0:00:04 > 0:00:10There is, in the centre of Italy, a magical region.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13It is a land
0:00:13 > 0:00:18that takes in part of Tuscany, Umbria and Le Marche.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24A land so filled with artistic treasures
0:00:24 > 0:00:30and natural beauty that it has become the envy of the world.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37No-one has desired this land like you British.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42It was here that you learnt how to write, how to paint and sculpt.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44How to garden.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47How to eat and drink. How to behave.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50How to rule, and how to love.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54This land is everything you have always wanted.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Le Marche, East of Tuscany,
0:01:46 > 0:01:52once a forgotten region, a no-man's land between rival kingdoms.
0:01:55 > 0:02:02Then, miraculously, rose the greatest court in all Italy.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08This is Urbino,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10a fairy-tale city.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13In the 15th century,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15this was an inspiration to the rest of the world.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Urbino was a town of knights and courtiers,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29famous for its love of learning, and it still is.
0:02:32 > 0:02:38The university makes this a lively town in an otherwise sleepy part of Italy.
0:02:47 > 0:02:53The man who made Urbino great was Duke Federico da Montefeltro.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57He came to power in 1444.
0:02:57 > 0:03:03His dramatic profile is still recognised all over Italy.
0:03:09 > 0:03:15Federico was a scholar, a warrior, a man of the people,
0:03:15 > 0:03:20everything the citizens have always wanted from a leader,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23but God knows have rarely found.
0:03:28 > 0:03:36To proclaim a new age for Urbino, Federico built a marvellous new palace.
0:03:45 > 0:03:51This powerful courtyard is the first thing that the visitor sees.
0:03:51 > 0:03:57Everything here is designed to show us that Federico is a great man.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07Federico's virtues are written on the walls.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11He is a man of justice, faith, war,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15but also peace.
0:04:29 > 0:04:34Before long, the elegance of the court was the envy of Italy.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38There was even a book produced here
0:04:38 > 0:04:45that would become a bible of manners and etiquette - Il Cortegiano, The Courtier.
0:04:48 > 0:04:53This book tells us how to be the perfect courtier.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58It became the guide for all courts around the world.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02No English knight was ever without one.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09First, the perfect courtier must be born an aristocrat.
0:05:09 > 0:05:15He must be able to sing in tune, to paint beautifully, to write poetry.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19As a lover he must be gentle and devoted.
0:05:19 > 0:05:25In manner, the courtier must be always graceful, eloquent and generous.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30He mustn't be overdressed like the French.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34Or underdressed like Germans.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36But dressed simply in dark colours.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Like me!
0:05:41 > 0:05:46As for war, the courtier must be a great fighter,
0:05:46 > 0:05:53performing well in combat, especially when His Grace is watching.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Come on, it is too much!
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Nobody can be like this.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14With such high standards,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18no wonder Urbino's golden age was short lived.
0:06:20 > 0:06:27After Federico died in 1482, Urbino became just another Italian town.
0:06:27 > 0:06:33But this palace reminds us of what it once was.
0:07:10 > 0:07:16I am in Umbria, one of the most beautiful regions in all Italy.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23We think of it as a mystical land,
0:07:23 > 0:07:30not only because of the strange haze that seems to cover the landscape,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33but because it is la terra dei santi,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36the land of the saints.
0:07:36 > 0:07:42Umbria has more saints than anywhere else in the world.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12Like many Italians, I am named after a saint.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14I am not greatly religious
0:08:14 > 0:08:21but I can't help associate a little with St Francis of Assisi.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26Of course you British think of him only talking to the birds.
0:08:26 > 0:08:31But there is so much more to St Francis than this.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51For my grandfather.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02Because his grandfather was named Francesco.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08No. No.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18Ciao! ..Assisi.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38It was here in Assisi that Francis was born.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41His father was a rich merchant.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44He called his son Francesco,
0:09:44 > 0:09:50only the French way, in honour of the boy's French mother.
0:09:50 > 0:09:56As a young man, Francis was a rich kid, a playboy.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58He liked wine and women.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03In my youth, I must confess I was a little the same.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08So this part of Francis I understand perfectly.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13But there the similarities must end.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18After seeing the way poor people lived, Francis changed.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22He dedicated his life to helping them.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27His humility shamed the wealthy Catholic Church.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32But people still flock to follow him.
