[Music] by the mid 15th century the Medici family had fought their way to power in Florence they had dictated the taste of the city presiding over a revolution in Western culture the Renaissance under the protection of a new leader Lorenzo Magnifico the Magnificent would emerge the greatest artists the world had ever seen multi jelly Leonardo Michelangelo but behind the glory lay violence the seeds of a terrifying religious backlash that would take the city the Medici and the Renaissance to the brink of destruction [Music] [Music] August 14 66 the most powerful family in Florence the Medici were in danger stories were spreading of a coup d'etat by rival families determined to take control of the city [Music] recalled from the country retreat the Medici began the journey back to Florence [Music] their safety on the open road depended on the vigilance of two brothers Giuliano and Lauren so the heirs to the Medici dynasty [Music] as the eldest son Lawrence all rode on ahead to ensure safe passage for their father [Music] but it wasn't Lorenzo the assassins were after they knew that in order to bring down the family they would have to get rid of the father the boss [Music] [Music] Lorenzo's quick thinking had saved a family from disaster and the Medici retained control over the political and financial empire built by Lawrence's grandfather but this legacy had come at a price [Music] the Mara Chi and their followers have generated a tremendous amount of animosity in the old citizen class so the city is full of hostility and resentment against the marichoube [Music] the family was vulnerable they needed new allies allies beyond the walls of Florence the Medici are so uneasy about their future they realize that their position in Florence is somewhat perilous they therefore need the backing of military families outside of Florence and for the first time in the history of the Medici family they actually go outside the city for a spouse [Music] Lorenzo's wedding would be an act of political expedience the marriage is very important because it establishes links between a florentine mercantile family and one of the most powerful families of the Roman aristocracy so it's a form of a nobleman of the family Kalaa Ricci Rossini was a wise choice the daughter of the roman baron and the niece of a cardinal she brought connections class and military muscle to the medici family [Music] the wedding was celebrated with five magnificent banquets for friends of the Medici this was the dawn of a vibrant new era [Music] for three generations the city had owed its cultural identity to Medici patronage [Music] Florence had become a cultural factory in which artists competed for the next Great Commission for the workshops of the city business had never been better the scene in one of these places must have been extraordinary absolute chaos you'd have patrons running in and out looking at work that was in progress commissioning new works people mixing colours in the corner chipping away at blocks in another casting people would be casting bronzes in another corner probably the master artist would be negotiating some of the deal so you'd be dealing with papers in one corner looking at people's work scrapping it saying he likes that don't like that try it like this it would have just been organized creative brilliance and confusion but very sweaty very dirty very messy the Medici had built a reputation as the tastemakers of Italy they had already discovered a gifted young artist who was exploring a radical new style of art and the Medici patronage he would break new ground and define the Renaissance itself his name was Sandro Botticelli the young Botticelli played a role in the creation of a powerful Medici myth his painting ladder at Siena damaji the adoration of the Magi placed Lorenzo's family right at the heart of the Nativity the painting glorified Lorenzo's father his brother and Lorenzo himself but it also featured a self-portrait moat de chelly placed himself inside the families circle of friends in a city as volatile as Florence an alliance with the Wright family was crucial in 1469 the Medici faced uncertainty once again within weeks of the wedding Lawrence and Giuliana's father finally succumbed to zeal Ness [Music] his death thrust Lorenzo into the spotlight the principal man of the city came to our house to console us and encouraged me to take on the care of the state as my father and grandfather had done their proposal was naturally against my youthful instincts and considering that the burden in danger were great I consented to it and willing [Music] it's an immense moment where he becomes the first citizen of Florence he is the main man I don't think he really wants to be I think he has to be because he's very much on a European even a global stage he has to be seen to take control laureen's or was now the leader of the Medici family and the most powerful man in Florence he inherits the leadership and he becomes the godfather of the Florentine people the maestro de la bottega the boss of the shop and it's arguable that all Florence is Lorenzo's shop [Music] Lorenzo took to his new role with ease opening his doors to the people of Florence the Medici been in power a long time by now they are politically various too and I think they've realized that actually the masses the poor people can develop their own voice they can change things Lorenzo knows that he therefore needs to put something back there he's just trying to cover all his angles [Music] in exchange for whatever they could afford Lorenz offered help to the ordinary people of Tuscany the whole system of government by personal loyalty is a very Mediterranean one it's very like the system by which the Mafia ruled southern Italy for