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- [Narrator] Rome.
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A city of faith and power.
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And at its heart, a museum
with secrets dark and strange.
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Tales of barbarous acts of violence,
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clashing egos,
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and scandalous censorship.
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Here, you can uncover
messages from the past,
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and reopen dark chapters from history.
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(intense music)
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Secrets hidden in plain sight,
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inside the Vatican museums.
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(intense music)
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In the middle of Rome, stands the Vatican.
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The epicenter of Catholicism.
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(dramatic violin music)
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It is both a fortified city,
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and a place the Pope calls home.
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(speaking in foreign language)
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It also houses one of the
famous museums in the world,
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full of timeless treasures.
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Each one with a story to tell.
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Of all of these, none are more famous
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than the Sistine Chapel.
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(wondrous music)
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All who enter here gaze up
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at the luminous frescoes of Michelangelo.
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(wondrous music)
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What few people know
is that his masterpiece
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was an afterthought.
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(wondrous music)
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When the chapel was constructed,
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the walls were filled
with monumental murals,
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but the ceiling was just decorated
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with a simple field of stars.
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30 years later, Pope Julius II
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decided it needed a new paint job.
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When he gave the task to Michelangelo,
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he took a leap of faith,
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because the artist was
not then a famous painter,
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but an up and coming
sculptor of the human form.
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His transformation of the ceiling,
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an area the size of two basketball courts,
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would be completed in just four years.
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How did a brilliant but
inexperienced painter
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complete the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
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in such a short time?
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500 years later, when Vatican staff
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embarked on a restoration project,
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they got the chance to
uncover this museum's secrets.
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- My name is Maurizio de Luca,
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and I'm the director of the restoration
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in the Vatican Museum.
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I worked there from 43 years.
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(dramatic music)
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- [Narrator] The restoration
team spent nine years
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up onto the ceiling in the 1980s.
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It took them twice as
long to clean the ceiling
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as it did Michelangelo to paint it.
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- The possibility that we put our hand
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on the plaster, on the
Michelangelo painting,
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allowed us to investigate
more and more his technique.
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Fresco painting includes
a series of procedures,
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that cannot be seen from a distance.
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But since we have gotten close,
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so close to the frescoes,
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we can clearly see the
evidence of those procedures.
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- [Narrator] The largest
figures on the ceiling
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are nearly 20 feet across.
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Michelangelo did not attempt
to paint them freehand.
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Each figure started as
a sketch, or cartoon,
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followed by a procedure that art experts
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like William Wallace
refer to as "pouncing".
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- Pouncing is the means of transferring
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the cartoon to the plaster.
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So the cartoon has actually been pricked
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with little tiny holes,
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and the charcoal dust in a bag
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is actually pounced or
pounded onto the cartoon.
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(wondrous music)
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Okay, we see the head,
beautifully pounced,
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and the hand, beautifully pounced.
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- [Narrator] But pouncing
was a slow process,
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and Michelangelo was under
pressure from an aging pope
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who wanted to see the ceiling completed
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before he died.
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So, Michelangelo exchanged
the charcoal for a blade,
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allowing him to quickly
incise the lines of the sketch
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directly onto the plaster.
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- [William] And these are the
kinds of things you can see
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all across the ceiling,
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when you're looking at it and raking like
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Michelangelo's incised marks.
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- [Narrator] The artist had good reason
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to heed the Pope's demand for speed.
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- Unlike our idea of the papacy today,
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Pope Julius II, who was
known as the Warrior Pope,
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was an extremely active personality,
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literally leading the
papal armies into war.
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- [Narrator] Michelangelo
may have respected the Pope,
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but he was not the type
of man to be intimidated.
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- [William] The thing you can say
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about Pope Julius and Michelangelo,
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they're both megalomaniacs.
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- [Narrator] There were
bound to be some clashes
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between these titans.
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- The Pope wanted constantly to know
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when Michelangelo was gonna finish,
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and Michelangelo's famous response was,
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"When it's done."
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At which point, the Pope
actually picked up a stick
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and started beating Michelangelo.
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"When it's done, when it's done?" He says.
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- [Narrator] To get it done,
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Michelangelo would endure
far more physical torment
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than the occasional
beating from an aging pope.
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On a scaffold, 18 hours
a day, seven days a week,
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constantly craning his neck up,
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paint dripping into his eyes,
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no one can say Michelangelo
didn't suffer for art.
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In the fourth year of his labor,
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he even described it in a poem.
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"With my neck puffed out like a pigeon,
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"belly hanging like an empty sack,
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"beard pointed at the ceiling,
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"and my brain fallen
backwards in my head."
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Michelangelo kept going because
he was tough and determined.
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But that doesn't explain how he could work
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on a scaffold just a few
feet from the ceiling
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and yet paint figures
in perfect perspective
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when seen from far below.
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The answer may be, because
he started his career
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as a sculptor.
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- When Michelangelo
imagines a figure moving,
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it's moving inwards, outwards in space,
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and therefore it creates
this wonderful perspective.
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People ask all the time.
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"Is that real, is the architecture real,
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"are they sticking out of
the ceiling, are they 3D?"
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- [Narrator] If one removes
the frescoes from the ceiling,
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Michelangelo's mastery of perspective
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becomes even more impressive.
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He works magic with his paints,
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creating lifelike 3D figures
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even when the background
tilts the wrong way.
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- Jonah was painted on a piece of plaster
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that tilts towards us,
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and yet looking at the figure,
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Jonah appears to tilt backwards.
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It was something that he knew
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would fly in the face of all the people
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that had criticized him
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at the beginning of the assignment saying,
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"Oh, but Michelangelo doesn't know
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"anything about painting."
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Michelangelo denies the laws of physics
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through his painting.
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It's the same kind of special effect
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that people marvel at in
something like "Avatar".
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- [Narrator] So, how did Michelangelo
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complete his masterpiece
in just four years?
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Determination, physical endurance,
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and 3D virtuosity are
only part of the answer.
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The rest is surely quite simply, genius.
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- Michelangelo's more responsible
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than any other artist in
the history of the world
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for raising the stature of artist.
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This is the beginning of an artist
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actually establishing his own criteria.
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- [Narrator] Every morning,
when the gates open,
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thousands of visitors head
straight to the Sistine Chapel,
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to stand for a moment
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in a place that combines the power of God
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and the genius of man.
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(inspiring music)
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These galleries have always hosted
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crowds of curious visitors,
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but there was a time when
they came in violence,
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clamoring for the Pope's blood.
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(intense music)
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At first sight, it's easy to forget
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that the Vatican Swiss Guards
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are highly trained elite mercenaries,
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dedicated for the last 500 years
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to defend the life of the Pope.
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Never was their duty
more tested than in 1527,
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during a bloody standoff in Rome.
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(mysterious music)
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500 years later, the Vatican museums
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still bare the scars.
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Here in the former papal apartments,
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decorated by one of the masters
of the Renaissance, Raphael,
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art restorer Paolo
Violini spends every day
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cleaning the 500 year old frescoes.
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(mysterious music)
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- I've been working here in
Rafael room for 15 years,
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more or less.
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Before the cleaning, we didn't know
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the color of the eyes.
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Now we can see they are blue.
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It's really beautiful.
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(wondrous music)
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- [Narrator] The discoveries
come in all forms.
