01x01 - Episode 1

[bunniefuu]

[theme music playing]

[Stefano] I was expecting a giant.

Lightning bolts
flying out of your fingers.

They say you can do dark magic,
Maestro Leonardo.

- [banging on door]
- [guard] Open up!

[Stefano] Now would be a good moment,
if you don't want to hang.

[guard] Open up
in the name of the Podesta!

[banging on door]

Arrest him.

[Leonardo] No. No!
[breathing heavily]

[guard] You're under arrest for m*rder.

[Leonardo] What else do they say about me?

[Stefano] Some say you're a genius.

[Leonardo] Some?

- [chains clinking]
- And the others?

- [Stefano] The others are frightened.
- [jail cell door closes]

[Leonardo] And what about you,
Officer...

[Stefano] Giraldi.

[jail cell door closes]

Giraldi.

Tell me about this woman...

Caterina da Cremona.

Tell you what exactly?

They say you quarrelled.

She b*rned some of your paintings.

So you poisoned her.

If they say that, they lie.

How well did you know her?

I knew the contours of her face
better than I know my own.

What was she to you?

She was love.

A lover?

[Leonardo] Do you ever stare at the sky?

The air...

it has no colour.

It's invisible.

Yet the sky is stained blue.

So...

what?

An enigma like the sky.

That's what she was to me.

[breathes deeply]

[Alfonso] Right, let's be having you.

Come on, hurry up. Grab your boards.

Here, your foot on here.

Chin up, chin up.
Now put the belt around her waist.

Bend your arm. Bend your arm.

Keep your hands to yourself, thank you.

I beg your pardon?

Sorry. Ready, sir.

Good.

Okay, arm... Put the quiver on.

Head up, hair back.

Here we go.

Chin up a bit. There.
Now don't move a muscle.

[cane thuds]

Diana. The goddess of the hunt.

Guardian of the underworld.

Alfonso.

She's got dirt on her arse-cheek.

[spits]

[Verrocchio] All right. Begin.

[scratching on paper]

Start at the head
and finish at the sole of the foot.

Anatomy has a distinct journey.

- [slams table]
- Rubbish!

- Breasts like flour sacks.
- [cane thuds]

- Begin again. Begin again.
- Give me that.

Thank you.

[chattering]

[inhales sharply]

[sighs]

[erasing]

Something wrong with the merchandise?

What?

Why couldn't you draw me?

Worn...

What?

You look worn.

Uh, spoiled.

Damaged.

Tell me, do you find it easy
to pick up women?

Because your routine needs a lot of work.

You were perfect once.

We are, all of us, born perfect.

But gradually that perfection
is worn away.

It's the hammer blows
that make us works of art.

Do you have any idea
just how strange you are?

You've worked most of your life
in service.

Excuse me?

You have calluses on your hands.

Candle grease in your hair.

I can see everything.

So, basically you're saying
I'm not pretty enough to sketch?

That is not what I said.

- But that's what you meant.
- No. No, no. You...

[breathes deeply]

You have a quality
that is difficult to define, that's all.

Too late.

[door opens, closes]

[sighs]

He's meant to be choosing
a first apprentice soon.

Sorry, boys,
but that job has my name on it.

[men chuckle]

[Marco] What's the matter, Leonardo?

He didn't finish his Diana.

He's paralysed again
by his own perfectionism.

- [men chuckle]
- You won't be first apprentice that way.

Have you ever noticed
how candlelight differs from sunlight...

in its colour and intensity?

Hmm. Incredibly,
I've never given it a thought.

- [men chuckling]
- There's more than one kind of light.

Isn't that astonishing?

You wear us all out
with your endless questions, Leonardo.

Drink.

- Yes! It's a seven!
- [all exclaiming]

I'll take that back, thank you very much.

[chattering]

- [Marco] Hey, where's Leonardo?
- [Tommaso] Who knows?

He goes wherever he goes.

[chattering continues]

[curtains open]

What are you doing?

How many sketches have you made?

