THE BORGIAS
I spent this weekend watching "The Borgias".
In general, great fun. I've longed for an Italian Renaissance series for ages, and I think this might be it. Cause it's an interesting family and an interesting backdrop made into an enjoyable soap opera. The members of the Borgia family are more humanized in this series than in previous takes. Though Cesare and Lucrezia might be presented as too lovable, it makes it easier to believe in them as human beings doing wrong things, rather than the typical demonized characters. And Jeremy Irons as the pope himself is magnificent. He depicts the duality very well, and shows how and why this Spanish "nobody" got as far as he did.
There are plenty of things annoying me. They have a rather Victorian view of the Italian Renaissance. Women running around with loose, flowing hair? Going to church unveiled? Noble women strolling the streets, alone? Brides dressed in white, with a white veil? Men and women sitting mixed in church (especially in Florence, under Savonarola)? Yeah, right...
Renaissance Italy was closer to conservative Muslim cultures, with women confined to the safety of the home, or well covered up and protected in public. You can always find exceptions to the rule, but there is a reason why period depictions only show men (and eventual female servants, nuns or saints) in town squares, while the noble women can be seen peeking out through windows. Apart from special occasions and private parties, women were better not seen in public.
Another pet peeve is the intro, which use closeups of various art to set the mood. It's disappointing they had to mix Baroque art (Caravaggio), Manneristic art (Bronzino) and German art (Cranach) into it. It's like they didn't trust Italian Renaissance art would do the job. Whereas mixing periods and regions can be cool if you show there's a thought behind it, it felt more like laziness here...
As for settings, it looks more than convincing. Both the depiction of old St. Peters, the Borgia apartments, the streets of Rome and the large fields have a lovely Italian Renaissance stamp. Nice mixture of dirt and luxury too. Looks like they picked up an idea or two from the TV series "Rome".
As for costumes... Well... The silhouettes are wonderful. I'm almost tempted to say spot on. But the materials used are not. Again I'm thinking Victorian envision of the Renaissance. Or upholstery. It seems like they've wanted to underline the feeling of luxury, but the choice of materials feels wrong throughout. I approve of the use of silk, but not of the patterns and textures. And why the need to add random strips to every single skirt the females wear? Striped in front, but not in the back. Very random, and definitely not period. They've also merged the two-layered dresses of the period into one layer, with a chemise underneath. The underdress-overdress concept is totally gone, only the V in front remains. This is a common trait from most movies and series, though.
DRESSES FROM "THE BORGIAS"
The usual other mistakes are also there - fantasy sleeves, no emphasis on regional differences, X lacing, visible zippers in the back of the dresses - stuff like that. But again, the silhouettes are wonderful. So if I squint a bit when watching "The Borgias, it looks wonderful...
Already looking forward to season 2. There's a lot more marriages and murders to happen!
DRESSES FROM PERIOD PORTRAITS
The girl in blue with red cloak is a depiction of St. Catherine, from "The Room of Saints" in the Borgia apartments in the Vatican. It is believed the artist Pinturicchio used Lucrezia Borgia as a model for the saint. It's never been verified, but whatever the case Lucrezia was known for her flowing blonde hair. The other depictions shows dresses from Rome, Siena and Venice (more info in the file name).