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- We restored this fresco
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more than 10 years ago,
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and we found some damages
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on the faces of the popes,
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and also many graffiti.
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One of them, you can see the name, Luther.
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- [Narrator] Luther was a German monk,
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ex-communicated for challenging
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the authority of the Pope.
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How did his name end
up incised on a fresco
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in the papal apartments?
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These frescoes were painted
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during the artistic
golden age in the Vatican.
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Popes were pouring money
into glorifying the papacy.
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Such extravagance is exactly what Luther
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and his German Protestant supporters
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detested about the church.
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Professor Paul Gwynne investigates
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this period of history.
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- Luther had been to Rome,
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and been disgusted of what he'd seen.
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He'd spread the word in
his homeland, in Germany,
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that Rome needed reform.
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- [Narrator] The religious tensions
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would come to a head unexpectedly,
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when an army of the most
powerful ruler in Europe,
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the Holy Roman Emperor, descended on Rome.
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- [Paul] In terms of
numbers, we're talking
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in the region of 20,000 troops,
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swelled by German mercenaries.
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- [Narrator] The Commander was
there for political reasons,
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but his unruly troops
had other goals in mind,
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and quickly took matters
into their own hands.
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- [Paul] The attack starts at
four o'clock in the morning.
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The assault is done virtually in a mist.
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People on the walls can't see them coming.
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- [Narrator] This was the first time Rome
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had been invaded on
this scale in 500 years.
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- Okay, we're in modern Piazza San Pietro,
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and of course Saint Peter's and the Pope
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were the object of the Imperial troops.
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And they were streaming through,
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screaming and shouting
for the Pope's blood.
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The papal defenders were
shouting back equal obscenities.
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Lutherans, sons of whores, et cetera.
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Absolute chaos.
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Panic sets in, the
Swiss Guard is summoned,
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and the Pope prepares to leave.
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- [Narrator] The Pope's Swiss Guard
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had been trained for moments like this.
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But on this day, they are
seriously outnumbered.
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- A great battle takes place in which 80%,
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three quarters of the Swiss Guard
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are cruelly massacred.
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They defend the Pope to a man.
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This was close, hand to hand combat,
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fought with daggers, knives, and swords.
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It would've been absolutely
gory, blood everywhere.
261
00:13:19,700 --> 00:13:21,305
- [Narrator] As the Swiss Guard falls,
262
00:13:21,340 --> 00:13:24,960
the Pope manages to
escape down this passage,
263
00:13:24,995 --> 00:13:27,220
to Passetto, which links the Vatican
264
00:13:27,255 --> 00:13:28,873
to a well fortified castle.
265
00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:32,746
- The Pope picked up his skirts,
266
00:13:32,781 --> 00:13:34,573
and ran the length of the Passetto.
267
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,320
The Imperial troops
were lined up down here
268
00:13:39,355 --> 00:13:40,675
waiting for him,
269
00:13:40,710 --> 00:13:42,175
hoping to get a pot shot
270
00:13:42,210 --> 00:13:45,460
as they could spy him through
the narrow arrow chutes.
271
00:13:45,495 --> 00:13:47,365
Now you see him, now you don't.
272
00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,083
It must've been something
like a papal duck shoot.
273
00:13:50,981 --> 00:13:53,405
(arrows firing)
274
00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:54,670
- [Narrator] The Pope ended up here,
275
00:13:54,705 --> 00:13:57,235
at Castel Sant'Angelo,
276
00:13:57,270 --> 00:14:00,683
while citizens outside were
being massacred and tortured.
277
00:14:02,610 --> 00:14:05,015
- We hear stories of cardinals
278
00:14:05,050 --> 00:14:08,195
being whipped naked through the streets,
279
00:14:08,230 --> 00:14:12,010
men being forced to eat their
own testicles, for example.
280
00:14:12,045 --> 00:14:15,439
Also, the tombs of the
popes were desecrated,
281
00:14:15,474 --> 00:14:18,833
and their bodies pulled
from their coffins.
282
00:14:21,730 --> 00:14:23,560
What kind of men were responsible
283
00:14:23,595 --> 00:14:24,813
for this brutality?
284
00:14:26,350 --> 00:14:28,146
On the other side of the city,
285
00:14:28,181 --> 00:14:29,943
Paul may have found the answer.
286
00:14:31,830 --> 00:14:34,950
- We are in the luxury suburb and villa
287
00:14:34,985 --> 00:14:37,415
of the papal banker.
288
00:14:37,450 --> 00:14:39,250
We've come here today particularly
289
00:14:39,285 --> 00:14:41,007
to look at the graffiti
290
00:14:41,042 --> 00:14:42,695
that was left on the walls
291
00:14:42,730 --> 00:14:45,863
as the Imperial troops marched through.
292
00:14:46,870 --> 00:14:49,863
1528 is the year.
293
00:14:50,697 --> 00:14:54,614
(speaking in foreign language)
294
00:15:02,257 --> 00:15:05,787
"Why am I who's writing
not allowed to laugh?
295
00:15:05,822 --> 00:15:09,317
"The Landsknecht are the ones who have put
296
00:15:09,352 --> 00:15:11,997
"the Pope, papst, to flight."
297
00:15:13,700 --> 00:15:16,115
The Landsknecht, German mercenaries,
298
00:15:16,150 --> 00:15:19,890
were feared throughout the
15th and 16th centuries
299
00:15:19,925 --> 00:15:21,833
as the crack infantry.
300
00:15:24,710 --> 00:15:26,095
- [Narrator] These much feared troops
301
00:15:26,130 --> 00:15:29,523
had reasons to vandalize the
Raphael rooms in the Vatican.
302
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,543
- The Landsknecht were the
pro-Lutheran sympathizers.
303
00:15:35,940 --> 00:15:39,360
Luther himself had thought
of Rome as a cesspool,
304
00:15:39,395 --> 00:15:43,035
as a place that needed
dramatic reformation,
305
00:15:43,070 --> 00:15:46,680
and the Landsknecht were
out to do it for themselves.
306
00:15:46,715 --> 00:15:49,260
So I think we could make
the case very strongly
307
00:15:49,295 --> 00:15:51,770
that the people who inscribed on the walls
308
00:15:51,805 --> 00:15:52,572
of the Raphael rooms,
309
00:15:52,607 --> 00:15:53,963
and the people who wrote here,
310
00:15:53,998 --> 00:15:55,698
were one in the same.
311
00:15:55,733 --> 00:15:58,198
(eerie music)
312
00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,400
- [Narrator] After eight
months under siege,
313
00:16:02,435 --> 00:16:04,599
the Pope paid a ransom for his own life,
314
00:16:04,634 --> 00:16:06,763
and was allowed to escape to safety.
315
00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,970
But the sack of Rome had
brutally taken the lives
316
00:16:11,005 --> 00:16:13,333
of 80% of the inhabitants of the city.
317
00:16:15,750 --> 00:16:19,286
Rome wouldn't recover for
the better part of a century.
318
00:16:19,321 --> 00:16:21,835
(mysterious music)
319
00:16:21,870 --> 00:16:24,315
(whimsical music)
320
00:16:24,350 --> 00:16:26,301
Next, a cover up campaign
321
00:16:26,336 --> 00:16:28,253
at the Vatican museums.
322
00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:32,473
And the shocking true
of what lies beneath.
