0:00:05.360,0:00:07.078
Florence, 1389.
0:00:08.440,0:00:12.399
A boy is baptized into a medieval world.
0:00:13.600,0:00:15.591
He was not of noble birth.
0:00:15.880,0:00:18.713
He was the son of a local merchant.
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His name was Cosimo de' Medici.
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From humble beginnings, his dynasty[br]would seek power and influence
0:00:33.240,0:00:37.472
and not stop until they secured[br]the papacy itself.
0:00:39.000,0:00:42.549
Theirs was a world[br]where power came at a price.
0:00:49.240,0:00:53.518
Intrigue, murder, assassination...
0:00:54.040,0:00:55.917
and war.
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But the city of Florence[br]was also a cauldron of creativity.
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And for the greater glory of the family,
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the Medici would protect and pay for
0:01:08.160,0:01:11.948
the greatest artists and thinkers[br]of their age.
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Michelangelo.
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Brunelleschi.
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Botticelli.
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Leonardo.
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Galileo.
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An explosion of ideas[br]which would shatterthe medieval world
0:01:39.320,0:01:44.030
and resonate through the centuries[br]in a single phrase...
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Rinascimento... rebirth...
0:01:49.640,0:01:51.596
Renaissance.
0:01:54.640,0:01:59.714
Behind it stood the Medici,[br]godfathers of the Renaissance.
0:02:18.040,0:02:20.759
At the dawn of the 15th century,
0:02:21.040,0:02:23.873
an illicit trade had begun.
0:02:24.160,0:02:27.277
Men scoured Europe[br]in search of treasure.
0:02:31.040,0:02:35.909
Somewhere in the confines[br]of the Holy Church lay their prize.
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Not the jewel-encrusted relics[br]or sacred icons of medieval Christendom.
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Nor were they seeking[br]to loot the bodies of the dead,
0:02:59.360,0:03:01.510
victims of war and plague.
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But hidden in the darkest vaults[br]of the Church
0:03:12.080,0:03:16.232
lay a prize far older[br]and more precious...
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and sometimes far more dangerous.
0:03:53.080,0:03:55.674
What these men were really after
0:03:55.960,0:03:57.791
was knowledge.
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Cosimo de' Medici and his friends
0:04:00.400,0:04:04.791
were searching for lost secrets[br]from the ancient world.
0:04:12.560,0:04:17.680
The shared feeling at the time[br]was that the achievements of the classics,
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in many fields,[br]from philosophy to architecture,
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from rhetoric to sculpture,
0:04:24.200,0:04:26.031
were unsurpassed.
0:04:32.040,0:04:36.431
At the beginning it was just[br]sort of fun to dig up old sculptures
0:04:36.720,0:04:39.075
or interesting to discover
0:04:39.360,0:04:42.158
lost manuscripts in faraway monasteries
0:04:42.440,0:04:44.431
and bring them down and read them.
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It took them a long time to realize
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that there was a whole other way[br]of life being embodied there.
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So there's this sense[br]of excitement about the past
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but it's also dangerous.
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From across Europe, ancient learning[br]was carried back to Florence,
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the city of Cosimo's birth.
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Florence in the year 1400[br]was a city unlike anywhere else in Europe.
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This majortrading centre[br]at the heart ofTuscany was a republic
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in which powerful families vied[br]with each other for political control.
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Florence was the place to be.
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As we all know, every age has a place.
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In the late 19th century[br]it was Paris,
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in the late 20th century[br]maybe it was New York.
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At the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries[br]it was Florence.
0:06:14.960,0:06:17.474
In a side street off the main piazza
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an ambitious family[br]was trying to make its name.
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The Medici bank[br]was a small-scale operation
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run from the back room[br]of a wool shop.
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The growing business was managed[br]by Cosimo's father, Giovanni de' Medici.
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Giovanni had risen from rural poverty
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through a combination of aggressive[br]salesmanship and financial caution.
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He chose his clients very carefully.
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It wasn't just profit he valued.
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It was loyalty.
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This is a society in which,[br]for your guarantees of protection
0:07:26.160,0:07:28.469
you look to a man,
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and he is your patron[br]and you are his client.
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And all the other people[br]associated with him are your friends,
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so that you can achieve almost anything
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with this web or network[br]of friends of friends.
0:07:44.800,0:07:47.075
Baldassare Cossa was a former pirate
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who had embarked on[br]an alternative career in the Church.
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Now, he had ambitions[br]to enter the Vatican,
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even to become pope himself.
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All he needed was a campaign fund.
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Giovanni knew[br]that the Church was in chaos.
0:08:13.320,0:08:16.198
The papacy itself was up for grabs.
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With enough money,[br]even Cossa stood a chance of success.
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Giovanni dared to back[br]the unlikely outsider.
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The Medici prepared a lavish loan.
0:08:32.679,0:08:36.389
It was an enormous gamble[br]for their local business.
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The family supported Cossa[br]all the way up the ladder of the Church,
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from priest to cardinal.
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And then, the bet with a pirate[br]finally paid off.
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In 1410, Baldassare Cossa[br]was elected Pope John XXIII...
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and the first thing he did[br]was remember his friends the Medici.
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The new pope needed a bank[br]he could trust.
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Giovanni and Cosimo[br]completely control the papal account.
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They become known as "God's bankers."[br]That's what the Medici become known as.
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And also, of course, they get that account[br]over all the other big Florentine families.
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So they've made it.[br]They've finally arrived.
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With their sudden leap in status,
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the Medici joined an elite group[br]of powerful Florentines.
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But, like all the leading families[br]of the day,
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they would become transfixed[br]by their city's humiliating failure.
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For over 100 years,
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a great unfinished cathedral[br]had loomed over Florence.
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The original planners[br]had been overly ambitious.
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They had meant to build[br]the largest dome in the world
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and they had failed.
