Lucrezia had significant political influence during the rule of her husband and then of her son Lorenzo the Magnificent, investing in several institutions and improving relationships to support the needs of the poor.

Her father was Francesco di Simone Tornabuoni, member of a noble family that could trace its lineage back 500 years.

She was very capable in mathematics and finances, well-versed in literature, rhetoric, and theology, and read many texts in both Latin and Greek[4] besides her native Italian.

Lucrezia may be represented in three scenes in Ghirlandaio's frescos in the Tornabuoni Chapel: The Visitation, The Birth of the Baptist, and The Nativity of Mary.

[10] Lucrezia and Piero ensured that their children acquired good taste in literary culture and the fine arts.

[12] The couple eventually had at least six children, though two sons didn't survive to adulthood: [9] Lucrezia was notably wise and astute in political matters.

[27] Lucrezia received many requests from citizens, which included appeals to end the exile or imprisonment of petitioners and to stop attacks by soldiers.

[20] In 1450, she and her husband visited Rome for an audience with Pope Nicholas V, who gave them permission to build an altar in their family chapel.

[33][19] To improve the family's social status, Lucrezia arranged for her son to marry Clarice Orsini in June 1469.

She commissioned the Morgante by Luigi Pulci, who called her "a famous lady in our century",[37] and supported many poets, including Bernardo Bellincioni and Angelo Poliziano,[38] who later became a tutor to her grandchildren by Lorenzo.

[40] She was responsible for the addition of the Chapel of the Visitation in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence[41] and noted for donating many votive statues of her family to numerous churches.

[13] A young Lucrezia Tornabuoni is portrayed by Valentina Bellè in the 2016 television series, Medici: Masters of Florence.

The series chooses to show her still living in 1485, seven years after the Pazzi Conspiracy and also running the Medici bank in her son's stead, rather than her own business dealings.