Francesco Nori (1430–1478)

During the Pazzi assassination attempt of 1478 he protected Lorenzo de' Medici, saving his life at the cost of his own.

[1][2] On 26 April 1478, during Easter Mass in the Florentine Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower, a group of conspirators, led by Jacopo and Francesco de' Pazzi, attacked Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano in what would become known as the Pazzi conspiracy.

Francesco Nori shielded Lorenzo during the first assault, dying stabbed in his place by the hand of Bernardo Bandini.

[1][2] Before the conspiracy, Francesco had commissioned the sculptor Antonio Rossellino to create a marble sculpture of the Nursing Madonna.

This was used by the Nori family to create a Mausoleum for Francesco in the Santa Croce Church, facing Michelangelo’s tomb.