[WOMAN CHANTING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE] NARRATOR: IN THE 15th AND 16th CENTURIES, DOMES APPEARED EVERYWHERE, CONSTELLATIONS OF THEM.

THEY WERE THE WORK OF MORTALS.

BUT HUMANITY WAS BECOMING THE CENTER OF ITS OWN UNIVERSE.

AND ARTISTS AND ARCHITECTS BEGAN TO EMULATE THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CLASSICAL PAST.

TODAY IN THE WEST, THAT CULTURAL PHENOMENON IS DESCRIBED BY THE WORD "RENAISSANCE."

YET TOO OFTEN WE THINK OF RENAISSANCE AS SOMETHING THAT WAS IF NOT EXCLUSIVELY ITALIAN, THEN EXCLUSIVELY EUROPEAN.

BUT IF WE WANT TO FEEL THE PULSE OF ONE OF THOSE GREAT MOMENTS, THE SURGE OF INVENTIVENESS WHEN CIVILIZATION BOUNDED FORWARD, WE NEED TO LOOK MUCH FURTHER THAN THAT.

WE NEED TO LOOK EAST.

NARRATOR: THROUGH THE CENTURIES THAT FOLLOWED, THE OUTPOURING OF CREATIVITY WOULD FLOW BOTH WAYS, BETWEEN ISLAMIC EAST AND CHRISTIAN WEST.

AND THE ROLE OF THE ARTIST AT BOTH ENDS OF THESE EXCHANGES WOULD BE CHANGED FOREVER.

THE YEAR IS 1550.

A THOUSAND MILES APART, TWO OLD MEN-- MICHELANGELO IN ROME AND MIMAR SINAN IN OTTOMAN ISTANBUL, BOTH OF THEM FAMOUS ARCHITECTS-- ARE COMPETING FOR THE SAME PRIZE-- TO OUTDO WHAT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS HAS BEEN REGARDED AS THE GREATEST HOUSE OF GOD IN THE WORLD-- THE HAGIA SOPHIA.

BUILT IN A.D. 537, THE GREEK ORTHODOX BASILICA WAS THE GREATEST ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENT OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

"ITS DOME," WROTE ONE SCHOLAR, "SEEMED NOT TO BE FOUNDED ON MASONRY, BUT SUSPENDED FROM HEAVEN ITSELF."

WHEN THE OTTOMAN TURKS CONQUERED CONSTANTINOPLE IN 1453, INSTEAD OF DEMOLISHING THE HAGIA SOPHIA, THEY CONVERTED IT INTO A MOSQUE.

MAN: I OFTEN THINK OF THE RENAISSANCE AS SOMETHING WHICH IS THE OUTCOME OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE TAKING THE BYZANTINE CAPITAL OF CONSTANTINOPLE IN 1453.

ONCE THAT HAPPENS, CHRISTENDOM IS IN A VERY DIFFERENT SPACE THAT IT'S TRYING TO COMPETE WITH THE ISLAMIC WORLD.

AND THAT, AGAIN, DRIVES CERTAIN FORCES WHICH ARE DEEPLY CREATIVE.

ALTHOUGH THEY'RE ALSO POLITICALLY AND IMPERIALLY ANTAGONISTIC AND CONFLICTED, THAT'S ALWAYS HOW CREATIVITY WORKS.

IT'S ABOUT THOSE DIFFERENT FUSIONS.

WOMAN: WE CAN SEE THE RENAISSANCE AS A TIME OF INCREASING EXPANSION AND INTERCONNECTION OF DIFFERENT WORLDS IN WHICH AESTHETIC INFLUENCES AND OTHER KINDS OF THINGS ARE CROSSING CONTINENTS, SOMETIMES FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.

NARRATOR: BUT THE PARTIAL MAKEOVER OF THE HAGIA SOPHIA WAS NO LONGER GOOD ENOUGH.

THERE WAS NO ESCAPING THE FACT THAT THIS CONVERSION WAS SUPERFICIAL, AT LEAST FOR THE GREATEST OF ALL OTTOMAN SULTANS, SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT.

AFTER CENTURIES OF CHRISTIAN CRUSADES INVADING THE HOLY LAND, SULEIMAN HAD TURNED THE TABLES AND CUT A SWATH ACROSS EUROPE.

SO WHEN HE DECIDED TO BUILD A NEW MOSQUE, HE WAS MAKING A GRAND STATEMENT, AND HE WAS MAKING IT DIRECTLY TO HIS RIVAL, THE POPE.

IRONICALLY, THE MASTER BUILDER TASKED WITH DESIGNING THE MOSQUE HAD BEEN BORN A CHRISTIAN.

MIMAR SINAN HAD BEEN TAKEN BY THE SULTAN'S MEN AS A YOUNG BOY, CONVERTED AND DRAFTED INTO THE SULTAN'S HOUSEHOLD TROOPS.

HE WAS A JANISSARY, ONE OF AN ELITE CORPS OF SOLDIER CONVERTS FAMOUS FOR THEIR STRICT DISCIPLINE.

MAN: HE WENT ON CAMPAIGNS.

HE WENT TO ITALY.

HE WENT TO HUNGARY.

HE WENT TO THE BALKANS.

HE WENT TO SYRIA, TO EGYPT, TO IRAQ.

I MEAN, HE'S BEEN ALL OVER.

SO HE DID THIS GRAND TOUR, BASICALLY.

AND I THINK HIS TRAVELS HAVE TAUGHT HIM A LOT ABOUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT.

NARRATOR: IN TIME, SINAN BECAME THE GREATEST MILITARY ENGINEER OF HIS DAY, BUT HE ALWAYS FELT HIMSELF DESTINED FOR SOMETHING GREATER THAN THE BUILDING OF BRIDGES AND FORTRESSES.

THE BRIEF TO SINAN WAS SIMPLE: BUILD A MOSQUE BEARING SULEIMAN'S NAME... MAKE IT AS MAJESTIC AS THE SULTAN HIMSELF, AND ECLIPSE THE HAGIA SOPHIA.

THE SULEYMANIYE MOSQUE WOULD BE THE VISIBLE PROCLAMATION OF THE TRIUMPH OF ISLAM.

RABBAT: THE SUNNI FORM OF ISLAM THAT THE OTTOMANS ADHERED TO IS A FORM THAT NEGATES ANY AMBIGUITY ABOUT THEIR RELIGION, SO LIT SPACES IS A SIGN OF THE IDEA THAT EVERYTHING IS CLEAR INSIDE.

WHERE SINAN IS A MASTER IS IN DISGUISING THE STRUCTURE.

FOR EXAMPLE, THE HUGE COLUMNS THAT CARRY THE DOME APPEAR AS IF THEY ARE SUPPORTS OF GALLERIES OR OF BALCONIES SO THAT WHEN YOU GET INTO THE SPACE, THE SPACE OPENS ITSELF UP AS IF THE DOME IS FLOATING ON ITS OWN.

SINAN IS ACTUALLY TRYING TO TELL YOU, "LOOK, I MEAN, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF MAGIC IN HERE."

