0:00:02 > 0:00:04Italy. I just love this country.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07The people, the places,
0:00:07 > 0:00:11a history that reaches back over 2,500 years.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13From the birth of the Roman Empire,
0:00:13 > 0:00:15through the glories of the Middle Ages,
0:00:15 > 0:00:17to the flowering of the Renaissance,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20its achievements are just breathtaking.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23But behind its glorious facades,
0:00:23 > 0:00:29so much of that invention and creativity still remains invisible.
0:00:29 > 0:00:30Look at that.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32I'm exploring three of my favourite Italian cities
0:00:32 > 0:00:35to discover how their hidden treasures
0:00:35 > 0:00:37played their part in the making of Italy,
0:00:37 > 0:00:39and of Western civilisation.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Using the latest 3-D scanning technology,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45we'll reveal the secrets of how these cities
0:00:45 > 0:00:49made Italy a powerhouse of the Western world.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52The last stop on our tour is Florence,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55the most romantic of Italian cities.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Ah, it's just me. It's just me and them.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02I'll be discovering how this city on the banks of the River Arno
0:01:02 > 0:01:04burst out of the Dark Ages
0:01:04 > 0:01:07to become the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10an age unparalleled for art,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12creativity, invention
0:01:12 > 0:01:13and innovation.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Helping me discover how high art
0:01:17 > 0:01:19was nurtured by low intrigue
0:01:19 > 0:01:20is my expert guide,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Dr Michael Scott.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Oh, that was a kick to the face.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30We'll meet the powerful family behind it all, the Medici.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Godfathers of the Renaissance,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36they ruled from hidden corridors of power.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39This is not somewhere the public can go.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41No, no, this is really secret.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Our scanning team will build the world's most extensive 3-D model
0:01:46 > 0:01:48of the Medicis' city
0:01:48 > 0:01:50to reveal how this world of intrigue
0:01:50 > 0:01:53was the foundation of Florence's Renaissance glory.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59This is Italy as you have never seen it before.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02Welcome to Italy's Invisible Cities.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18A nice place for a country drive.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20Ah! But what a country drive!
0:02:20 > 0:02:22I mean, this particular country.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24Look, here we are in Tuscany.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26You can just see why people, for generations,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29have loved coming to Tuscany.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31These glorious views -
0:02:31 > 0:02:33you've got vineyards, you've got olive groves,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37you've got the chimes of church bells from distant campanile.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40You've got ruins like they've just stepped out
0:02:40 > 0:02:42of a Renaissance old master painting.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Once again, I'm hitching a lift with Dr Michael Scott.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49He's taking me to one of his favourite cities,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53home to thousands of the world's art treasures.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57We're going to discover what makes this city tick
0:02:57 > 0:03:01and what made it such an incredible engine
0:03:01 > 0:03:02of the Renaissance.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Today, Florence is a magnet for tourists,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13drawn by its art and architecture...
0:03:15 > 0:03:18..not to mention some of Italy's finest ice cream.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Who could resist?
0:03:22 > 0:03:24Ciao, come va?
0:03:24 > 0:03:26Xander, go for it. What would you like?
0:03:26 > 0:03:27Please may I have...
0:03:27 > 0:03:31'But none of the wonders we can enjoy in Florence today
0:03:31 > 0:03:32'would have been possible
0:03:32 > 0:03:36'were it not for just one family - the Medici.'
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Now, I have to warn you here,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41it was drilled into me when I was little, by my grandfather,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44not Me-deechy...MED-itchy.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46So, my little affectation,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48which comes from no authority of my own at all,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50is to say MED-itchy. We're just going to have to...
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Tom-ah-to, tom-ay-to.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54- There you are.- Pot-ay-to, pot-ah-to.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56- MED-itchy!- We're not going to fall out over that.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57No, we're not, we're not.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59And you can see them everywhere we look.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Right there in the corner, up there, above the church there.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04The balls in the shield.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06I've been seeing these Medici balls.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08- You will see Medici balls. - That's a Medici shield?
0:04:08 > 0:04:09The banking symbol.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13The six balls. Three balls for a pawnbroker, six balls for a Medici.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16- There we are.- You can never have too many balls.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23The Medici first came to Florence at the beginning of the 13th century
0:04:23 > 0:04:27when Bad King John was signing the Magna Carta in England.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32The family started out as humble merchants,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34but went on to make millions.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Known as "God's bankers",
0:04:37 > 0:04:40they fought a ruthless power battle for control of the city.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47They were also patrons to some of the greatest artists in the world -
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Leonardo da Vinci,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51Michelangelo,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Botticelli.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00The first stirring of Florence's golden age began here.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04This great monster of a Duomo,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06dominating the landscape
0:05:06 > 0:05:08for miles and miles around
0:05:08 > 0:05:12and just imprinting the unmistakable identity of Florence
0:05:12 > 0:05:14on these parts.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Every little street you walk down,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19every tiny little back alley...
0:05:20 > 0:05:23..gives some sort of view of this.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27I don't want to take away from its exquisiteness,
0:05:27 > 0:05:28but I always look at it
0:05:28 > 0:05:30and imagine it's waiting for the...
0:05:30 > 0:05:33most enormous half of lemon to be squeezed on top of it.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38BELLS TOLL
0:05:38 > 0:05:41The dome was completed in 1436,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45over 250 years before St Paul's in London.
0:05:45 > 0:05:46Extraordinary.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50But what's truly remarkable
0:05:50 > 0:05:52is that, to this day,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55no-one knows how its dome was built.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Our scanning team is already at work,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01creating our 3-D model of the city.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03I hope their scanning technology
0:06:03 > 0:06:05will also help us reveal the dome's secrets.
0:06:08 > 0:06:09As they get to work,
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Michael is going to show me
0:06:11 > 0:06:13why the dome is still a mystery of engineering.
0:06:19 > 0:06:20I mean, my word, that is...
0:06:22 > 0:06:24That is truly magnificent.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37It's been called a vault of heaven.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40And it is extraordinary how impressively different
0:06:40 > 0:06:42the octagonal structure is.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44And just the plain hugeness of it.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52The dome spans 45 metres.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55It makes you look up to heaven
0:06:55 > 0:06:57but keeps your mind firmly on hell.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02I could spend all day down here
0:07:02 > 0:07:03and I really mean that,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06because I'm not brilliant with heights,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08and I know Michael has a little challenge for me.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19MICHAEL CHUCKLES
0:07:21 > 0:07:22- Keep a hand on the wall!- Mm-hmm.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28- How are you feeling?- Fine.- Fine?
0:07:28 > 0:07:31I'm extremely relaxed about being very high up.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33- It's fine.- Just don't look over the edge.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35- Yeah. And don't look... - There's a sort of...
0:07:35 > 0:07:38There's a, sort of, swirling chasm of hell down there.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40I mean, that is...
0:07:40 > 0:07:42That's cruel, isn't it?
0:07:46 > 0:07:47Florence's cathedral,
0:07:47 > 0:07:49with its great dome,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51was dreamt up in the 13th century
0:07:51 > 0:07:53to show off the city's growing power...
