A Florentine Bank Scene Originally a “bank” was just a counter; money changers who sat behind the counter became “bankers,” exchanging different currencies and holding deposits for merchants and business people. In this scene from fifteenth-century Florence, the bank is covered with an imported Ottoman geometric rug, one of many imported luxury items handled by Florentine merchants. Most cities issued their own coins, but the gold coins of Florence, known as florins (above), were accepted throughout Europe as a standard currency.

Detail from the fresco The Story of St. Matthew, San Francesco, Prato, Italy/Scala/Art Resource, NY;