Dawn of the Renaissance

Florence in 1478 is awakening to its own potential.  The Uffizi Palace does not yet exist. No Vasari corridor spans the Arno to Palazzo Pitti.  The Medicis, the leading family of Florence, feel no need to protect themselves from daily encounters with their fellow citizens in the marketplace.

Michaelangelo is three years old.  A rough block of marble sits in a stoneyard in Florence. Abandoned by a prominent sculptor, it is considered too flawed to be useful. Michaelangelo’s David stands inside, with many years to wait for release from his confinement within the stone. Angelina, a young woman of Tuscany, seeks her own release from the bonds of church, family and marriage.  Young, although neither innocent nor untutored.  Events will unfold that offer an alternative to the life she will otherwise lead.

Vatican Intrigue

St Peter’s Basilica is in the center of a muddy hilltop in Rome, unfinished.  Its massive circular nave is open to the sky.  Brunelleschi of Florence is long dead. No other architect of the time has determined how to construct a dome above this enormous space to protect the interior from the elements.  Nor has the church yet learned how to protect itself from the venal ambitions and appetites  of its own elites.