0:10:11.480,0:10:16.315
Their cathedral, more than[br]any other building of any nature
0:10:16.600,0:10:18.556
in a medieval and Renaissance city,
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represented the symbol[br]of the identity of the community.
0:10:22.880,0:10:28.034
And having the project not completed[br]was a sort of mutilation.
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And without a dome,[br]you don't have a sacred building.
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All contemporary building knowledge[br]had been exhausted.
0:10:45.640,0:10:50.714
Now, the city looked for fresh ideas[br]from a new generation.
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Cosimo de' Medici had grown up[br]in the shadow of the cathedral.
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Now, he and his father stood[br]on the threshold of civic power.
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Perhaps they could apply[br]their enterprising spirit
0:11:13.960,0:11:16.793
to the greatest problem of the age...
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and in the process win glory and power[br]for the Medici family.
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The search for a solution[br]to the problem of the dome
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led men to study the achievements[br]of the classical past.
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Scholars like Cosimo knew[br]it would take an unconventional mind
0:11:47.920,0:11:50.229
to decipher the tantalising clues.
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Through the streets of Florence[br]roamed just such a man,
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a self-taught genius obsessed[br]by the mysteries of the ancient world.
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His ideas were difficult to understand.
0:12:09.920,0:12:13.549
His name was Filippo Brunelleschi.
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I think that the g-word of "genius"
0:12:33.320,0:12:37.438
is something that people[br]are reluctant to use these days
0:12:37.720,0:12:40.917
but I think it's very applicable[br]in the case of Brunelleschi.
0:12:42.080,0:12:43.957
However, maybe like many geniuses,
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he wasn't someone[br]you would necessarily want to know.
0:12:51.880,0:12:57.000
Brunelleschi's style was unorthodox[br]and it gained him few friends.
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He was in many arguments[br]with the so-called city fathers.
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On one occasion[br]he was actually carried out
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of the main government palace, forcibly,
0:13:06.760,0:13:09.399
because he'd lost his temper[br]and insulted people
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and they were not going to be insulted[br]and they threw him out.
0:13:21.480,0:13:24.950
But the family who had sponsored[br]a pirate for a pope
0:13:25.240,0:13:29.119
were not daunted by the temper[br]of a maverick architect.
0:13:41.400,0:13:46.997
In the Medici, Brunelleschi had found[br]patrons willing to gamble on his judgment.
0:13:51.400,0:13:56.110
Brunelleschi's vision would resurrect[br]forgotten concepts of the past.
0:13:59.560,0:14:02.074
And, in 1419,
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a new orphanage in Florence[br]became a showcase for his ideas
0:14:06.720,0:14:09.109
and for Medici ambition.
0:14:12.560,0:14:15.950
Brunelleschi was using[br]the classical orders of architecture,
0:14:16.240,0:14:18.959
something that hadn't been used[br]in over a thousand years.
0:14:19.240,0:14:21.959
And the people of Florence[br]were so amazed by this
0:14:22.240,0:14:24.879
that it's said they gathered[br]on the building site,
0:14:25.160,0:14:27.355
much to the inconvenience[br]of the workmen,
0:14:27.640,0:14:29.676
and actually watched this happening.
0:14:29.960,0:14:34.033
Because they simply hadn't seen[br]anyone build in that style before.
0:14:45.760,0:14:50.595
This was the first time true columns[br]had been used for structural support
0:14:50.880,0:14:53.394
since the days of ancient Rome.
0:14:55.000,0:15:01.109
Out of Brunelleschi's turbulent mind[br]had come a vision of classical simplicity.
0:15:05.200,0:15:09.557
It would spark an architectural[br]revolution across Europe.
0:15:15.200,0:15:18.875
Innovation and ambition[br]went hand in hand.
0:15:19.160,0:15:23.517
And for the Medici,[br]this was only the beginning.
0:15:27.160,0:15:30.789
Brunelleschi was the house architect.[br]They were very close.
0:15:31.080,0:15:34.550
There was a clear fit[br]between what Cosimo wanted
0:15:34.840,0:15:36.637
and what Brunelleschi could give him.
0:15:36.920,0:15:40.469
And it very much was about[br]recreating a great classical city
0:15:40.760,0:15:42.830
on the lines of Rome.
0:15:52.240,0:15:58.110
The Medici family did the sorts[br]of things that every ruling family did.
0:15:58.400,0:16:03.758
You tried to get power[br]by various public and private dealings
0:16:04.040,0:16:08.830
and then you tried to promote your image[br]to the rest of the world
0:16:09.120,0:16:12.829
through art and literature[br]and having people write about you...
0:16:13.120,0:16:16.476
being a patron of things[br]that can serve your ends.
0:16:21.560,0:16:23.437
With the backing of the Medici,
0:16:23.720,0:16:26.951
Brunelleschi now set his eye[br]on the problem of the dome,
0:16:27.240,0:16:29.834
the greatest challenge in Florence.
0:16:35.120,0:16:37.270
Brunelleschi set to work.
0:16:38.560,0:16:41.393
Cosimo would publicly support him.
0:16:42.600,0:16:45.353
The Church authorities were desperate,
0:16:45.640,0:16:48.996
offering a massive cash prize[br]for a solution.
0:16:50.120,0:16:54.750
Brunelleschi's model showed the largest[br]unsupported dome in Christendom.
0:16:57.560,0:17:00.677
But he was fearful[br]his ideas would be stolen.
0:17:00.960,0:17:02.916
He wrote his calculations in code
0:17:03.200,0:17:06.476
and refused to explain[br]the details of his plan.
0:17:11.119,0:17:14.999
The cathedral authorities[br]demanded some kind of demonstration
0:17:15.280,0:17:17.635
before they would award the prize.
0:17:20.480,0:17:24.519
So Brunelleschi challenged them[br]to stand an egg on its end.
0:17:26.960,0:17:28.632
When they failed,
0:17:28.920,0:17:33.277
Brunelleschi broke the bottom[br]of the egg, and it stood up.
