Savonarola's Inferno
Savonarola reacted passionately to the licentiousness of the Renaissance in Italy, as is evident from the title of his early poem, "On the Decline of the Church." Sometime, after 1482, he went to Florence. There, he began to preach religious reform. In Florence, the center of the Renaissance, he opposed with evangelical fervor the trend of Humanism, and the broad tolerance for (what was perceived as) immorality prevailing in all classes of society.
The court of Lorenzo de Medici came in for particular scorn by Savonarola. In 1490, Savonarola commenced his fiery sermons from the pulpit of San Marco. From an artist's viewpoint, it is probable Savonarola was inspired by the images of Christ's life painted buon fresco upon the San Marco monastic cell walls by Fra Angelico. The lovely images of the Holy life were completed by 1443. Savonarola was certainly aware of them.
While Savonarola's soul was filling with zeal for salvation, he was positioning himself to combat the material wickedness he observed all around him. He made explicit his hostility towards Lorenzo de Medici by declining his peace offerings of conciliation. Taking the preacher's nature in stride, Lorenzo took not umbrage, and continued his magnanimous support for the monastery itself.
Savonarola's burning zeal for preaching rapidly won him great influence. Heedless of the consequences, he flailed the immorality, the vanity, the hedonism, and the greed of the Florentines. The sermons effectively drove much of the population toward a temporary obsession with penances, and a contrastingly ostentatious display of return to a Christian lifestyle.
Both his words and his example made a deep impression. He bitterly attacked what he perceived to be paganism in art. Many citizens were induced to give up simple articles of pleasure such as playing cards, personal adornments, heirlooms, and books by renowned classic poets, for burning. Had Savonarola the oratorical capability to do so, he would have challenged the philosophy of Humanism, itself.
More significantly than his attack on art, mores, and materialism generally, arguably the more so than the might of princes and politicians, Savonarola directly indicted the abuses of the clergy and members of the Roman Curia, going so far as to accuse the Pope, Alexander VI. This impudence only served to undermine his base of support. His tract titled, "On the Downfall of the Church," made his contempt for the Roman Curia a matter of record.
While Savonarola did not interfere directly in politics and affairs of State, his preaching found its mark. The first manifestation to give credibility to Savonarola’s predicted Apocalypse was the Medicis' loss of confidence as a consequence of the war with France. The blossoming of Renaissance art, culture, and sundry luxuries within reach of only wealthy citizens became a mockery of the misery of the common people of Italy, causing a backlash of resentment.
1497 was the year of the "Bonfire of the Vanities." Boys went door-to-door collecting items deemed morally lax. Many fine works if Renaissance art were lost in Savonarola’s notorious bonfire. The items were heaped in a great pile in the Piazza della Signoria, of Florence, and burned. A painting by an anonymous artist depicts the final immolation of Savonarola himself in the same plaza where his "Bonfire of the Vanities" had been lit.
Long after the fires had gone out, and the ashes scattered, and the good folk of Florence come to their senses, the historians still shake their heads in wonder. How did Savonarola appear in this group picture? Can he not be air-brushed out? How did a hellfire preacher attain the stature Savonarola attained in the Florence of Renaissance Italy? Admit it; you are as fascinated by the spectacle as am I, and (almost) in agreement with his aims -if not his means.