As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, watch out
for extreme reactions. This was both good and bad. A lot of great works were lost, but then again, it's all just stuff.
A bonfire of the vanities
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonfire_of_the_vanities
Although often associated with Savonarola, such bonfires had been a common accompaniment to the outdoor sermons of San Bernardino di Siena in the first half of the 15th century.[4]
Savonarola[edit]
Fra Girolamo Savonarola was a Dominican friar who was assigned to work in Florence in 1490, largely thanks to the request of Lorenzo de' Medici – an irony, considering that within a few years Savonarola became one of the foremost enemies of the Medici house and helped to bring about their downfall in 1494.[5] Savonarola campaigned against what he considered to be the artistic and social excesses of Renaissance Italy, preaching with great vigor against any sort of luxury. His power and influence grew so that with time he became the effective ruler of Florence, and even had soldiers for his protection following him around everywhere.[6]
Starting in February 1495, during the time in which the festival known as Carnival occurred, Savonarola began to host his regular "bonfire of the vanities". He collected various objects that he considered to be objectionable: irreplaceable manuscripts, ancient sculptures, antique and modern paintings, priceless tapestries, and many other valuable works of art, as well as mirrors, musical instruments, and books of divination, astrology, and magic. He destroyed the works of Ovid, Propertius, Dante, and Boccaccio.
So great was his influence that he even managed to obtain the cooperation of major contemporary artists such as Sandro Botticelli and Lorenzo di Credi, who reluctantly consigned some of their own works to his bonfires. Anyone who tried to object found their hands being forced by teams of ardent Savonarola supporters. These supporters called themselves Piagnoni (Weepers) after a public nickname that was originally intended as an insult.[7]
Savonarola's influence did not go unnoticed by the higher church officials, however, and his excesses earned him the disdain of Pope Alexander VI. He was eventually excommunicated on 13 May 1497. His charge was heresy and sedition at the command of Pope Alexander VI.[8] Savonarola was executed on 23 May 1498, hung on a cross and burned to death. His death occurred in the Piazza della Signoria, where he had previously held his bonfires of the vanities.[8][9] The papal authorities took a leaf out of Savonarola's book on censorship: the day after his execution they gave word that anyone in possession of the Friar's writings had four days to turn them over to a papal agent to be destroyed. Anyone who failed to do so faced excommunication.[10]
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