Secrets of the Dead: Michelangelo Revealed
Narration Script
3-8-09
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RE-ENACTMENT OF MICHELANGELOS FUNERAL.
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:00:03 |
:12 |
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February 18th
1564. Michelangelo Buonarroti, the great sculptor, painter and architect, dies
at his home in one of Rome’s poorest neighborhoods. |
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STUDY OF MICHELANGELO, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:00:18 01:00:36 |
:18 |
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At dawn the
following day, agents of the Pope arrive at his workshop to search for
anything of value he may have left behind. But they find almost nothing. Before he
died, Michelangelo set fire to all the drawings and private papers in his
possession. |
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MICHELANGELO’S CORPSE , RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:00:38 01:00:52 |
:14 |
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Soon after,
his corpse disappears, carried off in secret to Florence. Shockingly, the
powerful Church Michelangelo served for half a century, is denied the
opportunity to honor him with a state funeral. |
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VIEW OF ST. PETER’S, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:00:55 01:01:13 |
:16 |
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For four and
a half centuries, the mysterious end to Michelangelo’s life has inspired
speculation and rumor. But now, art historian Antonio Forcellino has made a
startling discovery that reveals a dark truth about Michelangelo’s final
years. |
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FORCELLINO IN HIS STUDIO. ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:01:17 01:01:34 |
:17 |
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Strange
inconsistencies from one famous sculpture have led Forcellino on an
investigation that has turned up evidence of intentional deception, and close
contact with members of a clandestine fellowship so threatening, its radical
ideas were punishable by death under the Inquisition. |
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CARDINAL CARAFA, GROUP OF CARDINALS,
MICHELANGELO’S STATUE OF MOSES, FORCELLINO IN THE ARCHIVE OF MANTIVA,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:01:37 01:01:48 |
:11 |
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It seems that
even as Michelangelo was glorifying the Catholic Church with his sculptures
and artwork, his heart and mind were leading him down a dangerous road of
heresy and dissent. |
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PANORAMIC SHOT OF ROME, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
:50--:55 |
:05 |
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TITLE:
MICHELANGELO REVEALED |
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Panoramic shot of Rome, Sixtine Chapel,
CTV |
01:02:01 01:02:19 |
:18 |
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It
is here in the heart of Rome, that Italy's
most famous artist created some of his best-known masterpieces: The frescoes that
decorate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and his Last Judgement. |
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VIEW OF PIAZZA DEL POPOLO,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:02:22 01:02:28 |
:06 |
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Michelangelo’s home and workshop are long
gone, but the neighborhood is still dotted with churches. |
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FORCELLINO IN ROME, THEN ST. PETER IN VINCOLI, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:02:32 01:02:47 |
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Art historian
Antonio Forcellino knows these churches well. As a
restoration expert, he has worked in many of them. But his efforts in this one, San Pietro in Vincoli, turned
up some unexpected results… |
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FORCELLINO ON SCAFFOLD, PANORAMIC SHOT OF
ROME, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:02:51 01:03:06 |
:15 |
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Forcellino is
a distinguished and well-known researcher of Michelangelo’s technique. In
1999, he was appointed to restore one of the artist’s most famous works: The
Moses… |
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FORCELLINO IN FRONT OF THE TOMB OF GIULIO II,
STAUTE OF MOSES, PANORAMIC SHOT OF ROME, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Forcellino |
I came here
one evening and waited till all the tourists who come here every day had gone
and I felt totally intimidated. I was afraid to touch an icon that was in the
hearts, in the photographs of people across the entire planet. |
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MICHELANGELO SCULPTING, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING DETAILS OF STATUE: CTV AND SCALA ARCHIVE |
01:03:40 01:04:00 01:04:02 01:04:17 |
:20 :15 |
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Michelangelo created the Moses in 1513. He was 37, and had
already made his mark with two other masterpieces: The Pietà for St. Peter’s Basilica, and The David for the city
of Florence. He was a rising star, on his way to becoming the Catholic
Church's favorite artist. His Moses
was considered a museum piece in Italy before it was even out of his
workshop. |
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FORCELLINO
RESTORING, GANGA FILM |
01:04:22 01:04:47 |
:25 |
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As Forcellino
set to work on the statue, he could see Michelangelo's artistic genius up
close. The finely
rendered veins of Moses' powerful arms… The intricate
beard… The strong,
charismatic face… And the
horns, which are meant to signify rays of divine light. |
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FORCELLINO RESTORING, GANGA FILM |
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Forcellino |
It’s
extraordinary... it really looks like flesh... |
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FORCELLINO RESTORING, GANGA FILM |
01:05:01 01:05:12 01:05:15 01:05:20 |
:11 :05 |
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The sculpture
was exceptional, but during the months of restoration, Forcellino and his
colleagues began to notice some serious imperfections in the masterpiece. The left leg
was strangely angled, and much smaller than the right... |
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INTERVIEW WITH FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Forcellino |
There was a
difference of almost three inches in the diameter of one knee compared to the
other. |
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FORCELLINO IN LIBRARY, ORIGINAL SHOOTING, AND
DETAILS OF THE MOSES STATUE, GANGA FILM |
01:05:28 01:05:39 |
:11 |
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Also,
Forcellino noticed that on the left side, the neck was oddly distorted,
though the right side looked fine. And the beard
was surprisingly asymmetrical. |
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INTERVIEW FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING AND
GANGA FILM STATUE OF MOSES DETAILS, LA CIE DES
TAXI-BROUSSE AND JEMOLO |
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Forcellino |
On the left
Michelangelo created such an intricate web of locks that it was difficult for
us to get in there with the cotton swabs to clean, while on the right the
beard is totally flat. |
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FORCELLINO RESTORING, GANGA FILM, DETAILS OF
THE STATUE, JEMOLO |
01:06:00 01:06:12 |
:12 |
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As Forcellino
worked on the statue, he began to suspect that Michelangelo had radically altered
it just before it was finished. And this
wasn’t the only sculpture with inconsistencies. |
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FORCELLINO RESTORING, GANGA FILM, VIEW OF ST.