0:07:55 > 0:07:58..but the knowledge of how to build an unsupported dome
0:07:58 > 0:08:00had been lost with the Romans.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07So, for 140 years, this balcony was as high as you could climb.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Quite high enough for me, thanks.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15The end of the cathedral stood open to the elements.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Finally, a committee of the great and the good -
0:08:19 > 0:08:21including the Medicis, of course -
0:08:21 > 0:08:25held a competition to find someone to solve the problem.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28The guy who came forward
0:08:28 > 0:08:30was a man called Filippo Brunelleschi,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34and he is the only one who comes up with a solution
0:08:34 > 0:08:36that meets all the criteria -
0:08:36 > 0:08:38no external buttresses,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41doesn't need massive scaffolding inside,
0:08:41 > 0:08:42can be the octagon,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46and can encompass this massive reach.
0:08:46 > 0:08:47But presumably a massive gamble
0:08:47 > 0:08:50- because, if he'd never built anything before...- No-one! No-one!
0:08:50 > 0:08:51..they had only his word for it...
0:08:51 > 0:08:54- No-one had built anything like this before.- Entirely.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56So, he presents his plans and they say... HE SCOFFS
0:08:56 > 0:08:58It's even more pie in the sky than that.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00The way he gained their trust is with...
0:09:00 > 0:09:01the humble egg.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05And he said, "OK...
0:09:05 > 0:09:10"you need to have faith in me that I can do things others can't.
0:09:10 > 0:09:11"Here's an egg,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13"ask the other competitors
0:09:13 > 0:09:16"to make this egg stand up
0:09:16 > 0:09:17"on a marble plate."
0:09:18 > 0:09:20They fail, obviously,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22as all good apocryphal stories go.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Of course, I'm longing to know what happens.
0:09:24 > 0:09:25- So, what does he do?- Well...
0:09:25 > 0:09:27- System of matchsticks?- No!
0:09:27 > 0:09:29Can't have external buttressing on this egg.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Of course, of course, of course. I'm so sorry.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33It needs to stand of its own accord.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35He simply, he takes the egg...
0:09:38 > 0:09:39That's it, is it?
0:09:39 > 0:09:41- I mean...- And then all his competitors say,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43"Well, if we'd known that was what you were going to do,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45"WE could have done that.
0:09:45 > 0:09:46And he goes, "Exactly.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49"If you knew my plans, you, too, could do it."
0:09:50 > 0:09:54So, Brunelleschi, who'd probably never even put up a tent before,
0:09:54 > 0:09:55got to build his dome...
0:09:57 > 0:10:01..but, very unhelpfully, he kept his plans secret
0:10:01 > 0:10:03and destroyed the blueprints,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06and no-one could work out how he did it.
0:10:06 > 0:10:07Until now, perhaps.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13We're using our 21st-century technology
0:10:13 > 0:10:16to help solve this 15th-century mystery.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Michael's off to see how the scanning team is getting on.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25It's quite amazing, really. We're scanning down on ground level here,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27but we're seeing right the way up into the dome
0:10:27 > 0:10:29and then we're going to creep around
0:10:29 > 0:10:31into all those hidden away intricate spaces.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33We're going to be able to position ourselves digitally
0:10:33 > 0:10:36somewhere where we just can't go physically.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38And Brunelleschi was doing all of this
0:10:38 > 0:10:40without any scan, any engineering,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42any technology, really, whatsoever.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44What do you think he would have made of scanning?
0:10:44 > 0:10:48I mean, I think if Brunelleschi had scanning, he would have used it.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Whether he told people he used it,
0:10:50 > 0:10:51I'm not so sure about.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54But he was a massive fan of accuracy
0:10:54 > 0:10:55and of technology as well,
0:10:55 > 0:10:57and tying together creativity
0:10:57 > 0:11:00with the best technology that was available at that time
0:11:00 > 0:11:02to help him do amazing new things.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06While we wait for the scans
0:11:06 > 0:11:09that might just reveal the secrets of the dome,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12I want to find out why people like the Medici
0:11:12 > 0:11:14were determined to pursue such an impossible dream.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23To find out, Michael's taking me on a 50-mile drive
0:11:23 > 0:11:25across the Tuscan countryside.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27He's going to show me a renaissance version
0:11:27 > 0:11:29of keeping up with the Joneses,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33which drove the people of Florence to ever greater heights of ambition.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39We're off to Florence's neighbour...
0:11:39 > 0:11:41and rival.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45It's just so impressive, isn't it?
0:11:45 > 0:11:47I mean, obviously it's one of the most famous structures
0:11:47 > 0:11:50in our civilisation, but it's so beautiful
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and to see it up close is quite something.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Well, it's become so representative of Italy, hasn't it, as a monument?
0:11:56 > 0:11:58But actually, when it was built
0:11:58 > 0:12:00in the 12th century and 13th centuries,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02this was Pisa's attempt
0:12:02 > 0:12:04to put the city on the map.
0:12:04 > 0:12:05This was Pisa saying,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09"We are one of the great maritime republics of Italy
0:12:09 > 0:12:12"and we are as good as, you know, Florence or any of the others."
0:12:12 > 0:12:15This was monument wars, if you like.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18You know, "My tower is bigger and better than yours."
0:12:18 > 0:12:19It's very beautiful.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22I mean, quite aside from its comical leaning.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25I mean, it really does lean. Look at it this close up.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32In 1173, a century before Florence hatched its own plans,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Pisa set about building this spectacular new cathedral complex,
0:12:36 > 0:12:38with a very special bell tower.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Some of our scanning team have got here before us.
0:12:46 > 0:12:47They've already started work
0:12:47 > 0:12:51with an odd looking bit of technological wizardry.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Matt, and Luca, look at this.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58- How you doing?- Hi.- I've been longing to ask you about this new kit.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01- Luca, what have you got here? This is a...- Backpack.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05A backpack with... I mean, it looks like a sort of Hoover,
0:13:05 > 0:13:06I should be plugging a nozzle in here
0:13:06 > 0:13:08and we could get this place tidy in no time.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11But we've got... What are all these lenses here?
0:13:11 > 0:13:12So, we've got five cameras,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16so we're taking panoramic images in every direction,
0:13:16 > 0:13:17and a couple of scanners.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19So, this is like one of our normal scanners,
0:13:19 > 0:13:23but it's actually scanning 16 positions at a time.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Spinning round, spinning round, taking a section of the space.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27Then we have another scanner on the top.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29So two scanners, five cameras.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32And this, presumably, is a much more efficient way of doing it.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34- It is, yeah, yes. - Luca can do it at walking pace.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Yeah.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38- Really slow.- Andante.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Plenty of time to, kind of, take in the surroundings.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42- Coffee in one hand.- Exactly...
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Coffee in one hand, guidebook in the other.
0:13:45 > 0:13:46- Thank you.- Very well done. Carry on.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48- See you.- Off you go, Luca.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50I'm way out of my depth here.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56And now Michael's throwing me even more off-kilter.
0:13:58 > 0:13:59So, prepare yourself...
0:13:59 > 0:14:01I'm already... Look at it.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03It's like stepping onto a pitching ship, isn't it?
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Isn't it amazing?
0:14:06 > 0:14:07Very disorientating.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11And going in a circle at the same time as leaning,
0:14:11 > 0:14:13AND the same time as ascending,
0:14:13 > 0:14:15it's kind of an assault on the senses.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17It's very unsettling, actually, isn't it?
