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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. Cellini roams between the great Italian Renaissance courts, at ease in making art and causing trouble. He conjures devils in the Colosseum and murders his brother’s killer before being falsely imprisoned for stealing the pope’s jewels. Reader Marco Gambino Producer Mark Rickards A Whistledown Scotland Production