Sex and Death

Jerry Brotton is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and wants us to take a fresh look at a period in European history usually associated with beauty, harmony and art. His approach contains a health warning: the Renaissance was a lot darker and violent than many of us have imagined. Retracing the life of Benvenuto Cellini through his shocking autobiography, Jerry reveals how this was a time of conflict as well as beauty, creativity as well as tyranny. At the height of his success, Cellini’s violence and sexual misconduct lead him back to jail. In disgrace he completes another masterpiece, his life-size marble crucifix. It is a final triumph of the Renaissance before his death in 1571. Reader Marco Gambino Producer Mark Rickards A Whistledown Scotland Production