THIS IS ACTUALLY THE BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT WHAT SINAN ACHIEVED IS THAT HE MANAGED TO REMOVE HAGIA SOPHIA AS THE PARADIGM OF ARCHITECTURE, AND HE HIMSELF, HIS ARCHITECTURE, BECOMES THE PARADIGM THAT LATER ARCHITECTS ARE TRYING TO BUILD UPON.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE MOSQUE.

WHEN I LOOK AT THE DOME, I JUST ASK MYSELF, "WHAT IS THE KIND OF A POWER THAT'S BEHIND IT THAT KEEPS IT THERE?"

SO THESE MOSQUES KIND OF LEAD ME TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS THAT CONNECT TO GOD AND HIS CREATIONS IN THE WORLD.

MAN: WHEN I LOOK AT THESE COLUMNS, THIS IS AS BIG AS MY HOUSE.

HE MUST HAVE BEEN AN AMAZING GUY WITH AN AMAZING VISION TO ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO DREAM THIS, TO PUT THIS ON PAPER, TO HAVE THIS CONSTRUCTED.

AMAZING GUY.

NARRATOR: BUT AT THE SAME TIME AS SINAN BEGAN WORK IN ISTANBUL, WORK WAS ALREADY UNDERWAY ON REBUILDING THE GREATEST EMBLEM OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH-- ST. PETER'S IN ROME.

BEGUN IN THE FOURTH CENTURY BY THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE, ST. PETER'S WAS THE MOTHERSHIP OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

BUT BY THE 1500s, THE ANCIENT CHURCH WAS FALLING APART.

REBUILDING IT WOULD BE THE GREATEST CHALLENGE FOR A NEW CHRISTIAN AGE DETERMINED TO EMULATE THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CLASSICAL PAST.

THE MAN WHO WON THE RIGHT TO UNDERTAKE THIS MONUMENTAL TASK WAS A RENAISSANCE VISIONARY CALLED DONATO BRAMANTE.

SIMON SCHAMA: THIS LITTLE GEM IS REALLY A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE RENAISSANCE MIND, IN PARTICULAR INTO DONATO BRAMANTE'S MIND.

IT'S A FREESTANDING SHRINE TO SAINT PETER IN THE CLOISTER OF THE CHURCH OF SAN PIETRO IN MONTORIO, THE PLACE WERE SAINT PETER HIMSELF WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED UPSIDE-DOWN.

LET'S THINK ABOUT WHAT THE WORD "RENAISSANCE" MEANS.

IT MEANS REBIRTH.

AND WHAT WAS BEING REBORN WAS CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY.

BRAMANTE WALKED AROUND ROME AND TOOK IN WHAT WAS LEFT IN RUINS OF THE GREAT LEGACY OF ANTIQUITY.

AND WHAT HE SAW WERE PAGAN TEMPLES.

SO WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS THE PERFECT CLASSICAL FORM OF ONE OF THOSE RUINED ROMAN TEMPLES-- A DOME SITTING ON A DRUM WITH A COLONNADED ENCIRCLEMENT OUTSIDE.

AND AS SUCH, WHAT IT DOES IS TAKE THOSE PERFECT FORMS-- THE HEMISPHERE AND WHEELING CIRCLE, THE REVOLUTION OF THE PLANETS LIKE A GREAT COSMIC TIMEPIECE-- AND SAYS, THIS, HARMONIOUSLY, IS HOW THE NEW SACRED ART IS GOING TO BE.

BUT THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE AS WELL IN BRAMANTE'S MIND.

IT'S REALLY A MINIATURE-SIZED DOLL'S HOUSE PROTOTYPE FOR WHAT HE WILL WANT TO HAPPEN TO ST. PETER'S ITSELF.

ONLY ONE PROBLEM-- ST. PETER'S HAD TO BE BIG.

IT HAD TO BE BIG ENOUGH TO PUT BOTH HAGIA SOPHIA AND THE MOSQUES OF ISTANBUL IN THE SHADE.

THAT WAS GOING TO BE A MIGHTY CHALLENGE.

NARRATOR: BRAMANTE DIDN'T LIVE TO SEE HIS PERFECT LITTLE ST. PETER'S MAGNIFIED INTO THE TITANIC ST. PETER'S WE KNOW TODAY.

BUT THE GREATEST OF HIS SUCCESSORS, MICHELANGELO, INTENDED TO HONOR THE ESSENCE OF BRAMANTE'S DESIGN.

MICHELANGELO'S FAME RESTED ON HIS WORK AS A SCULPTOR AND ARTIST, BUT HE'D ALWAYS BEEN ARCHITECTURALLY-MINDED.

ALL OF THE PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES HE'D MADE HAD BEEN CONCEIVED WITH AN IDEA OF HOW THEY'D BE EXPERIENCED PHYSICALLY IN SPACE.

THE TROUBLE WAS, BY 1550, WORK ON SINAN'S SULEYMANIYE MOSQUE WAS ALREADY UNDERWAY.

IT SEEMED THE PRIZE TO REDEFINE SPACE BY BUILDING THE BIGGEST DOME IN THE WORLD MIGHT GO ELSEWHERE.

BROTTON: SO THE PAPACY, OF COURSE, IS TRYING TO PLAY CATCH UP WITH THIS.

AND MICHELANGELO, I THINK, IS REALLY-- HE'S WATCHING VIRTUALLY THROUGH DIPLOMATIC REPORTS, THROUGH COMMERCIAL REPORTS THAT ARE TELLING HIM THE KIND OF BUILDINGS THAT SINAN IS MAKING IN ISTANBUL.

THERE'S ANOTHER INTERESTING CONNECTION, WHICH IS THAT THE OTTOMAN SULTANS ARE ALSO KNOWING WHAT'S GOING ON WITH PEOPLE LIKE MICHELANGELO AND LEONARDO.

THEY INVITE BOTH OF THEM IN THE EARLY 1500s TO COME AND BUILD BRIDGES IN WHAT IS NOW ISTANBUL.

SO MICHELANGELO KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON.

HE'S NEVER BEEN THERE.

I BET HE WISHES HE COULD.

I BET HE WISHES HE COULD HAVE BEEN THERE AND SEEN HAGIA SOPHIA AND SEEN WHAT SINAN WAS BUILDING.

NARRATOR: TO HELP WITH THE DESIGN OF ST. PETER'S, MICHELANGELO MADE A WOODEN MODEL 17 FEET HIGH AND 12 FEET WIDE.

HIS VISION WAS OF A GREAT CHRISTIAN TEMPLE FLOODED WITH LIGHT.

THIS WAS MICHELANGELO, A SEAMLESS UNION OF POWER AND GRACE.

FOR YEARS, MICHELANGELO LABORED TO REALIZE HIS VISION, EFFECTIVELY LIVING AS A HERMIT INSIDE ST. PETER'S.

WHEN THE BASE FOR THE DOME, THE DRUM, AND ITS CORNICE WERE COMPLETED IN 1552, MICHELANGELO THREW A PARTY, AND IT WASN'T FOR THE PRINCES, THE CARDINALS, AND THE POPE.

