in the early 1400's. The Medicis would continue to rule as Grand Dukes of Tuscany until the mid 1700's.
The flavor text is from the tombstone on the Death card.