many centuries this is a very face-to-face society in which government is distant whereas the man who wields the authority is the reality a network of mutual favors soon spread across Tuscany these were the friends of friends ye amici daily amici [Music] Lorenzo by offering favors by having a very large circle of friends is able to get his way in this city really is a kind of semi dictator nothing in the books nothing in the constitution nothing in law gives him any kind of a title to the power that he actually exercises deep within the Medici palace was an eloquent statement of Lawrence's extraordinary power the frescoed capella damaji the Chapel of the Magi [Music] spread across all four walls parading through the hills of Tuscany where three generations of the Medici family surrounding the family hundreds of their loyal friends and followers among them princes and kings from across the seas and the most exotic creatures that Florence at ever seen the Medici palace Chapel is like a little casket of jewels in the center of this huge stony palace its gleaming and glistening with applied gold with iridescent colors the Medici family there are lies and amici were shown taking part in the biblical procession of the Magi the message was clear they're saying to people we have the power and the money to do this so if you become part of the precession of the Magi it's a way of saying this is my money I can buy into this scene it's it's quite it's quite tawdry in a way it's a clever way of saying look at me no one who saw the chapel could ignore the power of the Medici [Music] Lorenzo had been born into great privilege but he had also been brought up a scholar at regular saloons inside the Medici palace he presided over a world of art and culture Lorenzo did in fact maintain this open house in a way at the Medici Palace where writers and artists and other interesting people were free to come and partake of his bounty so he's a kind of appealingly modern figure in a world dominated by the church [Music] Lorenzo injected a spirit of secular freedom and in his own poetry he tried to capture the mood of this city how beautiful is youth youth which is gone so soon Latimer would be happy seize the moment for tomorrow may never come [Music] Lorenzo is the life and soul of the city as a young man he's man about town he's very fashionable everybody wants to be with him he's a goodtime boy [Music] but beneath Lawrence's charismatic exterior lay a serious desire to explore the new and the dangerous and there was no artist in Florence more radical than Botticelli [Music] [Laughter] Botticelli made his bread-and-butter like many other artists working on religious projects but I think his heart was in any subject matter other than Jesus the sort of thing that would allow free reign for this new spirit which Lorenzo de'medici certainly encouraged in Florence as a whole under the protection of the Medici Monticello created an entirely new kind of art he called his work la primavera the spring but it was neither portrait icon nor holy celebration la primavera was pure fantasy inspired by poetry and fueled by a vivid imagination [Music] [Music] Lorenzo let's Botticelli off the leash he allows him to run wherever he wants around these classical humanists and some might even say and did say pagan ideas they were very worried that Botticelli was in a sense exceeding the boundaries of what Christian art should all be about Multi cellies painting showed Venus ancient goddess of beauty celebrating the arrival of spring it was a subject guaranteed to please his patron Venus is the first creature of the pagan universe and therefore is associated to prosperity eternal youth fertility and it suited perfectly the needs of the Medici at the time because it was the quintessential expression of this new Golden Age a sort of rebirth of grandiosity of Florence under the auspices of the Medici but as Lorenzo's world began to flourish new threats to his future were emerging there is a very mafia feel to what starts to happen around Lorenzo's time Florence has always been about large powerful families vying for control of territory and this is very much what happens between the Medici and the Patsy the Pazzi were a rival banking family like the Medici they ran their local neighborhood the Pazzi are the second richest family in Florence but they also have the advantage over the Medici of being an older grander more noble lineage they had lots of knights in their background who went back to the 12th century and they go on being Knights in the 15th century which the Medici never are from the moment that Lorenzo takes power he sees to it that they are kept out of leading office in Florence marginalized by Lawrence's command over the city la Patsey decided to take matters into their own hands they settled on a single plan the total elimination of the Medici rivals especially Lorenzo and his younger brother the fancy had powerful allies the leaders of the Catholic Church were heavily in debt to the Medici bank it was in the interest of the church to collude with the Pazzi but any operation against Lauren Sonia's brother had to be carefully planned the conspirators knew that they must kill both because if they killed the the the elder brother only then there was Giuliano who was very good-looking who was certainly intelligent who was popular around whom the Medici and families would have rallied so the two had to be eliminated this was extremely important [Music] [Music] [Music] as rumors of the conspiracy spread a new plot was hatched it could not have been more sacrilegious Sunday April 26th 1478 Easter day the Medici and all of Florence gathered to celebrate the holiest day of the year [Music] [Music] [Music] in the course