IT WAS FOR THE WORKMEN WHO HAD MADE IT POSSIBLE.

SCHAMA: WE KNOW FROM THE ARCHIVE IT WAS A LARGE AND LAVISH PARTY.

AND THERE WAS ALL THE SAUSAGE YOU COULD POSSIBLY EAT, 4 ENORMOUS PORK LIVERS.

NOW, WHAT DOES THIS TELL US ABOUT MICHELANGELO BEYOND THE LOVELY ANECDOTE THAT HE FELT A KIND OF FRATERNAL SOLIDARITY WITH THE WORKMEN?

WELL, IT TELLS US THIS, THAT MICHELANGELO THROUGH ALL HIS LIFE VALUED WHAT HIS CONTEMPORARIES CALLED ARS.

NARRATOR: FROM "ARS" WE GET "ARTISAN," SOMEONE WITH HANDS-ON SKILL.

BUT TO MAKE TRULY GREAT ART, ARS NEEDED TO BE COMPLEMENTED BY SOMETHING CALLED INVENIO.

BROTTON: THE RENAISSANCE IS A REALLY INTERESTING PERIOD FOR THIS DISTINCTION BETWEEN ARS AND INVENIO, WHICH I THINK YOU'D ROUGHLY SAY IS A DISTINCTION BETWEEN CRAFT AND GENIUS/INGENUITY, SOMETHING WHICH IS UNIQUE, WHICH IS INCREDIBLY SPECIAL ABOUT THE ARTISTIC PRODUCT.

THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD, OF COURSE, IS VERY MUCH ABOUT CRAFT.

THE ARTISTS AREN'T REALLY MENTIONED.

THEY'RE JUST SORT OF-- THEY'RE LIKE PLUMBERS.

WHAT STARTS TO HAPPEN, I THINK, THOUGH, IS THAT OFTEN IF YOU'VE GOT SOME EXTRAORDINARY ARTIST WHO'S PUSHING THE LIMITS AND INNOVATING LIKE MICHELANGELO, YOU START TO GET THE NOTION THAT THERE'S A GENIUS AT WORK, THAT THERE'S INGENUITY, THERE'S SOMETHING ABSOLUTELY SPECIALIZED AND UNIQUE ABOUT A MICHELANGELO.

SO IT STARTS TO CREATE THIS AUTONOMOUS SENSE OF THE CULT OF THE ARTIST AS GENIUS.

NARRATOR: TOWERING 136 METERS ABOVE THE GROUND, ST. PETER'S DOME WAS THE TALLEST IN THE WORLD... TALLER THAN THE DOME OF THE SULEYMANIYE MOSQUE, TALLER THAN HAGIA SOPHIA.

NARRATOR: MICHELANGELO'S GENIUS HAD CREATED THE GREATEST DOME ON EARTH.

CONTEMPORARIES CALLED HIM IL DIVINO, THE DIVINE ONE.

[CHOIR SINGING] THE RENAISSANCE IDEA OF THE ARTIST AS A SUPERMAN WOULD BE TAKEN TO ANOTHER LEVEL BY AN AMBITIOUS METALWORKER FROM FLORENCE.

BENVENUTO CELLINI WAS AN ARTISAN WHO LONGED TO BE SEEN AS AN ARTIST... A BRILLIANT GOLDSMITH WHO WANTED TO BE TALKED ABOUT IN THE SAME BREATH AS THE MAN HE BOTH REVERED AND ENVIED-- MICHELANGELO.

IN FLORENCE, THE BRONZE TO BEAT WAS DONATELLO'S "JUDITH," A BIBLICAL HEROINE HOLDING UP THE HEAD OF THE ENEMY, GENERAL HOLOFERNES, WHOM SHE HAS JUST BEHEADED.

"JUDITH" WAS SET UP IN THE PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA TO CELEBRATE FLORENCE OVERTHROWING THE DESPOTIC MEDICI FAMILY.

ALMOST A CENTURY LATER, COSIMO DE MEDICI HAD BECOME A DUKE, AND TO CELEBRATE HIS FAMILY'S RETURN TO POWER, HE COMMISSIONED A STATUE THAT REVERSED THE ROLES TO DEPICT A MANLY HERO BEHEADING A FEMALE MONSTER.

CELLINI, AN ALPHA MALE WITH A REPUTATION FOR RUTHLESSNESS AND VIOLENCE, SEIZED HIS MOMENT.

AND CELLINI WOULD DO IT IN THE MOST AUDACIOUS WAY POSSIBLE, BY CASTING THE COMPLEX MAIN BODY OF THE STATUE NOT IN SECTIONS AS SCULPTORS NORMALLY DO, BUT AS A SINGLE PIECE.

CELLINI WAS PLAYING FOR THE HIGHEST STAKES IMAGINABLE.

THE CASTING OF THE PERSEUS WAS THE MOMENT THAT WAS GOING TO TRANSFORM HIM FROM A GOLDSMITH-- A CRAFTSMAN, A MERE ARTISAN TO WHOM EVERYBODY CONDESCENDED-- INTO AN ARTIST SUPERHERO, THE REAL THING.

HAVING SET UP EVERYTHING TO BE JUST RIGHT, SUDDENLY AS THE MELTED BRONZE WAS GOING TO BE POURED, CELLINI FALLS DEATHLY ILL OF A TERRIBLE FEVER.

SO SICK, SO ILL, HE'S SURE HE'S GOING TO DIE.

THERE'S AN INCREDIBLE STORM--WIND, RAIN.

THE ROOF IS PARTLY REMOVED.

THE COVER OF THE FURNACE EXPLODES.

[EXPLOSION] AND MOST FATALLY, THE TEMPERATURE OF THE MOLTEN BRONZE STARTS TO LOWER, THAT WORD THAT NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR IN A FOUNDRY--CAKING.

THE PREMATURE COAGULATION OF THE ALLOY STARTS TO BE SET, AND THE ASSISTANTS COME RUNNING.

"MAESTRO.

MAESTRO."

EVERYTHING IS GOING PEAR-SHAPED.

THE BRONZE ALLOY WILL COOL; IT WON'T RUN TO ALL THE EXTREMITIES OF THE MOLD; AND YOU END UP WITH THIS LITTLE KIND OF DWARFISH HOMUNCULUS.

SO CELLINI JUMPS OFF HIS DEATHBED AND GETS EVERY CONCEIVABLE KITCHEN UTENSIL-- PLATES, PLATTERS, ALL MADE OF PEWTER.

THEY'RE THROWN ON THE FIRE.

NARRATOR: CELLINI'S DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF ALCHEMY AND METALLURGY PAYS OFF.

SURE ENOUGH, THE MELTING PEWTER TRANSFORMS THE BRONZE INTO MOLTEN LIQUID ONCE MORE.

HE HAS WON THE TRANSFORMATION HE SO BADLY WANTED.

AND CELLINI HAS A WONDERFUL, VAINGLORIOUS SENTENCE FOR WHAT HAPPENS.