0:10:42 > 0:10:48Francis's message of poverty was against everything the Catholic Church had become.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54So when he died on the floor of a mud hut outside Assisi,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58the Pope did a very clever thing.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00He claimed him for the Church.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Francis had never been a priest and yet,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12within two years of his death, he was made a saint.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15The Pope himself laid the foundation stone
0:11:15 > 0:11:21of this enormous basilica in memory of Francis.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37No expense was spared.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42The greatest artists were called in to decorate the walls with frescoes,
0:11:42 > 0:11:47showing scenes from Francis's life.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55PRIEST LEADS PRAYER
0:12:22 > 0:12:26This is the crypt where the body of Francis lies.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29It is very moving.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31I love the atmosphere here.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34The lighting, the setting.
0:12:34 > 0:12:35It is magical.
0:12:42 > 0:12:464 million people visit the basilica every year,
0:12:46 > 0:12:52testament to the love people still have for Francis.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02I said before I never understood very well St Francis.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07But now, being in Assisi, I want to try harder.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09TWITTERING BIRDSONG
0:14:47 > 0:14:51It's difficult to describe to people who are not from Italy
0:14:51 > 0:14:55the role that the Church plays in our lives.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59The great film director Federico Fellini said,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03"I am a prisoner of 2,000 years of the Catholic Church.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05"All Italians are."
0:15:08 > 0:15:12I want to help you understand why this is so.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40I want you to imagine you are a little boy or girl,
0:15:40 > 0:15:45500 years ago, and you are about to enter this chapel.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55This is the Capella Nuova and it was here that an artist
0:15:55 > 0:15:59called Signorelli was given a very difficult task,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02to paint in detail the unpaintable -
0:16:02 > 0:16:04the end of the world.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Signorelli follows the events
0:16:12 > 0:16:15as described in the Book of Revelations.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22The world is seduced by the preaching of the Antichrist.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27The local henchmen strangle good friars.
0:16:29 > 0:16:36They scour the streets for dissenters and drag them away for execution.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Then, apocalypse.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48The world is over.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52For a while there is silence, nothing.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56And then a trumpet sounds from heaven.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01Angels summon mankind for the Last Judgement.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11Naked and bemused, humanity rises to new life.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16They look around them, trying to adjust to this strange place.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29But it does not last.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32They are divided into two.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34The good are sent to heaven.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37But the rest are sent to hell.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50What a mess.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52An orgy of suffering.
0:18:11 > 0:18:18So imagine what you, a little boy or girl, 500 years ago, would feel.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21You would have been terrified.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25This is what happens if you sin.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28And whether you grow up a believer or not,
0:18:28 > 0:18:34the memory of this, the terror, will always be with you.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40# Non dimenticar
0:18:40 > 0:18:44# Means don't forget you are
0:18:44 > 0:18:46# My darling... #
0:19:24 > 0:19:31I'm entering Tuscany, a little corner of Italy that is forever England.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34You even call it Chiantishire.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07You British have a dream.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11And the dream is, you will become rich and move here.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14You will buy a little villa,
0:20:14 > 0:20:18become an expert in wine, eat wonderful food,
0:20:18 > 0:20:25and then, if lucky, find yourself a Latin lover, like me.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34The first to live the dream was an English woman called
0:20:34 > 0:20:36Iris Cutting.
0:20:38 > 0:20:43She married Count Antonio Origo in 1921.
0:20:43 > 0:20:49Together they bought the vast estate of La Foce in Val D'Orcia.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55When they first came here the land was barren.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00But they turned 8,000 acres into fertile farmland,
0:21:00 > 0:21:04with a beautiful garden at its heart.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30I have come to meet their daughter, Benedetta.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43TRANSLATED FROM ITALIAN:
0:21:56 > 0:21:58- Grazie.- Thank you.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Start from scratch, as my mother used to say.
0:23:35 > 0:23:41I am looking out of my window and I see a mud...
0:23:41 > 0:23:47a mud hole in front of the house, which will one day, one hopes, become a fountain.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27Tuscany wasn't always a paradise.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32In the Middle Ages it was a battleground
0:24:32 > 0:24:37where rival towns struggled for land and wealth.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50The towns were fortresses first and foremost.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55Built on hilltops for defence, with mighty walls and towers.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00BELL TOLLS
0:25:06 > 0:25:12But the people of San Gimignano were not defending themselves from neighbouring towns
0:25:12 > 0:25:14but from each other.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27The great families of San Gimignano had become rich from trade.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29They were tough business rivals
0:25:29 > 0:25:34and sometimes they fought in the streets of the town.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40These great towers weren't lived in.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44They were symbols of wealth and power.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57San Gimignano's families competed to have the tallest tower.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02Eventually, to discourage this rivalry,
0:26:02 > 0:26:08it was decreed that no tower could exceed 51 metres.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Not even this was enough to stop the Salvucci family.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22They built their tower to the full height,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26and then they built an identical tower next to it.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30These are the twin towers of San Gimignano.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19A town of towers is a sad thing.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23It is a town at war with itself.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25No sense of civic pride.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Everything is for the individual.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33Towers are at once beautiful and terrifying.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38BIRD OF PREY'S CRY
0:28:01 > 0:28:05The neighbouring town of Siena tells a different story.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11In the 13th century this was the perfect city,
0:28:11 > 0:28:18a place designed to inspire civic pride and prosperity.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26When you walk in Siena
0:28:26 > 0:28:31you always feel you are being led towards larger streets.