of mass the signal is given both men were in the cathedral at the same time so that seemed to be the moment to do it [Music] Giuliano de Medici was stabbed 19 times he died instantly [Music] but Lorenzo was unaccounted for [Music] [Music] he's wounded and he shows himself to the crowd it's a way of saying we're still here we're still alive and as soon as that happens than the Medici stood in business [Music] this is where the fact that the Medici had been able to create a web of supporters this is when this reveal itself being a very smart choice the plotters realize that the game is up the supporters of Medici were in such rage over what had happened that they were simply ready to kill it will [Music] [Music] [Music] violence swept through Florence our supporters of the Medici exacta drove Ange [Music] Juliana's murder sends shockwaves through Tuscany and shook Lorenzo to his core Medici power now hung by a thread [Music] before long Lauren saw heard that the Pope himself had ordered troops to wipe out the Medici once and for all Lorenzo had to act he decided to travel alone to negotiate with his enemies in the south he would gamble with his life for the sake of his city [Music] the people of Florence feared Florence of survival even Lorenzo was worried as his own servant observed he seemed to be two men not one during the day he appeared perfectly easy restful cheerful and confident but at night he grieved bitterly about his own ill fortune and that of Florence Lorenzo travelled for nearly a month sailing 300 miles down the Italian coast his ship docked at Naples just before Christmas 1479 Lorenzo arrives in Naples with money with gifts for all the courtiers with his charm and a deal of peace is caught between the two sides and although the Pope is very unhappy about this very unhappy he's kind of brought into it kicking and screaming [Music] the enemy troops were called off with personal charm political skill and hard cash Lorenzo de Medici had saved Florence from destruction [Music] Lorenzo was hailed by his grateful City IL Magnifico the magnificent [Music] but Lawrence's experiences had changed him with new resolve Lorenzo worked to protect the future of the Medici dynasty he adopted the illegitimate son of his murdered brother the Medici needed all the heirs they could get and they took over the city government declaring that all legislation required his approval with Florence now under his personal control Lorenzo would use his power and wealth to magnificent effect the term magnificent SIA is a very powerful effective term at the time because someone is magnificent if he is able to spend his money virtuously and patronage is the best way to do it Lorenzo's word alone could make or break an artistic career [Music] he often commissioned work from one of the busiest studios in Florence owned by the wealthy craftsman the rakia the rakia left most of the everyday jobs to a group of apprentices one of them was producing the early indications of extraordinary work unlike anything Lorenzo had ever seen before he was an artist who would take the world apart in order to see how it worked [Music] he would soar above the others his name was Leonardo da Vinci even at this formative stage Leonardo's talent was impossible to ignore it but paisa Modi jesu the baptism of Christ was the work of several artists but Leonardo painted his angel in vibrant oils a radical an untried technique his work so impressed the rockeo but the old man was said to have given a painting for good [Music] leonardo was determined to reflect the detail of the natural world [Music] but in the battle for Medici patronage Leonardo's rival was raising the stakes [Music] inspired by the classical sculpture in Lawrence's private collection Botticelli took his unique style to new extremes [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] the Birth of Venus was unlike any other painting of its time a private Commission for the Medici family it was a daring celebration of human desire [Music] the works that Botticelli is best known for are these pagan mythology's bringing back to life goddesses like Venus who are being celebrated as frankly the goddess of Eros and fertility and reproduction and there's no apology in Botticelli's pictures for the glorification of the physical world and the physical passions but the freedom that Lawrence uh brought to Florence was about to come under threat one man believed Lorenzo was leading the city on a decadent path to destruction a Dominican monk by the name of Savonarola [Music] Savonarola had a kind of OneNote personality the only thing you ever hear about him is moralizing fanaticism he was opposed to almost any kind of visual art that wasn't religious if it had nudes in it it was lascivious and likely to lead to sin he took a dim view of just about everything that happened that wasn't entirely dedicated to a very traditional notion of religion he wrote furious diatribes to his father I cannot think you are the evildoing of the heedless people of Italy I must fight with all my strength to stop the devil from jumping onto my shoulders Savonarola's disgust became an obsession [Music] the liberties of Lawrence's Renaissance City offended Savonarola to his core [Music] sickened by what he saw around him he turned his zealous hate towards Lorenzo as the focus of all that was sinful [Music] [Music] [Music] on July the 29th 1487 tragedy struck the Medici family Lawrence's wife Clarita died suddenly from tuberculosis she was only 34 Lorenzo lamented the loss of those closest to him [Music] Lorenzo found solace as always in art in 1488 he established the first art school in history providing classical sculptures for study from his own precious collection here he spotted a