HE SAID, "I REVIVED A CORPSE."

NARRATOR: IT'S THE MASTERPIECE THAT TOURISTS IN THE PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA IN FLORENCE OFTEN OVERLOOK.

THEY'RE TOO BUSY GAZING AT THE COPIES OF DONATELLO'S "JUDITH" AND MICHELANGELO'S "DAVID."

SCHAMA: JUST LOOK AT THOSE TWINNED BEAUTIFUL FACES-- ONE ALIVE, ONE DEAD.

THIS IS THE HERO CAUGHT AT THE HOT MOMENT OF HIS TRIUMPH.

YOU CAN ACTUALLY FEEL THE SWEAT COMING FROM THAT BRONZE.

YOU CAN SEE THE BLOOD COURSING THROUGH THE VEINS.

REMEMBER THAT MEDUSA'S STARE COULD ACTUALLY KILL PEOPLE EVEN AFTER SHE IS DEAD.

NARRATOR: AND THIS IS CELLINI'S FINAL IMPUDENT GESTURE-- AT THE EXPENSE OF THE MAN HE BOTH IDOLIZED AND WANTED TO SURPASS-- MICHELANGELO.

CELLINI POSITIONS THE SCULPTURE WHERE IT STARES DIRECTLY AT MICHELANGELO'S "DAVID."

THE PETRIFYING EYES OF HIS MEDUSA APPEAR TO HAVE TURNED MICHELANGELO'S MOST FAMOUS SCULPTURE TO COLD AND LIFELESS STONE.

CELLINI'S REMARKABLE FEAT OF CASTING CONTINUES TO SET THE BAR FOR ARTISTS TODAY, INCLUDING THE INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED DAMIEN HIRST.

HIS "TREASURES FROM THE WRECK OF THE UNBELIEVABLE," LAUNCHED IN VENICE IN APRIL 2017, HAS BEEN 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING.

AND AMONG THE MANY ASTONISHING ARTWORKS CREATED FOR IT ARE THESE MEDUSA HEADS.

SCHAMA: WE'VE GOT HERE A MEDUSA IN MALACHITE, A MEDUSA IN CRYSTAL, AND ONE IN BRONZE... TELL ME ABOUT CASTING.

I MEAN, CELLINI WAS TOLD IT WOULD BE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO DO THAT BECAUSE THE SNAKES ACTUALLY MAKE IT TECHNICALLY SO COMPLICATED.

HIRST: IT WAS THE GLASS MEDUSA THAT HAS BEEN THE MOST COMPLICATED SINGLE PIECE OF GLASS THAT'S PROBABLY EVER BEEN MADE, I THINK.

THEY MAKE A MOLD, AND THEN THEY, YOU KNOW, CREATE A WAX, AND THEY MELT THE WAX OUT, AND THEN THEY POUR THE GLASS IN.

BUT THE WORST PART IS THE DRYING TIME BECAUSE IT TAKES 3 MONTHS TO COOL IT DOWN IN AN OVEN.

WOW.

AND IT CAN CRACK AT ANY POINT.

SO I THINK WE BROKE 4, AND THE FIFTH ONE THAT DID IT.

I MEAN, IT'S AMAZING THAT THEY MANAGED TO DO IT.

I THINK WHAT USUALLY HAPPENS IS THE ARTISTS HAVE TO FOLLOW THE TECHNOLOGY, WHEREAS I WAS MAKING THE TECHNOLOGY FOLLOW ME.

AND THAT'S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE, REALLY, AND THAT'S WHAT CELLINI WAS DOING.

SCHAMA: YEAH.

BECAUSE IN THOSE DAYS, THEY WERE SUPERSTARS AND COULD DO THAT KIND OF THING.

IT'S MAYBE LIKE THE FIRST CONCEPTUAL ART BECAUSE WE'RE CONCEPTUALLY SAYING THIS THING NEEDS TO BE WHOLE.

YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE IT HAS TO BE WHOLE, IN ITS KIND OF BEING FROM START TO FINISH, OR MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE ART IS DEALING WITH AN ILLUSION-- YOU KNOW, LIKE PAINTING IS AN ILLUSION-- AND IT'S LIKE IT SORT OF ACCEPTS THE ILLUSION BEFORE IT STARTS.

NARRATOR: TODAY WE TAKE THE INDIVIDUALITY OF ARTISTS FOR GRANTED, BUT IT WAS WITH CELLINI AND MICHELANGELO THAT THE IDEA OF UNIQUE GENIUS FIRST REALLY BEGAN TO EMERGE.

JASANOFF: I THINK PEOPLE TEND TO HAVE IN THE WEST, AT LEAST, AN IDEA OF THE RENAISSANCE AS BEING SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED IN ITALY-- IN FLORENCE, IN PARTICULAR-- AND THAT'S REPRESENTED BY A FEW REALLY ICONIC OBJECTS, BUT IF WE LOOK CLOSELY AT THE ART OF THE 16th AND 17th CENTURIES NOT JUST IN EUROPE BUT ALSO, FOR EXAMPLE, IN ASIA, WE CAN SEE A MUCH RICHER SET OF SITES OF PRODUCTION AND ALSO OF INFLUENCES GOING ON.

NARRATOR: WHILE THE WEST CHAMPIONED THE ARTIST AS INDIVIDUAL, IN THE EAST, THE ARTIST REMAINED BOUND TO THE IDEA OF CRAFT.

EVEN SO, IT WAS HERE THAT ANOTHER DECISIVE ARTISTIC HABIT WAS BORN, THAT OF CULTURAL FUSION, OF RESHAPING THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF OTHER CIVILIZATIONS TO CREATE SOMETHING ORIGINAL AND NEW.

AND NOWHERE WAS THIS MELTING POT OF ART FORMS MORE ELEGANTLY REALIZED THAN IN THE GREATEST EMPIRE OF THE AGE-- MUGHAL INDIA.

THE GREATEST OF THE EARLY MUGHAL EMPERORS WAS AKBAR.

WOMAN: AKBAR IS THE THIRD EMPEROR IN THIS MUGHAL DYNASTY.

AND THEY HAVE A GLORIOUS LINEAGE.

THEY COME FROM CENTRAL ASIA WITH FABULOUS BLOODLINES, DESCENDED ON ONE SIDE FROM GENGHIS KHAN, THE MONGOL, AND ON THE OTHER SIDE FROM TIMUR, WHOM WE KNOW IN THE WEST AS TAMERLANE.

AND THE EMPIRE WAS SO FABULOUSLY WEALTHY THAT OUR ENGLISH WORD "MOGUL" FOR RICH PERSON IS A CORRUPTION OF THEIR DYNASTIC NAME.

NARRATOR: HEIR TO ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST DYNASTIES, AKBAR SET OUT TO UNITE HIS VAST AND DIVERSE EMPIRE WITH ART AND CULTURE, CREATING AN ENDURING LEGACY.

AKBAR THOUGHT BIG.

HE DIDN'T JUST COMMISSION INDIVIDUAL SCULPTURES OR BUILDINGS BUT ENTIRE CITIES, INCLUDING LAHORE, WHICH HE REBUILT FROM THE RUINS OF AN ANCIENT INDIAN CITY AND MADE HIS CAPITAL IN 1584.

AND IN THESE CITIES, AKBAR FUSED THE ARCHITECTURAL STYLES OF THE HINDU TEMPLE AND PERSIAN MOSQUE, HELPING TO CREATE A STYLE WE NOW REGARD AS CLASSICALLY INDIAN.

PAINTING CHANGED, TOO.

ONCE DEDICATED SOLELY TO THE DEPICTION OF GREAT HISTORICAL EVENTS AND MYTHS, UNDER AKBAR, IT BEGAN TO BECOME MORE NATURALISTIC.

MUGHAL PAINTINGS ARE SOMETIMES KNOWN AS MINIATURES, BUT THE TERM IS A MISNOMER.

YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY, THE TERM "MINIATURE" DOESN'T REALLY MEAN SMALL.

IT COMES FROM A WORD THAT MEANS "RED LEAD," BUT IT'S COME TO MEAN SOMETHING REALLY SMALL.

AND I THINK WHEN PEOPLE HEAR THE WORD "MINIATURE," THEY THINK OF SOMETHING LESSER.

BUT THEN YOU LOOK AT THESE PAINTINGS, AND THEY'RE PORTALS INTO AN ENTIRE WORLD.

I MEAN, THEY'RE HUGE AND SORT OF ENDLESSLY FASCINATING.

NARRATOR: TYPICALLY CREATED IN BOOK FORM, THIS PAINTING IS FROM THE CHRONICLE OF THE EMPEROR AKBAR AND DEPICTS AKBAR CENTER STAGE, RECEIVING NEWS OF ANOTHER GREAT VICTORY IN THE CONQUEST OF INDIA.

IT'S FILLED WITH A COMBINATION OF HISTORICAL AND MYTHOLOGICAL ELEMENTS AND COSMOPOLITAN INFLUENCES AND WOULD HAVE BEEN PRODUCED BY ONE OF THE HUNDREDS OF ARTISTS WORKING IN AKBAR'S WORKSHOPS.

"THERE ARE MANY THAT HATE PAINTING," AKBAR SAID, "BUT SUCH MEN, I DISLIKE."

DIAMOND: ONE OF THE HALLMARKS OF AKBAR'S REIGN IS A TOLERANCE AND AN INTEREST IN INCORPORATING DIFFERENT PEOPLES AND DIFFERENT TRADITIONS INTO THIS THING THAT BECOMES MUGHAL KINGSHIP AND THE MUGHAL EMPIRE.

THERE ARE MANY ELEMENTS THAT ARE TAKEN FROM PERSIAN PAINTING, BUT MANY OF THE PAINTERS ARE INDIAN, ARE LOCALS, ARE HINDUS OR MUSLIMS.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IT'S REALLY RADICALLY DIFFERENT, AND ONE OF THE REASONS IS THE USE OF SHADING AND LOCAL COLORS LIKE THE PINK OF SANDSTONE OR THE GREEN OF A DISTANT GARDEN THAT MADE THE WORLD LOOK MORE REAL.

MAN: THEY TRIED TO MAKE THE PAINTING AND THE LANDSCAPE AND THE OTHER ARCHITECTURE VERY CLEAR BUT SIMPLIFIED AND STYLIZED FORM.

NARRATOR: AIMING TO SURPASS HIS FATHER, AKBAR'S SON JAHANGIR REDUCED THE NUMBER OF ARTISTS UNDER HIS PATRONAGE SO THAT HE COULD TAKE A MORE PERSONAL ROLE IN THEIR WORK, TAKING MUGHAL ART TO NEW HEIGHTS OF BEAUTY AND ELEGANCE.

DIAMOND: WHEN AKBAR'S SON COMES TO THE THRONE, HE CHANGES HIS NAME TO JAHANGIR, WHICH MEANS "THE ONE WHO GRASPS THE WORLD."

SO HE HAS GREAT AMBITIONS FOR HIMSELF.

AND HE IS BORN IN A SECURE AND VAST KINGDOM.

AND HE IS IN MANY WAYS LESS INTERESTED IN CONQUESTS AND MORE INTERESTED IN THE ARTS THAN HIS FATHER WAS.

HE ACTUALLY MAKES THE ATELIER SMALLER.

HE GETS RID OF THE LESSER ARTISTS, BUT HE PRODUCES MORE AND MORE BEAUTIFUL PAINTINGS AND BOOKS.

AHMED: IT USED THE SHADING WITH PARDAKHT.

PARDAKHT MEANS THE VERY FINE DETAILS WITH THE ONE-HAIRED BRUSH.

SO THEY GIVE LITTLE BIT, 3-DIMENSIONALITY OF MINIATURE PAINTINGS IN JAHANGIR'S TIME, BECAUSE AT THAT TIME IN INDIA, THEY DEVELOPED THAT-- TECHNIQUE.

NARRATOR: A DEEPLY INTELLECTUAL RULER, JAHANGIR ABSORBED ARTISTIC INFLUENCES FROM THE WEST, BUT HE MADE SURE IT WAS CLEAR THAT IT WAS HE AND HIS EMPIRE THAT WERE SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHERS.

DIAMOND: THIS PAINTING IS AN ALLEGORY ABOUT KINGSHIP AND POWER.

AND JAHANGIR IS SHOWN HANDING A BOOK TO A SUFI SHEIK, TO A RELIGIOUS MAN.

AND HE'S SAYING THAT HE SUPPORTS RELIGION, HE CARES MORE ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL THAN HE DOES ABOUT TEMPORAL MATTERS.

SO UNDERNEATH THE SHEIK, WE FIND THE OTTOMAN SULTAN AND AS WELL, WE SEE KING JAMES OF ENGLAND.

SO IN THIS HE'S SAYING, "I'M PREFERRING A SUFI SHEIK TO KINGS, "BUT I'M ALSO PREFERRING A SUFI SHEIK TO GREAT RULERS FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD."

AND JAHANGIR IS SAYING THROUGH THIS PAINTING, "I'M THE GREATEST IN THE WORLD."

NARRATOR: BUT IF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN IS BELITTLED BY JAHANGIR'S COURT PAINTER, IT'S KING JAMES I OF ENGLAND, PLACED BELOW THE EMPEROR'S FEET, WHO WAS EVEN MORE LOWLY.

HE WEARS A LOOK OF WHAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS POUTY DEJECTION.

DIAMOND: ONE OF THE THINGS HE'S CLEARLY PROJECTING IS A SORT OF COSMOPOLITAN AWARENESS OF THE WHOLE WORLD.

IN THE SAME WAY THAT WE SEE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES, WE SEE IMAGERY THAT'S BROUGHT TOGETHER FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.

THEIR ARTISTS LOOKED AT EUROPEAN PAINTING AND PRINTS, AND THEN THEY TOOK THINGS FROM THEM.

