Season 1

Florence, 1429. Giovanni de' Medici is a rich banker who also represents one of the most important political forces of Florence's Signoria. He has a plan to increase his family's power by making an agreement with the Church of Rome. The election of a new Pope is about to take place and Giovanni sends his sons Cosimo and Lorenzo to Rome in order to encourage the election of a Pope close to his family. In Rome, Cosimo, fascinated by the beauty of ancient architecture and art, meets Donatello and one of his models Bianca. Cosimo falls in love with her but is then forced to leave her and marry Contessina de Bardi, a political marriage arranged by Giovanni and Contessina's father. The Medici's candidate gets elected, which assures the bank of the Medici of an unparalleled economic power. Twenty years later, Giovanni is mysteriously murdered and Cosimo and Lorenzo try secretly to investigate his death. Meanwhile, the political situation in the city is troubled by plots against the Medici family's power, and their vision of the future of Florence - which will then lead to the Renaissance - is in danger. Cosimo's dream is to complete the Duomo of Florence, but no architect seems to have a feasible solution due to the shape of the base created for the cathedral. Finally, Filippo Brunelleschi introduces himself to Cosimo and shows him plans for the dome. Cosimo decides to trust Brunelleschi and the construction of the cathedral starts, bringing jobs and people to Florence. Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding the death of Giovanni thickens and Rinaldo Albizzi, Cosimo's main opponent in the Signoria, tries to block the construction and to incite the people to rise up against the Medicis.

Season 2

Twenty years have passed since the events of the first season. Piero, Cosimo's son, and his wife Lucrezia are now at the head of the family. The power of the Medici has consolidated over time, but an assassination attempt on Piero brings to light his mismanagement of the family bank. The Sforza family are the largest debtors of the bank, but come to an agreement with Piero to erase it. The solution proposed by Sforza would also bring about the invasion of Florence. To prevent this, Piero's son Lorenzo takes over the role of his father both in the government of the Signoria and as head of the family. Although he has a relationship with a married woman, Lucrezia Donati, Lorenzo accepts marriage to a religious Roman noblewoman, Clarice Orsini (who initially wanted to be a nun but is obliged to give up her dream for the marriage). Their marriage goes through a turbulent time as their interests differ, but he soon falls in love with her and they start living happily. His brother Giuliano and his dear friend Sandro Botticelli both meet and fall in love with Simonetta, although in different ways. Botticelli's interest is an artistic one and leads to the painting of Venus and Mars in which Simonetta is represented alongside Giuliano. The Pazzi family, led by Jacopo Pazzi and his nephew Francesco, join forces with the Pope to increase the Church's control of nearby territories and mines, in opposition to the Medici's policy. This argument will eventually lead to a conspiracy against Lorenzo in an attempt to put an end to his power and his dream of a peaceful and culturally alive Florence.

Season 3

This season starts immediately after the previous one. With his brother's death and the counsel of his new ruthless advisor Bruno Bernardi, Lorenzo has grown into a cruel determined man and vows revenge. He soon has three children with Clarice (and eventually a miscarried child as well that leads to Clarice's death), and they also raise Giulio (Giuliano's illegitimate son) after his father's death. Following the breakdown of the Pazzi conspiracy, Lorenzo must still face a military coalition from the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples, with the Papal Army led by the Pope's ambitious nephew, Girolamo Riario. Lorenzo undertakes a diplomatic journey to Naples and succeeds in negotiating a separate peace. However, Father Girolamo Savonarola gradually challenges the Medici for power in Florence. Season 3 focuses on how Lorenzo would do anything, to any extent for his family and his legacy.

Season 1: Masters of Florence

Seasons 2–3: The Magnificent

Appearances

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".^[10]

Locations

Several noticeable locations are used throughout the series, in addition to sets and sound stages:

• Bracciano Castle: The principal courtyards and staircases of the Orsini-Odescalchi castle in Bracciano serve as streets in Florence, a palace in Rome, and the ancestral home of Contessina de' Bardi. The central courtyard in the Castle features a particularly recognisable staircase with the sculpture of a bear; this staircase becomes the principal entrance of the Medici home in Florence with the addition of the Medici Coat of Arms.^[11]
• 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, while 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.^[12]

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 which occur in the mid-1430s. For example, the Medici Palazzo was built in 1440s–1480s and the Benozzo Gozzoli frescoes of Magi Chapel shown in the Cosimo study were executed in 1459–61. The Lorenzo rooms are decorated with the Giulio Romano fresco "Mars and Venus" which was painted in the 1520s in Palazzo Te in Mantova. During the episode exile in Venice, the church of Santa Maria della Salute built in the 1630s is repeatedly shown as part of the Venice city landscape. Villa Medici contains "Fortitude and Temperance with Six Antique Heroes" by Perugino, painted in 1497.

• Castle of Santa Severa is Cardinal Baldassarre Cossa's Palace.^[13]
• 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; Cosimo meets Donatello along the Canopus.
• Borgo di Rota, a frazione of Tolfa, is the set for Francesco Sforza's army camp and the village where Lorenzo meets mercenary Ferzetti (played by Alessandro Cremona).^[14]
• Pienza: used as the Palazzo Medici, the streets of Florence, and the background for Cosimo's wedding.
• Montepulciano: Several scenes are filmed outside the Duomo using the unfinished façade of the cathedral as a backdrop. These scenes often 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.

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 1920×1080.

Two audio tracks were broadcast: Rai TV gave satellite and terrestrial viewers the option to watch the series in Italian or English.^[15]

Other media

On 16 October 2018, a novelisation of the events told in the second season titled I Medici - Lorenzo il Magnifico was published in Italy by Michele Gazo.

Track listing

Awards