0:14:17 > 0:14:19Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... Absolutely.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21It's not entirely pleasant.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:14:23 > 0:14:25The tower is eight storeys high,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28with its famous lean just under four degrees off-centre.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Our 3-D scans reveal a skeleton image of the tower.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43It can help us see how the medieval builders tried to correct the lean.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Things started to go wrong
0:14:48 > 0:14:49almost from the word go.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53After just three storeys had been completed,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56it became clear the tower was leaning.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58Soft clay and sandy soil
0:14:58 > 0:15:00had destabilised the foundations.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Work stopped for almost 100 years,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08but then they tried a novel solution.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12They made storeys four, five, six and seven
0:15:12 > 0:15:13shorter on one side
0:15:13 > 0:15:15to try and straighten it up.
0:15:18 > 0:15:19It didn't help, of course.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25Finally completed in 1372,
0:15:25 > 0:15:29almost 200 years after they'd started building.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Look at that, they must have been so thrilled
0:15:33 > 0:15:35to have FINALLY put the lid on this!
0:15:37 > 0:15:39The Pisans never gave up trying.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43In one last attempt,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46the top itself was added at a jaunty angle to the rest.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51I love that they persevered with it.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55And at the time when you want to appear all-powerful and all-knowing,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58to acknowledge your fallibility and celebrate it...
0:15:58 > 0:16:00I'm sure they didn't see it that way,
0:16:00 > 0:16:02but you can't help but look at it
0:16:02 > 0:16:03and feel just a warmth in your heart.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05A warmth for human endeavour.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08- I mean, this is the... - BELLS TOLL LOUDLY
0:16:12 > 0:16:14'I'm now feeling that warmth in my ears.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17'Caught out enthusing about a bell tower,
0:16:17 > 0:16:18'we'd lost all track of time.'
0:16:23 > 0:16:26Our scans of Pisa are finished.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30This is the most detailed 3-D model of the cathedral ever made.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36I can really see how, 650 years ago,
0:16:36 > 0:16:38it must have impressed -
0:16:38 > 0:16:40even with its leaning bell tower.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43But at least the Pisans
0:16:43 > 0:16:44finished their cathedral.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53It must have irritated the Medici, no end,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56that, by the time the Pisa tower was completed,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Florence's cathedral had been domeless for 76 years.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04This would never do.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07By now, the Medici were one of the wealthiest families in Europe -
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Florence, the banking capital of Italy...
0:17:11 > 0:17:13..and they wanted a cathedral to match.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18I'm excited to be back in Florence,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21to find out how Brunelleschi pulled it off.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25Our 3-D scans of the dome are in.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32For the first time,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35I can begin to see how Brunelleschi did it,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38and what a spectacular structure it is.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43The scans reveal Brunelleschi's first trick -
0:17:43 > 0:17:46the Dome isn't just one dome, but two.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48An outer shell and an inner shell.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52Xander, hello.
0:17:52 > 0:17:53How do you do?
0:17:53 > 0:17:56'I'm hoping historian and writer Ross King can tell me more.'
0:17:58 > 0:18:00But first, there's another climb.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02A mere 463 steps this time.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Well, here we are,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12between the two domes,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15with the inner dome on our right,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18the thick inner dome, about four-feet thick at this point,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20arching up, as you can see.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24And we have this magnificent little space to stand between
0:18:24 > 0:18:27and peer up and, in some places, peer down.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29It's quite exhilarating, isn't it? Just such power.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34As we move between the two shells,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37but look at the pattern of brickwork here.
0:18:37 > 0:18:38It's extraordinary, isn't it?
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Yes, it's...
0:18:40 > 0:18:43There are four million bricks used in the dome
0:18:43 > 0:18:46and, because brickmakers had never made a brick that shape before,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Brunelleschi had to cut...
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Apparently, he used root vegetables.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52He would whittle them to try to show them...
0:18:52 > 0:18:55- ALEXANDER LAUGHS - ..the sort of shape that he needed.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Cos the angle... The bricks going down at that angle...
0:18:57 > 0:19:00- That's right.- ..and it's cut on this plane here, on this plane...
0:19:00 > 0:19:02There are three different slightly...
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Boom! Your brain slightly explodes.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06But that brick could only go there.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08- That's right.- It couldn't go there, it couldn't go there,
0:19:08 > 0:19:10it couldn't go there, it couldn't go... That is the brick.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Absolutely.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17My respect for Brunelleschi is growing with every brick.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Even the floor we're walking on had a structural role.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22It's a sandstone ring
0:19:22 > 0:19:24that wraps around the dome,
0:19:24 > 0:19:25like the hoops on a barrel.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29So, is it all beginning to make sense?
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Well, do you know, Ross...?
0:19:31 > 0:19:33If I'm discovering anything,
0:19:33 > 0:19:35it's that my tiny brain
0:19:35 > 0:19:37is just incapable of...
0:19:38 > 0:19:40..holding all of that.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43- I mean, it is... - Well, I think you're not alone.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45I mean, it's... It's an amazing feat.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48I mean, it's multiple feats carried out by,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50I think, one of history's great geniuses
0:19:50 > 0:19:53who did not want us to know how he did it.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58But what Brunelleschi didn't count on was our scanners.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03'Now it's time to get a proper look at them,
0:20:03 > 0:20:04'the closest we'll ever get
0:20:04 > 0:20:08'to the blueprints Brunelleschi took such trouble to destroy.'
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Whoa! And up, we go. Flying up.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15This is what we could only imagine when we were there.
0:20:15 > 0:20:16HE EXHALES AND LAUGHS
0:20:18 > 0:20:21For me, this is the moment, though, when you just pop in here...
0:20:22 > 0:20:24..to suddenly have it laid clear to me that
0:20:24 > 0:20:26there's not much between us and
0:20:26 > 0:20:29this interior fresco, and that cavernous fall.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30Yeah, yeah.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Look at that.
0:20:34 > 0:20:35Look at that.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37It's solid and it's there, as you say,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39that all the business is being done.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41You can see the angles of the bricks there.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44What I'm longing to see
0:20:44 > 0:20:47were the rings...
0:20:47 > 0:20:48that Ross pointed out,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52the sandstone bound rings.
0:20:52 > 0:20:53That cross-section, there.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55You can see the stone rings, though, can't you?
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Yeah, so...
0:20:57 > 0:20:58from the bottom...
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Number one, two,
0:21:00 > 0:21:01three and four.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Right the way up.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07This was Florence bursting out.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11I mean, I look at St Paul's now and just think, "Really?
0:21:11 > 0:21:13"Really, Christopher? Really?"
0:21:13 > 0:21:15"Come on.
0:21:15 > 0:21:16"Better next time, please."
0:21:16 > 0:21:18"Come on."
0:21:18 > 0:21:21To see it through this technology
0:21:21 > 0:21:23is just to see...
0:21:23 > 0:21:26..everything that we couldn't quite see on the day.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28To fly up between the skins,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31just to enjoy the sheer power and the...
