A “New Athens” or a “New Jerusalem”?

Tuesday 23rd June at 18:00

Florentines during the Renaissance oscillated between two extremes: fascination with the aesthetics of pagan antiquity and deep-seated Christian spirituality. Themes from Greek mythology alternated with those from the Bible; sculpture and painting celebrated both the nude human form, as well as devout representations of the Holy Family. Encouraged by humanist readings of Aristotle, elites were spending immense sums to decorate their private chapels and to construct extravagant new palazzi as proof of their magnificence. As many in Florence began to question these values, an influential Dominican friar came along who captured the prevailing mood of spiritual dissatisfaction. We will examine the dramatic rise and fall of Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498). Inspired by his fiery penitential preaching and prophecies of glory for their city, Florentines lit blazing “bonfires of the vanities” for him. Eventually disenchanted with Savonarola—who contemporary observer Niccolò Machiavelli termed an “unarmed prophet”—the Florentines ended by burning the friar himself at the stake.