PETER’S, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:06:16 01:06:24 01:06:26 01:06:40 01:06:42 01:06:52 |
:08 :14 :10 |
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The Moses is
the centerpiece of a funeral monument. The tomb of Julius the 2nd,
one of the greatest Popes of the Renaissance. A patron of
the arts, Julius understood how paintings, sculpture and architecture could convey
the Church’s message to the masses. He
laid the foundation stone for St. Peter’s Basilica in 1506. But it is for
his achievements on the battlefield and his fiery temperament that he is best
remembered: more of a volcanic warrior king than a holy father. |
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STAUE OF POPE JULIUS II, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:06:53 01:07:01 |
:08 |
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And yet, this
is how Michelangelo portrayed him: lying down in an upper niche... small and submissive. |
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FORCELLINO IN FRONT OF THE TOMB, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING, DETAILS: GANGA FILM |
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Forcellino |
I was
immediately struck by Michelangelo’s portrayal of the Pope. Traditionally the
Pope is shown either lying in state, dead but sacred, or as a triumphant
General. This Pope seemed to speak another language. He seemed fragile,
vanquished... |
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STATUE OF POPE JULIUS II, DETAILS: GANGA FILM
AND ORIGINAL SHOOTING BY DOCLAB |
01:07:34 01:08:02 |
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No one had
paid much attention to the Pope before, because the statue had been dismissed
as the work of a second-rate sculptor, who Michelangelo had sub-contracted to
finish the statues on the upper tier of the tomb. But on closer
examination, it became clear to Forcellino that the Pope could only have been
created by Michelangelo. |
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STATUE OF POPE JULIUS II, DETAILS: GANGA FILM
AND ORIGINAL SHOOTING BY DOCLAB |
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Forcellino |
In the statue
of the Pope we don’t find the rigid mannequin-like faces of the other
statues, but a very convincing human expression. These hands too are typical
of Michelangelo. These pronounced knuckles and the wide and deep-set nails. |
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FORCELLINO IN FRONT OF THE TOMB, STATUE OF
POPE JULIUS II ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:08:28 01:08:34 |
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Other experts
agreed, and it is now generally accepted that the Pope is Michelangelo’s. |
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FORCELLINO IN FRONT OF THE TOMB, STATUE OF
POPE JULIUS II, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Forcellino |
But we still
had to understand why Michelangelo had chosen to represent the papacy in such
an unusual way... |
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MICHELANGELO IN HIS STUDY, ORIGINAL SHOOTING,
RE-ENACTMENT |
01:08:52 01:09:16 |
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Michelangelo
first met Pope Julius the 2nd in 1505. The Pope was impressed by
the young man’s talent, and appreciated his independent spirit. The two would
come to admire each other greatly. Julius’s tomb would be the artist’s first
papal commission—the beginning of a relationship with the Holy See that would
define the rest of his life. |
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DETAIL OF MICHELANGELO’S TOMB OF JULIUS II,
JEMOLO, FORCELLINO RESTORING, GANGA FILM |
01:09:18 01:09:25 01:09:27 01:09:32 |
:07 :05 |
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But their
affection for each other makes Michelangelo’s unusual portrayal of the Pope
all the more strange. Other statues
prove equally perplexing. |
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DETAILS “ACTIVE LIFE”, CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE”:
GANGA FILM |
01:09:33 01:09:55 |
:22 |
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Michelangelo
called these statues The Active Life… …and The
Contemplative Life. The figures,
which had been represented in Church art since medieval times, normally
symbolize the two Catholic paths to salvation: Faith by The Contemplative Life, and Good Works or charity by The Active
Life. |
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DETAILS “ACTIVE LIFE”, CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE”:
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:10:01 01:10:26 |
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The art
history books Forcellino consulted, said The Active Life holds a garland of
flowers in her left hand… …and a mirror
in her right. But close up,
Forcellino could see that the objects were not as described. The garland
appeared to be a crown of laurel leaves.
And the
mirror was some kind of torch... |
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FORCELLINO IN FRONT THE STATUE OF MOSES, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Forcellino |
We realized
it couldn’t under any circumstances be a mirror. It looked more like a torch or a small lantern.... |
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DETAILS “ACTIVE LIFE”, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:10:40 01:10:46 |
:06 |
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Forcellino
was surprised that no other art historians had noticed the incongruities. |
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FORCELLINO IN HIS STUDY, ORIGINAL SHOOTING,
MICHELANGELO DRAWING, CONDIVI WRITING, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:10:50 01:11:14 |
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He decided
more research was necessary. Bypassing
other texts, he went straight to the original source. He turned to
Michelangelo’s official biography, which the artist had personally dictated
to a young scribe, Ascanio Condivi, near the end of his life in 1551. |
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MICHELANGELO DRAWING, CONDIVI WRITING,
RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING INTERVIEW FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Forcellino |
Michelangelo
paid very close attention to the symbols in his works; every tiny
iconographic detail is precisely thought out, very carefully elaborated. |
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INTERVIEW FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:11:31 01:11:43 |
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In the pages
dedicated to the Pope’s tomb, Forcellino made a surprising discovery. Michelangelo himself was to blame for the
misleading descriptions. |
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Interview Forcellino, Original Shooting |
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Forcellino |
The biography
describes the Active Life - and it’s Michelangelo who dictated the
description - as a female figure who looks at herself in a mirror. But it’s
clearly visible that what she’s holding is not a mirror but an object I
interpret to be a torch, an oil lamp. |
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Interview Forcellino, Original Shooting |
01:12:13 01:12:34 |
:21 |
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It seems like
a minor discrepancy, but during Michelangelo’s time, it was immensely
significant. Since none but the
Clergy had access to the written words
of the Bible, most people were heavily influenced by religious imagery. So what
motive could Michelangelo have had for incorrectly describing his work? |
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FORCELLINO IN FRONT THE STATUE OF MOSES, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:12:36 01:12:50 |
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To find that answer, Forcellino would need to
dig deep into the historical records.
