Status: Completed
Creator(s): Frank Spotnitz, Nicholas Meyer
Format: 8x50min
Genre: Murder Mystery, Family Saga, Political Thriller, Period Drama
Main Actors: Richard Madden, Dustin Hoffman
Florence, 1429. Giovanni de’ Medici, thanks to a contract stipulated with the Papacy twenty years before, has transformed his family bank into an unprecedented economic force. But then, Giovanni is mysteriously murdered, and his sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo, are forced to face a range of enemies plotting to oust the Medici from power. First in line is Rinaldo Albizzi, head of the faction of nobles, who stands opposed not only to the rise of the middle class, favored by the Medici, but also to Cosimo’s vision for the city, including his patronage of magnificent works of art and architecture by such great artists as Donatello and Brunelleschi.
Also in the Medici family keeping the peace is not an easy task. Lorenzo and Cosimo are nearly opposite in temperament, and Cosimo’s marriage to Contessina de Bardi – formed as a political alliance but then matured into a formidable partnership – will be severely strained during his exile in Venice. It is there that Cosimo takes up with Maddalena, a beautiful slave who becomes his mistress and the mother of his illegitimate son.
In the meantime, the mystery of who killed Giovanni continues to lurk behind the scenes, and a new arch-enemy appears on the horizon in the person of the rival banker Pazzi. All the while, the onerous guilt of the compromises made and the evil done for the good of the family weighs heavily on Cosimo’s soul. He must decide how far he is willing to go to preserve his vision of Florence – a vision we now know as the Renaissance.
CAST
Actors: Richard Madden, Dustin Hoffman, Annabel Scholey, Stuart Martin, Brian Cox, David Bradley
CREW
Creator(s): Frank Spotnitz, Nicholas Meyer
Producers: Frank Spotnitz, Luca Bernabei, Matilde Bernabei
Director(s): Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Screenplay: Frank Spotnitz, Nicholas Meyer
Directors of Photography: Vittorio Omodei Zorini
Editing: Marta Evry, Timothy Murrell, Lorenzo Fanfani
Original Music: Paolo Buonvino
Set Design: Francesco Frigeri
Costume Supervisors: Alessandro Lai
Genre: Murder Mystery, Family Saga, Political Thriller, Period Drama
Production Company: Lux Vide SPA, Big Light Production Ltd, Wild Bunch
Production Date: 2016
Date of First Broadcast: Monday, October 17, 2016
Broadcaster(s): Rai (Italy)
Country of Origin: Italy
Language: English, British
Format: 8x50min