Born in Florence to a family of Jewish moneylenders in the mid-15th century, Salomone de Sesso by the 1480s had become one of Italy’s most sought-after goldsmiths, having as his primary patrons the duke and duchess of Ferrara and their daughter Isabella. Ariel David, drawing on a new biography of Sesso and his family, describes his success. (Registration may be required.)

Yesterday, eleven months of political stalemate in Israel appeared to have come to an end as the sitting prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his main rival, Benny Gantz, agreed to form a unity government together with some of the smaller parties. This development has fractured Gantz’s Blue and White party into its constituent factions. Meanwhile, the resignation of Yuli Edelstein as interim Knesset speaker—a position meant to be occupied for just a few hours, but which he has held for nearly a year—has allowed the Knesset to resume business as usual.