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Medici: Masters of Florence

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Genre
  
Historical fiction

Country of origin
  
Italy United Kingdom

Network
  
Rai 1

8.1/10
IMDb

Composer(s)
  
Paolo Buonvino

First episode date
  
18 October 2016

Language
  
English

Medici: Masters of Florence medicimastersofflorencecomwpcontentuploads201

Created by
  
Frank Spotnitz Nicholas Meyer

Starring
  
Richard Madden Stuart Martin Annabel Scholey Guido Caprino Alessandro Sperduti Ken Bones Lex Shrapnel Daniel Caltagirone Valentina Bellè Alessandro Preziosi Eugenio Franceschini Sarah Felberbaum Miriam Leone Michael Schermi Tatjana Nardone Valentina Cervi Brian Cox Dustin Hoffman

Opening theme
  
Renaissance (From "Medici: Masters of Florence") by Paolo Buonvino & Skin

Cast
  
Richard Madden, Dustin Hoffman, Annabel Scholey, Sarah Felberbaum, Stuart Martin

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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 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. The first season consists of 8 episodes.

Contents

The show has been renewed 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. Netflix carries the show in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and India.

Medici masters of florence makes its debut


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 inherited the Bank of Medici from his father Giovanni, who has been mysteriously poisoned. Through various flashbacks (20 years prior), 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 stated, "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 Cosimo, is whether his father was murdered".

Main

  • Richard Madden as Cosimo de' Medici: Head of the Medici family after his father's death
  • Stuart Martin as Lorenzo de' Medici: Cosimo's brother
  • Annabel Scholey as Contessina de' Bardi: Cosimo's wife
  • Guido Caprino as Marco Bello: Cosimo's loyal friend and ally
  • Alessandro Sperduti as Piero de' Medici: Cosimo's son
  • Ken Bones as Ugo Bencini: Administrator of the Medici Bank
  • Lex Shrapnel as Rinaldo degli Albizzi: Cosimo's enemy
  • Daniel Caltagirone as Andrea Pazzi: A powerful member of the Signoria
  • Valentina Bellè as Lucrezia Tornabuoni: Piero's wife
  • Alessandro Preziosi as Filippo Brunelleschi
  • Eugenio Franceschini as Ormanno Albizzi: Rinaldo and Alessandra's son
  • Sarah Felberbaum as Maddalena: Cosimo's lover in Venice and Florence
  • Miriam Leone as Bianca: Cosimo's lover in Rome
  • Michael Schermi as Ricciardo: A common man of Florence, loyal to Cosimo
  • Tatjana Inez Nardone as Emilia: Contessina's maid
  • Valentina Cervi as Alessandra Albizzi: Rinaldo's wife
  • Brian Cox as Bernardo Guadagni: Officer of the Signoria
  • Dustin Hoffman as Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici: Cosimo and Lorenzo's father

    • Guest Cast

  • David Bradley as Alessandro Bardi: Contessina's father
  • Frances Barber as Piccarda Bueri: Cosimo and Lorenzo's mother
  • Luigi Diberti as Messer Cavalcanti
  • Ben Starr as Donatello
  • David Bamber as Pope Eugene IV
  • Steven Waddington as Cossa
  • Alberto Sette as Corona

    • 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.

    Locations

    Apart from sets and sound stages, several noticeable locations are used 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.

    • The creators took significant liberties with sets often showing interior decorations, works of art and exterior landscapes that were created many years after the events described in the series that occur in mid-1430s. For example, the Medici Palazzo was built in 1440s-1480s and the Benozzo Gozzoli frescoes of Magi Chapel that are shown in the Cosimo study were executed by in 1459-1461. The Lorenzo rooms are decorated with Giulio Romano fresco "Mars and Venus" which was painted in 1520s in Palazzo Te in Mantova. During exile in Venice the church of Santa Maria della Salute built in 1630's is repeatedly shown as part of Venice city landscape. Villa Medici contains work by Perugino "Fortitude and Temperance with Six Antique Heroes" painted in 1497.

  • Castle of Santa Severa is Cardinal Baldassarre Cossa's Palace.
  • The medieval oldtown of Viterbo and its Palazzo dei Papi are the set for late medieval Rome.
  • Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli is another set for Rome: along the Canopus Cosimo meets Donatello.
  • Borgo di Rota, a frazione of Tolfa, is the set for Francesco Sforza's army camp, and the village where Lorenzo meets the mercenary Ferzetti.
  • Pienza, as the Palazzo Medici, streets of Florence and background for Cosimo's wedding.
  • Montepulciano, outside the Duomo there are several scenes filmed using the unfinished façade of the cathedral as a backdrop. These scenes often (and incorrectly) show the Duomo of Florence rising in the background to the north. The Communal Palace, also in Piazza Grande is part of several scenes as is the Church of San Biagio.

    • References

    Medici: Masters of Florence Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA