Medicis Get On-Screen Treatment
Hooray! After the bed-hopping Borgias and the head-chopping Tudors, it is now the turn of another Renaissance dynasty, the Medicis, to get the television series treatment. The Florentine family, which spawned no fewer than three popes and two queens of France, and was painted by such masters as Ghirlandaio (his “The Confirmation of the Rule” is pictured) has now got its own period drama, starring Dustin Hoffman. The Hollywood star plays Giovanni de’ Medici, the patriarch of the banking family, who, like many in the clan, came to a nasty end. His charismatic son, Cosimo, is played by the Game of Thrones actor Richard Madden. The first of the Medici drama’s 50-minute episodes are being premiered as part of this week’s selection at the MIPTV festival in Cannes, France. No firm word yet about their broadcast dates.