JAHANGIR IS SITTING ON THIS FABULOUS, I THINK MADE UP, HOURGLASS OF A THRONE.

AND WE SEE TWO LITTLE ANGELS CLEARLY TAKEN FROM THE EUROPEAN PAINTING TRADITION INSCRIBING SOMETHING ON THE HOURGLASS.

AND IT SAYS, "OH, KING, MAY YOU LIVE A THOUSAND YEARS."

NARRATOR: IN THE CORNER IS THE ARTIST HIMSELF-- BICHITR-- HOLDING A PICTURE WITHIN A PICTURE OF HIM RECEIVING GIFTS FROM THE EMPEROR.

DIAMOND: JAHANGIR LOVED PAINTING, AND HE LOVED HIS ARTISTS, AND THIS IS BY ONE OF HIS GREATEST ARTISTS, BICHITR.

I MEAN, IT'S AMAZING THAT BICHITR HAS PAINTED A SELF-PORTRAIT INTO THIS IMAGE.

AND HE'S ACTUALLY HOLDING A PAINTING OF HIMSELF RECEIVING HONORS.

NARRATOR: BUT UNLIKE THE FREEWHEELING ARTISTS OF THE WEST WHO WERE USING PATRONAGE TO THEIR OWN ADVANTAGE, HERE IN INDIA, THERE IS BUT ONE PATRON-- THE EMPEROR.

AND THE EMPEROR USED ART TO PROMOTE HIS OWN GENIUS, NOT THAT OF HIS ARTISTS.

BROTTON: THERE IS A DISTINCTION BETWEEN WHAT WE COULD CLEARLY CALL EAST AND WEST, I THINK, IN THIS PERIOD.

THE WEST IS INTERESTING BECAUSE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU TAKE ITALY AS THE EXAMPLE, ITALY IS DRIVEN BY THE FACT THAT YOU'VE GOT PETTY, DESPOTIC LITTLE STATES.

THEY'RE ALL COMPETING WITH EACH OTHER TO PRODUCE ART, WHICH ON AN INTERNATIONAL STAGE LOOKS FANTASTIC.

ARTISTS ARE REALLY JUST TRYING TO CELEBRATE THEMSELVES, BIG THEMSELVES UP.

I THINK IN THE EAST IN PLACES LIKE MUGHAL INDIA OR THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE, YOU HAVE FAR MORE HOMOGENOUS, CENTRALIZED STATES WHERE PATRONAGE IS JUST ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, SO THE ARTIST IS STILL VERY MUCH SEEN AS A CRAFT FIGURE.

SO I THINK THAT THERE IS A DISTINCTION WHERE CENTRALIZED EMPIRES CONTROL AND REGULATE THE PRODUCTION OF ART MUCH MORE CLEARLY THAN THEY DO IN THE WEST.

JASANOFF: IN INDIA, THAT SAME KIND OF TRANSITION, THAT SAME KIND OF VALORIZATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE INDIVIDUAL'S HAND DIDN'T TAKE PLACE.

IT'S NOT TO SAY THAT INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS WEREN'T REALLY IMPORTANT AND THAT ART HISTORIANS TODAY CAN'T DETECT THE HAND OF THE SAME MASTER WORKING ON MULTIPLE MANUSCRIPTS.

IT WAS JUST THAT THE SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE PRODUCTION OF ART DIDN'T MAKE IT IMPORTANT TO CELEBRATE THIS ONE CREATOR AS THE PERSON BETTER THAN EVERYBODY ELSE.

NARRATOR: BUT THERE WAS ONE PERSON WHO WAS GREATER THAN ANYONE ELSE-- JAHANGIR.

AND TO PROCLAIM HIS GREATNESS TO HIS PEOPLE, THE EMPEROR LEFT ONE EXTRAORDINARY WORK OF PUBLIC ART.

ON THE OUTER WALL OF LAHORE FORT, JAHANGIR LAID A VAST MURAL MADE FROM MOSAIC TILES, A WORK SO ENORMOUS IT WAS THE LARGEST MURAL IN THE WORLD... 17 METERS HIGH AND 450 METERS LONG.

IT'S ANOTHER GLORIOUS MUGHAL HYBRID THAT INCLUDES EUROPEAN ANGELS AND CHINESE DRAGONS ALL CONTAINED WITHIN A PERSIAN MOSAIC.

STILL, IF THE MUGHAL EMPEROR CONSIDERED HIMSELF THE TRUE ARTIST BEHIND SUCH WORKS, EUROPE'S CULT OF ARTIST GENIUSES WERE NOT ABOUT TO RESTRAIN THEIR AMBITIONS FOR ANY MERE KING.

THIS NEW REVOLUTION OF THE SENSES BEGAN UNEXPECTEDLY IN ROME, WHERE A SECOND MICHELANGELO WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE THE RULES OF ART ONCE MORE.

MICHELANGELO MERISI DA CARAVAGGIO WAS A PROMISCUOUS BAD BOY AND POSSIBLY EVEN A DOUBLE MURDERER.

BUT IF HE ACTED LIKE A DEVIL, HE PAINTED LIKE AN ANGEL.

BROTTON: CARAVAGGIO IS THE ULTIMATE BAD BOY ARTIST.

I MEAN, HE'S SO REVERED TODAY BY SO MANY MODERN ARTISTS.

AND THAT SEEMED SURPRISING IN THE RENAISSANCE.

BUT AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE 17th CENTURY IN ROME, YOU KNOW WHAT, THAT WORKS.

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IS REQUIRED FROM PATRONS.

ROME AT THIS TIME HAS COME OUT OF WHAT IT SEES AS A SUCCESSFUL COUNTERREFORMATION.

THERE'S BEEN A PUSHBACK ON LUTHER AND PROTESTANTISM.

ROME IS FLOURISHING AS A RELIGIOUS CENTER.

BUT SO MANY OF THE RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY IS DESPERATE FOR NEW AND INNOVATIVE ART, AND CARAVAGGIO ANSWERS THAT DEMAND.

AND THAT SENSE OF HIS BRILLIANCE IS WHAT ALL THE CARDINALS WANT BECAUSE THEY WANT THE VIVIDNESS OF THE FACT THAT YOU CAN TELL A RELIGIOUS STORY WHICH SHOWS SAINTS WITH DIRTY FINGERNAILS AND MUD ON THEIR NAKED FEET.

NOBODY'S DONE THAT BEFORE.

NARRATOR: THIS IS THE CHURCH OF SANT'AGOSTINO IN ROME.

AND WHAT MANY REGARD AS ONE OF CARAVAGGIO'S GREATEST WORKS-- "THE MADONNA OF THE LORETO."

AND HERE CARAVAGGIO HAS PUSHED HIS REMODELING OF REALITY TO THE LIMIT.