It's not ready yet.

Nothing you ever do is ready.

No! No, no!

Leonardo, we're all just students here.
Come on.

Well?

Well...

You're going to show this to Verrocchio?

Well, it isn't what he asked for, is it?

You've not drawn her as Diana,
for a start.

Oh, that ridiculous costume, those props...

[Tommaso] She's so real.

She looks like some...
some peasant, not a goddess.

We were told to draw what we see.
That is the truth of what I saw.

Yes, but that doesn't mean
anyone else wants to see it.

I'm sorry.

I don't want you to lose
your position here, that's all.

[cane tapping on floor]

Hmm.

Tell me, does your mother love you?

Yes. I suppose so, yes.

Good. Because I don't.

Apes throwing sh*t have more talent.

Get out of my studio.

Go! Go!

[door closes]

Open it.

[Verrocchio exhales]

Hmm. Good lines. Good form.

Thank you.

But it lacks heart.

Sorry, sir?

You've drawn only what you saw.

You must learn to draw what you feel.

Think about it.

[drawing book thuds on chest]

Give me that.

Are you mocking me?

No, Maestro.

Where is it?

I, um...

I couldn't find the inspiration.

Perhaps you'd find it more quickly

if your belly was empty
and you were sleeping in the gutter.

[chattering]

[Alfonso] I want everything.
Bring it back here as fast as you can.

You two, I want it clean in there,

and I mean spotless clean,
like eat-your-dinner-off-it clean.

- Okay, go.
- Sir?

- Oh, you.
- Hello. Sorry... Sir?

- I've already told you.
- But you must have more work.

- You did your job and you were discharged.
- Please.

I can pose as anything.

A Roman princess, the Virgin Mary,
the Queen of Sheba, anything, please.

Sorry. You're not wanted.

[chattering]

[clicks tongue]

You! This is your fault.

They don't want me any more
because you told them I looked damaged.

- What?
- Of course.

No! No, no! I...
I can't stop thinking about you.

I still want to draw you. I...

Look, I... I want to begin again.
Um... I... I can pay you.

[laughter, indistinct chatter]

[speaks Italian]

- [dog barks, whimpers]
- [shushing]

[chattering]

[woman giggling]

So, you live here?

No, it's temporary.

Until they finish the marble floors
in my new villa.

Oh.

Humour's just something
that other people do, isn't it?

What?

Come on in.

- Ah.
- All right.

Let's see your money.

Ah, yes.

For you.

Private sessions cost more.

Thank you.

[coins clinking]

Now, this is a contractual arrangement.

An artist paying for a model.
Nothing more.

No.

Ready.

What is your name?

Caterina. From Cremona.

Cremona. I'm Leonardo.

From Vinci.

You're very beautiful.

In spite of how you suffer.

Or perhaps because of it.

Do you always sound so strange,
or is it something you need to work at?

Hmm?

So, I... I don't draw like the others do.

You don't talk much like them either.

No. No.

They draw what they want the world to see.
An ideal.

I don't draw that. I draw what I see.

I believe that nature
is the greatest artwork.

The only perfect act of creation,

like the flight of birds
or the meandering pattern of rivers

or the stories in the faces
of the people we meet.

That's what I want to reproduce.

Not some hollow imitation.
[chuckles softly]

So...

So... [clears throat] How do you want me?

Sit as you would normally.

The sheet, would you mind
lowering it from your shoulder?

[Caterina] Like this?

Yes. But just put your hair there...

- [gasps] Sorry, what are you doing?
- Sorry.

I just... I don't want my scar
in the drawing.

I don't want you telling this story.

Your money doesn't buy you everything.

[Alfonso] Gather round.
Come quickly now, everybody, please!

- Okay, gather round!
- [chattering]

Straighten at the back as well, please.
Okay, quietly. It's okay.

Maestro.

Gentlemen.

Our new commission.

[sighs]

The Duomo.

Look.

It's incomplete.

What does it need?

It needs a cross at the summit. This one!