323
00:16:35,663 --> 00:16:38,251
(dramatic music)
324
00:16:38,286 --> 00:16:40,805
(whimsical music)
325
00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:43,973
The Vatican collections
are housed in nine museums.
326
00:16:45,110 --> 00:16:46,820
Treasures the popes have amassed
327
00:16:46,855 --> 00:16:48,896
over the last 500 years.
328
00:16:48,931 --> 00:16:52,075
(whimsical music)
329
00:16:52,110 --> 00:16:54,190
Classical Greek and Roman statues
330
00:16:54,225 --> 00:16:55,753
fill dozens of galleries.
331
00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,904
Many of them are totally nude.
332
00:17:00,939 --> 00:17:03,737
(whimsical music)
333
00:17:06,130 --> 00:17:07,890
- Well, this statue is the famous
334
00:17:07,925 --> 00:17:09,445
Apollo de Belvedere,
335
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,910
one of the founding piece
of the Vatican museum,
336
00:17:12,945 --> 00:17:16,193
in the collections set by Pope Julius II.
337
00:17:18,573 --> 00:17:20,245
- [Narrator] Evidently, Pope Julius
338
00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,110
had no issue with
displaying this ancient God
339
00:17:23,145 --> 00:17:25,212
in all his glory.
340
00:17:25,247 --> 00:17:27,245
(dramatic music)
341
00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,400
- He wanted to bring back in fashion
342
00:17:30,435 --> 00:17:33,465
all the classic values.
343
00:17:33,500 --> 00:17:38,500
Nudity, male bodies, perfection,
ideal representation,
344
00:17:39,570 --> 00:17:41,253
that's the Renaissance goals.
345
00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:45,555
- [Narrator] The beauty of the human body
346
00:17:45,590 --> 00:17:47,190
wasn't only showcased in the ancient art
347
00:17:47,225 --> 00:17:48,640
that the Pope was collecting,
348
00:17:49,930 --> 00:17:52,000
but also in the new art
that he was commissioning
349
00:17:52,035 --> 00:17:54,722
in the early years of the 16th century.
350
00:17:54,757 --> 00:17:56,755
(dramatic music)
351
00:17:56,790 --> 00:17:59,140
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling
352
00:17:59,175 --> 00:18:01,143
is a cornucopia of nudity.
353
00:18:03,540 --> 00:18:05,420
- And if you look at Michelangelo's
354
00:18:05,455 --> 00:18:07,315
portrayal of Adam and Eve,
355
00:18:07,350 --> 00:18:11,210
we have quite an interesting
juxtaposition there
356
00:18:11,245 --> 00:18:14,375
of Eve's face, and Adam's genitalia.
357
00:18:14,410 --> 00:18:18,340
In fact, if you flip her head 180 degrees,
358
00:18:18,375 --> 00:18:20,957
the fruit of forbidden knowledge
359
00:18:20,992 --> 00:18:23,540
becomes quite a different mouthful.
360
00:18:23,575 --> 00:18:26,795
(whimsical music)
361
00:18:26,830 --> 00:18:29,223
- [Narrator] Nudity and
art went hand in hand.
362
00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:32,853
Even in such a sacred space.
363
00:18:35,500 --> 00:18:38,090
But it wouldn't be long
before overexposure
364
00:18:38,125 --> 00:18:39,113
became an issue.
365
00:18:40,890 --> 00:18:43,060
20 years after he completed the ceiling,
366
00:18:43,095 --> 00:18:45,244
Michelangelo painted "The Last Judgment"
367
00:18:45,279 --> 00:18:47,393
on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.
368
00:18:49,460 --> 00:18:52,623
It was raising eyebrows
before it was even finished.
369
00:18:54,970 --> 00:18:57,326
The Pope's chamberlain, Biagio da Cesena,
370
00:18:57,361 --> 00:18:59,683
complained about the amount of nudity.
371
00:19:01,550 --> 00:19:04,333
Saying it was better suited to a brothel,
372
00:19:05,460 --> 00:19:06,883
or a bathhouse.
373
00:19:09,020 --> 00:19:11,890
On hearing this, the
headstrong Michelangelo
374
00:19:11,925 --> 00:19:13,725
sent his critic to hell.
375
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,390
- Michelangelo actually
puts Biagio da Cesena
376
00:19:17,425 --> 00:19:20,285
as one of the judges of the underworld.
377
00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,020
He's given asses ears,
and he's immortalized
378
00:19:24,055 --> 00:19:25,133
in the Sistine.
379
00:19:29,550 --> 00:19:31,460
- [Narrator] Today, much
of the original nudity
380
00:19:31,495 --> 00:19:33,143
has been carefully covered over.
381
00:19:34,030 --> 00:19:35,523
But not by Michelangelo.
382
00:19:37,270 --> 00:19:39,056
The censor was a new pope.
383
00:19:39,091 --> 00:19:40,843
His Holiness, Pope Pius V.
384
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:47,465
- Pope Pius was so much offended
385
00:19:47,500 --> 00:19:51,545
by that genital nudity
in the Pope's palace,
386
00:19:51,580 --> 00:19:55,590
that he decided that he couldn't even bare
387
00:19:55,625 --> 00:19:56,713
to look at it.
388
00:19:58,860 --> 00:20:00,275
- [Narrator] His concern?
389
00:20:00,310 --> 00:20:01,950
Nothing less than the survival
390
00:20:01,985 --> 00:20:03,607
of Catholicism itself.
391
00:20:03,642 --> 00:20:05,236
(church bells ringing)
392
00:20:05,271 --> 00:20:06,795
Times were changing.
393
00:20:06,830 --> 00:20:08,495
With the Protestant Reformation,
394
00:20:08,530 --> 00:20:11,870
there were demands for
a more modest church,
395
00:20:11,905 --> 00:20:14,603
and some things were just unacceptable.
396
00:20:16,290 --> 00:20:17,753
There was an official ruling.
397
00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:22,680
No more genital nudity in the visual arts.
398
00:20:22,715 --> 00:20:25,000
- There is, of course, a famous myth
399
00:20:25,035 --> 00:20:26,822
that somewhere in the Vatican
400
00:20:26,857 --> 00:20:28,575
there is a drawer of penises
401
00:20:28,610 --> 00:20:30,840
that have been knocked
off by an angry pope
402
00:20:30,875 --> 00:20:32,525
with a chisel one night.
403
00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:34,735
That's probably not the case.
404
00:20:34,770 --> 00:20:37,125
Remember, that any statue falling,
405
00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:39,703
any piece that sticks out is vulnerable.
406
00:20:41,820 --> 00:20:43,410
- [Narrator] The popes
may not have gone so far
407
00:20:43,445 --> 00:20:45,223
as to castrate their statues,
408
00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:48,510
but they certainly had them covered up.
409
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,485
The Bible was consulted,
410
00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:55,260
and a solution was found in
the story of Adam and Eve,
411
00:20:55,295 --> 00:20:57,052
covering themselves with fig leaves
412
00:20:57,087 --> 00:20:58,810
after eating the forbidden fruit.
413
00:21:00,357 --> 00:21:02,325
(intense violin music)
414
00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:04,710
And so, the censorship
of nudity in the Vatican
415
00:21:04,745 --> 00:21:07,677
became known as "The Fig Leaf Campaign".
416
00:21:10,900 --> 00:21:12,595
Hundreds of ancient statues
417
00:21:12,630 --> 00:21:15,683
received strategically placed foliage.
