A documentary can typically inform a viewer extra concerning the time it was made than the one it recounts. This holds very true for movies concerning the Renaissance, which has been so meticulously coated that new revelations are farther and fewer between. The three-part BBC docuseries Renaissance: The Blood and the Magnificence, at present airing and streaming in america through PBS, is the latest entry on this custom. It may not maintain something new for artwork historical past fans, however it’s a enjoyable primer for neophytes, and can certainly make a superb addition to the canon of college educational supplies. (I imply this as a praise.)
The best affect on this latest spin on the Renaissance is clearly Sport of Thrones, beginning with the violence-tinged title. There’s a heavy emphasis on the political intrigues of Florence and Rome, particularly how the work of the interval’s most famed artists intertwined with the altering fortunes of main gamers just like the Medici dynasty and the emotions of the time. Michelangelo’s early sculpture “Bacchus” (1496–97), for example, was commissioned by a cardinal however rejected upon completion as a result of its portrayal of the god’s drunken debauchery was just too attractive for the instances. The miniseries additionally adopts the same storytelling mode to the favored fantasy present, portraying broader turns in society by means of the views of people, with Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo positioned as main characters (in one other robust tie to Sport of Thrones, the final is performed by the esteemed Charles Dance).
Movie nonetheless from Renaissance: The Blood and the Magnificence (2025) with Raphael (Joshua Duffy)
Whereas the collection is filled with reenactment — there’s extra of it than main visible sources, and presumably even footage of speaking heads — Michelangelo is the one historic character to talk on to the viewers. He recounts being handed from one patron to a different, attempting to maintain his head down below the reactionary anti-“vanities” rule of the priest Girolamo Savonarola, and feuds with friends. The excellence between his private confessions, that are drawn from his precise writings, and the knowledgeable commentary supplies among the collection’s most fascinating friction. As an illustration, at the moment’s historians state with confidence that Michelangelo was queer, however he himself says nothing about this within the collection as a result of he doesn’t determine as such in his private writings. Michelangelo is thus not an authoritative or wholly dependable narrator, however moderately a subjective voice who speaks fully from his personal time.
It’s inescapable to depart loads out when condensing practically a century of historical past into three hours, however it’s nonetheless a pity. The rise and fall of Savonarola, who briefly seized management of Florence, turns into nearly an apart, and whereas the documentary acknowledges Michelangelo’s queerness, it doesn’t delve deeply into how we’ve ascertained it (equivalent to his many romantic poems addressed to males). Lots of the pleasures of studying concerning the previous come from these smaller particulars moderately than the broader occasions, and it frequently frustrates me to see mainstream documentaries elide them. That is what colours historical past! To proceed the analogy, it’s additionally why everybody beloved the early, character-driven seasons of Sport of Thrones and hated the later plot-driven seasons (effectively, that and since these plotlines had been very silly).
Nonetheless, it’s good to see a historic documentary that emphasizes the materialist side of inventive creation. Works just like the “Mona Lisa” (1503) and “Pietà” (1498–99) didn’t emerge merely from these artists’ brilliance, however as particular reactions to the occasions of historical past and the calls for of their patrons. It deepens one’s appreciation of the Sistine Chapel fresco to know not simply that some man named Michelangelo painted it, however that it was commissioned by Julius II, the “warrior pope” who wished to immortalize his title, and that the artist needed to restart early on as a result of he didn’t combine the plaster accurately and mildew grew on it. The artwork that endures has lived by means of among the most mundane issues you may think about.
Movie nonetheless from Renaissance: The Blood and the Magnificence (2025) with Charles Dance as older Michaelangelo
Movie nonetheless from Renaissance: The Blood and the Magnificence (2025) that includes Leonardo da Vinci (Jonny Glynn)
Renaissance: The Blood and the Magnificence (2025) is airing new episodes Tuesdays by means of July 22 on PBS.