Eight feet in diameter,
weighing 18 tonnes.

To be mounted on top of the cathedral.

To God's everlasting glory.

And Verrocchio's.

[church bells tolling]

Leave him alone.

I'm just asking
where he goes every evening.

He values his privacy.
Don't you, Leonardo?

You know you can tell us if it's a girl.

Of course it's a girl, you idiot.

[door creaks open]

[lock clicking shut]

[door opens and closes]

[breathes deeply]

[Caterina] What are you doing?

[Leonardo] These are the pigments
I'm going to use to paint you.

[Caterina] Where did you get them?

[Leonardo] Don't ask.

So, isn't sketching me enough?

Why paint?

Nothing is ever enough.

[Verrocchio in distance]
To achieve the unachievable.

That's what brings us...

true glory.

[Leonardo] Maestro?

[Verrocchio sighs]

Huh?

Leonardo.

What's troubling you, Maestro?

[Verrocchio sighing grimly]

I confess.

I may have overreached.

[goblet thuds]

The weight of the sphere, it is too great.

This crane will manage
the first part of the journey.

But raising it from here to the top...

- The scaffold will not bear it.
- Yes.

When the crane swings around,
it will collapse.

My reputation hangs on this.

[crane creaking]

[rope creaking]

Go to bed, Leonardo. Go to bed.

This is my burden.

[sighs]

[rope creaking]

[wind blows softly]

It's weightless.

It needs to be weightless.

[door closes]

This can't be.

So many pulleys reducing the weight.

[pulleys creaking]

[rope creaking]

[excited murmurs]

[chattering]

[man] Oh, no.

[excited chatter]

Come on, engage the gears.

[chattering continues]

Come on, come on.

[creaking]

[all exclaiming]

[all cheering]

[Leonardo] Bravo, Maestro!

Where are we going?

My favourite place. I told you.

[Caterina] All right.

- This?
- This is it!

- This is your favourite place?
- This is my favourite place.

It's where I come to draw people.

[Caterina] Where people
wash their clothes?

- Yes.
- [Caterina chuckles]

I find it relaxing,
the sound of the water.

- Is that strange?
- Yeah.

[both laughing]

[inaudible]

Let me show you something else.

When I was a child,
I used to gaze at people all day.

I mean, I would never say anything.

- I would just stare at their face.
- [chuckles]

You still talk like a child,
you know that?

What's that supposed to mean?

Nothing, it... it's from the heart.

Well, when you're a child,
everything is magical and wondrous

and we are, by nature, curious.

It's... It's like...

Most people would look at that fountain
and they would just see

water flowing through a channel.

And what do you see?

Well, I see that, but there are
thousands of other questions.

"How does the water flow?
How does it turn? How does it tumble?

How does it react
with everything else around it?"

There are thousands of questions
that need unravelling.

- Do you know what I mean?
- [chuckles]

- I'm trying to.
- [chuckles]

I could stare at these faces all day.

[Caterina] Hmm.
What do you see when you stare at them?

[breathes deeply]

Stories.

Each of these people
has been on a journey and...

[Caterina] Mmm.

[Leonardo] You can see that in their face.
If you get close enough, you can see it.

[men laughing]

What about this face?

- This face?
- Yes.

[inhales sharply]

She looks...

- She looks strong...
- Yes.

- ...and determined.
- Like it.

She wants a better life for herself.

- [laughs]
- But also...

[Caterina sighs]

She's been hurt.

And she doesn't want to be hurt again.

[inhales sharply] All right, um,
what about Leonardo da Vinci?

- What's his story?
- [sighs]

[chuckles] Oh. Um...

[sighs]

I have to go to work.

We've only just got here...

Look, I'll see you tonight. I promise.

No... Leonardo!

[Piero] Come, Guglielmo!

Come to me! [laughs]

Hey!

You want to go to the market with Papa?

[young Leonardo] Papa!

Papa! Papa! Papa!

Papa!

Papa!

[echoing] Papa!

