Forging the Renaissance

Available for over a year

Jerry Brotton is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and wants us to take a fresh look at a period in European history usually associated with beauty, harmony and art. His approach contains a health warning: the Renaissance was a lot darker and violent than many of us have imagined. Retracing the life of Benvenuto Cellini through his shocking autobiography, Jerry reveals how this was a time of conflict as well as beauty, creativity as well as tyranny. Back in Florence, Cellini works for Cosimo de’ Medici. He makes his greatest work, a huge bronze statue of Perseus beheading Medusa. It becomes a defining image of the Renaissance and cements Cellini’s reputation. Reader Marco Gambino Producer Mark Rickards A Whistledown Scotland Production