0:17:33.960,0:17:37.635
The men complained[br]that his solution was so obvious.
0:17:37.920,0:17:39.717
Brunelleschi protested.
0:17:40.000,0:17:43.675
Of course it was,[br]and so would be the solution to the dome
0:17:43.960,0:17:46.474
if he showed them his plans.
0:17:46.760,0:17:50.196
The authorities gave in[br]to the stubborn architect.
0:17:54.280,0:17:57.352
The commission for the dome was his.
0:17:59.200,0:18:03.193
But what Brunelleschi would now attempt[br]was unprecedented
0:18:03.480,0:18:05.596
and fraught with danger.
0:18:05.880,0:18:10.158
He would have to rewrite[br]the rules ofWestern architecture.
0:18:10.440,0:18:13.352
And there was no certainty[br]of success.
0:18:17.600,0:18:19.192
For inspiration,
0:18:19.480,0:18:23.712
Brunelleschi turned to the greatest[br]civilisation of the ancient world.
0:18:24.160,0:18:29.234
And in Brunelleschi's wake[br]came Cosimo, the papal banker,
0:18:29.480,0:18:31.994
anxious to see things for himself.
0:18:35.880,0:18:41.238
In ancient Rome, men had constructed[br]architectural marvels.
0:18:41.520,0:18:44.910
Buildings such as the Pantheon -[br]the house of the gods -
0:18:45.200,0:18:48.397
the largest freestanding dome[br]in the world.
0:18:51.240,0:18:54.835
One of the most fascinating[br]buildings in ancient Rome
0:18:55.120,0:18:57.315
was definitely the Pantheon.
0:18:58.280,0:19:01.317
It was one of the most[br]fascinating buildings
0:19:01.600,0:19:05.752
in the collective imagination[br]of the Western world for a long time.
0:19:06.760,0:19:10.833
It was really something[br]to be absorbed and assimilated
0:19:11.120,0:19:15.272
in order to appropriate[br]the techniques of the building
0:19:15.560,0:19:18.552
but also the spirit[br]that the dome was expressing.
0:19:21.120,0:19:25.318
Brunelleschi saw valuable clues[br]in the Pantheon's design.
0:19:28.040,0:19:32.079
He wanted to discover[br]not only the proportions of it
0:19:32.360,0:19:35.909
but also the nuts and bolts[br]of how it was built.
0:19:37.800,0:19:40.519
What particularly struck[br]the contemporaries
0:19:40.800,0:19:42.631
was the size of the dome
0:19:42.920,0:19:46.276
and the fact that it was[br]one of the very few complete domes
0:19:46.560,0:19:49.313
that had survived from ancient times.
0:19:52.000,0:19:56.471
The architects of ancient Rome[br]had framed the Pantheon with timber
0:19:56.760,0:19:59.752
and poured their concrete dome[br]over the top.
0:20:00.040,0:20:02.759
But there was not enough timber[br]in all of Tuscany
0:20:03.040,0:20:06.510
to build a scaffold[br]inside Florence Cathedral.
0:20:06.800,0:20:10.156
Brunelleschi's dome[br]would have to support itself
0:20:10.440,0:20:12.954
throughout the building process.
0:20:13.200,0:20:18.149
Even the recipe for concrete[br]had been lost since the fall of Rome.
0:20:18.640,0:20:21.279
But, through intense study,
0:20:21.560,0:20:25.348
the Pantheon gave up its secrets[br]to Brunelleschi.
0:20:26.360,0:20:30.035
He was inspired[br]by its clever double skin.
0:20:30.320,0:20:34.632
So Brunelleschi used the idea[br]of the Pantheon's strong circle,
0:20:34.920,0:20:39.869
placing an inner dome[br]within the cathedral's octagonal drum.
0:20:40.440,0:20:45.560
Sandstone rings would hold[br]the structure together like a barrel.
0:20:46.800,0:20:50.190
It was an ingenious[br]and completely original idea.
0:20:50.800,0:20:56.397
In practice, however, Brunelleschi[br]was entering uncharted territory.
0:20:59.280,0:21:03.478
When Cosimo returned to Florence,[br]work on the dome had begun.
0:21:10.160,0:21:14.119
You'd have the sound of hammers,[br]you'd have the workmen in the streets,
0:21:14.400,0:21:16.789
summoned by the bells[br]from their beds.
0:21:19.040,0:21:21.235
It was a scene of chaotic activity,
0:21:21.520,0:21:26.196
sort of like New York in the 1920s[br]when the first skyscrapers are going up.
0:21:37.640,0:21:41.189
Brunelleschi came fresh to building sites[br]with his own ideas.
0:21:41.480,0:21:44.313
The workers ate their lunches[br]up on the dome
0:21:44.600,0:21:48.479
because he didn't want them descending[br]in the middle of the day to have lunch
0:21:48.760,0:21:54.630
because they'd be exhausted by the time[br]they got back up the 350, 400-odd steps.
0:21:56.480,0:21:58.357
But he also served wine to them
0:21:58.640,0:22:02.679
because that was really the drink you had[br]in Florence, much safer than water.
0:22:02.960,0:22:05.793
But he did make certain[br]that your wine was diluted.
0:22:06.080,0:22:07.991
You put a third part water in,
0:22:08.280,0:22:11.317
which was the drink given[br]to pregnant women at the time.
0:22:15.680,0:22:18.911
But as Brunelleschi's dome[br]began to rise,
0:22:19.200,0:22:22.954
the health of Cosimo's father[br]began to fail.
0:22:24.040,0:22:29.398
Giovanni de' Medici knew the dangers[br]that lurked in the streets of Florence.
0:22:30.280,0:22:36.037
Although rich, he had taken pains[br]to retain an aura of modesty.
0:22:36.720,0:22:40.793
A man who rode on a mule[br]did not invite attack.
0:22:41.640,0:22:44.996
Giovanni offered his son a warning.
0:22:46.520,0:22:49.512
"Be wary of going[br]to the Palace of Government.
0:22:49.800,0:22:51.597
"Wait to be summoned.
0:22:51.880,0:22:55.953
"Do what you are asked to do[br]and never display any pride.
0:22:56.240,0:22:59.755
"Always keep out of the public eye."
0:23:08.120,0:23:12.318
In 1429, Giovanni de' Medici died.
0:23:16.880,0:23:20.668
The city of Florence[br]mourned a modest patron.
0:23:21.760,0:23:26.515
But Cosimo de' Medici[br]had lost his guide and mentor.
0:23:45.840,0:23:47.831
Local custom dictated
0:23:48.120,0:23:52.432
that Giovanni's corpse be passed[br]through the walls of his home.
0:23:52.720,0:23:55.109
The wall was then sealed behind him.
0:24:07.440,0:24:12.309
Giovanni was laid to rest[br]in the Church of San Lorenzo,
0:24:12.920,0:24:16.993
rebuilt by Brunelleschi[br]along classical lines.
0:24:24.160,0:24:28.312
It was now a magnificenttemple[br]to the Medici family.
0:24:50.240,0:24:54.233
Giovanni's death cast a shadow[br]overthe future of the family.
0:24:54.520,0:24:57.876
Now Cosimo had to assume[br]his father's role.
0:24:58.840,0:25:01.752
But how could he build[br]on his father's legacy
0:25:02.040,0:25:05.077
and still keep out of the public eye?
0:25:06.160,0:25:12.315
Cosimo's rivals, the Albizzi family,[br]had governed Florence for generations.
0:25:12.760,0:25:16.389
They were wary of any challenge[br]to their power.
0:25:24.800,0:25:28.315
If the Medici and their followers[br]have more authority,
0:25:28.600,0:25:32.479
the Albizzi and their followers[br]have less authority.
0:25:32.760,0:25:36.309
Both parties can't win.[br]One party has to go.
0:25:39.640,0:25:41.631
A battle between rival families
0:25:41.920,0:25:45.799
would endanger not just the future[br]of the Medici dynasty.
0:25:46.080,0:25:51.473
It would threaten to drag Florence[br]back into the world of the Middle Ages.
0:26:01.440,0:26:07.709
Meanwhile, Brunelleschi also tried[br]to escape the limitations of his age.
0:26:09.200,0:26:12.112
Brunelleschi was not only[br]an architect, he was an engineer.
0:26:12.400,0:26:17.110
He had to solve enormous logistical[br]problems when he was building the dome.
0:26:17.400,0:26:21.518
Foremost among the problems[br]was how to raise sandstone beams,
0:26:21.800,0:26:26.351
weighing 1,700 pounds,[br]250 feet in the air.
0:26:26.640,0:26:30.269
What he devised was unprecedented[br]in the history of engineering.
0:26:30.560,0:26:33.233
Oxen had great strength,[br]great stamina,
0:26:33.520,0:26:36.751
but would not walk backwards[br]for more than a few steps.
0:26:37.040,0:26:41.158
So what Brunelleschi devised[br]was a way of reversing a gear
0:26:41.440,0:26:45.228
so he could raise a load[br]several hundred feet in the air,
0:26:45.520,0:26:48.512
change gear, and then[br]bring the hook back down
0:26:48.800,0:26:53.476
so that the oxen only ever walked[br]counter-clockwise or clockwise,
0:26:53.760,0:26:55.432
whichever he wanted.
0:27:00.520,0:27:02.397
But there was still no guarantee
0:27:02.680,0:27:06.116
that Brunelleschi's intricate design[br]would stand up.
0:27:07.000,0:27:09.275
The city of Florence was nervous...
0:27:11.480,0:27:14.472
and no one more anxious than Cosimo.
0:27:14.760,0:27:18.469
His patronage of Brunelleschi[br]was well known.
0:27:19.680,0:27:23.070
Nothing could please[br]Cosimo's enemies more
0:27:23.360,0:27:25.999
than to see Brunelleschi fail.
0:27:33.560,0:27:36.916
As Cosimo's wealth[br]and power increased,
0:27:37.200,0:27:41.113
so did the resentment[br]of the ruling Albizzi family.
0:27:41.400,0:27:45.075
They were losing their grip[br]on the government of Florence.
0:27:45.680,0:27:50.754
Sensing the danger, Cosimo transferred[br]vast sums of money out of the city
0:27:51.000,0:27:54.197
and made sure his family was safe.
0:27:58.640,0:28:02.076
Florence is always constructed[br]around large, powerful families.
0:28:02.360,0:28:04.112
They run the city.
0:28:04.400,0:28:06.277
So for families like the Albizzi,
0:28:06.560,0:28:10.951
for the Medici to suddenly get ahead[br]in this way is absolutely devastating.
0:28:11.240,0:28:13.037
And so this is a crucial moment
0:28:13.320,0:28:15.959
where the infighting[br]gets actually quite nasty.
0:28:20.520,0:28:23.512
In moments[br]of keen political struggle,
0:28:23.800,0:28:27.588
and Florence was there[br]in the 1420s and '30s,
0:28:27.880,0:28:30.599
there were[br]no holds barred.
0:28:30.880,0:28:32.598
You bribed,
0:28:32.880,0:28:35.599
you killed,[br]you intimidated
0:28:35.880,0:28:38.997
in order to win friends[br]and influence people.
0:28:41.920,0:28:45.708
On the 7th of September 1433,
0:28:46.000,0:28:49.549
Cosimo was summoned[br]to the Palace of Government.
0:28:55.520,0:28:58.637
The Albizzi were waiting for him.
0:29:01.720,0:29:06.032
They had hatched a plot[br]to wipe out the upstart Medici.
0:29:09.160,0:29:10.878
"When I arrived in the palace,
0:29:11.160,0:29:15.756
"I found a majority of my companions[br]already in the midst of a discussion.
