Let’s be real for a second. Most historical dramas are just soap operas with better costumes. They trade historical grit for cheap romance and hope you don't notice the glaring inaccuracies. But then you have the Medici Masters of Florence serie, a show that somehow managed to make 15th-century banking feel as high-stakes as a modern political thriller. It shouldn't work. On paper, watching people argue over ledger books and church domes sounds like a history lecture you’d sleep through. Yet, here we are, still talking about it.
Frankly, it’s the audacity of the show that keeps it relevant.
When Frank Spotnitz and Nicholas Meyer first pitched this, they weren't just looking to recount the life of Cosimo de' Medici. They wanted to explore how money—cold, hard, often dirty money—built the Renaissance. We usually think of the Renaissance as this ethereal explosion of art and light. The Medici series reminds us it was paid for with interest rates and power plays.
The Dustin Hoffman Factor and the Cosimo Gamble
I remember the first time I saw Dustin Hoffman on screen as Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici. It felt weird. You’ve got this Hollywood legend playing a Florentine banker in a production that feels very European. But that’s the trick. His presence gave the first season a weight it desperately needed. Giovanni wasn't a "good" man. He was a founder. He understood that to survive in Florence, you needed to be more than just rich; you needed to be indispensable to the Papacy.
Richard Madden, fresh off his Game of Thrones exit, had the impossible task of playing Cosimo.
He played him with this simmering, quiet intensity. You can see the internal war on his face: the artist who wanted to be a builder versus the son who had to be a shark. It’s a relatable struggle, even if none of us are currently commissioning Brunelleschi to finish a massive cathedral dome. The show focuses heavily on the construction of the Duomo, and honestly, that’s where the "Masters of Florence" subtitle really earns its keep. It treats the architecture as a character.
There’s this one scene where Cosimo is looking at the unfinished Santa Maria del Fiore. It’s a mess. It’s been an open hole in the city’s skyline for decades. Everyone says it can’t be done. But Cosimo bets the family’s reputation on a goldsmith with no architectural experience—Filippo Brunelleschi. That is pure Medici. High risk, high reward.
Politics, Popes, and the Pazzi Conspiracy
The Medici Masters of Florence serie doesn't stay in the 1430s forever. The transition to the "Lorenzo the Magnificent" era in seasons two and three is where the pacing goes from "intriguing" to "breakneck."
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Daniel Sharman takes over the lead role as Lorenzo, and he’s basically a rock star. If Cosimo was the builder, Lorenzo was the diplomat. But he was a diplomat with a target on his back. The series does an incredible job of framing the Pazzi Conspiracy not just as a random act of violence, but as the inevitable result of the Medici overextending their reach.
You’ve got the Pope, the King of Naples, and half the noble families in Florence plotting to murder Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano in a cathedral during High Mass. It sounds like bad fiction. But it actually happened on April 26, 1478. The show captures that tension perfectly. It doesn't shy away from the fact that while the Medici were patrons of Botticelli and Michelangelo, they were also masters of propaganda.
They used art to justify their power.
Think about that for a second. Every beautiful fresco you see in the Medici-Riccardi Palace was a PR move. It was a way of saying, "We are the chosen ones." The series gets this nuance right. It doesn't paint them as saints. It shows them as brilliant, flawed, and occasionally terrified humans who were making it up as they went along.
Production Value and the Italian Backdrop
One thing that kills most historical shows for me is the "green screen" look. You know what I mean—when the background looks like a video game from 2012.
The Medici Masters of Florence serie shot on location. Like, actual locations.
They used the Palazzo Vecchio. They used the streets of Montepulciano and Pienza to stand in for Renaissance Florence. When you see the characters walking through these stone corridors, you’re feeling the weight of the actual history. The costume design by Alessandro Lai is equally insane. The textures, the heavy velvets, the specific shades of "Medici Blue"—it all adds to the immersion. It’s tactile. You can almost smell the incense and the street mud.
