In Italy: Art As a Window Into Modern Banking

"As Italy and much of Europe struggle with their finances, the city of Florence has staged an art exhibition looking at the critical — and controversial — role that financial institutions have played for centuries.

"The recent Money and Beauty exhibit, held in the majestic 15th-century Palazzo Strozzi, illustrated how Florentine merchants got around the Catholic Church's ban on money-lending and bankrolled the Renaissance."

"With the Bible explicitly condemning usury, the lending of money was relegated to Jews, one of the few professions they were allowed to practice."

"Yet in Florence, merchants turned the city into a laboratory and invented the financial instruments of international trade."

"The exhibition starts with a small gold coin — the florin, named after the city. It was first minted in 1252, and a half-century later it was being used throughout Europe."