Review: Da Vinci's Demons Episode 2 ~ The Serpent

This morning I sat myself down to watch episode 2 of Da Vinci's Demons, a feeling of excitement brewing in me. Last week's episode was thoroughly enjoyable, so I couldn't wait to get my teeth into this one. As I mentioned in my previous review, Da Vinci's Demons is a historical fantasy based around the life of a young Leonardo Da Vinci - it blends a mixture of history and fantasy seamlessly, making the show a rip-roaring ride. Even if you're one of those who turns shows off at the merest hint of historical inaccuracy, I'd highly recommend you don't because you'll probably end up enjoying it just as much as I did. And in my very humble opinion, Da Vinci's Demons is, quite possibly, one of the best shows to come out this year!

We ended episode 1 with Leonardo having been given a commission by Lorenzo the Magnificent to built war machines as well as finding himself becoming embroiled in a rather enthralling mystery to find the mysterious "Book of Leaves". Episode 2 begins with Leonardo continuing that search. As actually happened in history, we see Leonardo (or rather, his friends Nico and Zoroaster) digging up a dead body. This body is the Jew who was hanged in the previous episode; Leonardo wanting his body after being told by the myserious Turk to begin his search with the "hanged man". In history, Leonardo was known for his er...graverobbing...as dissection of humans wasn't exactly legal during those times. So a nice though to see Nico and Zoroaster evading the guards to dig up the body for their maestro. We're then treated to a rather gruesome scene in which Leonardo dissects the body to find what he's looking for.

Leo cuts open dead people

Which of course, being brilliant, he does. It seems there's a lot more to the Jew than meets the eye. Of course, Leonardo has a lot more on his plate than interesting mysteries. Not only must he build war machines for Lorenzo, but he has a portrait to do of Lucrezia Donati to paint as well. Lucrezia, being the love interest and a bit of a snake in the grass, seems like she's going to prove a bit of a problem for Leonardo. But we'll see how it goes as the series continues. I have to say, regarding Leonardo's sexuality in the series, I have seen a lot of posts picking at the "change" to Leonardo's sexuality. We don't actually KNOW whether Leonardo was homosexual in history as so little is known about his personal life. Yes, he was locked up for sodomy according to some sources; however he also wrote in his notebooks "The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions" - this likely suggests asexuality. Historians can argue for weeks over whether or not Da Vinci was actually gay or not; but within this show I really like this story arc. Besides, from what I've seen so far it doesn't actually make him out to be straight - if you look at the scene in episode 1 where the male model comes over and Leo says something along the lines of "he's nice to look at", I think that suggests bisexuality don't you? Anyway, I'm ranting when I should be reviewing... *gets back on topic*

Leo and Lucrezia

One of my favourite scenes in this episode was where he's first testing out his famous fan shaped musket. Let's just say that things go catastrophically wrong (despite Leo's smart mouth and his insistence that it'll all be fine), and Lorenzo gets rather irritated; giving Leonardo a week to get it fixed and working. 

Testing the musket

I really thought that Blake Ritson came into his own in this episode. Ritson stars as Girolamo Riario; nephew of Pope Sixtus IV. In history, Riario was a bit of a derp and not the nicest of men. In the show, Riario is positively evil and Riario shows this excellently. In fact, his performance is positively mind blowing. The cold, unfeeling looks that he gave Nico during a rather gruesome scene were so brilliantly done that I found myself hating the man. And that is a sign of bloody brilliant acting!

The Widows Tear, a rather nasty torture device

I was highly impressed with the acting once again in this episode. I honestly couldn't think of anyone better to play a young Leonardo; you can tell that he is really giving it his all and I have to say, as I'm watching I can really imagine that's how Leonardo would have been. The smart mouthed sass helps immensely too!

Being clever. Again.

Zoroaster is such a reprobate

Greg Chillin is another of my favourites from this episode. The character of Zoroaster just makes me laugh so much. He's just one of these characters who you instantly like; he's so full of sass and such a bad boy. He's bloody brilliant!

I was even more impressed with the cinematography and CGI elements of this episode than I was in the first. There is one very simple reason for this; and that can be seen in the screencap just above. This scene, involving a chase with the papal guards and Leo doing a very assassins creed moment with a makeshift lift, was absolutely mind blowing! I was staring at my screen in awe, and as the camera pans out you can really see the work that was put into the CGI.

I won't spoil the ending of the episode for you all. But let's just say it ends with a bang....