Hello?

I'm sorry I left you earlier.

What is it?

Why are you crying?

You weren't meant to look.
It isn't finished.

I asked you, I begged you...
I begged you not to paint this!

I can't close my eyes.
I need to draw what I see! I...

You need to... Can't you understand?

Something very bad happened to me.
I don't want to remember.

[Caterina sniffles]

I thought...

that we were friends,
but you have no feelings. You're...

[sighs] You're just so selfish.

You only care about your art.

You keep the painting. I don't care.

- Don't be stupid now!
- No, destroy it if you want.

- It's yours! You painted it! I just...
- I don't care!

I'll find another model to paint!
There are hundreds of models in Florence!

[sobbing] All right then. Just go.

[door closes]

Give me the bag.

[Verrocchio] Hmm.

Gifts from your father?

No, Maestro.

Then...

you admit you stole them from me.

Do you have anything to say for yourself
before I dismiss you?

[breathes heavily]

I wanted to paint something
that was perfect.

[scoffs]

I want you out of here.

Go!

Thank you.

[chattering]

- [woman in distance] Buongiorno.
- [man] Buongiorno.

I told you before, there's no work
for you here. Please leave.

I need to see Leonardo da Vinci.

- He's not here.
- Where is he?

- Gone.
- What do you mean "gone"?

This studio doesn't employ thieves.

- Now, please leave.
- Thieves?

I need to speak to your master.

You'll leave right now, or I'll have
the bailiff march you to the Bargello.

Hey, hey! No, no! Stop!
You're not welcome here!

Maestro! I tried to stop her.
She barged her way in.

[exhales] I need to show you something.

It's all right, Alfonso.

- Go. Go.
- [Caterina] You need to see this.

So?

[Verrocchio breathes deeply]

Ah.

Leonardo's?

[Caterina] I know where he might be.

[chattering]

Maestro.

You've been hiding a secret from me.

Maestro?

The sketches to raise the lantern
on the Duomo, they were yours.

Yes, they were.

Return with me.
You will be my first apprentice.

[Verrocchio]
We've just received a commission.

An altarpiece
for the Church of Saint-Salvi.

The Baptism of Christ.

Look.

Jesus, John, and the angels.

You will paint alongside me.

Yes, but... but why me, Maestro?

Because...

[chuckling] Because you have
the gift of an angel.

[chattering]

Can I speak with you, please?

Something's happened?

You look happy.

Yes. Yes, I am.

Thanks to you.

First apprentice. [chuckles]

Um... Look, I... I came by
to say that I'm sorry

for what I said and...
and for the way I behaved.

But also to say thank you.

[stutters]

All my life, I... I have felt like nothing.

Until now.

And until you, so...

Um...

Can we go and celebrate
or something, please?

- Come on, let's go! Yeah.
- Yeah!

- Uh...
- To the first apprentice.

- Cheers!
- Cheers!

[Leonardo] Hey... [chuckles]

One day,

you will own this town.

It's true.

What?

This is where you kiss me.

- Really?
- Really.

What kind of kiss did you have in mind?

I was thinking our lips could touch
in a passionate way.

- A regular kiss, then?
- Yes.

Fine.

[chuckles] Well...

No, wait. Wait.

I'm sorry, I can't.

What?

- I'm sorry, no.
- What?

I don't want this.

It's...

It's because I'm... I'm damaged?

You...

You think if you seduce me, then...

then you can be my mistress,
and that's why you're doing this.

- Your mistress?
- Yes.

- What are you talking about?
- You think that

if you seduce me,
then I can take you out of here.

- No. What are you talking about?
- Out of this hovel.

- You showed my painting to the Maestro.
- To help you.

- To help yourself, that's why you did it.
- What? Why...

Is that really what you think of me?
That I'm just a whore?

No.

What's wrong with you?

Just go! [breathing heavily]

- I'm sorry.
- Get out!

And don't ever come back!

[sighs deeply]

[cane tapping]

First lesson.

Come.