0:28:33 > 0:28:39And these larger streets lead into even larger streets.
0:28:43 > 0:28:49And then these main streets bring you down and down towards the centre.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59Then finally, wherever you started, you arrive in this,
0:28:59 > 0:29:03the great Campo of Siena.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05Bellissimo!
0:29:15 > 0:29:17It is truly amazing here.
0:29:17 > 0:29:23Before, the centre of Siena - as in most towns - was around the cathedral.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27So by building a new centre around the town hall,
0:29:27 > 0:29:31the council was saying that the most sacred thing in Siena
0:29:31 > 0:29:34was not God, but the city itself.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43Walking the streets of Siena,
0:29:43 > 0:29:48a sense of citizenship is never far away.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50I am constantly reminded
0:29:50 > 0:29:54that I am just one small part of a greater whole.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10Inside the town hall sat the Council of Nine,
0:30:10 > 0:30:15made up of leading merchants from the town.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28This is where the Council of Nine met,
0:30:28 > 0:30:32and on the walls there are these marvellous images,
0:30:32 > 0:30:36reminding them how they should behave.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47These frescos, begun by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in 1337,
0:30:47 > 0:30:52give us a rare insight into daily Sienese life.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Here is the city run by a good government.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05The streets clean and ordered.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08People going about business.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19On the opposite side we see the city run by a bad government.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26Buildings crumbling.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30Thieves at work. Everything in disorder.
0:31:38 > 0:31:45Siena's golden age came to a tragic end in the late-15th century.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47A great plague came to the city,
0:31:47 > 0:31:51killing two thirds of the population.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55BIRDSONG
0:31:59 > 0:32:01I'm entering Chianti,
0:32:01 > 0:32:06home to the most famous of Italian wines.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12This is very Italian.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14Stuck for miles behind a tractor.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16HORN BEEPS
0:32:16 > 0:32:19Come on! Go! Move!
0:32:19 > 0:32:21HORN BEEPS
0:32:24 > 0:32:28Oh, I hope now he is going in the other direction.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30Come on. Go, go.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Thanks God, he's gone.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47This is the Castello Brolio,
0:32:47 > 0:32:50the ancestral home of the Ricasoli family
0:32:50 > 0:32:54who had been producing wine for 300 years.
0:32:55 > 0:33:01I have a date with Bettino Ricasoli the 31st Baron of Brolio.
0:33:01 > 0:33:02BELL RINGS
0:33:16 > 0:33:20- Buon giorno.- Buon giorno.
0:33:20 > 0:33:21TRANSLATED:
0:33:49 > 0:33:57The harvest of Chianti's Sangiovese grape happens once a year.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59And they are all hand-picked.
0:34:56 > 0:35:02Today, the baron's son Francesco runs the day-to-day business of the estate.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18Well, it would be rude if I was not taking one box.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22In any case...
0:36:22 > 0:36:24it's for my family!
0:36:39 > 0:36:43BELL TOLLS
0:36:46 > 0:36:50FRANCESCO SINGS OPERATIC ARIA IN ITALIAN
0:37:15 > 0:37:16Do you know that?
0:37:16 > 0:37:19Maybe I'm not singing it well.
0:37:19 > 0:37:24It is Giacomo Puccini, the great composer.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26Maybe you'll recognise it NOW.
0:37:26 > 0:37:31MUSIC: "Nessun Dorma" from "Turandot" By Puccini sung by Luciano Pavarotti
0:37:57 > 0:38:02This is the walled city of Lucca where Puccini grew up.
0:38:02 > 0:38:09Of course, to an Italian, walled city means one thing - no cars!
0:38:09 > 0:38:10Permesso?
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Ah, buon giorno.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49Tosca, La Boheme and Madama Butterfly
0:38:49 > 0:38:54have become some of the most popular operas ever.
0:38:54 > 0:39:00Nessun Dorma is the only aria to have topped the British hit parade.
0:39:06 > 0:39:12But however brilliant his music, Puccini only had one simple story -
0:39:12 > 0:39:17a beautiful and vulnerable young woman, falls desperately in love,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19then dies.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25Puccini may have found his inspiration here,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28in the Duomo.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47This is the sarcophagus of Hilaria de Carreto.
0:39:49 > 0:39:55She was the young bride of the Lord of Lucca at the start of the 15th century.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59He had everything - wealth, power -
0:39:59 > 0:40:06but he could do nothing to save Hilaria dying while giving birth to a baby boy.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17I find this tomb haunting.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21The delicate, frozen beauty of Hilaria's face.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23And here -
0:40:23 > 0:40:27at her feet - a little dog,
0:40:27 > 0:40:29a symbol of fidelity.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40As a boy, Puccini sang and played the organ here.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44I can imagine him passing this every day,
0:40:44 > 0:40:47and being captivated, as I am now.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01- Ciao!- Ciao.- Grazie.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04TRANSLATION OF ITALIAN:
0:42:00 > 0:42:04SHE SINGS: "O Mio Babbino Caro" from "Gianni Schicchi" by Puccini
0:43:20 > 0:43:24- Very good. - CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
0:43:39 > 0:43:43My mother has recommended a good Tuscan trattoria.
0:43:43 > 0:43:49But I think she's let me in for a - how do you say - a Fanny Craddock moment.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55TRANSLATION FROM ITALIAN:
0:43:59 > 0:44:00- Buon giorno.- Buon giorno.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17MUSIC: "Via con Me" by Paolo Conte
0:46:39 > 0:46:42# It's wonderful It's wonderful
0:46:42 > 0:46:45# It's wonderful Good luck, my baby
0:46:45 > 0:46:46# It's wonderful
0:46:46 > 0:46:48# It's wonderful, it's wonderful
0:46:48 > 0:46:50# I dream of you
0:46:50 > 0:46:52# Chips chips... #
0:46:52 > 0:46:54SINGER SCATS
0:46:57 > 0:47:01I first came to Florence when I was a boy.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04And I was sbalordito - astonished.
0:47:04 > 0:47:09And historians call it the home of the Renaissance.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12But at that time, that word meant nothing to me.
0:47:12 > 0:47:17All I knew was that this town was full of treasures.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19# ..It's wonderful, it's wonderful
0:47:19 > 0:47:22# It's wonderful Good luck, my baby
0:47:22 > 0:47:24# It's wonderful
0:47:24 > 0:47:26# It's wonderful, I dream of you
0:47:26 > 0:47:28# Chips, chips... #
0:47:28 > 0:47:31SINGER SCATS
0:47:33 > 0:47:35MUSIC ENDS
0:47:37 > 0:47:39It was here in Florence
0:47:39 > 0:47:44that artists rediscovered the beauty of the human body,
0:47:44 > 0:47:47after the centuries of censorship.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00This is the David of the great Donatello.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04This insolent boy caused a revolution.
0:48:04 > 0:48:10He was the first naked statue since Roman times.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14It was a little risky,
0:48:14 > 0:48:20because for centuries the church had deemed nakedness a thing of shame.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25But Donatello used the biblical account
0:48:25 > 0:48:31of David taking off his armour before his fight with Goliath
0:48:31 > 0:48:36as justification for showing him naked.
0:48:43 > 0:48:49But Donatello's David, radical as it was, was soon to be eclipsed.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56In 1504, all Florence was amazed
0:48:56 > 0:49:01when a giant statue of David was rolled into this square.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05A town committee had agreed to put it outside Palazzo Vecchio -
0:49:05 > 0:49:10the town hall - as the symbol of Florence.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16It must have been a moment of triumph for the artist -
0:49:16 > 0:49:21a young man in his 20s called Michelangelo.
0:49:24 > 0:49:30This is a perfect copy, moulded from the original in the 18th century.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33The original is in the Museo dell'Accademia.
0:49:33 > 0:49:34But for me,
0:49:34 > 0:49:39this is the place to see David, defending the town of Florence,
0:49:39 > 0:49:42and not imprisoned in a museum.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47Here, David is truly at home.
0:49:47 > 0:49:52He towers nobly and protectively over the passing crowds.
0:49:56 > 0:50:01And his face, focused, determined, ready to do battle,
0:50:01 > 0:50:07remains one of the most beguiling portraits in Western art.
0:50:10 > 0:50:17But there is another thing - the only way we know this is David is because of his weapon.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20How do you say? A sling.