0:29:16.040,0:29:19.749
"After some time, I was commanded[br]by the authority of the Signoria
0:29:20.040,0:29:21.917
"to go upstairs."
0:29:28.320,0:29:31.437
Cosimo was now in grave danger.
0:29:34.600,0:29:38.991
Even the family's trusted consigliere[br]had been tortured
0:29:39.280,0:29:42.192
to uncover evidence against the Medici.
0:29:48.520,0:29:51.717
Cosimo was at the mercy[br]of his enemies.
0:29:57.160,0:30:01.676
"I was taken by the captain of the guard[br]to the cell known as the Barberia."
0:30:11.560,0:30:14.438
He is imprisoned[br]in the topmost room
0:30:14.720,0:30:18.395
at the very top of the tower[br]of the Palace of Government.
0:30:20.560,0:30:24.439
He thought he'd be flung to the ground,[br]that was his first fear,
0:30:24.720,0:30:29.430
that he'd just be pushed out the window,[br]because this happened quite a lot then.
0:30:29.720,0:30:33.998
And his entire family was terrified[br]that they'd never see him again.
0:30:46.120,0:30:47.792
But in a republic,
0:30:48.080,0:30:52.198
not even the Albizzi could dictate[br]the fate of a citizen of Florence.
0:30:52.480,0:30:55.756
They had to have[br]the consent of the people.
0:30:56.680,0:30:59.797
A referendum was called[br]to decide Cosimo's future.
0:31:01.600,0:31:05.479
The Albizzi hired soldiers[br]to guard the piazza.
0:31:05.760,0:31:08.320
Cosimo's friends[br]were physically barred.
0:31:14.960,0:31:19.590
Cosimo was accused of treason[br]against the city and her people.
0:31:24.640,0:31:26.756
A vote was taken.
0:31:42.680,0:31:45.035
Cosimo was found guilty.
0:31:47.120,0:31:49.918
Now, he faced execution.
0:31:58.040,0:32:02.238
But Cosimo had friends[br]even in the enemy camp.
0:32:02.520,0:32:06.991
From his cell, he engineered[br]a secret negotiation for his life.
0:32:07.960,0:32:11.236
Money talked and Cosimo walked.
0:32:11.520,0:32:15.513
Probably the reason[br]why his life was spared
0:32:15.800,0:32:19.349
was because, as he says[br]in his own memoir of the event,
0:32:19.640,0:32:24.077
that he paid his jailers[br]a hefty bribe to let him out.
0:32:24.920,0:32:26.751
"They were not very bold.
0:32:27.040,0:32:30.476
"They could have had 10,000[br]or more for my safety."
0:32:36.880,0:32:41.396
Cosimo had survived,[br]but he and his family were now banished
0:32:41.680,0:32:44.990
and Florence was in the hands[br]of the Albizzi.
0:32:47.720,0:32:50.154
No friend of Cosimo was safe.
0:32:51.040,0:32:56.717
Brunelleschi himself was thrown into jail[br]and work on the dome was abandoned.
0:33:00.640,0:33:04.713
But life in Florence without Cosimo[br]wouldn't be easy.
0:33:05.000,0:33:10.074
The Medici bank had funded[br]most of the city's commercial activity.
0:33:10.320,0:33:14.871
Florentine business[br]soon ground to a halt.
0:33:15.240,0:33:20.155
Cosimo's supporters begged him[br]to return and retake the city by force.
0:33:20.440,0:33:24.228
But Cosimo remembered[br]his father's advice.
0:33:25.880,0:33:28.030
"Wait to be summoned".
0:33:28.320,0:33:30.436
Cosimo waited.
0:33:32.800,0:33:34.677
He knew that, without money,
0:33:34.960,0:33:39.033
the people of Florence[br]would soon tire of the Albizzi.
0:33:40.160,0:33:41.798
He was right.
0:33:42.840,0:33:46.549
Within a year, the Albizzi[br]had lost control of the city
0:33:46.840,0:33:49.559
and turned on the people themselves.
0:33:52.600,0:33:54.795
They attacked the Palace of Government
0:33:55.080,0:33:58.117
but were held off[br]by the captain of the city guard,
0:33:58.400,0:34:00.470
a loyal friend of the Medici.
0:34:33.360,0:34:37.069
But Cosimo had[br]even more powerful friends.
0:34:39.080,0:34:42.708
Agents of the pope[br]descended on Florence.
0:34:43.000,0:34:46.469
This time[br]the Albizzi had gone too far.
0:34:47.360,0:34:50.397
Cosimo's exile was now over.
0:34:54.199,0:34:59.274
"At sunset they bid us come,[br]and we set forth with a great following.
0:35:00.240,0:35:02.310
"The people crowded the piazza
0:35:02.600,0:35:06.195
"and in the palace[br]were many armed men for security."
0:35:10.000,0:35:13.754
When Cosimo was offered control[br]of the city of Florence,
0:35:14.040,0:35:16.076
he modestly accepted.
0:35:29.240,0:35:32.789
Revenge on the Albizzi[br]was selective but severe.
0:35:33.520,0:35:36.557
Cosimo preferred[br]plain and simple gestures.
0:35:36.840,0:35:41.470
A loss of good face[br]was a badge of public humiliation,
0:35:41.760,0:35:44.593
a public threat to all challengers.
0:35:47.320,0:35:49.880
The Medici were back in business.
0:35:50.160,0:35:53.197
A friend described Cosimo's new power.
0:35:54.600,0:35:57.910
"Political questions[br]are settled at his house.
0:35:58.200,0:36:00.634
"The man he chooses holds office.
0:36:00.920,0:36:04.754
"It is he who decides peace and war[br]and controls the laws.
0:36:05.040,0:36:07.918
"He is king in everything but name."
0:36:20.720,0:36:23.632
Money began to flood back[br]into Florence.
0:36:27.400,0:36:30.472
Brunelleschi led his workers[br]back to the dome.