418
00:21:17,370 --> 00:21:19,695
- It became an absolute must.
419
00:21:19,730 --> 00:21:23,975
Fig leaves, underwear,
draperies, whatever.
420
00:21:24,010 --> 00:21:28,793
I mean, it became normal to
not accept nudity anymore.
421
00:21:30,470 --> 00:21:31,975
- [Narrator] One of
the Fig Leaf Campaign's
422
00:21:32,010 --> 00:21:35,167
first targets was
Michelangelo's "Last Judgment".
423
00:21:36,350 --> 00:21:38,215
Soon after the artist's death,
424
00:21:38,250 --> 00:21:41,013
the Pope ordered the
offending flesh covered up.
425
00:21:43,990 --> 00:21:46,545
It would take a new
ruling by a daring pope
426
00:21:46,580 --> 00:21:50,220
to restore this masterpiece
to its former glory,
427
00:21:50,255 --> 00:21:53,860
or to remove the fig leaves
throughout the museums.
428
00:21:53,895 --> 00:21:55,735
Only then, would these ancients
429
00:21:55,770 --> 00:21:58,481
be allowed to let it all hang out again.
430
00:21:58,516 --> 00:22:01,064
(catchy music)
431
00:22:03,110 --> 00:22:05,025
Next, an exclusive journey
432
00:22:05,060 --> 00:22:07,665
into the Vatican's secret archives,
433
00:22:07,700 --> 00:22:11,200
where lost transcripts
recount tales of sodomy,
434
00:22:11,235 --> 00:22:14,518
heresy, and burning at the stake.
435
00:22:14,553 --> 00:22:17,268
(dramatic music)
436
00:22:20,670 --> 00:22:22,535
(lighthearted music)
437
00:22:22,570 --> 00:22:24,790
Down the hall from the Vatican museums
438
00:22:24,825 --> 00:22:26,453
is the secrets archives.
439
00:22:27,890 --> 00:22:30,101
An exclusive and under explored
440
00:22:30,136 --> 00:22:32,313
collection of historical documents,
441
00:22:33,300 --> 00:22:35,123
rarely seen on television.
442
00:22:38,060 --> 00:22:39,615
It was dramatically depicted
443
00:22:39,650 --> 00:22:42,460
in the blockbuster film,
"Angels and Demons",
444
00:22:42,495 --> 00:22:43,945
as a high tech fortress,
445
00:22:43,980 --> 00:22:47,023
with low oxygen chambers
and bulletproof glass.
446
00:22:49,830 --> 00:22:52,580
In reality, the most high tech contraption
447
00:22:52,615 --> 00:22:54,577
is an antiquated elevator,
448
00:22:54,612 --> 00:22:56,642
and most documents are held
449
00:22:56,677 --> 00:22:58,673
in a no frills, cement bunker.
450
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,926
But on its 25 miles of bookshelves
451
00:23:04,961 --> 00:23:07,453
are documents that shaped the world.
452
00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:10,913
Galileo's signed confession.
453
00:23:11,810 --> 00:23:15,820
Henry VIII's request to
divorce his first wife.
454
00:23:15,855 --> 00:23:17,482
And a Napoleonic treaty.
455
00:23:17,517 --> 00:23:20,399
(mysterious music)
456
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:25,860
In 2001, a mis-cataloged
00 year old parchment
457
00:23:25,895 --> 00:23:26,923
was discovered here.
458
00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:30,535
It revealed surprising details
459
00:23:30,570 --> 00:23:32,660
behind one of the most infamous stories
460
00:23:32,695 --> 00:23:33,853
of the Middle Ages.
461
00:23:34,700 --> 00:23:36,683
The demise of the Knight's Templar.
462
00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:43,390
The Knight's Templar were
founded in the 12th century
463
00:23:43,425 --> 00:23:45,235
as an elite religious fighting force
464
00:23:45,270 --> 00:23:48,193
to protect the Holy Land
during the Crusades.
465
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:51,955
- From the very beginning,
466
00:23:51,990 --> 00:23:55,265
the Templars were made dependent
467
00:23:55,300 --> 00:23:57,850
only from the authority of the Pope.
468
00:23:57,885 --> 00:24:00,400
Meaning, they didn't have to answer
469
00:24:00,435 --> 00:24:02,633
to any local authority.
470
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,940
The Templars were fabulously wealthy.
471
00:24:07,975 --> 00:24:10,820
Owning land, controlling trade,
472
00:24:10,855 --> 00:24:12,333
even running treasuries.
473
00:24:15,070 --> 00:24:18,430
But back in Europe, their
wealth brought them enemies.
474
00:24:18,465 --> 00:24:20,273
Very powerful enemies.
475
00:24:21,410 --> 00:24:23,605
The King of France, Philip IV,
476
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:25,436
who was seriously in debt,
477
00:24:25,471 --> 00:24:27,233
wanted to bring them down.
478
00:24:28,500 --> 00:24:32,480
- He wanted their estates,
he wanted their cash.
479
00:24:32,515 --> 00:24:35,535
All the stops were pulled out
480
00:24:35,570 --> 00:24:39,423
in order to see this to completion.
481
00:24:41,370 --> 00:24:42,910
- [Narrator] Even if that meant bypassing
482
00:24:42,945 --> 00:24:44,613
the authority of Pope Clement V.
483
00:24:46,450 --> 00:24:47,835
King Philip spread rumors
484
00:24:47,870 --> 00:24:50,193
about their secret initiation rites.
485
00:24:51,630 --> 00:24:54,335
Rumors of elicit sexual acts,
486
00:24:54,370 --> 00:24:58,481
spitting on the image
of Christ and idolatry.
487
00:24:58,516 --> 00:25:02,593
- It was a huge, effective
propaganda machine.
488
00:25:05,070 --> 00:25:08,020
- [Narrator] Rumors
soon became accusations.
489
00:25:08,055 --> 00:25:10,515
King Philip arrested almost 200 Templars
490
00:25:10,550 --> 00:25:13,780
including the Grand Master
of the Order himself,
491
00:25:13,815 --> 00:25:14,630
Jacques de Molay.
492
00:25:15,870 --> 00:25:18,720
- Then he was accused of denial of Christ,
493
00:25:18,755 --> 00:25:21,015
idolatry, and sodomy.
494
00:25:21,050 --> 00:25:23,035
It seems that he was tortured
495
00:25:23,070 --> 00:25:25,020
in order to obtain a confession.
496
00:25:25,940 --> 00:25:28,445
- [Narrator] The Medievals has various,
497
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:30,915
horrific means of extracting confessions.
498
00:25:30,950 --> 00:25:33,653
- The most common one
was the torture of rope.
499
00:25:34,668 --> 00:25:36,455
(dark music)
500
00:25:36,490 --> 00:25:38,290
Another one was the torture of fire.
501
00:25:40,410 --> 00:25:42,487
Finally, there was the wheel.
502
00:25:42,522 --> 00:25:44,904
(dark music)
503
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,645
Under torture, many confessed to heresy,
504
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,883
a crime punishable by life
in prison or execution.
505
00:25:54,150 --> 00:25:55,900
In an effort to determine how accurate
506
00:25:55,935 --> 00:25:57,875
these confessions were,
507
00:25:57,910 --> 00:25:59,655
the Pope held an independent trial
508
00:25:59,690 --> 00:26:02,203
of the Templar leaders in Chinon, France.