0:50:20 > 0:50:25Michelangelo's statue is a celebration of manhood -
0:50:25 > 0:50:27he is the essence of macho.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37So much for the boys, what about the girls?
0:50:44 > 0:50:47For female beauty, I must go behind closed doors.
0:50:50 > 0:50:56The Uffizi is just about the best art gallery in the world.
0:50:56 > 0:51:01It is also a harem of beautiful women.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42This is Botticelli's Venus.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46This is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49Apart from my wife, of course!
0:51:49 > 0:51:55Venus is the essence of woman - perfect female beauty.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01She was painted by Sandro Botticelli
0:52:01 > 0:52:06for the powerful Medici family in the 1480s,
0:52:06 > 0:52:10to adorn the walls of one of their villas.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13Botticelli shows Venus,
0:52:13 > 0:52:19the Goddess of Love, rising from the sea in a shell.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23We see her captured in that innocent and glorious moment
0:52:23 > 0:52:28before being dressed, and blown to shore.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41Venus, like all women, is full of contradictions.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45Fragile and rebellious.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48Innocent and sexual at the same time.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51She is a woman made for pleasure.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53But she doesn't seem to know it.
0:53:09 > 0:53:15The Uffizi has always been a favourite destination for British travellers.
0:53:18 > 0:53:25Florence still has a reputation as the only Italian city with an English accent.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28SHE SPEAKS ENGLISH, INAUDIBLE BECAUSE OF MUSIC PLAYING
0:53:37 > 0:53:42I've got a date with my mother-in-law's best friend.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45We are going to see the sights together.
0:53:45 > 0:53:46Francesco!
0:53:47 > 0:53:49Hello.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52It's great to see you.
0:53:52 > 0:53:57Are you going to take me to the Brancacci chapel? OK? Adam and Eve.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59I feel on holiday!
0:54:02 > 0:54:07Why English they love so much here?
0:54:07 > 0:54:09- Florence?- Tuscany.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13Well, it's not just the English.
0:54:13 > 0:54:19Well, I supposed it started with the Grand Tour when people came here.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22And they all decided that they wanted to see
0:54:22 > 0:54:25all the art, because everywhere you turn, there's art here.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28Also, I fancy they liked to see all the nudes!
0:54:38 > 0:54:44Maggie, Dame Maggie Smith to you British, is the Queen of Florence.
0:54:44 > 0:54:51She's always filming here - A Room With A View, Tea With Mussolini. She loves it.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54It was a wonderful time living here.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56The fact that we could clear all the place
0:54:56 > 0:55:00and make it look as though it was really that period, it was wonderful.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04I remember they all went around painting the graffiti out!
0:55:04 > 0:55:08It really looked so ravishing.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH
0:55:27 > 0:55:30'This is the Capella Brancacci.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34'We've come to see Masaccio's Adam and Eve.'
0:55:34 > 0:55:40..Yeah. Let me have a look and see what it says here.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44"Here the beauty of the nude was first revealed.
0:55:44 > 0:55:49- "And here a calm dignity for the first time..."- Can you stop,
0:55:49 > 0:55:51and we try to feel something about the thing.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55Sometimes you English, you read a little too much.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59- Quite right. This is out of date anyway.- Yeah.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05No words can express the intensity of emotion
0:56:05 > 0:56:09in Masaccio's timeless image of human sorrow.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17This chapel is a window back in time
0:56:17 > 0:56:22to the streets of Florence in the 15th century.
0:56:29 > 0:56:33- So...I've had a lovely day. - It was marvellous.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35Thank you so much.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39- Take care.- One thing I forgot.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42- What?- A little present from Venice.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44Oh, darling, how sweet!
0:56:44 > 0:56:46Thank you so much!
0:56:47 > 0:56:48I hope you like it.
0:56:49 > 0:56:54Ah! Oh, it's beautiful! It's beautiful!
0:56:54 > 0:56:58- You know those dresses of Fortuni? - It's a Fortuni fabric. Look at that.
0:57:07 > 0:57:12You know, Florence is wonderful, but it is so full of great art and history
0:57:12 > 0:57:16that it can feel a little too much.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18There is no room for fun.
0:57:18 > 0:57:20Well, almost.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15In the next leg of my journey, I enter the heart of Italy.
0:58:15 > 0:58:19Power, history and faith.
0:58:19 > 0:58:25The things that make my country what it is in the eyes of the world.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2006
0:58:30 > 0:58:33E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
0:58:34 > 0:58:36Ciao!