Cameo depicting Alessandro de' Medici, known as (IL Moro or 'The Moor'), c. 16th century, in later gold ring mount, cameo 2.0cm high, ring size 7

Alessandro de’ Medici (22 July 1510 – 6 January 1537), nicknamed “il Moro” due to his dark complexion, first Duke of the Florentine Republic (from 1532), was ruler of Florence from 1530 to his death in 1537.The first Medici to rule Florence as a hereditary monarch, Alessandro was also the last Medici from the senior line of the family to lead the city. His assassination at the hands of distant cousin Lorenzaccio caused the title of Duke to pass to Cosimo I de Medici, from the family’s junior branch