And so began an obsessive search for the true meaning behind
Michelangelo’s work. |
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FORCELLINO IN ST. PETER IN VINCOLI, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:13:02 01:13:14 |
:12 |
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Setting aside
second-hand accounts of Michelangelo’s life, and even the artist’s own
biography, Forcellino turned to the actual contracts written up between Michelangelo
and Pope Julius the 2nd. |
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FORCELLINO IN THE LIBRARY, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:13:18 01:13:34 01:13:35 01:13:41 |
:16 :06 |
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Under the
terms of the first document, dated 1505, the tomb was to be a grandiose
tribute to Julius' imperial Papacy—a huge, three-tiered monument featuring no
fewer than 40 biblical and mythical figures. Michelangelo
was to be paid generously, but it would be a long time before he finished the
project. |
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FORCELLINO IN THE LIBRARY, ORIGINAL SHOOTING SIXTINE CHAPEL, CTV |
01:13:43 01:14:06 |
:23 |
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Almost from
day one, Julius distracted the artist with other projects. In 1508, he
asked Michelangelo to decorate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, an enormous
undertaking that occupied him full time for five years… …and earned
him universal recognition as the world’s greatest living painter. |
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FORCELLINO IN THE LIBRARY, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:14:10 01:14:32 |
:22 |
TIGHT |
The Pope’s
tomb was still just a project on paper when Julius died in 1513. In the years that followed, Michelangelo was
routinely pressured by successive Popes to ignore his obligations to Julius,
and work for them. Julius’
heirs, meanwhile, accused Michelangelo of embezzlement for accepting their
money but not completing the tomb. |
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MICHELANGELO SCULPTING, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:14:36 01:15:05 |
:29 |
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In the end,
it would be forty years before the
artist finished the project. And the tomb’s final appearance was a mere
shadow of its original grandious design. It went down
in history as a pastiche of odds and ends with no particular meaning that an
aging Michelangelo had cobbled together, simply to end the 40-year wrangle
with the Pope's family. And yet,
something told Forcellino there was more to it than that... |
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STATUES AT THE ANGEL’S BRIDGE IN ROME,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING FORCELLINO ON HIS BYCILCE CROSSING THE BRIDGE,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:15:11 01:15:29 |
:18 |
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He went back
to Michelangelo’s biography for an account of the final negotiations over the
tomb’s completion. Forcellino noticed that Michelangelo had highlighted the
role of an obscure Cardinal—Ercole Gonzaga—in establishing the final design
of the monument in 1542. |
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FORCELLINO BY FOOT, THEN STUDIO, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
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Forcellino |
Condivi’s
biography mentioned in passing a person who had never been studied in
relation to Michelangelo before – the
Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga. Condivi says Gonzaga had seen the Moses in
Michelangelo’s workshop and said that that sculpture alone would be enough to
honor Julius II. |
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FORCELLINO READING, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:15:57 01:16:13 |
:16 |
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Michelangelo
had originally created the Moses for the Pope’s tomb back in 1513. But as the
project was scaled down, the sculpture had been set aside as too large. It
reappeared in the plans in 1542, at Gonzaga’s suggestion. |
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FORCELLINO READING, ORIGINAL SHOOTING CARDINALS, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:16:18 01:16:27 01:16:28 01:16:33 |
:09 :05 |
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Gonzaga was a
distinguished political and religious figure during the mid 16th
Century, and a close relative of Pope Julius the 2nd. The Cardinal
had been a mediator in the tense negotiations with Michelangelo for years. |
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FORCELLINO ON HIS WAY IN THE CAR IN MANTOVA.
MANTOVA ARCHIVE. ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:16:37 01:16:52 |
:15 |
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He came from
a wealthy family that governed the city-state of Mantua, one of the most
refined and forward-thinking courts in Italy. His papers are preserved in the
city’s archives. |
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FORCELLINO IN THE PUBLIC ARCHIVE IN MANTOVA,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Forcellino |
Gonzaga
corresponded with the Pope, with the Emperor, Charles V, and with the
ambassadors of the great European powers. He was a major player. Among his
papers I found a number of letters about Michelangelo, they’d never been
published. |
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FORCELLINO IN THE PUBLIC ARCHIVE IN MANTOVA,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING. REGINALD POLE AND VITTORIA COLONNA, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:17:24 01:17:50 |
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The letters
featuring Michelangelo were to two leading European personalities of the
time: A powerful English Cardinal named Reginald Pole, and the Roman
noblewoman and poet, Vittoria Colonna. Gonzaga, Pole
and Colonna were evidently close friends—they corresponded and met
frequently. Michelangelo was clearly
well-known to them—his name is mentioned often. |
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FORCELLINO IN THE PUBLIC ARCHIVE IN MANTOVA,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING. |
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Forcellino |
Gonzaga’s
private letters ushered me into this obscure and insidious realm, this web of
relations among a group of people who were close to Michelangelo around 1545.