0:21:33 > 0:21:34..mad magic trick
0:21:34 > 0:21:36that Brunelleschi's pulled off.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50In 1436, 140 years after it was first dreamt up,
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Florence's dome was finally completed.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59It's bigger than St Peter's in Rome, and St Paul's in London.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06And to this day, it's the biggest brick dome in the world.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18Brunelleschi's dome kick-started a surge of creativity and innovation.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23The Medicis' ambition and power was growing.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Now they had plans for the rest of the city.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Our emerging 3-D model of Florence
0:22:31 > 0:22:33will reveal just how much of it
0:22:33 > 0:22:35became the Medicis' backyard.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39So this, if you can believe it,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41is the Medicis' private home.
0:22:41 > 0:22:42Wow.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45I mean, look at it.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47It's just comical, isn't it,
0:22:47 > 0:22:52how no attempt is made to uniformity in these huge great...?
0:22:52 > 0:22:54They look like they're sort of built out of the cliff.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57- I mean, it's a fortress. - It is, completely.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00- I've seen Victorian prisons that look less impregnable.- Yeah.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03I mean, look at it. It must be a rock climber's dream.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06People must long to climb, hand over hand,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09up to the stone cornice up there.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13This was the Medicis' castle
0:23:13 > 0:23:16but, unlike Europe's medieval kings,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20their wealth and power came without the security of royal birth,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23so they kept themselves hidden away from the mob outside.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Well, out of the strong shall come forth sweetness.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Look at this, we've come from the fortress outside to this.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37Various different iterations of the Medici coat of arms.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38It's an interestingly...
0:23:38 > 0:23:40balled coat of arms that, isn't it?
0:23:40 > 0:23:43They're like sort of the balls of a simnel cake, aren't they?
0:23:43 > 0:23:44Just...duh, duh, duh!
0:23:44 > 0:23:47It pulls no punches. Cosimo, the guy who builds this place,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50is the first to be born into real super wealth of the Medici family,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54and the first to really start using it for civic patronage and power.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58And the Medicis are riding the waves
0:23:58 > 0:24:01of Florentine power brilliantly at this point.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Are they council members? Are they...?
0:24:03 > 0:24:06They're not in any official position of power. They don't need to be.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Everyone that IS is in their pocket...
0:24:09 > 0:24:12- Oh, that's clever.- ..or owes them money, or is banking with them,
0:24:12 > 0:24:13or is a great personal friend.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18This great fortress was the Medici HQ.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23It helped conceal their covert operations and plots,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26and reveals a lot about how they saw their own power and status
0:24:26 > 0:24:28as they rose to domination.
0:24:43 > 0:24:44HE GASPS
0:24:44 > 0:24:45That's extraordinary.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Welcome to the Medicis' private chapel.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Technically, this is a Bible story,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57- this is the procession of the Magi...- Right.- ..in Bethlehem.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Everything is, effectively, the Medici family.
0:25:02 > 0:25:03It starts with Lorenzo,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05the chap on the white horse.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10But my favourite by far is the chap next to him, on the donkey.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12That's Cosimo.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14The kind of, the humble donkey but then, you know,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17who else do we know entered town on a humble donkey?
0:25:17 > 0:25:18Well, indeed.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20- Looks a bit shifty, doesn't he? - That eye...
0:25:20 > 0:25:24"I've got my eye on you," kind of, in a beautiful, Medici type of way.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27- You know, "I'm ready for anything that can happen."- Yes.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29There's the Medici...
0:25:29 > 0:25:31- Absolutely. They're everywhere. - The balls.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33Every horse's harness, whether it's a Magi
0:25:33 > 0:25:35or whether it's one of the horses,
0:25:35 > 0:25:36every part of this picture
0:25:36 > 0:25:40has got something that screams "Medici" at you.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46These beautiful frescoes are by the Florentine artist Gozzoli.
0:25:48 > 0:25:49It's pretty audacious,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51placing yourself in a biblical setting
0:25:51 > 0:25:55and even aligning yourself with the son of God by riding on a donkey.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59But there's a twist to this Medici vanity.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Here we have the journey to Bethlehem.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07The Medicis have put themselves
0:26:07 > 0:26:08on the road, you know,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10they're putting the hard yards in here.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14They're pilgrims, they're still some way from Bethlehem.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16The message is unmistakable, really,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18"You have to keep striving,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21"you haven't arrived at the hallowed city yet."
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Our scans show how this gem of a room
0:26:27 > 0:26:30is buried deep within the walls of the Palazzo.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33It's absolutely private and secure.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36The Medicis knew that to be public
0:26:36 > 0:26:38was to be a target
0:26:38 > 0:26:40and they had good reason to crave security.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Soon after this was built
0:26:47 > 0:26:48and they were living here,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50towards the end of the 15th century,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53two of the young sons were attacked
0:26:53 > 0:26:56as they went to Mass in the Duomo.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58One of them was stabbed 19 times, dead.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01The other managed to flee and escape back here
0:27:01 > 0:27:02to the safety of these walls.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05So, why the...? What was the beef?
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Well, it was just because the Medici were,
0:27:07 > 0:27:09as a powerful family, holding the strings of power.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Obviously, they had enemies, the other powerful families in Florence.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16So, in this case, it was a family called the Pazzi family.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18- Just another family vying for... - Another rival.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22And so the Medici begin their plan of attack for revenge,
0:27:22 > 0:27:24which the Medicis took very seriously.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26I was going to say, you didn't want to upset the Medicis.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29As a result of that conspiracy, 80 people...
0:27:29 > 0:27:32were murdered, were sentenced to death effectively,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35as a result of their attempt on the Medici's life.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39And in Florence, they didn't just bring down the guillotine.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Instead, they literally chucked them out the top windows,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44with nooses round their necks,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46and let them dangle.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48So, when you saw the town hall of Florence,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52you saw the enemies of Florence, the enemies of the Medici,
0:27:52 > 0:27:54decaying and swaying in the wind.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Decaying bodies and murder plots.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03This is the dark underbelly
0:28:03 > 0:28:06beneath the beauty of Renaissance Florence.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10It's that secret side of the city
0:28:10 > 0:28:12that our scanners are seeking to map.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18I want to know if any of the rival dynasties,
0:28:18 > 0:28:20like the Pazzi family,
0:28:20 > 0:28:22survived the Medicis' vengeance.
0:28:23 > 0:28:24While I go on the hunt,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Michael's heading for the square of the Holy Cross Church, Santa Croce.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32But he's not going to Mass.
0:28:32 > 0:28:33ROWDY CHANTING
0:28:33 > 0:28:36He's going to Calcio Storico.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38That's medieval football to you and me.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40ROWDY CHANTING
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Years ago, when I lived in Florence,
0:28:42 > 0:28:46I came to this historic Florentine event.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48Take football, add rugby and boxing,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50add some ultimate wrestling,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53put 54 people in a sandpit,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55and that's basically Calcio Storico.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58WHISTLE BLOWS
0:28:58 > 0:28:59It translates as "football"
0:28:59 > 0:29:02but it's about as close to football as, frankly, nuclear war.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06This is the semifinal
0:29:06 > 0:29:08between the blues, Santa Croce,
0:29:08 > 0:29:10and the reds, Santa Maria Novella -
0:29:10 > 0:29:12two districts of the city.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17And as you can see, they take the rivalry very seriously.
