Medici: Masters of Florence

Medici: Masters of Florence is a television drama series about the Medici dynasty, set in 15th century Florence, starring Dustin Hoffman as Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, Richard Madden as Cosimo de' Medici, and Stuart Martin as Lorenzo de' Medici (The Elder). The series was co-created by Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files and The Man in the High Castle) and Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (The Pillars of the Earth) is set to direct all eight episodes. Episodes 1 and 2 aired on Rai 1 (Italian TV) on 18 October 2016. According to Italian ratings compiler Auditel, it attracted a record 7.6 million viewers.^[1] The first season will consist of 8 episodes, to be shown in Italy; two episodes at a time, on Tuesdays, for 4 weeks.

The show has been commissioned for a second season, and is broadcast in several countries around the world; in France on SFR's premium SVOD service Zive, and Sky 1 in Germany.^[2] Netflix will carry the show in the US,Canada, the UK, Ireland and India.^[3]

Plot

The series is set in the 15th century Florence, the protagonist is Cosimo the Elder, who was elected head of the Florentine Republic in 1434. Cosimo has also inherited the Banco Medici by his father Giovanni, who is portrayed as having been mysteriously poisoned. With various flash back (20 years ago), we are introduced to a Florence at the time of Giovanni and his relationship with his sons Cosimo and Lorenzo.

Historical Accuracy

During an interview at the Roma Fest panel in 2015, Spotnitz states, "the season will be more thriller than historical saga . . . we begin the show with a 'what if' because we don't know how Giovanni de' Medici died. One of the questions that haunts [Original Sin's] Cosimo, is whether his father was murdered".^[4] According to one viewer on imdb's Message Board, "The directors said they wanted to tell the story of the Medici family but they were very upfront about the fact that they taken some artistic license with the show" and there was "a message stating as much after the episode with the credits."

According to another viewer, in the same imdb thread on Historical Accuracy (an Italian who studied the history of Medici family), "the authors go too far with fantasy, costumes, story line, real life of women in this period, ect. -- most notably with a scene where Cosimo and his brother Lorenzo play a sort of American football with Rinaldo Albizi (a real enemy of the family) and other young men in the front of Saint Lorenzo church."

"You must see the series like a work of fantasy," they continue, "enjoy it -- but for real history go to your book or wikipedia".

Cast

• Dustin Hoffman as Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici
• Richard Madden as Cosimo de' Medici 'the Elder'
• Stuart Martin as Lorenzo de' Medici 'the Elder'
• Alessandro Sperduti as Piero de' Medici 'the Gouty'
• Annabel Scholey as Contessina de' Bardi
• Valentina Bellè as Lucrezia Tornabuoni
• Ken Bones as Ugo Bencini
• Brian Cox as Guadagni
• Lex Shrapnel as Rinaldo Albizzi
• Tatjana Inez Nardone as Emilia

Guest Roles

• David Bradley as Bardi
• Luigi Diberti as Messer Cavalcanti
• Ben Starr as Donatello
• David Bamber as Pope Eugenius IV
• Steven Waddington as Cossa

Technical Details

Medici: Masters of Florence was originated in 4k video and broadcast in this format on the free Italian Satellite service Tivu whilst on the Italian Digital Terrestrial service DVB-T2 it was broadcast in Full-HD 1920x1080.

Two soundtracks were transmitted: — Rai TV gave satellite and terrestrial decoder viewers the option to watch it in Italian or English.^[5]

Locations

Apart from sets and sound stages, two noticable locations are used repeatedly throughout the series:

• Bracciano Castle The principal courtyards and staircases of the Orsini / Odescalchi castle in Bracciano double as streets in Florence, a palace in Rome and the ancestral home of Contessina de' Bardi. The central courtyard in the Castle which features a particularly recognisable staircase with the sculpture of a bear, and with the addition of the Medici Coat of Arms, this staircase becomes the principal entrance of the Medici home in Florence.
• The Villa Farnese in Caprarola and its gardens. The frescoed, and ring-vaulted internal terrace-courtyard of Villa Caprarola doubles as a Medici villa in the series, whilst an un-frescoed terrace is used as a Vatican property in Rome. The Caprarola secret gardens with their unique fountains are used to represent the Vatican Gardens.

Episodes

References

External links

• Medici: Masters of Florence at the Internet Movie Database
• Richard Madden, Italy & the 'Medici'. Show Patrol. 17 November 2015.
• Trailer on Youtube (English with French Subtitles). Posted 8 October 2016.
• Medici: Masters of Florence Dedicated Website