Lara Pulver as Clarice Orsini

Overall, another absolutely fantastic episode. I'll say it again, even if you're a historian with an eye for historical accuracy, I highly recommend this for it's mix of history and fantasy. Just as many of you will read historical fiction novels that blend history and fantasy, this does the same and it does it fantastically. Feeling sceptical? Give it a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised. I for one, will be watching this series with interest!

In the mean time, while you wait for Episode 3 please do check out the following:

Tom Riley on twitter - @thisistomriley

DaVincisWriters on twitter - @DaVinciWriters

Da Vinci's Demons on twitter - @DaVincis_Starz

Review: Da Vinci's Demons Episode 1 ~ The Hanged Man

Having long been a fan of Leonardo Da Vinci (sometimes bordering on fangirlism - I'm not sorry for it), I may have gotten a little excited when I heard that Starz were doing a series on the great man himself. Part of me was a little worried that they would tear the history apart, but having watched episode 1 I have to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised. In fact, as I watched, I was somewhat in awe. It must be noted in the first instance, however, that the series is a work of historical fantasy. It isn't a historical documentary, and there are many (I counted myself among them not so long ago) that would switch off within the first five minutes for reasons I will come to shortly. However if you watch the show with a grain of salt, and don't expect a great degree of accuracy then I hope you will all find it as enjoyable as I did. As is the same with such historical dramas as The Borgias, I can only hope that newcomers to the period are inspired to pick up books to learn the real history of the period and enjoy the show for precisely what it is - a fun historical drama.

Tom Riley as Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo, being brilliant as always (with Eros Vlahos as Nico in the background)

The show itself stars Tom Riley as a young Leonardo Da Vinci. Those of us who are somewhat akin to the history of Da Vinci are familiar with the ageing bearded self portrait; however the show shows Da Vinci as a young man. Given the events at the start of the episode, we can date the first episode to around 1475/6 or so, just after Da Vinci was made a maestro (master) of art. We also see him working within the studio of Verrochio, whom he continued working with even after he was made a maestro within his own right. As I watched, I found Riley's performance absolutely captivating and honestly could think of no one better for the role of a young Leonardo Da Vinci. Alongside Riley's Da Vinci we also have Blake Ritson as the infamous Giralomo Riario (later the husband of Caterina Sforza, and whose actor recently starred in "World Without End"); Elliot Cowan as Lorenzo De Medici and Gregg Chillin (of Being Human fame) as Zoroaster. Alongside such names we also have the brilliant Nick Dunning who played Thomas Boleyn in The Tudors. Given such a wonderful cast, is it any wonder that one is drawn in from the get go?

I did notice a few historical inaccuracies as I was watching. And normally I'd be all over that sort of thing given my interest in the period, but given how much I enjoyed the show I've managed to overlook most of them. At any rate, I feel like I should briefly go over the inaccuracies that I spotted. I shall do them in bullet point form, so I don't go on for paragraphs:

• The showing of the dome of St Peter's basilica. This wasn't started until around 1505 when Julius II was Pope. At the time of the first episode (1475/6), it was still old St Peter's that was standing - complete with the famous pine cone sculpture out the front. This may be an issue with those not knowing the history of Rome and expecting to see St Peters as we know it today, so I can excuse this.
• The courtyard of the Medici palace is much more fancy than it actually is in real life. You can see in the show a very exaggerated octagonal shaped courtyard when in fact the court yard is much simpler.
• The characterisation of Lucrezia Donati as a secret agent of a Vatican pact is ever so slightly over exaggerated and probably somewhat jarring to those who specialise in the history of women of the period. I myself wasn't too bothered with this, given that it seems to be a very important plot point and it looks like the whole thing will get very very interesting as the series goes on.

All in all however, the series looks incredibly promising. The fantasy aspect of the show looks to be incredibly interesting, combining ancient Roman history (the Mithraic cult) and Renaissance history; as well as building on the growing genius of Leonardo Da Vinci. The sets are, quite frankly, stunning; and the acting has proven to be top notch.

High points so far: Leonardo Da Vinci's sass, Zoroaster and his drunkenness and the creepy Turk.

Very much looking forward to the next episode. I highly recommend checking this show out!