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FORCELLINO IN THE PUBLIC ARCHIVE IN MANTOVA,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING. |
01:18:16 01:18:31 |
:15 |
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Gonzaga and
the others admired Michelangelo, but they were also involved in much bigger
matters than sculpture and art. They were
part of a religious renaissance that was threatening the very foundations of
the Catholic Church. |
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WOMEN RUNNING, SOLDIERS. RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:18:42 01:18:50 |
:08 |
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The conflict centered around an ever-widening
religious battle between the Catholic Church, and reform-minded Protestants. |
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MARTIN LUTHER, STILL, LA CIE DES TAXI-BROUSSE POPE LEO X WITH CARDINALS, STILL, SCALA
ARCHIVE PORTRAIT OF POPE PAUL III WITH NEPHEWS, SCALA
ARCHIVE PORTRAIT OF POPE PAUL III, SCALA ARCHIVE |
01:18:54 01:19:15 |
:19 |
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Martin Luther
and his Protestant supporters railed against the moral decadence of the
Church: the sale of forgiveness or Indulgences, the ostentatious wealth of
the Papacy, and the corruption that was rife among the clergy. For the first
time in 1500 years, the Catholic Church was in deep crisis. |
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REGINALD POLE, GONZAGA, VITTORIA COLONNA IN
THE GARDEN. ORIGINAL SHOOTING CORRIDOR OF THE PUBLIC ARCHIVE AMNTOVA,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:19:18 01:19:39 |
:21 |
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Colonna, Pole
and Gonzaga were on the front lines of this religious debate. They were among
an increasing number of loyal Catholics throughout Italy who embraced the
idea of a profound renewal of the Catholic faith. They wanted
reform, but believed it could be achieved from within the Church—thus preventing a split with the Protestants. |
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REGINALD POLE, GONZAGA, VITTORIA COLONNA IN
THE GARDEN. ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCENES OF TORTURE, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:19:41 01:19:51 |
:10 |
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But the
Church orthodoxy was threatened by the idea of reform, and the conservatives were
willing to go to extreme measures to prevent it. |
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FORCELLINO READING, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Forcellino |
At this
point, the story of the group around Michelangelo when he made the tomb
became more important for me than the story of the tomb itself. |
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MEETING OF THE SPIRITUALI |
01:20:07 01:20:25 |
:16 |
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Historical
sources confirm that Gonzaga, Pole and Colonna were prominent Italian
reformists, and their letters demonstrate that they held Michelangelo in high
regard. But were they simply art enthusiasts,
or was there more to their admiration? |
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FORCELLINO ON HIS BYCICLE, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:20:29 01:20:44 |
:15 |
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To try and
find out, Forcellino sought out Alexander Nagel, an art historian who has
studied how Michelangelo was influenced by the religious debate of his day. Nagel
believes that Michelangelo
and Vittoria Colonna had a friendship that transcended art. |
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INTERVIEW ALEXANDER NAGEL, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Nagel |
It’s not
known exactly when Michelangelo met Vittoria Colonna but it probably occurred
in the 1530s. Every account we have of their relationship suggests that it
was a very powerful one. |
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MICHELANGELO AND VITTORIA COLONNA IN THE
STUDIO, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:21:03 01:21:09 |
:06 |
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A celebrated
poet in her lifetime, Colonna came from one of Rome’s most established noble
families. |
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MICHELANGELO AND VITTORIA COLONNA IN THE
STUDIO, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING INTERVIEW ALEXANDER NAGEL, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Nagel |
We have
several letters between them and they are rich with information about how
they felt about each other and how they felt about art and poetry and
religion. |
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MICHELANGELO AND VITTORIA COLONNA IN THE
STUDIO, MICHELANGELO DRAWING, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:21:25 01:21:38 |
:13 |
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From their writings,
it emerges that Michelangelo, though a devout Catholic, shared Colonna’s yearning
for religious reform. In one letter, the artist supports an idea central to
Luther’s attack on the Church. |
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INTERVIEW ALEXANDER NAGEL, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Nagel |
He says “La
grazia divina non si può comprare” that means divine grace cannot be bought;
it cannot be earned, you can’t do good things or pay money to have a chapel
founded in church or pay money to have masses said for your soul and expect
that that’s going to save you.” |
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MICHELANGELO WRITING, CARDINALS, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:22:04 01:22:32 |
:28 |
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It is clear
from his letters that Michelangelo was increasingly concerned about what
would happen to his soul after he died.
The Catholic Church told him he could earn his place in heaven by
having faith and doing Good Works, like going to mass, giving to charity and
supporting the Church financially. But the Protestants
said he could do nothing to earn his salvation—because salvation came from
faith, and faith alone. |
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CARDINALS, MICHELANGELO WRITING, VITTORIA COLONNA READING, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:22:35 01:22:44 |
:09 |
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From their
exchanges, it emerges that at least in private, both Michelangelo and Colonna
took the Protestant view on this extremely delicate question. |
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01:22:46 01:22:54 |
:08 |
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But if Michelangelo
was questioning the theology of the Church, he must also have struggled with
his own role in furthering it. |
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INTERVIEW ALEXANDER NAGEL, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
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Nagel |
Artists were
very much part of the problem, most artists at this time were making
religious art, you would have fresco paintings made for a chapel you might
have your tomb made for the chapel, have it nicely decorated. This is the
work that artists did. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO IN HIS STUDIO, SCULPTING,
RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:23:11 01:23:39 |
:28 |
|
For
Michelangelo, the problem was uniquely acute. His main client was not just
any church but the Holy See itself, which saw in his art a formidable
instrument of mass communication. Michelangelo
created masterpieces for the Church, but in Gonzaga’s papers, Forcellino also
found references to drawings the artist had made for Vittoria Colonna. Their message
was more personal than his paintings for the Vatican Palazzos. |
|
|
|
INTERVIEW ALEXANDER NAGEL, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
|
|
Nagel |
They don’t
cost a lot of money in any material sense but they’re filled with meaning.
And it is in discussing those drawings that Michelangelo makes his most trenchants
comments about the system of religious art, church art, which is also the
business of indulgences, of endowments, of good works essentially. We needed
to return to Christ and these drawings do that in a very powerful way. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO’S DRAWING OF THE PIETA’, STILL,
LA CIE DES TAXI-BROUSSE FORCELLINO READING, ORIGINAL SHOOTING, |
01:24:09 01:24:28 |
:19 |
|
The
drawings leave the Church completely out of the picture, bringing Christ
directly to the people. They
circulated among Gonzaga’s friends, and Michelangelo appears to have dedicated one to Reginald
Pole, the English CARDINAL destined to
have a central role in the religious clashes that were about to occur. |
|
|
|
POLE WRITING,
RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:24:29 01:24:39 |
:10 |
|
Pole was among
the most powerful and respected CARDINALS of his day.