NOT ONLY IS MARY'S HOUSE NOW DISTINCTLY ITALIAN, BUT THE PILGRIMS, TOO, WITH THEIR GRUBBY, CALLOUSED FEET AND DIRTY HANDS, BELONG LESS TO THE HOLY LAND OF THE FIRST CENTURY THAN THE BACK ALLEYS OF ROME IN THE 17th... AS DOES MARY, WHO'S PERHAPS MODELED ON ONE OF CARAVAGGIO'S OWN GIRLFRIENDS, AND HER SON JESUS NOW INCARNATED AS A RECOGNIZABLY CHUBBY ROMAN BAMBINO.

SCHAMA: AS IN ALL THE GREATEST CARAVAGGIOS, THESE BIG, FLESHY FIGURES ARE UNCOMFORTABLY, ALMOST DISTURBINGLY CLOSE TO US.

CARAVAGGIO'S BROKEN RIGHT THROUGH THE FOURTH WALL, AND HE'S DONE IT IN THE NAME OF MAKING THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE TRUE, BY WHICH HE MEANS PHYSICALLY TRUE.

WE DON'T GET A KIND OF REMOTE HEAVENLY APPARITION THAT'S GRANTED TO US BY THE INTERCESSION OF SOME PRIEST.

NO, WE ARE PHYSICALLY IN THE COMPANY OF THE MADONNA AND CHILD JUST AS MUCH AS IF WE ARE WALKING DOWN THE STREET AND LOOK ROUND, AND THERE THEY ARE STANDING IN A DOORWAY.

AND THIS, OF COURSE, IS A BREACH IN EVERY KIND OF DECORUM, SOCIAL AS WELL AS AESTHETIC.

NARRATOR: BUT BREAKING RULES WAS WHAT THIS GENERATION OF EUROPEAN ARTISTS WAS ALL ABOUT.

AND ONE ARTIST WHO WOULD BREAK PERHAPS THE MOST DEEP-SEATED ARTISTIC TABOO OF THE AGE WAS ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI.

BROTTON: ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI IS AN EXTRAORDINARY ARTIST.

SHE'S BORN IN ROME.

HER FATHER ORAZIO IS ALSO A VERY DISTINGUISHED PAINTER.

SHE'S A PRECOCIOUS TALENT.

INCREDIBLY POWERFUL, NATURALISTIC WORK WHICH IS OFTEN VERY GRAPHIC, VERY EROTIC, VERY VIOLENT.

BUT THE WHOLE STORY OF HER LIFE IS SO PROBLEMATIC BECAUSE SHE'S RAPED BY HER TUTOR.

THERE'S A MASSIVE COURT CASE.

SHE TESTIFIES.

THE WHOLE STORY'S GRUESOME.

SHE'S SUBJECT TO BASICALLY TORTURE JUST TO FIND OUT WHAT'S HAPPENED TO HER.

HE EFFECTIVELY GETS OFF WITH IT.

SHE CARRIES ON PAINTING, BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT, OF COURSE, SHE SUFFERS FROM THIS NOTORIETY.

SHE'S MOVING FROM COURT TO COURT.

SHE'S WORKING IN ROME, THEN SHE MOVES TO FLORENCE.

SHE'S WORKING IN NAPLES.

SHE ENDS UP WORKING IN ENGLAND FOR CHARLES I. NARRATOR: AND IT WAS PROBABLY IN ENGLAND THAT ARTEMISIA PRODUCED WHAT IS CONSIDERED HER MOST DARING AND SUBVERSIVE WORK.

IT'S A WORK THAT TACKLES HEAD ON WHAT WAS THEN A COMMON ALLEGORY OF PAINTING-- A WOMAN GAGGED AND UNABLE TO SPEAK.

SCHAMA: THE ALLEGORY COMES FROM A BOOK WRITTEN BY A MAN CALLED CESARE RIPA, WHO WAS VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT HOW WHEN YOU PAINT THE ALLEGORY OF PAINTING, HOW IT SHOULD LOOK.

AND MANY OF THE DETAILS THAT HE GIVES ABOUT HOW THAT ALLEGORY SHOULD LOOK ARTEMISIA FOLLOWS EXACTLY.

HE SAYS, "THE IMAGE OF PAINTING SHALL HAVE BLACK HAIR, "SHALL BE SLIGHTLY DISHEVELED WITH THE PASSION "AND ENGAGEMENT OF PAINTING.

PAINTING SHALL WEAR A GOLD CHAIN AROUND HER NECK."

THERE YOU SEE THE GOLD CHAIN WITH A MASK AT THE END OF IT, INDICATING IMITATION OR MIMICRY.

"SHE SHOULD HOLD A BRUSH IN ONE HAND AND A PALETTE IN THE OTHER."

AND ARTEMISIA DOES ALL THAT.

BUT THERE'S ONE DETAIL THAT IS MISSING.

IT'S THERE IN WHAT RIPA SAYS THE ALLEGORY PAINTING SHOULD BE, AND IT'S A BANDAGE OR A GAG, WHICH IS GOING TO GO AROUND THE MOUTH BECAUSE PAINTING DOESN'T SPEAK.

NARRATOR: REBELLING AGAINST ANY NOTION THAT WOMEN SHOULDN'T SPEAK UNTIL SPOKEN TO, ARTEMISIA REFUSES TO SHUT HER PORTRAIT UP.

SCHAMA: WELL, I LOVE THE FACT THAT THIS EXTRAORDINARY PICTURE IS IN THE ROYAL COLLECTION BECAUSE IN ITS WAY, IT, TOO, IS A KIND OF ROYAL PROCLAMATION.

IF ARTISTS OF THIS GENERATION MADE THE CLAIM THAT THEY WERE SOVEREIGNS OF THE REALM OF ART, THIS PICTURE DOES SOMETHING MUCH MORE AMBITIOUS.

IT SAYS THAT CLAIM WAS NOT ONLY FOR MEN.

WOMEN, TOO, COULD BE SOVEREIGNS OF PAINTING.

NARRATOR: ARTEMISIA'S BREAKTHROUGH SELF-PORTRAIT WAS BOUGHT BY KING CHARLES I OF ENGLAND.

IT WAS IN THE SERVICE OF ANOTHER KING, PHILIP OF SPAIN, THAT ANOTHER RULE BREAKER, DIEGO VELAZQUEZ, WOULD DEFY THE MAXIM THAT ART WAS SUPPOSED TO EDIT OUT THE VULGAR AND MAKE REALITY MORE BEAUTIFUL.

SCHAMA: TOWARDS THE END OF HIS CAREER, VELAZQUEZ PRODUCED THE PAINTING WHICH I THINK MORE THAN ANY OTHER BEFORE OR SINCE MAKES THE MOST AMBITIOUS CLAIM FOR THE POWER OF ART AND THE ARTISTS-- "LAS MENINAS."

IT'S A PAINTING WHICH REVERSES THE USUAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PATRON AND ARTIST.

IN THIS PICTURE, IT'S THE ARTIST WHO IS REALLY SOVEREIGN.

SOMETHING ELSE AS WELL.

VELAZQUEZ IS THE MOST CEREBRAL ARTIST OF HIS GENERATION, AND THIS IS A HUGE BRAIN TEASER.

BROTTON: YOU, THE VIEWER, ARE POSITIONED WHERE THE KING IS.

