b"Controversial friar Girolamo Savonarola supervised the mass destruction of Renaissance art, literature and other priceless items he deemed as \\u2018fripperies\\u2019 on 7th February, 1497 - an event that became known as \\u2018The Bonfire of the Vanities\\u2019.\\nThe Dominican cleric - eventually ex-communicated by the Pope for calling the Catholic Church \\u2018a whore\\u2019 - commandeered a large following of adolescents, who went door-to-door in Florence demanding items to be chucked on to the pyre. Ironically, Savonarola was ultimately executed the following year\\u2026 by being chucked into a fire.\\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask whether Savonarola\\u2019s objections to Renaissance-era portraiture had any legitimacy; explain how he leveraged his \\u2018prophecies\\u2019 to give him greater control of the City; and consider why he selected Shrove Tuesday, of all days, to build his famous bonfire\\u2026\\xa0\\nFurther Reading:\\n\\u2018A big day in history: Florence's bonfire of the vanities\\u2019 (HistoryExtra, 2012): https://www.historyextra.com/period/renaissance/a-big-day-in-history-florences-bonfire-of-the-vanities/\\n\\n\\u2022\\xa0\\u2018The friar who ignited the first bonfire of vanities in Florence\\u2019 (The Washington Post, 2006): https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2006/04/02/the-friar-who-ignited-the-first-bonfire-of-vanities-in-florence-span-classbankheadthe-friar-who-ignited-the-first-bonfire-of-vanities-in-florence-span/f2de7781-44e6-4a86-a076-6d7f5b2e9854/\\n\\u2022 \\u2018Who was Savonarola?\\u2019 (Auckland Art Gallery Toi o T\\u0101maki, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMS_JEQgSrY\\n#1400s #Arts #Religion #Italy\\nLove the show? Join\\xa0\\U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS\\xa0\\U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\\nPlus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.\\nJoin now via\\xa0Apple Podcasts\\xa0or\\xa0Patreon.\\xa0Thanks!\\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:\\xa0podfollow.com/Retrospectors\\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.\\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices"