The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance
tv show
4 total episodes
-
1 seasons
First Aired February 11, 2004
Genres:
Overview
From a small Italian community in 15th Century Florence, the Medici family would rise to become one of the most powerful dynasties in Europe. Using charm, patronage, skill, duplicity and ruthlessness, they would amass unparalleled wealth and unprecedented power. They would use this power to help ignite the most important cultural and artistic revolution in Western history – the Renaissance. DaVinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Galileo – all received Medici patronage. But the forces of change the Medici helped unleash would one day topple their ordered world.
The Magnificent Medici
Season 1 - Episode 2 - 1h 55m
Air Date
February 11, 2004
Overview
Withstanding attacks from bitter enemies, including the Pope, Cosimo’s young grandson Lorenzo becomes a driving force of the Renaissance. When his beloved brother is assassinated, his supporters take instant revenge on those that stand against the Medici family. With his power reinforced, Lorenzo delivers in full the creative revolution conceived by his grandfather. Some of the greatest artistic genius the world has ever known flourishes under Lorenzo: Michelangelo, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and more – and Florence is hailed as the cultural capital of the world. But a vicious backlash emerges. A young monk named Savonarola rails publicly against the decadence and sinfulness of the city. When Lorenzo dies in 1492, his family is driven from the city and Savonarola leads Florence in a fury of fundamentalist purification. Jewellery, wigs, fancy clothes and many great works of art are destroyed in the now infamous ‘bonfire of the vanities’.