509
00:26:05,660 --> 00:26:10,660
The original transcript of
that trial was lost, until now.
510
00:26:11,270 --> 00:26:12,605
- Before the discovery,
511
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:14,430
there were different theories suggesting
512
00:26:14,465 --> 00:26:16,500
that the Pope didn't do his best
513
00:26:16,535 --> 00:26:18,013
to save the temple.
514
00:26:20,210 --> 00:26:22,921
- [Narrator] But the parchment
in the secret archives
515
00:26:22,956 --> 00:26:25,633
in its original Latin,
tells us a different story.
516
00:26:27,237 --> 00:26:28,987
- [Luca] "Knight Jacques de Molay,
517
00:26:29,022 --> 00:26:30,737
"Great Master of the Templar Order,
518
00:26:30,772 --> 00:26:32,163
"came before us.
519
00:26:34,497 --> 00:26:36,843
"He described his initiation ceremony.
520
00:26:39,937 --> 00:26:42,527
"He said he did not spit on the cross,
521
00:26:42,562 --> 00:26:43,783
"but only close to it.
522
00:26:44,887 --> 00:26:47,062
"As for the vice of sodomy,
523
00:26:47,097 --> 00:26:50,073
"the head shaped idol,
and the illicit kissings,
524
00:26:51,017 --> 00:26:52,997
"he denied any knowledge."
525
00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:57,280
- [Narrator] This parchment also records
526
00:26:57,315 --> 00:26:58,673
the verdict of the church.
527
00:26:59,940 --> 00:27:01,565
It found Jacques de Molay guilty
528
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:03,903
of sexual immortality and corruption,
529
00:27:04,870 --> 00:27:08,663
but not of heresy, and so,
not liable for execution.
530
00:27:09,750 --> 00:27:11,550
- I don't believe that
before the discovery
531
00:27:11,585 --> 00:27:13,195
of the Chinon parchment,
532
00:27:13,230 --> 00:27:16,870
anybody suspected or had even anticipated
533
00:27:16,905 --> 00:27:19,120
that the Pope had gone this openly
534
00:27:19,155 --> 00:27:21,255
to attempt absolution.
535
00:27:21,290 --> 00:27:24,630
He didn't want to see the
Templar wealth going to Philip.
536
00:27:24,665 --> 00:27:29,063
He did not want to lose his military arm.
537
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,720
- [Narrator] This document
should've saved the Templars,
538
00:27:33,755 --> 00:27:36,920
but in the end, the King of
France proved too powerful,
539
00:27:36,955 --> 00:27:39,313
and Pope Clement V, too weak.
540
00:27:40,370 --> 00:27:44,980
- As a pope who had been
appointed by the King of France,
541
00:27:45,015 --> 00:27:49,093
was really virtually the King's man.
542
00:27:50,610 --> 00:27:52,465
- [Narrator] So, four years after Chinon,
543
00:27:52,500 --> 00:27:54,320
the Pope dissolved the Knight's Templar,
544
00:27:54,355 --> 00:27:56,073
stripping them of papal protection.
545
00:27:57,520 --> 00:27:59,723
King Philip of France seized the moment.
546
00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:04,095
On this island in Paris,
547
00:28:04,130 --> 00:28:06,803
he ordered Jacques de
Molay burned at the stake.
548
00:28:08,060 --> 00:28:09,845
- The Spanish have their bullfights,
549
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:11,620
and in Europe, nothing was better
550
00:28:11,655 --> 00:28:13,325
than burning people at the stake,
551
00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:16,333
it was a great means
of attracting a crowd.
552
00:28:16,368 --> 00:28:19,215
(dramatic music)
553
00:28:19,250 --> 00:28:21,650
- [Narrator] It was the end
of the Knight's Templar,
554
00:28:21,685 --> 00:28:23,933
but Jacques de Molay had the last word.
555
00:28:25,330 --> 00:28:28,395
- It is said that in his dying moments,
556
00:28:28,430 --> 00:28:31,425
he cursed both the King and the Pope,
557
00:28:31,460 --> 00:28:34,283
saying that they would
die within the year.
558
00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:36,845
The Pope died within a month,
559
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:38,950
and the King of France
died within two months
560
00:28:38,985 --> 00:28:41,283
of the burning of Jacques de Molay.
561
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:44,540
- [Narrator] The significance
of this parchment
562
00:28:44,575 --> 00:28:46,235
leaves you wondering just how many other
563
00:28:46,270 --> 00:28:49,180
documents there are buried
in the secret archives,
564
00:28:49,215 --> 00:28:50,495
waiting to be dusted off
565
00:28:50,530 --> 00:28:52,743
to set the historical record straight.
566
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:00,970
Next, one of the museum's treasures
567
00:29:01,005 --> 00:29:02,855
is sent to hospital,
568
00:29:02,890 --> 00:29:06,042
to investigate a 2,000 year old mystery.
569
00:29:06,077 --> 00:29:08,959
(mysterious music)
570
00:29:11,074 --> 00:29:13,824
(dramatic music)
571
00:29:17,330 --> 00:29:19,800
In the heart of the Vatican museum complex
572
00:29:19,835 --> 00:29:21,773
is the Gregorian Egyptian Museum.
573
00:29:23,350 --> 00:29:25,693
A large collection from Ancient Egypt,
574
00:29:27,630 --> 00:29:30,420
which includes gifts
from an Egyptian ruler
575
00:29:30,455 --> 00:29:31,253
to the Pope.
576
00:29:34,330 --> 00:29:38,474
Unusual gifts, consisting
of human mummies.
577
00:29:38,509 --> 00:29:41,391
(mysterious music)
578
00:29:42,740 --> 00:29:44,470
Behind the scenes at the museum,
579
00:29:44,505 --> 00:29:46,362
these have become the focus
580
00:29:46,397 --> 00:29:48,443
of the Vatican Mummy Project,
581
00:29:48,478 --> 00:29:50,490
led by curator and Egyptologist,
582
00:29:50,525 --> 00:29:52,023
Dr. Alessia Amenta.
583
00:29:53,490 --> 00:29:55,375
- The mummies, like treasure chest,
584
00:29:55,410 --> 00:29:59,210
containing all these
data about ancient life,
585
00:29:59,245 --> 00:30:01,402
who can help us to understand
586
00:30:01,437 --> 00:30:03,560
how these people were living,
587
00:30:03,595 --> 00:30:06,015
what they were eating,
588
00:30:06,050 --> 00:30:08,695
which was their social rank,
589
00:30:08,730 --> 00:30:12,513
and the diseases they were
suffering at that time.
590
00:30:14,020 --> 00:30:15,485
- [Narrator] Now, curators have decided
591
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:17,930
it's time to open this
human treasure chest
592
00:30:17,965 --> 00:30:20,602
and learn its secrets.
593
00:30:20,637 --> 00:30:23,205
(suspenseful music)
594
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:24,975
This means one last journey
595
00:30:25,010 --> 00:30:27,276
for this delicate time traveler.
596
00:30:27,311 --> 00:30:30,265
(suspenseful music)
597
00:30:30,300 --> 00:30:32,050
- [Alessia] We are very worried about
598
00:30:32,085 --> 00:30:33,443
every kind of movement.