There are three kinds of light.

The first is direct light.

- From a window or a candle flame.
- Hmm.

The second...

is diffused light.

You see how... how the darkness
creates volume and depth?

The darkness highlights
as much as the light.

Yes.

Dark against light.

And light against dark.

- Chiaroscuro.
- Mmm.

There are no solid lines in nature,

but that's not how
the human eye perceives them.

We paint the truth.

- A transition from the light...
- Hmm.

...into the dark.

What's the third kind of light?

You'll see. Follow me.

The third kind of light.

All my life, I've sought to capture
the soft beauty of this.

But alas, it is beyond me.

[sighs] Come. Let's get to work.

We have to make a proper artist
of this dreamer.

Second lesson. The birth of colour.

It's olive green.

You see how the composition is balanced.

[Leonardo] Yes, Maestro.

[Alfonso] Hold it there.

Very soft...

I will paint the angel in blue
and you will paint the other one.

- Don't worry. Make mistakes.
- [chuckles]

[Tommaso] So...

The famous model.

[chattering in background]

So, how is he?

Busy. A commission.

He and Verrocchio work night and day.

- Oh, good.
- Mm-hmm.

I'm happy for him.

He deserves the success.

Mm-hmm.

Now say that in a way
that sounds convincing.

He doesn't come to see you any more?

I was...

stupid.

I misinterpreted what was going on
between us, so... [chuckles]

You're saying he rejected you?

A beautiful woman like yourself?

He's an idiot.

[both chuckle]

[sighs softly]

[cane thumps]

[Verrocchio] So...

The falcon has taught the falconer.

[gulps]

[chattering in Italian]

Leonardo. How are you feeling?

Nervous.

- This is your moment.
- Oh...

They're all here for you.

- Let's go.
- Come on.

[footsteps departing]

[applause]

[excited chattering]

Be happy, Leonardo.

An artist's first triumph
is a moment he never forgets.

Yes, Maestro.

- [Alfonso] The cardinal.
- [man] Bravo, Leonardo.

[Verrocchio] Oh.

We finally finished.

Bravo.

- Complimenti.
- Thank you.

[man speaking Italian]

Remarkable. Isn't it?

I believe Verrocchio painted
the angel on the right.

But I'm told the other one was done
by his first apprentice.

Yes.

[man] Left-handed strokes,
if I'm not mistaken.

I have an eye.

You're left-handed.

- I'm the... the first apprentice.
- Ah.

Then perhaps there is
more than one narrative in this painting.

John is anointing Jesus.

And Verrocchio
is anointing you as his successor.

You are Leonardo?

Do you know who I am?

Yes, Your Grace.

Ludovico Sforza.

Come and paint for me in Milan.

I'll double your salary
and give you your own studio.

I couldn't possibly.
I... I have just accepted a position here.

[breath trembling]

But thank you, Your Grace.

I never offer twice
what has been refused once.

Pity.

[man] See who that is?
That's Sforza, Duke of Milan.

[chattering]

Congratulations.

You're here?

Another penetrating observation
from the artist.

First time we spoke,
we were standing right here.

And I insulted you.

We insulted each other.

Happy memories.

Yes, um...

I, uh...

[Tommaso] Caterina?

Congratulations.

- Come.
- Yes.

If that's true, then why did you k*ll her?

I didn't.

I couldn't.

There are witnesses.
We know you're skilled in alchemy.

If you're innocent,

where's your proof?

Say something to convince me.

I can't.

[Rinaldo] Well?

He hasn't confessed.

But he was caught red-handed.

That's what bothers me.

We're talking about
the greatest artist of his generation.

How could he be stupid enough
to k*ll her in such an obvious way?

I have no idea.
But you'd better find out, and quick.

What are you talking about?

You want your promotion, don't you?

It has already been promised.

[sighs] Stefano...

you can't expect the French governor
to keep his promise.

Not if you embarrass him
by failing to get Leonardo to confess.

Where are you going?

To make sure Leonardo hangs.