0:29:17 > 0:29:18Oh, here we go.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20The blues are on!
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28Oh! Oh!
0:29:28 > 0:29:30Oh, that was a kick to the face.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34That should definitely be an expulsion.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38It can be difficult to square this reality
0:29:38 > 0:29:41with the beauty we think of when we think, "Renaissance Florence" -
0:29:41 > 0:29:42the sculptures, the architecture,
0:29:42 > 0:29:44the art...
0:29:44 > 0:29:46but, actually, the two are linked.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50It's out of the fury and the energy that is created,
0:29:50 > 0:29:54and the passion with which Florentines live their lives,
0:29:54 > 0:29:56that the Renaissance art, architecture
0:29:56 > 0:29:58was fuelled to reach new heights of achievement.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05Calcia azzurra!
0:30:05 > 0:30:08THEY CHANT
0:30:10 > 0:30:13There was clearly as much treachery on the football pitches of Florence
0:30:13 > 0:30:16as there was behind the walls of the palazzos,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19but I've managed to get south of the river unmolested.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24The Medici line died out in the 18th century,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27but some of their archrivals survived.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32I'm fortunate enough to have been asked by the Frescobaldis
0:30:32 > 0:30:35to go and visit them in their Palazzo Frescobaldi,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38where they have been living for who knows how long.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Today, the family's best known for its wine business,
0:30:47 > 0:30:50but I'm told there's a secret place in their palazzo
0:30:50 > 0:30:53that's linked to their turbulent past.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55BELL RINGS
0:30:59 > 0:31:02- Hi.- Hello.- Alexander, how are you?
0:31:02 > 0:31:04I'm very well. How do you do?
0:31:04 > 0:31:06- Very nice to meet you. - Very well. Thank you.
0:31:06 > 0:31:07- Welcome.- Thank you.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10- I'll show you something special. - Wonderful.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14- So, this is all of Frescobaldi palazzo here?- Yep.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19Three palazzos and then completely redone
0:31:19 > 0:31:24and rebuilt in the 17th century by Matteo Frescobaldi.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28And then they made this secret passage to enter.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Oh, I see. So, here you are.
0:31:32 > 0:31:37- Here we are.- Sit at your private altar, here, and hear Mass.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39You're part of the church
0:31:39 > 0:31:40but hidden away.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42We're part of the church and...
0:31:42 > 0:31:46really, it's part of our house.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48- You can say, "Amen." - Amen.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51- And still be part of the service. - Amen, yeah.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54But what was the purpose of this secret passage?
0:31:54 > 0:31:56Why was it so important not to be seen?
0:31:56 > 0:31:58Not to be seen, because they were, you know...
0:31:58 > 0:32:00At that time,
0:32:00 > 0:32:02they want to stay very close. Not too far...
0:32:02 > 0:32:03Safe.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05- Safe, very safe.- I see.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Because many families, many important families
0:32:08 > 0:32:11from the opposite side of the River Arno,
0:32:11 > 0:32:12they fight.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15You know, Frescobaldi and Medici fight.
0:32:15 > 0:32:16Yeah, I bet.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20It's because there was a Medici killed at Mass,
0:32:20 > 0:32:22- wasn't there?- Mm-hmm.
0:32:22 > 0:32:23Congiura dei Pazzi.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26I don't know if a Frescobaldi was involved with this.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28- I don't think so. - Oh, I doubt it very much.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32Sometimes I come here, also, with my glass of wine...
0:32:32 > 0:32:33Oh, I bet you do.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36..because I think it's a lot better to stay here.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40In the fresh, you know, and to have this mystic atmosphere.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43Quite right. Turn a glass of wine into a sacrament.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45Yeah.
0:32:45 > 0:32:46Yeah, why not?
0:32:49 > 0:32:51Just like the Palazzo Medici,
0:32:51 > 0:32:54these walls conceal far more than meets the eye.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58The Frescobaldi were equally paranoid about their safety.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Today, four branches of the family still live here.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10The Marchesa Rosaria is introducing me to her husband and sister-in-law.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12And, of course, it would be rude to leave
0:33:12 > 0:33:14without sampling some of the family wine.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19The Frescobaldis and these various other families,
0:33:19 > 0:33:20from time to time,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22have been tremendous rivals.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26How are relations nowadays
0:33:26 > 0:33:28with your leading Florentine families?
0:33:28 > 0:33:30Definitely very good.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32- Very much better?- Very much.
0:33:32 > 0:33:38Maybe there have been, yes, some period where we were against,
0:33:38 > 0:33:44but normally we have been also very friendly.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46Definitely, I suppose,
0:33:46 > 0:33:48in the last two or three centuries.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51Definitely, very friendly.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Please tell me that you now go to Mass through the normal door.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57You don't feel you have to go through the secret chapel.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59No, no.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01We go... I go to Mass
0:34:01 > 0:34:03through the normal door.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05Quite right. That's very reassuring.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10I, too, am going to risk a visit to the church through the main door
0:34:10 > 0:34:11in broad daylight.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18I would never have guessed that these plain walls
0:34:18 > 0:34:20concealed one of the finest examples
0:34:20 > 0:34:22of Renaissance architecture.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29And so here, right next to the Frescobaldi Palazzo,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31is the church of Santo Spirito,
0:34:31 > 0:34:34designed by our old friend, Brunelleschi.
0:34:34 > 0:34:35You can bet that,
0:34:35 > 0:34:40as news of this building passed across the Medici desk,
0:34:40 > 0:34:42it would have been greeted by a heavy sigh.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47"Come on, lads, we need to do something bigger, better."
0:34:51 > 0:34:54And so, when the Medici needed a new mausoleum,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57they turned to the genius Michelangelo,
0:34:57 > 0:34:59creator of Renaissance masterpieces,
0:34:59 > 0:35:01like the Sistine Chapel in Rome
0:35:01 > 0:35:03and the sculpture of David.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10Cosimo Medici had died in 1464,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12and it was his grandson, Lorenzo,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15who first spotted Michelangelo's talent.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20He took in the 14-year-old artist
0:35:20 > 0:35:23to be educated with his own sons
0:35:23 > 0:35:24in the Palazzo Medici.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30Michelangelo became one of the family.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36Who better, then, to create a lasting monument to the dynasty,
0:35:36 > 0:35:39just a few hundred yards from their fortress home,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42than their old family friend?
0:35:45 > 0:35:49So, this is the Medicis' local church.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52It was a local parish church pre-existing,
0:35:52 > 0:35:56but what we're really interested in is actually that dome there,
0:35:56 > 0:35:58because THAT is the work of Michelangelo.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00Oh, for heaven's sake.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04I guess in exchange for the digs that they've been providing.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07All the milk that had his name on it in the fridge.
0:36:07 > 0:36:08Hi.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10- Monica, ciao.- How are you?
