Synopsis
In Botticelli, Florence and the Medici, dreamlike re-enactments, spell-binding images of the city and filmed footage of amazing works of art, are intertwined with the voices of leading experts, scholars, and international art historians as they narrate the splendor and contradictions of the Florence of Lorenzo de 'Medici, to discover one of the most representative artists of the Italian Renaissance. With Lorenzo the Magnificent, the equivalence between Art & Power manifested itself in all economic, political and social spheres and was expressed in paintings, frescoes, palaces, churches and chapels. The amazing artists busy in their workshops in the heart of the city turned Florence into an open-air museum: these are the years of the Florentine Spring, the discovery of America, disputes with the Pope, and conflicts between the great families of bankers and merchants. At the end of the Fifteenth Century, Florence was comparable to New York in the Eighties, full of economic and cultural expansion, with trade and business dealings going on everywhere. This documentary feature will enable us to rediscover that legendary period and see it through the eyes of Botticelli, whose work is representative of those years, and expresses the character of his fellow-citizens and their passion for work, their extreme competitiveness and resourcefulness, their capacity to build the right social relationships and their ability to always keep public and private clients satisfied.
Botticelli's art, from the marvellous Madonnas to the paintings of the men responsible for the Pazzi Conspiracy who were executed and hanged outside the Dogana Gate at the Palazzo Vecchio, from Dante's Inferno to the Pietà, from the ancient gods of Greek mythology to the apocalyptic God of Savonarola, will all be investigated through the knowledgeable commentary of experts: Alessandro Cecchi, Director of Casa Buonarroti Foundation in Florence; Ana Debenedetti, Curator of Paintings at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; Franco Cardini, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Florence; Jonathan Nelson, Professor of Art History at the Syracuse University in Florence; Marco Ciatti, Superintendent of Opificio delle pietre dure (Workshop of Semi-Precious Stones) in Florence; Kate Bryan, Art historian; Chiara Cappelletto, Associated Professor of Aesthetics at the Department of Philosophy, University of Milan; Edward Buchanan, Sansovino 6 Creative Director.