In his verse "The Divine Comedy" Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) tells the story of a journey through the hereafter. The book represents a milestone in European literary history and has had a lasting impact on many artists. In elaborate, as for the movie screen designed game scenes some of the most famous episodes from Dante's literary main work were recreated. Well-known experts shed light on the literary aspects of poetry and explain them in the context of their time of origin.
A portrait of the writer and adventurer Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798).
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) entered art history as the master of light and shadow. As one of the few painters of her time, she became famous. She frequented well-known personalities such as Galileo Galilei and the painter Cristofano Allori. Even the Medici commissioned pictures from her. At a young age she was raped by her teacher Agostino Tassi. In lavishly produced scenes and explanations of her paintings, this introduces documentation into the eventful life and the fascinating painting of Artemisia. The basis for this is provided by the handwritten letters of the painter.
The Milan Scala is one of the most famous opera houses in the world, its audience notorious for unsparing expression of displeasure. Singers, conductors, composers and dancers celebrated artistic triumphs or failed tragically. Here music history was written. What would we hear if the Scala could tell its own story? The Italian writer Nicola Lagioia and the film director Angelo Bozzolini tried it out. A cinematic experiment with the star tenor Plácido Domingo, who had some of his greatest successes at the Scala.
The sensuality of his pictures exerts an immediate fascination even on today's viewers. Some of Raphael's most famous paintings (1483-1520) were re-enacted with people for this documentary, not for didactic purposes, but to evoke the poetic aspect of the works. Well-known art historians such as Tom F.K. Henry.
The painter, sculptor, architect and poet Michelangelo (1475-1564) was one of the greatest geniuses of the Italian Renaissance. His ceiling paintings in the Sistine Chapel and his David sculpture entered art history as masterpieces. He worked four times on sculptures that Mary showed with her dying son in her arms. Why did Michelangelo return to this topic again and again? This question is the focus of this documentation.
In the first century AD, trade flourished in Campania. The region came to great wealth. Wealthy patricians built stately mansions there. The relics of their spectacular gardens give many hints on the culture of the ancient Romans. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD brought a sudden end to the economic and intellectual heyday.