For help understanding him, Forcellino turns to Professor Thomas
Mayer. |
|
|
|
MAYER AND FORCELLINO IN THE PARK, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
|
|
Mayer |
It's
important to say that he is of the highest English nobility. Pole is,
although not first in line for the throne when he was born, close; and he is
sent to Italy by Henry VIII, to Padua, he gets the best imaginable education,
he meets everybody, he goes back to England, expected to become archBishop of
Canterbury, that's the spiritual head of the English church. So, he is right
in the middle of that. And then he leaves England in 1532. |
|
|
|
MAYER AND FORCELLINO IN THE PARK, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING PORTRAIT OF POPE PAUL III, STILL, SCALA
ARCHIVE CARDINAL POLE WRITING, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:25:16 01:25:35 |
:19 |
|
Pole returned
to Italy at a critical moment. Pope Paul the 3rd, elected in 1534,
inspired great hope among Italian reformers. He made Pole and other men Cardinals,
but ultimately, his commitment to change would prove limited. |
|
|
|
MEETING OF THE SPIRITUALI, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:25:40 01:26:03 |
:23 |
|
By 1541, Pole
had become Papal Governor of Viterbo, a town near Rome. His personal charisma
made him the focal point for a network of reform-minded Bishops, theologians
and humanists, as well as poets and artists. Among them were Vittoria Colonna
and Ercole Gonzaga. |
|
|
|
FORCELLINO AT HIS COMPUTER, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:26:06 01:26:11 |
:05 |
|
Forcellino’s
references call the group The Spirituali…
|
|
|
|
INTERVIEW ALEXANDER NAGEL, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
|
|
Nagel |
They were for
the most part extremely privileged people, extremely well educated, who had a
very spiritual conception of religion, which now we recognize as sympathetic
to Protestantism. But in the moment their positions were not protestant
positions, they were positions that were possible within traditions of
thinking about man’s relationship to god. |
|
|
|
FORCELLINO IN HIS STUDIO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:26:42 01:26:52 |
:10 |
|
Loyal
Catholics, they saw in Pole a leader who could define a middle ground, heal
the divide with the Protestants, and lead the Church into a more spiritual
era. |
|
|
|
FORCELLINO AT HIS COMPUTER, ORIGINAL SHOOTING MICHELANGELO’S DRAWING OF THE CRICIFIX, STILL,
LA CIE DES TAXI-BROUSSE |
|
|
Forcellino |
Michelangelo
is very close to this group in these years. He is clearly a member of the
group, and produces images that mirror its ideas. |
|
|
|
OCHINO’S SERMON, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:27:14 01:27:30 |
:16 |
|
In the early
1540s, the Spirituali were at the height of their power and popularity, in
Italy and within the
Church itself. A profound renewal of the Catholic faith seemed at
hand. |
|
|
|
CARDINALS,
RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:27:35 01:27:47 |
:12 |
|
But deeply
worried by the Spirituali’s growing influence, Conservatives within the
Church joined forces to defend their authority. Their leader
was Cardinal Gian Pietro Carafa. |
|
|
|
FORCELLINO LEAFS THROUGH A BOOK, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:27:50 01:27:56 |
:06 |
|
In a reliable
17th Century biography, Forcellino comes across an astonishing
description… |
|
|
|
FORCELLINO READING, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
|
|
Forcellino |
Carafa is
described as the greatest, most glorious and pitiless persecutor of heresy in
Italy and the greatest, most glorious and pitiless persecutor of the most
important group of Italian heretics, that of Reginald Pole and Vittoria
Colonna. |
|
|
|
FORCELLINO AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE AMERICAN
ACADEMY, ROME, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:28:23 01:28:37 |
:14 |
|
Carafa came
from an illustrious and noble Neapolitan family. He had
personal designs on the Papacy and saw
in Pole his main competitor. Their
destinies would become closely intertwined. |
|
|
|
THOMAS MAYER AND FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
|
|
Mayer |
They become Cardinals
at exactly the same time. The both aspire at some point in their career to
very high status. Carafa I think much more actively than Pole did. But other
than that they are from very similar backgrounds, I think that’s very
important. They are a generation apart in age, and I think that’s very
important, cause Carafa assumed on some level a degree of deference from
Pole, that Pole was not prepared to give him just because he was older. So
Carafa is a personality, I think it matters, that his personality is not
shall we say flexible. |
|
|
|
CARDINALS, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:29:20 01:29:35 |
:15 |
|
Unlike Pole,
who was open to Lutheran ideas, Carafa considered Lutheran synonymous with Heretical.
Austere and rigid, he became the Spirituali’s fiercest enemy. |
|
|
|
CARDINALS, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING THOMAS MAYER AND FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
|
|
Mayer |
Carafa makes
common cause with the most conservative faction in Rome. The ones who want to
keep business absolutely as usual. They have tremendous power. That’s a brilliant
move. Pole has poets and artists and people who are not use to discipline. So
Carafa has an advantage there. |
|
|
|
CARDINALS, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:30:06 01:30:13 |
:07 |
|
With Carafa
out to destroy the Protestants and the Spirituali, Michelangelo was caught in
the crossfire. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO SCULPTING, DRAWING, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:30:17 01:30:34 |
:17 |
|
Since 1536, the
artist had been on salary as the Vatican’s supreme architect, sculptor and
painter. In 1541, he finished the Last
Judgment, a fresco representing Christ’s Second Coming for the altar wall of
the Sistine Chapel. |
|
|
|
Detail of the LAST
Judgement by Michelangelo, La CIE des Taxi-Brousse |
01:30:39 01:30:50 |
:11 |
|
But Carafa led
an assault on the work, declaring the masterpiece’s naked bodies obscene and
immoral—totally inappropriate for a Christian chapel. |
|
|
|
Detail of the LAST
Judgement by Michelangelo, La CIE des Taxi-Brousse |
01:30:58 01:31:29 |
:31 |
|
Michelangelo
was devastated. He wrote in
anguish: “What judgment shall be so barbarous as to deny that man’s foot is
nobler than his boot? And that his skin is nobler than that of the sheep with
which he covers himself?” His
sensibility was the essence of the Renaissance. The focus was on man, not on the
Church. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO DRAWING, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:31:36 01:31:49 |
:13 |
|
Fortunately
for Michelangelo, Pope Paul the 3rd immediately came to his
defense. He showed his support by offering
the artist another high-profile, Papal commission. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO DRAWING, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
|
|
Forcellino |
Despite the
scandal over Michelangelo’s nudes, Pope Paul III obliged him to decorate his
private chapel, the Pauline Chapel, where Michelangelo would paint nude
angels that are even more beautiful, more sensual, than those in the Last
Judgment. |
|
|
|
INTERVIEW FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING MICHELANGELO’S CRUCIFIXION OF ST. PETER,
DETAIL, LA CIE DES TAXI-BROUSSE |
01:32:16 01:32:40 |
:24 |
|
Carafa
denounced Michelangelo’s frescos as indecent, but in truth, the nudity was
only a secondary offence. What Carafa and his fellow Conservatives really
opposed was the lack of concessions to the Church hierarchy. There are no
depictions of Popes or Bishops in their ritual vestments. Christ speaks directly
to St. Paul. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO’S CRUCIFIXION OF ST. PETER,
DETAIL, LA CIE DES TAXI-BROUSSE MICHELANGELO READING, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:32:42 01:32:55 |
:13 |
|
Forcellino
believes Michelangelo drew his inspiration for the piece, from a passage that
formed the foundation of Protestant belief.