precocious young talent who was working with marble for the first time one of this young artists early projects was to copy the head of a faun an ancient satyr like figure and Lorenzo came to look at it and said oh that's very good but kind of in a joking way said but you know fawns are supposed to be old man and you've let this fellow have all of his teeth and very few old people have all of their teeth this young man was mortified that he'd been criticized and he immediately knocked out one of the teeth with a chisel and had Lorenzo come back and look at it again Michelangelo Buonarroti was only 13 therein so he's a connoisseur he really knows what he's looking for he's got a very good eye and he sees it immediately Michelangelo Lorenzo takes him right under his wing because I think he knows that this guy's fragile he's a troubled young man and he has to really could jewel him [Music] Lorenzo decided to bring Michelangelo into his family the young artist was given his own rooms at the Medici Palace to grow up alongside Lorenzo's seven children what I think is interesting is the close relationship that grew up between Lorenzo and Michelangelo they seem to see each other almost every day and particularly interesting is how invested Michelangelo became in Lorenzo's approval [Music] what Lorenzo does with Michelangelo is something new it's a very intimate relationship between patron and artist Lorenzo would invite Michelangelo to his dinner table Michelangelo would sit there with people like Botticelli with vitina and he would listen to the sort of things they were talking about about humanist theories about your classical antiquity and he absorbed all that and you can see it coming out in the sculptures and in the drawings and in the paintings of that period of Michelangelo's life as the young Michelangelo learned his craft his talent was pulled in two different directions he applied himself to traditional religious subjects with great devotion but he was increasingly drawn to the raw drama of the classical legends he heard at home [Music] Michelangelo sensed that the influence of Lorenzo de'medici was leading him in a dangerous direction and he was not alone Savonarola had found an audience for his beliefs [Music] [Music] he believed that he could foresee the future and what he foresaw was that the decadence of Lorenzo's reign was leading to the downfall of Florence creativity is at its peak with people like Botticelli Michel Angela even Leonardo but politically and financially things are literally at breaking point [Music] Florence was split down the middle between the people who wanted a kind of elegant intellectual secular lifestyle and the people who felt that Savonarola was making a good point that the society had gone off the track in this new direction under Lorenzo Florence had reached new heights of culture and sophistication but swept up in the excitement Lorenzo had loosened his grip on the family business [Music] [Music] across Europe branches of the Medici bank were forced to close Lorenzo had lost a fortune and now the family's network was falling apart [Music] they stopped coming through for the friends their whole power depended upon being Godfather's upon maintaining this circle of loyal followers who to whom they had obligations and who could reasonably expect their obligations to be fulfilled there were more people asking for favors than favors to be distributed and inevitably some people went away empty-handed and unsatisfied Lorenzo's friends could see that seven are all's predictions were beginning to come true in 1492 Lorenzo fell seriously ill [Music] his physician prescribed an extravagant concoction of pulverized pearls and precious stones but medicine could not ease Lawrence's fears for the future of the dynasty Lorenzo put his faith in a new power base for his heirs he turned to the church but just 16 Giovanni de'medici was already a cardinal the position had cost Lawrence or fortune he could barely afford [Music] [Music] Lorenzo knew he was dying and now he needed something money couldn't buy all of your writing about youth all of your books in your library and all of your authors writing about classical philosophy are not functional to the very altima thing that you need which is the resumption from all of the sins you have committed fearing eternal damnation Lorenzo called Savonarola to his deathbed seeking absolution but Savonarola's judgment was harsh he damned Lorenzo [Music] and what if God really disapproved of his life's work [Music] at the age of 43 Lorenzo died fearing he'll to his last breath [Music] with lourenço gone Savonarola sees these chance [Music] even Botticelli was swept along shaken by the change in world around him he embraced Christianity with a newfound further [Music] [Music] Botticelli did a number of paintings on rather apocalyptic religious themes that were suggested by the sermons of Savonarola so clearly he was listening [Music] and the Savonarola's fundamentalist regime prostitutes were beaten and homosexuals burned any display of makeup and jewelry was forbidden and Savonarola's commands were enforced by gangs of militant youths [Music] Savonarola wanted to create the kingdom of God on earth by any means necessary [Music] Savonarola organized an enormous public burning onto the flames when books and figurines wigs cosmetics and jewels all the accessories of Lawrence's vibrant Renaissance [Music] now even Volta gently for fear of the nation to join the frenzy of destruction he held his own paintings into the flames [Music] the inferno would become known as the bonfire of the vanities Florence was in search of salvation and had become a vision of hell [Music] was their innocence itself going up in smoke [Music] [Music]