Medici: Masters of Florence

Medici is a historical drama television series created by Frank Spotnitz and Nicholas Meyer. The series was produced by Italian companies Lux Vide and Rai Fiction, in collaboration with Frank Spotnitz's Big Light Productions. The series premiered in Italy on Rai 1 on 18 October 2016. The series follows the Medici family, bankers of the Pope, during Renaissance Florence. Each season follows the events of a particular moment of the family history exploring the political and artistic landscape of Renaissance Italy. The first season, titled Medici: Masters of Florence, takes place in 1429, the year Giovanni de' Medici, head of the family, died. His son Cosimo de' Medici succeeds him as head of the family bank, the richest bank of Europe at that time, and fights to preserve his power in Florence. The second season, titled Medici: The Magnificent, takes place 35 years later and tells the story of Cosimo's grandson Lorenzo de' Medici (known as the Magnificent). A third season, which completes the story of Lorenzo, premiered on Rai 1 in Italy on 2 December 2019. The series reached between four and eight million viewers on original airings. According to Italian ratings compiler Auditel, the broadcast of the first episode attracted a record 8.04 million viewers.