599
00:30:35,870 --> 00:30:37,355
- [Narrator] Too much movement,
600
00:30:37,390 --> 00:30:38,840
and this 2,000 year old corpse
601
00:30:38,875 --> 00:30:40,283
could crumble to dust.
602
00:30:42,590 --> 00:30:45,540
- We hope that she will not move at all.
603
00:30:45,575 --> 00:30:47,103
It's a risky operation for us.
604
00:30:49,657 --> 00:30:51,295
(mysterious music)
605
00:30:51,330 --> 00:30:54,176
- [Narrator] Mummification
was an ancient art.
606
00:30:54,211 --> 00:30:55,860
- The Ancient Egyptian were believing
607
00:30:55,895 --> 00:30:56,835
that without the body,
608
00:30:56,870 --> 00:30:59,525
they couldn't leave in the afterlife.
609
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:03,175
So, this was the most
important thing for them.
610
00:31:03,210 --> 00:31:05,810
- [Narrator] But mummification
doesn't last forever.
611
00:31:06,810 --> 00:31:09,970
- She was removed from the
Gregorian Egyptian Museum
612
00:31:10,005 --> 00:31:14,385
in 1991, because it was very damaged,
613
00:31:14,420 --> 00:31:18,225
and as you can see, all
the ropes and vertebrae
614
00:31:18,260 --> 00:31:22,030
coming out from this
big tear from the back.
615
00:31:22,065 --> 00:31:23,210
- [Narrator] The curators decided
616
00:31:23,245 --> 00:31:25,065
to try and restore her.
617
00:31:25,100 --> 00:31:27,440
- Usually, mummies are not restored
618
00:31:27,475 --> 00:31:30,165
because it's very complicated.
619
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:33,890
We were lucky because we can
collect all the vertebrae,
620
00:31:33,925 --> 00:31:38,890
and we can create again
the vertebrae column.
621
00:31:40,270 --> 00:31:41,775
- [Narrator] They then re-wrapped her
622
00:31:41,810 --> 00:31:43,280
using the very same linen wrappings
623
00:31:43,315 --> 00:31:44,673
that had begun to decay.
624
00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:46,633
The result?
625
00:31:47,530 --> 00:31:50,383
She looks like she was
mummified just yesterday.
626
00:31:53,190 --> 00:31:54,800
But before putting her back on display
627
00:31:54,835 --> 00:31:55,735
in the museum,
628
00:31:55,770 --> 00:31:59,393
Alessia wants to gain a better
understanding of her life.
629
00:32:01,140 --> 00:32:02,165
What little they do know
630
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,173
comes from her burial coverings.
631
00:32:05,090 --> 00:32:06,590
- We know something about her,
632
00:32:06,625 --> 00:32:08,055
because on these coverings,
633
00:32:08,090 --> 00:32:10,163
there is written her name, Ny-Maat-Re.
634
00:32:11,170 --> 00:32:15,015
She was living in the
Second Century, B.C.,
635
00:32:15,050 --> 00:32:19,980
in Fayoum Oasis, probably
from the town of Hawara.
636
00:32:20,015 --> 00:32:21,943
We don't know any more about her.
637
00:32:22,874 --> 00:32:24,835
(mysterious music)
638
00:32:24,870 --> 00:32:28,152
- [Narrator] In order to find
out more about Ny-Maat-Re,
639
00:32:28,187 --> 00:32:31,434
Alessia has decided to check
her in to a local hospital.
640
00:32:31,469 --> 00:32:34,351
(mysterious music)
641
00:32:37,230 --> 00:32:39,935
After 2,000 years, this Egyptian woman
642
00:32:39,970 --> 00:32:43,451
is about to share her
deepest secrets with us.
643
00:32:43,486 --> 00:32:46,805
(speaking in foreign language)
644
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,420
- [Alessia] The CT scan
is the most important step
645
00:32:49,455 --> 00:32:51,255
for a study of a mummy,
646
00:32:51,290 --> 00:32:54,785
because it gives a lot of information
647
00:32:54,820 --> 00:32:59,630
about wrappings, about
the diet of this person.
648
00:32:59,665 --> 00:33:03,653
And at what age she was dying, and why.
649
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:09,465
- [Narrator] 100 times more powerful
650
00:33:09,500 --> 00:33:12,870
than a regular X-ray, a
CT scan uses radiation
651
00:33:12,905 --> 00:33:16,240
to produce detailed,
three-dimensional images
652
00:33:16,275 --> 00:33:18,379
of the insides of a body.
653
00:33:18,414 --> 00:33:21,296
(mysterious music)
654
00:33:22,380 --> 00:33:24,120
This is the first time they've had a mummy
655
00:33:24,155 --> 00:33:25,763
on the hospital premises.
656
00:33:26,830 --> 00:33:28,273
She's drawn quite a crowd.
657
00:33:29,350 --> 00:33:32,347
- [Man] We have a big
audience in the gallery!
658
00:33:32,382 --> 00:33:34,914
(laughing)
659
00:33:34,949 --> 00:33:38,048
(speaking in foreign language)
660
00:33:38,083 --> 00:33:40,790
- [Narrator] Dr. Francesco
Danza is the radiographer
661
00:33:40,825 --> 00:33:43,605
who interprets the CT scans.
662
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,373
Usually, of course,
his patients are alive.
663
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:49,160
- We can see very clearly
664
00:33:49,195 --> 00:33:52,224
the reconstruction of the spine.
665
00:33:52,259 --> 00:33:55,253
That the men in museum have done.
666
00:33:57,530 --> 00:34:02,530
We also have the confirmation
of this technique
667
00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,173
to make the skull empty.
668
00:34:07,710 --> 00:34:11,250
- Sometimes they are taking
out the brain from the eye,
669
00:34:11,285 --> 00:34:14,763
sometimes extracting here
from the nose directly.
670
00:34:15,980 --> 00:34:17,720
- [Narrator] Egyptians
believed that knowledge
671
00:34:17,755 --> 00:34:19,245
came from the heart,
672
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,610
so they had no use for the
brain in the afterlife.
673
00:34:22,645 --> 00:34:24,459
Generally, it was pulled out in pieces
674
00:34:24,494 --> 00:34:26,273
through the nostrils and discarded.
675
00:34:28,820 --> 00:34:30,770
- [Francesco] Are we
sure it's a female mummy?
676
00:34:30,805 --> 00:34:32,439
(laughing)
677
00:34:32,474 --> 00:34:33,793
- [Alessia] Did you do that?
678
00:34:33,828 --> 00:34:35,113
Did you do that on purpose?
679
00:34:35,148 --> 00:34:36,548
(laughing)
680
00:34:36,583 --> 00:34:38,556
Shall I call the anthropologist?
681
00:34:38,591 --> 00:34:40,495
(speaking in foreign language)
682
00:34:40,530 --> 00:34:43,938
Probably some pieces of wrappings together
683
00:34:43,973 --> 00:34:47,347
with the raisings used for the embalming.
684
00:34:48,970 --> 00:34:50,660
- [Narrator] The CAT scan shows teeth
685
00:34:50,695 --> 00:34:52,315
and newly matured bones that suggests
686
00:34:52,350 --> 00:34:55,403
that this lady was only about
20 years old when she died.
687
00:34:57,730 --> 00:34:59,825
As to how she died so young,
688
00:34:59,860 --> 00:35:02,250
they find a clue in
some abnormal patterning
689
00:35:02,285 --> 00:35:03,083
on her skull.