0:36:36.080,0:36:39.197
And the Medici bank continued to grow.
0:36:41.080,0:36:44.470
It was basically under Cosimo[br]that the bank expands
0:36:44.760,0:36:47.911
from this really powerful, solid base.
0:36:48.200,0:36:51.829
But where the money was[br]was diversifying internationally,
0:36:52.120,0:36:56.477
in having branches[br]from Barcelona to Bruges to Cairo.
0:36:58.520,0:37:00.397
On behalf of the Church,
0:37:00.680,0:37:05.356
the Medici bank collected money[br]from every parish in Europe.
0:37:05.640,0:37:07.710
No one was exempt.
0:37:08.000,0:37:12.676
And Cosimo's agents threatened[br]excommunication from the Church
0:37:12.960,0:37:15.474
to those who were slow to pay up.
0:37:17.240,0:37:21.597
The pope himself opened[br]a huge credit line with the Medici,
0:37:21.880,0:37:24.394
enough to buy ten palaces.
0:37:26.200,0:37:30.990
The Medici bank was now the most[br]profitable business in Europe.
0:37:35.240,0:37:38.596
But wealth had never been[br]enough for Cosimo.
0:37:38.880,0:37:43.476
He began to commission[br]the finest craftsmen of his age.
0:37:46.320,0:37:49.357
Cosimo developed a strategy
0:37:49.640,0:37:52.313
in spending money in such a way
0:37:52.600,0:37:57.151
that wealth would be transformed[br]into prestige and power.
0:38:05.080,0:38:10.359
Cosimo de' Medici became[br]the most sought-after patron in Florence.
0:38:14.400,0:38:20.032
Cosimo spent[br]600,000 golden florins in patronage,
0:38:20.320,0:38:25.792
which is six times[br]the total state entry for one year.
0:38:27.200,0:38:30.476
Patronage is great[br]for the production of art
0:38:30.760,0:38:34.639
but totally irrational[br]from an economic point of view.
0:38:35.520,0:38:38.671
Patronage is a political strategy.
0:38:43.480,0:38:47.871
This, in my opinion, is one of the keys[br]to understand the Renaissance -
0:38:48.160,0:38:52.950
this high political competition[br]expressed through patronage
0:38:53.240,0:38:58.439
in a city where those art potentialities[br]gave birth to an art market
0:38:58.720,0:39:02.599
that has no equivalent[br]elsewhere in Italy at the time.
0:39:17.800,0:39:21.031
Why the artist needs[br]the patron is very simple -
0:39:21.320,0:39:26.713
there are no public art markets[br]in the Renaissance as we have today.
0:39:27.640,0:39:30.791
You didn't make art[br]and then put it in the shop window
0:39:31.080,0:39:32.877
and wait for someone to buy it.
0:39:33.160,0:39:36.072
You only made art[br]when somebody commissioned it from you
0:39:36.360,0:39:38.954
and paid you for it,[br]more or less in advance.
0:39:42.200,0:39:46.432
But sometimes, as Cosimo discovered,
0:39:46.720,0:39:50.110
payment alone didn't guarantee results.
0:39:51.600,0:39:57.118
He had particular problems with[br]the wayward monk and artist Filippo Lippi.
0:39:58.040,0:40:01.271
Lippi was put into the monastery[br]because he was an orphan,
0:40:01.560,0:40:05.951
not because he asked to go,[br]and he really wasn't suited for that life.
0:40:06.240,0:40:09.994
He was always breaking out and chasing[br]after women and this sort of thing.
0:40:12.200,0:40:15.033
One of the things[br]that Cosimo understood
0:40:15.320,0:40:18.949
is that you get better work[br]out of people when people are happy.
0:40:20.080,0:40:24.870
So, rather than yelling at them[br]and being imperious and demanding
0:40:25.160,0:40:28.789
and holding them to the letter[br]of every little contract,
0:40:29.080,0:40:32.231
you might get better work[br]and more reliable work
0:40:32.520,0:40:34.829
if you treated them like human beings
0:40:35.120,0:40:38.032
who have other needs[br]and have another life.
0:40:39.120,0:40:40.758
Cosimo didn't care.
0:40:41.040,0:40:44.635
"If you show up for work and you do[br]what we've commissioned you to do,
0:40:44.920,0:40:47.798
"you can do anything you want[br]on your own time."
0:40:50.400,0:40:55.269
Cosimo tolerated his temperamental[br]artists because of their talent,
0:40:55.560,0:40:58.950
and their talents[br]were now widely recognized.
0:41:06.200,0:41:09.715
You have to be difficult[br]as an artist in these times
0:41:10.000,0:41:12.912
because you are under a lot of pressure.
0:41:13.200,0:41:17.318
Seventy percent of Renaissance artists[br]were active in Florence at the time.
0:41:17.600,0:41:20.956
Though there are a lot of patrons[br]and a lot of money available,
0:41:21.240,0:41:24.789
not all of the projects would grant[br]the same kind of dignity
0:41:25.080,0:41:27.435
and visibility to the artist
0:41:27.720,0:41:30.234
who has to self-promote himself
0:41:30.480,0:41:35.793
and who has to achieve[br]certain standards of credibility and fame
0:41:36.080,0:41:40.471
in order to be able to be put[br]in charge of the best projects.
0:41:44.280,0:41:49.593
The man working on the best project[br]in Florence was Filippo Brunelleschi
0:41:49.880,0:41:54.237
and he continued to break boundaries[br]of conventional understanding.
0:41:54.520,0:41:58.513
He simply saw the world[br]as no other man had.
0:41:58.800,0:42:03.555
In 1434,[br]Brunelleschi unveiled a new technique
0:42:03.840,0:42:06.912
that radically changed Western art.
0:42:07.200,0:42:09.873
He invented perspective.