0:36:10 > 0:36:11- Ciao.- Ciao.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15- Alexander.- Ciao.- How do you do? - Fine, thank you.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17- Welcome to Michelangelo's! - Please, look.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21Monica Bietti is the director of Michelangelo's Chapel
0:36:21 > 0:36:22at San Lorenzo.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25Her enthusiasm for the place is infectious.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29It might be smaller than the Duomo,
0:36:29 > 0:36:31but it's perfectly formed.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34This is all by Michelangelo,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37the drawing of the architecture
0:36:37 > 0:36:40and also the sculpture that you can see.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44Both the Medicis and Michelangelo
0:36:44 > 0:36:47have something that lasts for eternity.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52The art is at the top of the life.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54And they are to remain.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57The life finish, but the art remain.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01Unlike the marble sculptures,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04the relationship between the Medici and Michelangelo
0:37:04 > 0:37:07didn't stand the test of time.
0:37:08 > 0:37:13In 1527, the people of Florence rose up against the Medici
0:37:13 > 0:37:15and they were forced into exile.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19Michelangelo refused to go with them.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23The great artist stayed in Florence and joined the rebels.
0:37:24 > 0:37:25Right.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29So Michelangelo, who'd grown up with the Medici...
0:37:29 > 0:37:31- Yeah.- ..then betrays them.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34- The Medici eventually come back. - Of course.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37They come back and they will be the rulers of Florence
0:37:37 > 0:37:41in the 16th century, so Michelangelo picked the wrong side.
0:37:41 > 0:37:46And so Michelangelo was really afraid and go away,
0:37:46 > 0:37:49and stay in a secret place.
0:37:49 > 0:37:50Within Florence?
0:37:50 > 0:37:52Here in Florence,
0:37:52 > 0:37:55but here - very, very near here.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57We can see the secret room.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59I think we need to see this, don't you?
0:37:59 > 0:38:02- I need to see this. - Monica, lead the way!
0:38:04 > 0:38:08I'd had no idea that Michelangelo had turned his back on the Medici.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13And after just three years in exile,
0:38:13 > 0:38:15they were suddenly back.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18I can see why Michelangelo needed to disappear.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22- Was he in here?- Yes.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24You must open this door.
0:38:24 > 0:38:25Oh, I see.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27This is a real trap door, here.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29Oh! DOOR CREAKS
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Good.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33This is not somewhere the public can go.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36No, no. This is really secret.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38It remain open.
0:38:38 > 0:38:39We won't get trapped.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42- Yes. - But we have to be careful, Xander.
0:38:42 > 0:38:43Yes, pay attention.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50Michelangelo wrote that he hid for six weeks in a tiny cell,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53entombed like the dead Medici above.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55Though hiding from a live one.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57"To forget my fears,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00"I fill the walls with drawings".
0:39:00 > 0:39:01Oh, I see.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06'For over four centuries, nobody was able to find this tiny cell.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10'Then, during some building work in 1975,
0:39:10 > 0:39:14'this little room was discovered.'
0:39:15 > 0:39:17- It's incredible. - Xander, look at these.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19- Are these charcoal sketches? Are they charcoal?- Yes.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23The authenticity of the drawings has been debated,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25but many, including Monica,
0:39:25 > 0:39:27are convinced they're the work of Michelangelo.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31- Here's a man terrified for his life. - Yes.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34- He's hiding down here.- Yes.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36If he goes outside, he's going to be killed,
0:39:36 > 0:39:40and then he starts sketching on the walls out of...
0:39:40 > 0:39:42boredom? Out of...?
0:39:43 > 0:39:45I suppose it's what he does, you know.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47It's the natural thing for him to do.
0:39:47 > 0:39:52Yes, I think that he is thinking about his life,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56and draws everything that he has...
0:39:56 > 0:39:57..in his mind.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59Do you recognise this one?
0:39:59 > 0:40:02What's this?
0:40:02 > 0:40:05- A foot. - Oh, foot! It's a foot, I see.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07A very big foot.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09- It's his David.- That's it.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12- It's Michelangelo's David. - Good. It is.
0:40:12 > 0:40:13It is Michelangelo's David.
0:40:15 > 0:40:16Huh?
0:40:16 > 0:40:20So, many of these are figures that he has already painted...
0:40:20 > 0:40:22- Yes.- ..in the Sistine Chapel and elsewhere.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25I guess you could say these are, kind of, his greatest hits.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27He's revisiting some of his...
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Yes, he's revisiting.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Yes. Like an autobiography...
0:40:32 > 0:40:33- MONICA LAUGHS - ..in art.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36Exactly, the highlights, the highlights of my oeuvre.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42We're just a stone's throw from Palazzo Medici -
0:40:42 > 0:40:44talk about hiding in plain sight.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50Our scans show just how close Michelangelo's cell was
0:40:50 > 0:40:51to the home of the Medicis,
0:40:51 > 0:40:53as they tried to hunt him down.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57This had its advantages.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59Michelangelo could spy on their movements
0:40:59 > 0:41:02and, finally, make his escape.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06How did he get out? Where did he go?
0:41:06 > 0:41:09From the stairs, from the church,
0:41:09 > 0:41:12and from the palace
0:41:12 > 0:41:14that we can see together.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19We can follow the escape route of Michelangelo.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22- Does it involve going down there? - No, no.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25You've done too many programmes with us!
0:41:25 > 0:41:28- Let's go.- On you go.
0:41:28 > 0:41:29It's just extraordinary.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40Michelangelo had a friend who provided a safe house nearby.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45After years of working at the church,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48he knew all the secret passageways to avoid detection.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55It's tempting to linger and admire the church,
0:41:55 > 0:41:57but, with the Medici after him,
0:41:57 > 0:42:00I don't think Michelangelo would have hung around.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02This is the way.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07Are we still within the San Lorenzo complex?
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Yes, yes, yes, yes.
0:42:10 > 0:42:16So, this is where Michelangelo would have crept out?
0:42:16 > 0:42:18- Yes.- Knowing that one false move
0:42:18 > 0:42:21and he might have been captured by the Medicis.
0:42:27 > 0:42:28Is this...?
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Is this now the house of his friend?
0:42:31 > 0:42:34Yes, we are entering the house.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39'The secret passage takes us through a doorway
0:42:39 > 0:42:42'that leads directly into the friend's courtyard.'
0:42:42 > 0:42:44And he's reached safety now?
0:42:44 > 0:42:46Yes.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48Oh, we're safe!
0:42:48 > 0:42:51- We're home.- Yes, we are safe. - We've made it.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53An incredibly confusing route, though, isn't it?
0:42:53 > 0:42:56We've come from an underground hole...
0:42:56 > 0:42:58BELL TOLLS
0:42:58 > 0:43:01We've run through a church.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03We've been through a cloister,
0:43:03 > 0:43:05we've been out into a street,
0:43:05 > 0:43:07round a corner, to the house.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11I've no idea, though, where the church is, in relation to here,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14- or which direction... - This is like a labirinto.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16We're not in Florence any more, you know that, don't you?
0:43:16 > 0:43:18- THEY LAUGH - We've made it to Rome already.- Yeah.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29Our 3-D model of invisible Florence is taking shape.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36It's fantastic to see how we can move from San Lorenzo
0:43:36 > 0:43:39and the cell where Michelangelo hid,
0:43:39 > 0:43:40onto the Palazzo Medici
0:43:40 > 0:43:42and all the way back to the Duomo.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52The House of Medici had built so much of Florence...