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Why the Casting Worked (Mostly)
- Richard Madden (Cosimo): Brought a "haunted" quality that grounded the early banking drama.
- Annabel Scholey (Contessina): Honestly, she was the MVP. Her portrayal of Cosimo’s wife showed the real power dynamic of the time. She managed the estate while he was in exile. She was the steel in the family spine.
- Daniel Sharman (Lorenzo): Successfully pivoted the show into a more emotional, fast-paced political thriller.
- Sean Bean (Jacopo de' Pazzi): It’s Sean Bean. He’s great at being the antagonist you love to hate, even if you know his character's fate is likely sealed from episode one.
- Bradley James (Giuliano): Provided the emotional heart that made the Pazzi Conspiracy's aftermath hit so much harder.
What People Get Wrong About the History vs. The Show
Look, if you’re a hardcore historian, you’re going to find things to nitpick. The show compresses timelines. It invents certain romantic subplots to keep things spicy. For instance, the whole "murder mystery" surrounding Giovanni di Bicci in the first episode? Historically, he likely died of natural causes. He was an old man, after all.
But the show uses his death as a catalyst for the "who can we trust?" vibe that permeates the rest of the season. It’s a narrative device.
The same goes for the relationship between Lorenzo and Lucrezia Donati. Was it as dramatic as the show depicts? Probably not. But does it help us understand the social constraints of the time? Absolutely. The Medici Masters of Florence serie prioritizes "emotional truth" over "date-and-fact accuracy." It wants you to feel what it was like to be at the center of a changing world where the Middle Ages were dying and the modern world was being born.
The Legacy of the Show in 2026
We're living in an era where "eat the rich" is a common theme in media. Shows like Succession or The White Lotus dominate the conversation.
The Medici series is the ancestor of these stories.
It’s about a dynasty trying to maintain its soul while keeping its wallet full. It asks if you can truly be a good person and a powerful leader simultaneously. Most of the time, the answer in the show is a resounding "No," and that honesty is refreshing. It’s also probably why the show continues to find new audiences on streaming platforms. It doesn't feel dated because human greed and the desire for beauty don't go out of style.
Actionable Steps for Fans and New Viewers
If you've finished the show or are just starting, don't let the experience end when the credits roll. Florence is essentially an open-air museum dedicated to this family.
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1. Track the Art in Real Life
The show features "cameos" by some of the most famous artworks in history. Look up Botticelli’s Primavera or The Birth of Venus. When you see them in the context of Lorenzo’s life in season two, they stop being "boring museum paintings" and start being political statements.
2. Visit the "Virtual" Florence
If you can’t fly to Italy, use Google Arts & Culture to take a high-def tour of the Uffizi Gallery. You can see the actual faces of the people portrayed in the show. The realism in the portraiture of the time is startling; they looked exactly like people you’d meet today.
3. Watch the Seasons in Order (No Skipping)
It's tempting to jump to the "Lorenzo" era because it's more action-packed, but the foundation laid by the "Cosimo" season is vital. You need to understand the struggle to build the bank before you can appreciate how Lorenzo almost lost it all.
4. Read "The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall" by Christopher Hibbert
If the show sparked a genuine interest in the history, this is the gold standard for books on the topic. It’s readable, gossipy in all the right ways, and clears up the "wait, did that actually happen?" questions you’ll inevitably have after an episode.
The Medici Masters of Florence serie is a rare beast. It’s a big-budget production that actually treats its audience like they have a brain. It assumes you care about the intersection of art, faith, and finance. Whether you’re there for the lush Italian vistas or the intricate backstabbing of the Florentine Signoria, it delivers a version of history that feels alive, breathing, and dangerously relevant.
The Medici didn't just rule Florence; they invented the way we think about power and prestige in the Western world. Watching their story unfold on screen is the closest we’ll get to seeing the gears of history actually turning.