Christ says to Paul “whoever believeth in me shall be saved.” |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO READING, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:32:57 01:33:24 |
:28 |
|
It’s not a
stretch to assume Michelangelo knew the verse. We know from his contemporaries
that the artist owned a bible, and since he didn’t read Latin, his copy was likely
the illegal Italian version. The first
translations were into German by Martin Luther, but other editions, including
the Italian, soon followed. Possession of any
bible by non-Clergy was considered a crime against the Church. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO’S STATUE OF POPE PAUL II, DETAIL,
GANGA FILM |
01:33:26 01:33:36 |
:10 |
|
In March of 1542,
40 years after he began, Michelangelo finally dedicated himself to finishing
the tomb of Julius the 2nd. |
|
|
|
CARDINALS IN THE GARDEN, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING CARDINAL CARAFA, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING CARDINALS, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:33:44 01:34:09 |
:25 |
|
But once
again, he was caught up in the religious conflict. That summer, Carafa
went on the offensive, convincing Paul the 3rd to reinstate the
Inquisition as a means of attacking Protestants, and their sympathizers within
the Church. The Pope
appointed Carafa Inquisitor General, but initially gave him no funds, a
balancing act typical of his Papacy. |
|
|
|
POLE AND CARAFA, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING TORTURE SCENES, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:34:10 01:34:19 01:34:20 01:34:30 |
:09 :10 |
|
Carafa could
attack the Protestants openly, but
he had to be more careful with the Spirituali,
since the Pope still held Cardinal
Pole in high regard. So Carafa
bidded his time, slowly gathered evidence against Pole while using his
prosecutorial powers to go after less well-protected informers. REFORMERS? |
|
|
|
OCHINO’S SERMON, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:34:34 01:34:53 |
:19 |
|
His first
victim was Bernardino Ochino, an itinerant preacher from Siena, famous for
the beauty and power of his sermons. Ochino was a close friend of Vittoria
Colonna, and had a strong following throughout Italy. |
|
|
|
OCHINO AND GONZAGA, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:34:59 01:35:17 |
:18 |
|
Carafa summoned
Ochino to Rome, to justify some questionable themes in his sermons. Fearing
arrest, Ochino instead decided to head north, towards safety in Protestant
Switzerland. Gonzaga saw him off at the frontier. |
|
|
|
POLE AND VITTORIA COLONNA, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING OCHINO’S ESCAPE, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:35:21 01:35:39 |
:18 |
|
On the run, a
scared but liberated Ochino wrote to Colonna. “I’ve decided
to flee, as it is clear that in Rome they want to reform the Church, starting
with my death. Now I can finally
take off the mask and say the truth...” |
|
|
|
POLE AND VITTORIA COLONNA, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING OCHINO’S ESCAPE, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:35:41 01:35:52 |
:11 |
|
Concerned
about Colonna’s safety, Pole persuaded her to hand the letter over to the
Inquisition, and dissociate herself from her friend in trouble. |
|
|
|
GONZAGA, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING OCHINO’S ESCAPE, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:35:54 01:36:05 |
:08 |
|
She did so,
but Ochino’s letter and flight gave Carafa just the ammunition he needed to
build internal support for his crackdown against Pole and the Spirituali. |
|
|
|
FORCELLINO READING, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:36:11 01:36:14 |
:03 |
|
The threat
continued to build. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO IN THE STREET, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING GONZAGA IN THE STREET, RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:36:15 01:36:24 |
:09 |
|
The group was
forced underground, where they continued work on their reformist manifesto: The Benefit of Christ’s Death. |
|
|
|
POLE AND VITTORIA COLONNA IN THE STREET,
RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING MEETING OF THE SPIRITUALI, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
|
|
Forcellino |
The group met
in Viterbo to prepare the book for publication. They printed 40,000 copies,
although the manuscript was already circulating widely among Italian
reformers. |
|
|
|
INTERVIEW THOMAS MAYER, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:36:57 |
|
Mayer |
It’s written
in pretty direct prose. And it’s stuffed with quotations from the fathers of
the Church with a slightly off twist in the emphasis. The crucial point about
the emphasis is that the institutional Church is not there at all. |
|
|
|
DETAIL OF MICHELANGELO’S TEXT “THE BENEFIT OF
CHRIST”, ORIGINAL SHOOTING MEETING OF THE SPIRITUALI, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:37:06 01:37:24 |
:18 |
|
The text
embraced the Protestant view that Faith in Christ’s sacrifice was the
key to salvation. Although Pole
made sure that Good Works were
given some weight, the implication
was that the Church and its sacraments played no role in the salvation of mankind. |
|
|
|
INTERVIEW FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
|
|
Forcellino |
It’s
published anonymously of course and it’s immediately targeted by the
Inquisition, which begins to hunt down the authors and takes the book out of
circulation. |
|
|
|
MEETING OF THE SPIRITUALI, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:37:39 01:37:52 |
:13 |
|
Carafa
declared it heretical and censored it. Reginald Pole and Vittoria Colonna,
suspected of being among the publishers, were brought before the Inquisition
for interrogation. |
|
|
|
VIEW OF ST. PETER’S, ORIGINAL SHOOTING FORCELLINO ENTERING THE LIBRARY, ELEVATOR,
ARCHIVE INTERIOR, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:38:01 01:38:24 |
:23 |
|
Four hundred
and fifty years later, Forcellino believes there may still be records of the Inquisition
proceedings against the members of the Spirituali. Many of the
transcripts and files have been destroyed, but in the Vatican Archives, he digs
up a number of letters from Pole and Colonna that had been intercepted by
Carafa’s spies. |
|
|
|
ARCHIVE INTERIOR, ORIGINAL SHOOTING MICHELANGELO IN THE STREET, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:38:29 01:38:48 |
:19 |
|
One of these
letters contains an unexpected reference to Michelangelo. Written by
Vittoria Colonna, it mentions the 1543 meeting at which the Spirituali
prepared their manifesto for publication.
The document
clearly states that Michelangelo was in attendance. |
|
|
|
MEETING OF THE SPIRITUALI, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING MICHELANGELO AND VITTORIA COLONNA,
RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:38:50 01:39:11 |
:21 |
|
The artist
apparently brought one of his drawings for Colonna. His presence at such an important meeting proves that
Michelangelo not only shared his friends’ ideals, he had direct access to the
illegal Spirituali manifesto at the very time he was completing the tomb of Julius
the 2nd. |
|
|
|
FORCELLINO IN THE STREET, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:39:12 01:39:23 |
:11 |
|
To
Forcellino, it’s all starting to make sense.
He believes he can see the influence of the Spirituali religious ideas
in Michelangelo’s tribute to the Pope. |
|
|
|
COMPUTER MONITOR, ORIGINAL SHOOTING, GRAPHICS
BY MAURO VICENTINI |
|
|
Forcellino |
It’s this
torch, this source of light in the hands of the Active Life that goes right
to the heart of the devotion expressed in the Benefit of Christ’s Death. |
|
|
|
INTERIOR OF ST. PETER IN VINCOLI, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:39:38 01:40:02 |
:24 |
|
In the group’s
manifesto, the Spirituali reaffirmed the Protestant belief that only Faith in Christ’s sacrifice could open
the doors to paradise. But to try
and placate the Church, they were careful to say that Good Works such as charity were also important. Good Works were
the burning flames that illuminated
the true faith of the good Christian. |
|
|
|
DETAIL OF THE “ACTIVE LIFE” STATUE, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
|
|
Forcellino |
This figure
representing good works, which we see here holding a torch. She doesn’t have
the power to save but is able to enlighten, to bring to light the power of
faith. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO’S STATUE OF MOSES, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:40:18 01:40:25 |
:07 |
|
Forcellino
believes the Spirituali also inspired Michelangelo’s unusual representation
of the Pope. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO’S STATUE OF OF POPE JULIUS II,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING FORCELLINO EXPLAINING, ORIGINAL SHOOTING MICHELANGELO’S STATUE OF MOSES, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING MICHELANGELO’S STATUE OF POPE JULIUS II,
STILL, JEMOLO |
|
|
Forcellino |
The statue of
the Pope, which seemed to me inexplicable at the beginning, in the end it’s perfectly clear in light of
the ideas that this group was cultivating and that they expressed in the Benefit
of Christ’s Death. For Michelangelo this was the best possible expression of
the Papacy. A Papacy that would distance itself from imperial grandeur and
finally dedicate all its energy to the private and urgent meditation of
faith. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO’S STATUE OF MOSES, DETAIL,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:41:03 01:41:25 |
:21 |
TIGHT |
Forcellino
thinks the flaws in the Moses can also be explained by the Spirituali
influence. Supporting his earlier
deductions, he finds a record from an anonymous source close to Michelangelo,
that the artist had re-carved the statue at the last minute to turn its head
to the left. This could explain the strange shoulder, beard, and leg. |
|
|
|
INTERVIEW FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING THE PIETA’ RONDANINI BY MICHELANGELO, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
|
|
Forcellino |
We know
Michelangelo was capable of doing this because we can see it clearly in the
Pietà Rondanini, where Michelangelo repositioned the face of the Madonna by
90 degrees. Then Michelangelo died
and so he never finished the work. But we didn’t know he’d done it on the
Moses. |
|
|
|
INTERVIEW FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING COMPUTER MONITOR, ORIGINAL SHOOTING, GRAPHICS
BY MAURO VICENTINI CHRISTOPH FROMMEL INTERVIEW, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:41:54 01:42:13 01:42:15 01:42: 21 |
:19 :06 |
|
When
Michelangelo first created the Moses in 1513, the statue looked straight
ahead, towards the altar, where the parish Priest holds mass. But 40 years (IT’s THIRTY
YERARS AFTER 1513... )later, says Forcellino, the artist no longer wanted
Moses gazing at the instruments of the Catholic Church. Christopher
Frommel, acclaimed art historian and Forcellino’s mentor, agrees. |
|
|
|
CHRISTOPH FROMMEL INTERVIEW, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
|
|
Forcellino |
He could have
finished it like it was and be done with it... |
|
|
|
FORCELLINO IN FRONT OF THE TOMB OF POPE JULIUS
II, GANGA FILM CHRISTOPH FROMMEL INTERVIEW, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
|
|
Frommel |
In the
original grand project it was supposed to be one of several statues on the
highest tier. It now becomes the
protagonist at a time when Michelangelo has great doubts about the official
Church and so he doesn’t have him look towards the altar as we would expect;
he has him search for the light - he hasn’t found it yet but he’s searching
for the light, for a direct contact with God. |
|
|
|
COMPUTER MONITOR, ORIGINAL SHOOTING, GRAPHICS
BY MAURO VICENTINI ST. PETER IN VONCOLI INTERIOR, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING MICHELANGELO’S STATUE OF MOSES, DETAIL,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:43:00 01:43:21 |
:21 |
|
By shifting
the statue’s gaze away from the altar, Michelangelo reinforced his belief
that man’s direct relationship with God is what mattered, not the role of the
Priests. Forcellino is
convinced that the artist transformed a monument intended to celebrate a
Pope, into the political and religious manifesto of the Spirituali. |
|
|
|
CARDINALS IN THE GARDEN, POLE AND GONZAGA,
CARAFA, CARDINALS MOVING UP THE STAIRS, CARDINALS AT THE TABLE: RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:43:28 01:43:39 01:43:42 01:43:55 |
:11 :13 |
|
Pope Paul the
3rd—who had long protected the Spirituali and Michelangelo, even
while giving Carafa power to pursue them—died in 1549. Before he
passed away, the Pope indicated that Pole
was his choice for succession to the Papacy.