0:43:53 > 0:43:56..but the best was yet to come.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10The Medici returned in 1530.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16They used armed force to retake the city,
0:44:16 > 0:44:18and they'd do whatever it took to keep it.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22First, they dealt with the rebels.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27With Michelangelo, they struck a deal.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29The artist agreed to finish their chapel,
0:44:29 > 0:44:31and all was forgiven.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37Michael has brought me to the new Medici HQ -
0:44:37 > 0:44:39Palazzo Vecchio in Florence's main square.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43We shouldn't get any ideas that the Medicis,
0:44:43 > 0:44:45when they returned to power in Florence,
0:44:45 > 0:44:49- are nicey-nicey with everyone... - Yeah.- ..in their approach.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51They come back in full force.
0:44:51 > 0:44:56They're not pulling strings of power, they ARE power,
0:44:56 > 0:44:59and there's no better symbol of that than the town hall of Florence -
0:44:59 > 0:45:02that's been standing here since the 13th century -
0:45:02 > 0:45:06is taken over by the Medicis as their seat of government.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08The gloves are off - they're in charge.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10They are Florence.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12They take over this as their seat of government and then they decide,
0:45:12 > 0:45:16"Do you know what? We need administrative offices
0:45:16 > 0:45:18"to be able rule appropriately."
0:45:18 > 0:45:20And they're right behind.
0:45:20 > 0:45:21It's the Uffizi.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25The Uffizi is no longer the city's offices,
0:45:25 > 0:45:27but a world-class art gallery.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29- Well, I'll see you later. - See you in a bit.
0:45:29 > 0:45:34While Michael investigates the invisible side of Palazzo Vecchio,
0:45:34 > 0:45:36I'm going to take in some high art.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47HE GASPS
0:45:48 > 0:45:50I'll tell you what this is like.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52It's like, if you can imagine going to party
0:45:52 > 0:45:54and just coming face-to-face
0:45:54 > 0:45:58with some of the greatest figures from world history.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01There they are. Look at the company I'm keeping here.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03I've just walked into the Botticelli Room,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05and here is The Birth of Venus,
0:46:05 > 0:46:08probably one of the most famous paintings ever!
0:46:10 > 0:46:13Over there is La Primavera,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16the three Graces surrounded by spring.
0:46:16 > 0:46:17HE SIGHS
0:46:17 > 0:46:20It's just me. It's just me and them.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23These were both commissioned by members of the Medici family...
0:46:25 > 0:46:27..but you get a sense of, of...
0:46:28 > 0:46:32..having come to the birthplace of great art.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36It sort of shouts down from the walls of this wonderful museum.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55The Uffizi was built by the latest Cosimo Medici,
0:46:55 > 0:46:57Duke Cosimo I of Florence,
0:46:57 > 0:47:00and if you couldn't find him in his offices,
0:47:00 > 0:47:02he may have been at the Palazzo Vecchio next door.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08I wonder if Michael's found a way in yet.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17Around the back of the Palazzo Vecchio
0:47:17 > 0:47:20is a secret side door entrance,
0:47:20 > 0:47:22called the Duke of Athens' Door,
0:47:22 > 0:47:23and here it is.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27Named after a ruler who was thrust upon the people of Florence
0:47:27 > 0:47:28in the mid 14th century.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31So unpopular that he decided to build himself an escape route,
0:47:31 > 0:47:33and, indeed, so unpopular, it's said,
0:47:33 > 0:47:37that he was chucked out of Florence before he had a chance to finish it.
0:47:37 > 0:47:38Now, in the 16th century,
0:47:38 > 0:47:41when the Medicis were ruling Florence from this palace,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44I'm sure they would have loved an entrance and exit like this.
0:47:50 > 0:47:54By now, the Medici were the public face of Florence,
0:47:54 > 0:47:56but old habits die hard.
0:47:56 > 0:48:01Hidden away inside are rooms showing that the Medicis' love of secrecy
0:48:01 > 0:48:02was stronger than ever.
0:48:05 > 0:48:10This secret, hidden, little bank vault-like room
0:48:10 > 0:48:14was Cosimo's personal man cave.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19Only he had a key to this strange place,
0:48:19 > 0:48:23and it's where he kept his personal documents
0:48:23 > 0:48:26and treasured possessions, in these cupboards.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30This room was totally forgotten about from the 18th century onwards
0:48:30 > 0:48:34and only rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37I hope it doesn't take me that long to get out of here.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43Even with the help of our scans,
0:48:43 > 0:48:45it's hard to find a route through this place.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51At its centre is the great Hall of Five Hundred,
0:48:51 > 0:48:53Florence's own Houses of Parliament.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59Behind it lies a labyrinth of rooms, corridors and staircases.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11All these rooms and passageways,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14they reek of secrecy, intrigue
0:49:14 > 0:49:19and of a family who preferred to rule from the shadows.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21But the Medicis weren't able just to scurry around
0:49:21 > 0:49:24in particular buildings in secrecy -
0:49:24 > 0:49:27they could get across the whole city that way.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30I'm off to join Xander, to see if we can pick up the trail.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37Michael's got to mix with the masses to get to me.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43But the Medicis made sure they never had to mingle with the hoi polloi.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48We're going to explore exactly how they controlled the city
0:49:48 > 0:49:51without ever needing to put a foot outside.
0:49:58 > 0:49:59Ah, Michael, how are you?
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Of all the corners of this wonderful museum!
0:50:02 > 0:50:05I've been hanging with Julius Caesar and Hercules, waiting for you.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07- How are you?- How fabulous.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09Now, why have you brought me to this corner?
0:50:09 > 0:50:12Well, I hope you've been enjoying something of the wonderful art here,
0:50:12 > 0:50:15but, frankly, we're not interested in art right now.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18We're interested in one of the secrets of the Uffizi
0:50:18 > 0:50:22and that's a corridor, the ultimate corridor of power
0:50:22 > 0:50:26that linked the Palazzo Vecchio, the heart of government,
0:50:26 > 0:50:29through the Uffizi, once the administrative offices,
0:50:29 > 0:50:34and on to the Medicis' private villa and palace, in fact,
0:50:34 > 0:50:35on the south side of the river.
0:50:37 > 0:50:42All the way to the south side of the river - that's a long corridor.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45What godlike power to move right through this city
0:50:45 > 0:50:47and to see, but not be seen.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54It's known as the Vasari Corridor, after the man who designed it.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58From the outside, you would never know it was here,
0:50:58 > 0:51:02as it winds its way above the crowded streets of Florence.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08Luca's walking its length with his backpack scanner
0:51:08 > 0:51:12to give us a perspective that even the all-seeing Medici
0:51:12 > 0:51:13could only dream of.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18What's the point of this? Why was it so urgently required?
0:51:18 > 0:51:23Well, the official reason was that Cosimo's son, Francesco,
0:51:23 > 0:51:27was getting married and they needed a secure and quick passageway
0:51:27 > 0:51:30- for the bride and groom on the wedding day...- That's nice.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32..to avoid getting the wedding dress mucky on the streets.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35- Quite right. - But that's the official line.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40- Yes.- I mean, behind that is a much bigger story.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43Don't forget, their own family had been riddled with intrigues.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47Alessandro de' Medici is killed in his bed, by his cousin,
0:51:47 > 0:51:50having been discovered in bed with the cousin's wife.