690
00:35:05,750 --> 00:35:07,265
The doctors find thin lines
691
00:35:07,300 --> 00:35:09,421
radiating out from her skull marrow,
692
00:35:09,456 --> 00:35:11,543
which look like hair standing on end.
693
00:35:12,750 --> 00:35:14,936
They're caused by changes in the bone,
694
00:35:14,971 --> 00:35:17,123
and suggest Ny-Maat-Re suffered to anemia,
695
00:35:18,030 --> 00:35:21,550
due to poor nutrition or
a parasitic infection.
696
00:35:21,585 --> 00:35:23,193
This could be what killed her.
697
00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:26,905
For Alessia, this little insight
698
00:35:26,940 --> 00:35:29,343
into Ny-Maat-Re's life is bittersweet.
699
00:35:30,260 --> 00:35:33,220
- Don't forget that these were a person
700
00:35:33,255 --> 00:35:36,145
who were loving and had a normal life,
701
00:35:36,180 --> 00:35:39,630
because in a museum
they become an artifact,
702
00:35:39,665 --> 00:35:40,455
but they are not.
703
00:35:40,490 --> 00:35:44,950
They are really people,
and so you get involved
704
00:35:44,985 --> 00:35:46,559
during this guy kind of work,
705
00:35:46,594 --> 00:35:48,133
so it's not always so easy.
706
00:35:50,210 --> 00:35:51,800
- [Narrator] Ny-Maat-Re is the first
707
00:35:51,835 --> 00:35:53,390
of nine mummies under investigation
708
00:35:53,425 --> 00:35:54,793
at the Vatican museums.
709
00:35:55,980 --> 00:35:57,550
Restoring them and piecing together
710
00:35:57,585 --> 00:35:59,473
their identities one by one,
711
00:36:00,660 --> 00:36:01,935
the Vatican Mummy Project
712
00:36:01,970 --> 00:36:04,060
is rescuing these Ancient Egyptians
713
00:36:04,095 --> 00:36:06,173
from crumbling into obscurity.
714
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,853
Next, another ancient death
at the Vatican museums.
715
00:36:13,820 --> 00:36:17,034
But this time, death by snakes.
716
00:36:17,069 --> 00:36:19,784
(dramatic music)
717
00:36:26,110 --> 00:36:27,715
Here at the Vatican museums,
718
00:36:27,750 --> 00:36:29,835
the magnificent marble sculptures
719
00:36:29,870 --> 00:36:32,066
have enthralled artists, popes,
720
00:36:32,101 --> 00:36:34,263
and tourists for centuries.
721
00:36:37,270 --> 00:36:38,715
One of its founding pieces
722
00:36:38,750 --> 00:36:41,150
is that of a pagan priest and his sons
723
00:36:41,185 --> 00:36:43,237
in the fight of their lives.
724
00:36:43,272 --> 00:36:45,987
(dramatic music)
725
00:36:48,460 --> 00:36:50,300
Most everyone has heard the legend
726
00:36:50,335 --> 00:36:51,503
of the Fall of Troy,
727
00:36:53,090 --> 00:36:55,740
but not everyone knows about the one man
728
00:36:55,775 --> 00:36:58,079
who wasn't fooled by the Trojan horse,
729
00:36:58,114 --> 00:37:00,383
and trieds to prevent the disaster.
730
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:03,153
Laocoon.
731
00:37:04,020 --> 00:37:06,770
(dramatic music)
732
00:37:07,810 --> 00:37:10,410
After besieging the
city of Troy for years,
733
00:37:10,445 --> 00:37:13,234
the Greeks had left a giant, wooden horse
734
00:37:13,269 --> 00:37:16,023
filled with troops outside the city walls.
735
00:37:17,814 --> 00:37:22,300
- Laocoon, as one of the
high priests of the city,
736
00:37:22,335 --> 00:37:24,375
rushes outside the city walls,
737
00:37:24,410 --> 00:37:28,890
and tries to persuade
the Trojans to ignore it
738
00:37:28,925 --> 00:37:32,665
and not bring it into the city.
739
00:37:32,700 --> 00:37:36,405
(speaking in foreign language)
740
00:37:38,470 --> 00:37:39,268
He says.
741
00:37:39,303 --> 00:37:41,212
"Whatever it is, I don't like it,
742
00:37:41,247 --> 00:37:45,665
"and I don't like Greeks bearing gifts."
743
00:37:45,700 --> 00:37:48,520
He throws a spear at
the belly of the horse,
744
00:37:48,555 --> 00:37:52,120
it resounds, and at that moment,
745
00:37:52,155 --> 00:37:54,855
he is punished by the Gods.
746
00:37:54,890 --> 00:37:56,285
- [Narrator] The punishment appears
747
00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:57,680
in the form of two huge serpents
748
00:37:57,715 --> 00:37:58,835
that emerge from the sea,
749
00:37:58,870 --> 00:38:01,503
and set upon Laocoon and his two sons.
750
00:38:05,510 --> 00:38:09,575
- All three are horribly strangled.
751
00:38:09,610 --> 00:38:12,590
They are killed, the
Trojans are terrified,
752
00:38:12,625 --> 00:38:15,570
they think that Laocoon is being punished
753
00:38:15,605 --> 00:38:17,725
for wounding the horse,
754
00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:21,053
and they drag the horse inside.
755
00:38:23,130 --> 00:38:25,595
Troy is destroyed.
756
00:38:25,630 --> 00:38:28,025
(fire crackling)
757
00:38:28,060 --> 00:38:29,360
- [Narrator] The great marble statue
758
00:38:29,395 --> 00:38:31,095
depicting Laocoon and his sons
759
00:38:31,130 --> 00:38:34,853
was discovered underground,
near Rome, in 1506.
760
00:38:36,170 --> 00:38:37,963
It was an instant sensation.
761
00:38:39,510 --> 00:38:41,550
- Because of the dramatic
nature of the discovery,
762
00:38:41,585 --> 00:38:42,865
and because of the mania
763
00:38:42,900 --> 00:38:45,975
for collecting ancient sculpture,
764
00:38:46,010 --> 00:38:48,260
Pope Julius II had it
removed to the Vatican,
765
00:38:48,295 --> 00:38:50,510
and became part of the
Vatican collections.
766
00:38:51,490 --> 00:38:52,735
- [Narrator] Many artists of the time,
767
00:38:52,770 --> 00:38:55,983
including Michelangelo, were
awestruck by the Laocoon.
768
00:38:57,600 --> 00:38:59,620
But where did it come from?
769
00:38:59,655 --> 00:39:03,205
And who had carved it?
770
00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:04,785
- It was immediately identified
771
00:39:04,820 --> 00:39:07,075
as the great sculpture group of Laocoon,
772
00:39:07,110 --> 00:39:09,620
described by the Roman
writer, Pliny the Elder.
773
00:39:09,655 --> 00:39:12,130
- [Narrator] Pliny the
Elder was a first century
774
00:39:12,165 --> 00:39:13,295
Roman historian,
775
00:39:13,330 --> 00:39:15,890
who wrote of an
extraordinary Laocoon statue
776
00:39:15,925 --> 00:39:17,233
carved by three artists.
777
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:22,640
Most experts believe this
was the same sculpture
778
00:39:22,675 --> 00:39:25,173
that had been lost for 1,500 years.