But the Englishman was one vote short of a majority. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forcellino |
We are still
in time to avoid a traumatic solution to Europe’s religious crisis, but that
hope is dashed by Cardinal Carafa, who intervenes during the Conclave saying
he has proof of Pole’s heresy. The proof is Pole’s involvement in the
publication of The Benefit of Christ’s Death. |
|
|
|
|
01:44:43 01:44:53 |
:10 |
|
Pole was
defeated. The Spirituali’s
dream of a reformed Church was dashed. |
|
|
|
CARDINALS: RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:45:02 01:45:18 |
:16 |
|
Then, in 1555,
Carafa himself became Pope, and the Inquisition became a priority for the
Church. One of
Carafa’s first decisions was to suspend Michelangelo’s
pension. |
|
|
|
MICHELANGELO READING, VITTORIA COLONNA IN THE
GARDEN, POLE READING, MEETING OF THE SPIRITUALI TORTURE SCENES: RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:45:21 01:45:23 01:45:26 01:45:32 01:45:34 01:45:45 01:45:48 01:46:04 |
:02 :06 :12 :16 |
TIGHT |
The artist
was now isolated and alone. Vittoria
Colonna had died under mysterious circumstances a few years earlier. Reginald Pole
had fled to England. His allies secured
him a position as Papal Ambassador, but Carafa repeatedly tried to extradite
him and put him on trial. Like
Michelangelo, Ercole Gonzaga was intimidated into silence. The names of
practically all the Spirituali made their way into the Inquisition registery,
and some of Michelangelo’s closest friends were imprisoned. |
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MICHELANGELO’S STATUE OF POPE JULIUS II, GANGA FILM |
01:46:10 01:46:26 |
:16 |
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The artist
realized that the reformist symbolism he had carved into the Pope’s tomb—done
at a time when the Spirituali movement was strong—could now cost him his
life. He needed a way to mask the
true meaning of his work. |
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INTERVIEW FORCELLINO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING MICHELANGELO READING: RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
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Forcellino |
At this point
anything which openly expressed the ideas of the Spirituali becomes
dangerous. The tomb, which set them in stone, born of the enthusiasm that
these ideas would win the day, becomes deeply compromising. And this explains
why a year later, dictating his biography to Condivi, Michelangelo gives that
absurd and misleading description. |
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CONDIVI WRITING: RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING COMPUTER MONITOR, ORIGINAL SHOOTING, GRAPHICS
BY MAURO VICENTINI |
01:47:07 01:47:12 01:47:14 01:47:28 |
:05 :15 |
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Michelangelo’s
words carefully concealed the true meaning of the sculptures. The
torch and the laurel crown, which Forcellino believes originally symbolized
the Spirituali notion that Charity was important but lacked the power to save, became a flower garland and a
mirror, representing prudence. |
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FORCELLINO IN
THE STUDIO, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:47:31 01:47:50 |
:20 |
Replace
Forcellino o/c & at desk |
The
references to prudence were undoubtedly double-edged. Prudent religious thought for all, and
prudent actions for himself given his dangerous circumstances. Incredibly,
Michelangelo’s cover-up held for four and a half centuries. |
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01:47:30 01:47:39 01:47:39 01:47:47 01:47:47 01:47:54 |
:09 :08 :07 |
F
at window |
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MICHELANGELO DRAWING: RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING DETAIL OF MICHELANGELO’S LAST JUDGEMENT,
CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL, LA CIE DES TAXI BROUSSE |
01:47:55 01:48:16 |
:21 |
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Michelangelo
lived the rest of his life in this climate of fear and intimidation. As Pope,
Carafa threatened to destroy the Last Judgment. And the
Church later veiled his nudes in both the Sistine and Pauline Chapels. |
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MICHELANGELO DRAWING: RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING VIEW OF ST. PETERS’, ORIGINAL SHOOTING ST. PETER’S BLUEPRINT, LA CIE DES TAXI-BROUSSE |
01:48:20 01:49:02 |
:42 |
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But perhaps
fittingly, even as Carafa tried to tear Michelangelo down, others within the
Church were still asking him to help protect the Papacy’s image. He was
called upon to salvage the basilica of St. Peter, which had been under
construction since 1506. The enormous
basilica was to be a living symbol of the unassailable power of the Popes. But
the construction had gotten mired in corruption and scandal, and the Church believed Michelangelo was the only one who
could restore order and get the project finished. So
under Carafa’s oppressive rule, the artist struggled with this last,
overwhelming obligation. |
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MICHELANGELO DRAWING: RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING LA PIETà
BY MICHELANGELO, DETAIL, STILL, JEMOLO |
01:49:04 01:49:32 |
:28 |
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In his final
days, Michelangelo also worked on a sculpture for his own tomb. He portrayed
himself as Nicodemus: The man who visited Christ on the cross at night,
because he didn’t have the courage to worship him openly by day. In this very
personal sculpture, the artist clearly lamented his own torment at being
unable to express his true faith in public. |
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MICHELANGELO’S WORKS BURNING: RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:49:38 01:49:48 |
:10 |
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As
Michelangelo felt death approaching, he burned almost all the drawings and
letters he had left. He wanted no one to know his most intimate thoughts. |
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LOOT OF MICHELANGELO’S STUDY, RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:49:56 01:50:08 |
:12 |
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Comforted by
his bible, he died in his bed on February 18th 1564. His body was
shepherded out of town under bails of hay. |
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STOLEN CORPSE OF MICHELANGELO: RE-ENACTMENT,
ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:50:24 01:50:33 |
:09 |
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In Florence,
Michelangelo’s native city, hundreds of his fellow citizens gathered in tears
to pay homage to the man they called the Divine Artist. |
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MICHELANGELO’S FUNERAL: RE-ENACTMENT, ORIGINAL
SHOOTING |
01:50:36 01:50:56 |
:20 |
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Only in death
did Michelangelo finally escape the city at the heart of his inner turmoil. He spent a
lifetime serving and memorializing the Church as a loyal and devout Catholic. But all the while, the remarkable artist,
sculpture and architect was struggling for the courage to openly represent
what he thought that Church should
become. |
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FORCELLINO RISING, ORIGINAL SHOOTING |
01:51:05 |
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END |
01:51:37 01:51:54 |
:17 |
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Shot of Forcellino at his desk. This replaces the two shots of Forcellino on camera and sitting at his desk, currently in the film from 47:30 to 01:47:47. |