0:51:50 > 0:51:51That's a great story right there!
0:51:51 > 0:51:53- Yeah.- Killed by his own cousin...
0:51:53 > 0:51:55- Yeah.- ..for sleeping with his cousin's wife.- Absolutely.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57But this is, kind of, part and parcel
0:51:57 > 0:51:59of the dynastic, despotic families of the period.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01- Right.- Now, Cosimo, as any ruler,
0:52:01 > 0:52:05with such power and with such history behind him,
0:52:05 > 0:52:09you can imagine he is constantly looking over his shoulder.
0:52:09 > 0:52:11The very fact that they decide
0:52:11 > 0:52:15that a permanent, secure corridor is needed...
0:52:15 > 0:52:17Tells you everything you need to know.
0:52:17 > 0:52:19..tells you everything you need to know
0:52:19 > 0:52:22about how the Medicis understood their position in Florence.
0:52:25 > 0:52:31This secret passageway even passes over Florence's oldest bridge
0:52:31 > 0:52:32and you would never know.
0:52:32 > 0:52:38Well, this is a wonderfully elevated and rarefied view of Florence.
0:52:38 > 0:52:39Here we are on the Ponte Vecchio.
0:52:39 > 0:52:40I wonder how many people,
0:52:40 > 0:52:43of the millions who must cross this every year,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46I wonder how many look up and have any idea
0:52:46 > 0:52:49of what happens upstairs at the Ponte Vecchio.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51This was in everyday use.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54I mean, it wasn't just kept for dire emergencies.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56No, no, no, no. Roll out of bed in the morning and get...
0:52:56 > 0:52:58Not walk this, get into your little carriage.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00It's built wide enough for a carriage
0:53:00 > 0:53:03to, sort of, take you down to your office for a day's work
0:53:03 > 0:53:05- and then back home again. - I'm worried about two things.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07The exercise he's not getting
0:53:07 > 0:53:09and the vitamin D he's not getting.
0:53:09 > 0:53:10He's going to get rickets.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13I think he was also more worried, probably,
0:53:13 > 0:53:15about getting stabbed in the back or something like that.
0:53:15 > 0:53:16OK. OK!
0:53:19 > 0:53:22I'm beginning to think of it as an invisibility cloak,
0:53:22 > 0:53:25but one made out of bricks and mortar.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30So, Cosimo merely needed a pair of roller-skates, at this point,
0:53:30 > 0:53:33so he could just be pushed down into his residence.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36It was an easy ride back at the end of the day towards the residence,
0:53:36 > 0:53:38and that's where we're heading now.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41We're heading towards the Pitti Palace.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43After a kilometre of corridor,
0:53:43 > 0:53:45the secret passage emerges
0:53:45 > 0:53:50into the gardens of the glorious Palazzo Pitti...
0:53:50 > 0:53:52And this will give you a good view.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57..the place the Medici now called home.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00It's just massive. That's a fortress, isn't it?
0:54:00 > 0:54:03I mean, there's no mistaking that. That's just impregnable.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07From the top of the gardens,
0:54:07 > 0:54:09Cosimo could look down on the city
0:54:09 > 0:54:11his family had done so much to shape.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16The Vasari Corridor has brought us
0:54:16 > 0:54:20from the heart of Florence to the edge of the city.
0:54:20 > 0:54:21When you're on the inside,
0:54:21 > 0:54:24you can't see how it all relates to the world outside,
0:54:24 > 0:54:27but virtual reality is going to change all that.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33- In we go.- Wow!
0:54:33 > 0:54:36Here begins the Vasari Corridor.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Diddly, diddly...
0:54:38 > 0:54:40All the way down here,
0:54:40 > 0:54:42sharp turn here.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44- Beautiful!- Over the eye.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46Beautiful!
0:54:46 > 0:54:48To see it like this,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51where you can actually start to put it all together,
0:54:51 > 0:54:53how, particularly south of the Arno,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56it finds its way circuitously around all those properties.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02And actually, one of the lovely things about operating at this scale
0:55:02 > 0:55:05is that I can just take a, kind of, casual walk over here,
0:55:05 > 0:55:09just disappear out through that window and levitate.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12Join me outside over here. It's quite a scary feeling,
0:55:12 > 0:55:14just taking that step out of the corridor.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16- Come on, Xander. Join me out here.- Argh!
0:55:16 > 0:55:18Whoa! Look at that.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20Floating above the Ponte Vecchio.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22Ooh, ice creams over there. Mmm!
0:55:24 > 0:55:27But the funny thing is, having been in the Uffizi,
0:55:27 > 0:55:29having been along the Vasari Corridor,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32you never get this...
0:55:33 > 0:55:36..sense of where it is, you know, how it all connects.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38It does, sort of, give you an illusion
0:55:38 > 0:55:40of Medici, kind of, power, doesn't it?
0:55:40 > 0:55:43Looking over, having Florence as your plaything, like this.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51'I feel I've really got to know the Medici.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55'I've walked in their footsteps, drunk wine with their rivals
0:55:55 > 0:55:58'and been awed by their churches.'
0:55:58 > 0:56:01I mean, my word!
0:56:01 > 0:56:03'So I suppose my last question is...'
0:56:03 > 0:56:06What became of the Medici?
0:56:06 > 0:56:08Well, they continued to have power until the 18th century,
0:56:08 > 0:56:10but then their line ended.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12There were no Medici heirs.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16So this family that had had so many enemies,
0:56:16 > 0:56:18trying to bring them down over the centuries,
0:56:18 > 0:56:20finally is just brought down...
0:56:20 > 0:56:22completely by nature.
0:56:22 > 0:56:28But the last Medici donated the entire Medici art collection,
0:56:28 > 0:56:31all their personal possessions to the city of Florence.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34With the proviso that, in her words,
0:56:34 > 0:56:37that it should remain in the city for the benefit of its citizens
0:56:37 > 0:56:40and for the inducement of visitors.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43That's wonderful. I mean, that is a bequest beyond...
0:56:43 > 0:56:45beyond measurable value.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49And now, I feel privileged
0:56:49 > 0:56:52to see something that even the Medici could never see.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56Our scans have come together
0:56:56 > 0:56:59to form the most extensive 3-D model
0:56:59 > 0:57:01of Medici Florence ever made.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06And for me, the scans really show that Florence
0:57:06 > 0:57:09is one big sleight of hand.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11It looks so light, so ethereal -
0:57:11 > 0:57:15but just below it is all that intrigue, all that rivalry.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20From the hidden passageways and secret routes
0:57:20 > 0:57:23through some of Florence's famous buildings...
0:57:24 > 0:57:27..to the labyrinth of structures and supports
0:57:27 > 0:57:29that hold up Brunelleschi's magical dome.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47Now, when I look at Florence, I see violent competition,
0:57:47 > 0:57:52secret corridors of power and creative brilliance.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55All of this put Florence on the map
0:57:55 > 0:57:58and made it the engine room of the Renaissance
0:57:58 > 0:58:00that shapes our world to this day.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15If you'd like to explore Florence in 3-D yourself,
0:58:15 > 0:58:17go to...
0:58:19 > 0:58:20..and follow the link.