When Ferdinando's parents separated in 1675, his mother (who disdained her husband only slightly more than Florence did) returned to Paris, where she was supposed to be confined to a monastery in Montmartre.

Ferdinando's uncle Francesco Maria de' Medici, only three years older, was a strong influence on his life.

Vittoria Tarquini, called La Bombace, the wife of the concertmaster Jean-Baptiste Farinel [de] became the mistress of Ferdinando.

His father continued to rule until 1723, and was succeeded on his death by Ferdinando's younger brother Gian Gastone, who likewise died childless.

The lack of fecundity in the family ultimately led to a crisis: after Gian Gastone's death in 1737, the great powers of Europe reassigned the Grand Duchy to Francis, the husband of Maria Theresa, thus ending the independence of the Tuscan state.

Ferdinando organised the first public exhibition of fine arts to be held in Florence (1705, in the cloister of SS.

Scipione Maffei's dedication to him of the Giornale de' Letterati (1710) is a proof of Ferdinando's widespread reputation.

At first these were held in the grand salon, but starting in 1696 in a new theatre built on the third floor at Ferdinando's instigation, designed by Antonio Maria Ferri.

[10] George Frederic Handel[11] and Alessandro Scarlatti probably played on the instruments either in the Palazzo Pitti, or in the Medicean country villa of Poggio a Caiano or at Pratolino.

Ferdinando's most permanent legacy was the result of his decision in 1688 to hire Bartolomeo Cristofori, a harpsichord builder from Padua, as his keeper of musical instruments.

The first two, the oval spinet (1690) and the spinettone, were probably intended for Ferdinando to play the continuo part in musical productions at Pratolino.