0:42:10.760,0:42:13.911
Brunelleschi developed[br]linear perspective
0:42:14.200,0:42:16.395
which allowed pictures to create
0:42:16.680,0:42:19.877
the convincing illusion[br]of a three-dimensional space
0:42:20.160,0:42:23.277
where Gothic art is primarily flat
0:42:23.560,0:42:30.272
to represent objects[br]as three-dimensional, rounded, solid forms
0:42:30.560,0:42:33.836
imitating the appearance[br]of the natural world.
0:42:36.040,0:42:39.828
Perspective revolutionizes everything.[br]It revolutionizes art.
0:42:40.120,0:42:43.271
But then, of course,[br]it revolutionizes how we see, completely.
0:42:43.560,0:42:45.516
It creates a modern way of looking.
0:42:45.800,0:42:47.756
But it begins in the 15th century
0:42:48.040,0:42:51.350
and it very much begins under Cosimo,[br]with Brunelleschi.
0:42:54.680,0:42:58.832
Cosimo had broadened his circle[br]of radical friends.
0:42:59.120,0:43:02.430
Amongst his favorites[br]was a notorious sculptor...
0:43:03.000,0:43:04.956
Donatello.
0:43:05.240,0:43:08.312
Cosimo had a kind offondness[br]for Donatello.
0:43:08.600,0:43:11.876
They really were very close friends.[br]He used him for a lot ofprojects.
0:43:12.160,0:43:16.039
But it was closer than that.[br]It was really a kind of personal loyalty.
0:43:20.720,0:43:26.033
But Donatello's talent came at a price...[br]his violent temper.
0:43:26.320,0:43:28.959
He was known to smash[br]his own creations
0:43:29.240,0:43:33.518
rather than to sell[br]to an unappreciative client.
0:43:33.800,0:43:37.509
There were incidents where Donatello[br]would be snubbed by other people
0:43:37.800,0:43:39.836
or snide remarks would be made.
0:43:40.120,0:43:45.478
And Cosimo went out of his way to show[br]that he was still friends with Donatello
0:43:45.760,0:43:50.595
and that he didn't care about[br]these sorts of minor personal matters,
0:43:50.880,0:43:55.317
that this was basically[br]an honest, upright, talented individual
0:43:55.600,0:43:59.036
who deserved to be treated[br]with the utmost respect.
0:44:02.160,0:44:06.472
Cosimo was one of the few friends[br]Donatello trusted,
0:44:06.760,0:44:11.151
and Cosimo had commissioned[br]a truly radical work of art.
0:44:14.760,0:44:20.278
Donatello's David was one[br]of the most revolutionary works of art
0:44:20.560,0:44:25.270
in the 15th century because it was[br]the first time since the ancient Romans
0:44:25.560,0:44:30.918
that anyone had tried to make[br]a freestanding bronze sculpture
0:44:31.200,0:44:33.395
of a nude man.
0:44:36.200,0:44:39.670
The helmet that's on the ground[br]that David is standing on,
0:44:39.960,0:44:42.952
with Goliath's head in it[br]as a symbol of victory,
0:44:43.240,0:44:45.959
has a long feather[br]attached to the helmet
0:44:46.240,0:44:49.915
that goes all the way up[br]the thigh of the David,
0:44:50.200,0:44:53.909
and you can read that[br]as a kind of erotic caress.
0:44:59.720,0:45:05.477
Such a sensual art was frowned upon[br]by many in Florence.
0:45:07.120,0:45:10.032
Donatello's David[br]is on the edge
0:45:10.320,0:45:14.199
because Florence, more than[br]any other city of the Renaissance,
0:45:14.480,0:45:18.393
was associated to "sodomia,"[br]sodomy and homosexuality.
0:45:18.680,0:45:25.119
There have been 14,000 people tried by[br]the Florentine tribunal in the 15th century
0:45:25.400,0:45:27.789
for having committed the crime of sodomy.
0:45:28.080,0:45:32.039
So he was really playing[br]with something very dangerous.
0:45:32.320,0:45:37.519
But he was willing to take more risk[br]than some of his contemporaries.
0:45:39.400,0:45:44.474
Cosimo gives a space[br]to artists and writers to develop new ideas
0:45:44.720,0:45:48.190
that are outside the orthodoxy[br]of the Catholic Church.
0:45:48.480,0:45:50.357
Art is really where it's happening.
0:45:50.640,0:45:52.870
Art and sculpture and architecture
0:45:53.160,0:45:57.153
are pushing forward the boundaries[br]of what it's possible to actually do.
0:45:59.360,0:46:03.876
No one in Florence was taking[br]more risks than Brunelleschi.
0:46:04.160,0:46:08.153
His magnificent dome[br]was rising even higher.
0:46:08.440,0:46:12.638
But with each new brick,[br]the angle of the dome increased.
0:46:15.920,0:46:19.230
This was the critical phase[br]of Brunelleschi's design.
0:46:21.680,0:46:25.468
One of the major problems[br]Brunelleschi faced in building the dome,
0:46:25.760,0:46:28.672
and particularly[br]when he got to the upper reaches,
0:46:28.960,0:46:32.270
was how he could prevent[br]the bricks from falling inwards.
0:46:32.560,0:46:36.678
What Brunelleschi did was to insert[br]bands of vertical brickwork
0:46:36.960,0:46:40.999
to tie the horizontal courses[br]to these vertical ones,
0:46:41.280,0:46:45.273
which were keyed to courses[br]five, six rows beneath that
0:46:45.560,0:46:47.596
where the mortar had dried.
0:46:50.600,0:46:55.754
Brunelleschi's herringbone design[br]was untried and untested.
0:46:56.040,0:47:00.989
The slightest miscalculation[br]could result in catastrophic failure.
0:47:05.440,0:47:10.036
It would have been a disaster,[br]but I would say not as much a disaster
0:47:10.320,0:47:13.710
in terms of not completing[br]an architectural project,
0:47:14.000,0:47:17.834
but a disaster[br]in failing in producing
0:47:18.120,0:47:22.193
the most grandiose symbol[br]of Florentine pride ever.