Review: The Artist, The Philosopher and The Warrior by Paul Strathern

In the autumn of 1502 three giants of the Renaissance period - Cesare Borgia, Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli - set out on one of the most treacherous military campaigns of the period. Cesare Borgia was a ferocious military leader whose name was synonymous with brutality and whose reputation was marred with the suspicion of incest. Niccolo Machiavelli was a witty and subversive intellectual, more suited to the silken diplomacy of royal courts than the sodden encampments of a military campaign. And Leonardo Da Vinci was a visionary master and the most talented military engineer in Italy. What lead him to work for the monstrous Borgia? And what attracted him to the cunning Machiavelli?

I’d been seeing this book everywhere in the months up until Christmas and thought how interesting it sounded; just think a book dedicated to three Renaissance men all about how their lives intertwined. Alas, I did not buy it for myself. Imagine my surprise when on Christmas morning I opened up a gift only to this peeking out of the paper at me!

This idea for this book really is wonderful, and I can imagine it having been very difficult to pull off. The book pulls together the lives of three men during Renaissance Italy and how their lives intertwined, how they met and how they worked together. And Paul Strathern does an absolutely astounding job with it. Not only that but his three subjects are quite possibly the three most interesting men of the period: Leonardo Da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia. All three of these men had a huge impact on Italy as they knew it; Da Vinci was one of the world’s greatest artists and scientists; a man who thought of windmill’s and tanks long before they were “invented”, Machiavelli was the creator of “realpolitik” and author of the controversial ‘The Prince’; a work that was banned and had poor Machiavelli labelled as an agent of Satan, and Cesare Borgia – a man known for his murderous ways, said to be involved with his own sister and a man who became the greatest military general that Italy had ever seen.

The first and main thing I want to say about this book is that Strathern’s writing style is just flawless. It is so easy to read, and as I was reading I could imagine what he was describing (and these days with books it’s very rare that happens to me) – I could imagine Leonardo working on his paintings and coming up with military weapons for Cesare, I could imagine Machiavelli sitting there writing his dispatches back to Florence, and I could imagine Cesare as he lead his armies into the Romagna to overtake them. The entire book was so well written and I enjoyed it from the very first word and despite the cliché, I just couldn’t put it down. I have read a few reviews of this saying that the way it is structured makes it very difficult to follow, and that the switches between characters means that it’s almost impossible to read without getting confused. I did not find this at all, in fact thought that Strathern pulled everything together excellently, staying in chronological order and tying the relationship between these three Renaissance men together with an expert eye for detail. It was really very interesting to read how these men eventually came together, how Leonardo and Machiavelli ended up working for Borgia and how Borgia himself developed such a respect for these men that he may have even considered them as friends.

I have to say as well, that I learnt a lot whilst reading this book that I didn’t know before. I did not know that Leonardo Da Vinci came up with things long before their time, like windmills, or diving suits or even the world’s first flying machine. According to Strathern the likelihood that this was tested is very slim, yet Leonardo made mention of his plans in his notebooks. With Machiavelli I knew that he was the author of “The Prince”, a book that I still have yet to read, and that he had an immense amount of respect for Cesare Borgia and I knew he spent time with Borgia, I did not know quite how hard up he was whilst he was staying with Cesare. According to Strathern Machiavelli kept having to write to the Signoria to beg for money, and begging to be recalled home. It seems he was also a bit of a joker with his friends, and one letter that Strathern quoted made me laugh out loud – although I must say it is rather cruel – when he spoke about how he went to buy a shirt, and the woman took him into a darkened room to try out the goods. There he made love to a woman he could not see in the dark, and when he turned the lights on he found her so ugly that he threw up all over her! And of course anything about Cesare I will eat up, whether they are facts I know of or not. With Cesare, whilst I knew he managed to escape from prison at the Medina Del Campo and fought with his father in law (which consequentially lead to his death), I did not know that before he was moved there he tried to escape from his previous prison, but injured himself trying to escape!

In all honesty, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is full to bursting with facts about three very interesting individuals of the Renaissance and it is all written in such a way that there were times I could have sworn I was stood in the same room as Leonardo as he painted his famous Mona Lisa. I found the exact same thing when I read Strathern’s book “The Medici” which, like this one, is just a brilliant and informative read. If you even have an inkling of an interest in any of these three men then I recommend picking up this book as you will be astounded by what you read, and more so you will begin to understand how these three Renaissance giants lives’ all intertwined, how they met, how they worked together and ultimately came to respect each other as friends. Yet I really don’t want to spoil the book for those of you who haven’t yet read it, I could type for pages and pages on the relationship between these men based just on what Strathern has written, but I won’t. I’ll let you discover it all for yourselves…