779
00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:30,670
But one art historian
caused a stir recently
780
00:39:30,705 --> 00:39:33,220
when she suggested this wasn't the statue
781
00:39:33,255 --> 00:39:36,335
Pliny described at all, but a fake
782
00:39:36,370 --> 00:39:39,254
created by none other than Michelangelo.
783
00:39:39,289 --> 00:39:42,205
(mysterious music)
784
00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:44,610
Antique forgery has been
a lucrative business
785
00:39:44,645 --> 00:39:45,895
for hundreds of years,
786
00:39:45,930 --> 00:39:48,450
and was practiced by some
of the best known artists
787
00:39:48,485 --> 00:39:51,203
in the Renaissance,
including Michelangelo.
788
00:39:54,700 --> 00:39:57,240
- I think it's a very
interesting suggestion
789
00:39:57,275 --> 00:39:59,780
that Michelangelo was a
carver of the Laocoon.
790
00:39:59,815 --> 00:40:01,982
We know that Michelangelo was responsible
791
00:40:02,017 --> 00:40:04,150
partly for helping
putting it back together,
792
00:40:04,185 --> 00:40:06,697
and the idea that he may have actually
793
00:40:06,732 --> 00:40:09,210
polished or improved some parts of it
794
00:40:09,245 --> 00:40:11,115
in order to make it look better
795
00:40:11,150 --> 00:40:13,700
would've been a normal
practice in the Renaissance.
796
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:16,975
I doubt very much that he was responsible
797
00:40:17,010 --> 00:40:19,035
for carving this stature
from the beginning.
798
00:40:19,070 --> 00:40:22,430
It's composed of multiple,
large blocks of marble,
799
00:40:22,465 --> 00:40:24,060
so he would've had to move these blocks,
800
00:40:24,095 --> 00:40:27,100
and the task of carving this figure
801
00:40:27,135 --> 00:40:28,255
without anybody knowing it
802
00:40:28,290 --> 00:40:30,613
would've seemed almost impossible.
803
00:40:32,290 --> 00:40:33,945
- [Narrator] William believes that proof
804
00:40:33,980 --> 00:40:35,895
of the artist's identity can be found
805
00:40:35,930 --> 00:40:37,810
in the archeology of a Roman villa,
806
00:40:37,845 --> 00:40:40,063
120 kilometers south of Rome.
807
00:40:43,340 --> 00:40:45,277
- And here we are in Sperlonga,
808
00:40:46,510 --> 00:40:48,865
an area much favored by the Roman elite.
809
00:40:48,900 --> 00:40:51,106
And this is by far the most impressive
810
00:40:51,141 --> 00:40:53,313
of all the imperial villas built here.
811
00:40:55,300 --> 00:40:59,120
In 1957, sculpture groups
were found in the cave here,
812
00:40:59,155 --> 00:41:02,130
and it was the largest
group of Greek sculptures
813
00:41:02,165 --> 00:41:04,301
found in almost 1,000 years.
814
00:41:04,336 --> 00:41:07,195
(mysterious music)
815
00:41:07,230 --> 00:41:09,410
- [Narrator] The figures depict episodes
816
00:41:09,445 --> 00:41:11,934
in the life of Greek
mythic hero, Odysseus,
817
00:41:11,969 --> 00:41:14,423
who was among the troops
in the fall of Troy.
818
00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:19,490
- All the sculpture has
been removed from the grotto
819
00:41:19,525 --> 00:41:21,244
and put into the modern museum
820
00:41:21,279 --> 00:41:22,963
for conservation purposes.
821
00:41:24,834 --> 00:41:27,822
The most dramatic group was seen
822
00:41:27,857 --> 00:41:30,810
of Odysseus attacking the monster,
823
00:41:30,845 --> 00:41:32,445
Polyphemus, or Cyclops,
824
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:34,540
driving his spear into the eye
825
00:41:34,575 --> 00:41:36,355
of this one-eyed monster,
826
00:41:36,390 --> 00:41:38,310
set in this absolutely natural
827
00:41:38,345 --> 00:41:39,885
theatrical-like grotto,
828
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:41,973
essentially a Roman Disneyland.
829
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:46,990
- [Narrator] There is a
connection to Laocoon here.
830
00:41:47,025 --> 00:41:48,575
On one piece of sculpture,
831
00:41:48,610 --> 00:41:50,771
which stood in the middle of this pond,
832
00:41:50,806 --> 00:41:52,933
William finds a key piece of evidence.
833
00:41:56,380 --> 00:41:58,720
- Right here, on the front of the tiller,
834
00:41:58,755 --> 00:42:00,995
the Sperlonga group is signed
835
00:42:01,030 --> 00:42:02,980
by the three artists who actually carved
836
00:42:03,015 --> 00:42:05,545
this entire group of sculptures.
837
00:42:05,580 --> 00:42:06,830
- [Narrator] These are the same names
838
00:42:06,865 --> 00:42:08,395
that Roman writer Pliny says
839
00:42:08,430 --> 00:42:10,743
carved the famous antique Laocoon.
840
00:42:14,110 --> 00:42:16,160
But it isn't just the artist's signatures
841
00:42:16,195 --> 00:42:17,973
that finally convinces William.
842
00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:20,585
- For me, as an art historian,
843
00:42:20,620 --> 00:42:22,715
the fragment of the Sperlonga group
844
00:42:22,750 --> 00:42:24,775
that most emphatically reminds me
845
00:42:24,810 --> 00:42:27,350
of the head of Laocoon in the Vatican,
846
00:42:27,385 --> 00:42:29,765
is this detail of Odysseus.
847
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:32,050
And it's particularly in
the deep set features,
848
00:42:32,085 --> 00:42:34,875
the open mouth, the exaggerated hair,
849
00:42:34,910 --> 00:42:37,420
and the expression of pain
on the face of Odysseus
850
00:42:37,455 --> 00:42:39,105
that reminds me very much
851
00:42:39,140 --> 00:42:41,093
of the face of Laocoon in the Vatican.
852
00:42:43,750 --> 00:42:45,540
- [Narrator] As the legend tells us,
853
00:42:45,575 --> 00:42:47,295
the Greek Odysseus devised the ruse
854
00:42:47,330 --> 00:42:50,110
of the wooden horse
that brought down Troy,
855
00:42:50,145 --> 00:42:52,343
and its brave priest, Laocoon.
856
00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:56,185
Two opposing heroes
857
00:42:56,220 --> 00:42:58,423
in one of the greatest stories in history.
858
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:02,410
Laocoon immortalized in one of the
859
00:43:02,445 --> 00:43:04,586
world's greatest sculptures.
860
00:43:04,621 --> 00:43:07,336
(dramatic music)
861
00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:12,710
There are stories behind every object
862
00:43:12,745 --> 00:43:14,163
at the Vatican museums.
863
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:18,515
On the walls, the ceilings,
864
00:43:18,550 --> 00:43:20,683
and hidden away in dim corridors.
865
00:43:22,550 --> 00:43:24,955
You may not see them at first,
866
00:43:24,990 --> 00:43:27,360
but if you take a closer look,
867
00:43:27,395 --> 00:43:28,903
the secrets are revealed,
868
00:43:30,070 --> 00:43:33,263
and they never cease to astonish.
869
00:43:34,742 --> 00:43:37,492
(dramatic music)
65208
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