0:47:30.240,0:47:34.756
From his patrons to his workers,[br]all looked on in disbelief.
0:47:35.800,0:47:39.349
Brunelleschi had to prove[br]that he was right.
0:47:40.440,0:47:43.079
Brunelleschi was[br]a very hands-on person.
0:47:43.360,0:47:46.352
Not only did he inspect[br]many of the bricks that were used
0:47:46.640,0:47:49.916
and sent consignments back[br]if they weren't quite up to snuff,
0:47:50.200,0:47:52.475
he also actually laid[br]some bricks himself.
0:48:03.600,0:48:08.196
The workers weren't certain at all[br]that this was a viable proposition
0:48:08.480,0:48:11.233
to lay these[br]on an inward-curving vault,
0:48:11.520,0:48:15.195
and so he himself went up[br]and practiced what he preached.
0:48:46.880,0:48:51.192
The genius of Brunelleschi[br]had defied all doubt and danger.
0:48:52.760,0:48:57.993
And in 1436, Brunelleschi, who has[br]been keeping the faith all this time
0:48:58.280,0:49:01.511
that he could build that dome[br]without aid of scaffolding
0:49:01.800,0:49:03.677
or any other visible support,
0:49:03.960,0:49:06.872
has brought, as he writes[br]in a little poem he wrote,
0:49:07.160,0:49:08.957
"this miracle to pass."
0:49:21.200,0:49:26.399
This great achievement had mirrored[br]the rise of the city's most powerful family
0:49:27.120,0:49:31.636
and now it towered majestically[br]over the city of Florence,
0:49:31.920,0:49:36.436
the greatest architectural feat[br]in the Western world.
0:49:44.080,0:49:47.675
Cosimo basked[br]in the dome's reflected glory,
0:49:47.960,0:49:51.714
inviting the pope himself[br]to conduct the consecration.
0:50:00.760,0:50:03.558
If Cosimo could have looked[br]into the future,
0:50:03.840,0:50:06.673
he would have seen[br]the story of the Renaissance
0:50:06.960,0:50:10.111
unfold on the ceiling of the dome itself.
0:50:14.880,0:50:20.876
Weighing 37,000 tons and using[br]more than four million bricks,
0:50:21.160,0:50:26.439
Brunelleschi's dome was proof that man[br]could conquer the seemingly impossible.
0:50:30.680,0:50:33.592
A friend of Cosimo's wrote of its impact.
0:50:35.600,0:50:37.318
"It touches the skies
0:50:38.160,0:50:42.199
"and casts its shadow[br]over the whole of Tuscany."
0:50:55.760,0:50:59.036
Cosimo was quick[br]to capitalize on the triumph.
0:50:59.320,0:51:02.278
He planned a dazzling[br]international spectacle...
0:51:02.560,0:51:04.915
the Council of Florence.
0:51:05.680,0:51:09.514
It would be a global showcase[br]for the magnificent new dome
0:51:09.800,0:51:13.076
and a celebration[br]of Florentine art and culture
0:51:13.360,0:51:16.397
which had blossomed[br]under Cosimo de' Medici.
0:51:19.440,0:51:23.752
The Council brought together[br]the greatest mix of thinkers, artists,
0:51:24.040,0:51:28.556
merchants and churchmen[br]that the world had ever seen.
0:51:30.160,0:51:33.914
News quickly spread[br]of the birth of a new Rome
0:51:34.200,0:51:36.794
on the banks of the River Arno.
0:51:37.880,0:51:40.075
In the streets and in the piazzas,
0:51:40.360,0:51:43.432
the cultures of East and West[br]were brought together
0:51:43.720,0:51:47.713
and bankrolling it all[br]was Cosimo de' Medici.
0:51:49.360,0:51:51.476
The most interesting thing he does
0:51:51.760,0:51:55.799
is pay all the travel expenses[br]of all the people from exotic places,
0:51:56.080,0:51:58.469
like India and Ethiopia.
0:51:58.760,0:52:02.469
Messengers are sent out to call people[br]from these far-distant lands
0:52:02.760,0:52:05.399
which are literally mythic[br]to the Florentines.
0:52:05.680,0:52:08.194
They're the stuff of legend.
0:52:11.160,0:52:16.075
Cosimo's guests gazed in wonder[br]at an explosion of art and culture
0:52:16.360,0:52:20.239
in the shadow of Brunelleschi's dome.
0:52:20.520,0:52:23.990
Cosimo was thrilled.[br]He set up public lectures on Plato.
0:52:24.280,0:52:26.316
It was just the best thing possible.
0:52:26.600,0:52:30.149
And, of course, it also gave him[br]this great political cachet.
0:52:30.440,0:52:33.318
It was the culmination[br]of everything he'd ever wanted.
0:52:38.480,0:52:42.553
Cosimo is now the great intercessor[br]for the Florentine people.
0:52:42.840,0:52:47.516
He truly is their patron,[br]their godfather, in every sense.
0:53:25.360,0:53:29.399
Cosimo had overseen[br]the triumph of his city
0:53:29.680,0:53:34.595
but at heart the godfather of Florence[br]remained a cautious man.
0:53:37.320,0:53:39.959
"I know the humors of my city.
0:53:40.240,0:53:44.233
"Before 50 years have passed,[br]we shall be expelled.
0:53:44.520,0:53:47.876
"But my buildings will remain."
0:53:55.760,0:53:57.478
In his final years,
0:53:57.760,0:54:03.198
he baptized and then buried[br]both a son and a grandson.
0:54:06.200,0:54:09.829
On Cosimo's death, in 1464,
0:54:10.120,0:54:14.557
the city of Florence declared him[br]Pater Patriae...
0:54:14.840,0:54:17.434
Father of the Fatherland.
0:54:18.280,0:54:21.875
But who was left to lead the Medici?
0:54:22.160,0:54:28.190
Who would fill the shoes[br]of the godfather of the Renaissance?