1. Dome

“Giorgio Vasari? Who’s he?”

The very thought would have been anathema to the great man, a legend in his own lifetime but an unsung hero today.

Using his own words as inspiration this is the poignant story of pride, love and legacy combined with an epic journey through the art of the Renaissance - led by the man who invented the word.

We begin in Florence, 1570. Giorgio Vasari is the top painter and architect of the day, as well as the official biographer of the pantheon of Renaissance artists. His vast book 'The Lives Of The Artists' is already in its second edition and will stay in print well into the next millennium as the essential text for all students of art history.

At the behest of his illustrious patron, the Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici, Vasari is about to embark on his most ambitious project ever: painting the city’s cathedral dome. When he prays for assistance, God sends him a surprise response: a new assistant, Piero, who reminds him of his own young self.

Eileen Horne's three-part classic serial.

Created by Eileen Horne and Sarah Dunant

VASARI .....Tom Conti
PIERO ..... Will Taylor
GRAND DUKE COSIMO DE’ MEDICI ..... David Troughton
TOMMASO ..... Tristan Beint
DUKE FRANCESCO DE’ MEDICI/CIMABUE ..... John Hollingworth
MICHELANGELO ..... Nicholas Murchie
YOUNG VASARI/DANTE ..... Joshua Akehurst
GIOTTO (teen) ..... Jay Mailer
GIOTTO (10) ..... Alexander Ryan
DANTE ..... Joshua Akehurst
PAPAL ENVOY ..... Jamie Newall

Produced and Directed by Clive Brill

Exec Producer: Sarah Dunant

A Brill Production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 2019.