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The Essay Blood and Bronze Episodes

    Rebirth

    10/10 Cellini’s violent life leaves behind a controversial legacy.

    Sex and Death

    9/10 Cellini’s misconduct leads him back to jail, where he completes another masterpiece.

    Forging the Renaissance

    8/10 Back in Florence, Cellini works for Cosimo de’ Medici and creates his greatest work.

    Golden Years

    7/10 Cellini arrives in Fontainebleau to work for Francis I.

    Crime and Punishment

    6/10 Cellini is imprisoned for over a year in Rome, enduring various attempts on his life.

    The Scorpion

    5/10 Cellini roams between the great Italian courts, making art and causing trouble.

    Death in Florence

    4/10 On his return to Florence, Cellini experiences the horrors of the plague.

    Storming the Capitol

    3/10 Having built a career as a goldsmith, Cellini becomes a soldier during the Sack of Rome.

    Overture

    2/10 Cellini’s early years are spent training as a musician.

    A Portrait of the Artist

    1/10 Professor Jerry Brotton explores the darker side of the Italian Renaissance.