YOU ARE THE KING.

YET YOU LOOK AGAIN AT THE PAINTING, AND IT'S ALL ABOUT VELAZQUEZ STANDING THERE IN FRONT OF THE CANVAS.

AND IT'S THE COURT WHO ARE ALL LOOKING AT PHILIP IV AND HIS WIFE.

SO IT'S MIRRORS WITHIN MIRRORS WITHIN MIRRORS.

SO I THINK IT REALLY MARKS A SHIFT IN HOW PAINTING OPERATES.

SCHAMA: IF I WOULD SAY WHAT ULTIMATELY THIS PAINTING IS REALLY ABOUT IN A SINGLE SENTENCE, FOR ME, IT WOULD BE ABOUT WHO OR WHAT CONTROLS THE WAY WE LOOK.

NARRATOR: TO CONTEMPORARY EYES, VELAZQUEZ'S ART WAS FAR AHEAD OF ITS TIME, ALMOST PLAYFULLY POST-MODERN.

BUT IN ANOTHER PART OF EUROPE, GREATER FREEDOMS WOULD ALLOW ARTISTS TO GO EVEN FURTHER.

THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

AFTER AN ALMOST ENDLESS WAR WITH SPAIN, THE DUTCH BECAME A FREE PEOPLE.

AND THEY USED THIS FREEDOM TO MAKE AMSTERDAM THE RICHEST, MOST COSMOPOLITAN CITY IN EUROPE.

TO PROTECT IT OR AT LEAST TO PROMOTE THEIR OWN CIVIC PRIDE, VARIOUS GROUPS OF CONCERNED CITIZENS FORMED DEFENSIVE MILITIAS.

ONE OF THOSE MILITIAS GOT TOGETHER FOR A GROUP PORTRAIT, PAYING A SMALL FORTUNE FOR AMSTERDAM'S GREATEST ARTIST, REMBRANDT VAN RIJN, TO DEPICT EACH OF THEM IN ALL THEIR POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE.

ONE STORY CLAIMS ONLY THE DRUMMER BOY WAS PAINTED FOR FREE.

SCHAMA: THIS IS IN A WAY A PAINTING THAT MOVES OUT FROM THE TWO-DIMENSIONS OF MOST PICTURES.

AND REMBRANDT MANIPULATES EVERYTHING TO BE A KIND OF MOVIE TO MAKE US FEEL EVERYBODY IS IN MOTION THE WHOLE TIME.

AND, BOY, ARE THEY MARCHING.

THEY'RE COMING FROM THAT DEEP, SHADOWY, MAGNIFICENT CLASSICAL GATEWAY INTO THE BRILLIANTLY LIT SPACE WHERE WE'RE STANDING.

IT ALSO HAS A SOUNDTRACK.

THE GUN IS LITERALLY BEING FIRED.

[GUNSHOT] A DRUM IS BEING BEATEN.

[DRUM MUSIC] A DOG IS BARKING.

[DOG BARKS] IF YOU LOOK AT CAPTAIN FRANS BANNINCK COCQ'S MOUTH, YOU'LL SEE HE IS DELIVERING THE ORDER.

REMBRANDT WANTED US ALL TO FEEL A CELEBRATION OF THE WONDER OF BEING AN AMSTERDAMMER.

AMSTERDAM IS BEATING NOT ONLY THE DRUM BUT ITS OWN CHEST, SAYING, "WE CAN BE FREE, "BUT WE ARE ALSO STRONG AND DISCIPLINED.

"THIS IS THE VISUAL DECLARATION "OF REPUBLICAN LIBERTY.

WATCH OUT, ART, BUT WATCH OUT, THE WORLD."

NARRATOR: REMBRANDT IS WIDELY REGARDED AS THE GREATEST ARTIST OF THE DUTCH GOLDEN AGE.

HIS WORKS FOR MANY MARK THE ZENITH OF THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE.

RAUCOUS AND FREE, "THE NIGHT WATCH" WAS FAR FROM THE CONTROLLED REFINEMENT OF MUGHAL ART, WHICH NOW BEGAN TO ARRIVE IN HOLLAND THANKS TO ITS VAST TRADING EMPIRE.

AND EUROPEAN MASTERS LIKE REMBRANDT SOON FOUND THEMSELVES CAPTIVATED BY MUGHAL PAINTINGS' EXQUISITE BEAUTY.

IN THE EARLY 1630s, REMBRANDT PAINTED HIMSELF DRESSED IN CLASSIC EASTERN CLOTHING.

BUT BY THE 1650s, ALMOST CERTAINLY DUE TO THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY TRADING IN INDIA, HE BEGAN TO COPY GENUINE MUGHAL PICTURES.

WHAT REMBRANDT'S SKETCHES SHOW IS THAT THE TIDE OF ARTISTIC INSPIRATION ALSO FLOWED FROM EAST TO WEST.

THE LINKS WHICH HAD BEEN FORGED DURING THE TIME OF SINAN AND MICHELANGELO HAD A FEW GENERATIONS LATER RESULTED IN A SHARED VISUAL CULTURE.

BUT IF THE CULT OF THE ARTIST WAS IN FULL SWING IN MID-17th-CENTURY EUROPE, AT THE SAME TIME IN THE EAST, ANONYMOUS ARTISANS WERE ALSO REACHING FOR NEW HEIGHTS OF PERFECTION.

THE TAJ MAHAL, A GREAT DOMED TOMB THAT IS CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THE GREATEST EXPRESSION OF CULTURAL REFINEMENT EVER CONSTRUCTED... A JEWEL OF UNSURPASSED BEAUTY AND A MONUMENT TO LOVE ENDURING BEYOND DEATH.

IT WAS BUILT BY THE EMPEROR AKBAR'S GRANDSON SHAH JAHAN FOR HIS DEAD WIFE MUMTAZ MAHAL.

ONE OF THE BUILDINGS THAT PROVIDED AN INSPIRATION FOR THE TAJ WAS ANOTHER TOMB.

THE I'TIMAD-UD-DAULAH WAS BUILT ABOUT A DECADE EARLIER AND IS THE FIRST OF THE MUGHAL'S GREAT MAUSOLEUMS.

SOME THINK IT THE MOST PERFECT BUILDING IN INDIA.

IT, TOO, WAS A WORK OF DEVOTION, BUT THIS TIME DESIGNED BY A CULTIVATED WOMAN-- JAHANGIR'S FAVORITE WIFE, NUR JAHAN, FOR HER FATHER, JAHANGIR'S CLOSEST ADVISOR.

BUT THE REAL PERFECTION OF THIS BUILDING IS ON ITS INSIDE.

SCHAMA: THE HEAVENLY VAULT ABOVE THE TOMBS BURN WITH COLOR.

AND ON THE WALLS, THE PARADISE GARDEN SEEMS TO HAVE INVADED THIS CHAMBER OF THE DEAD.

THERE ARE IMAGES OF FLOWERS DESIGNED SO NATURALISTICALLY, SO SCIENTIFICALLY THAT THEY COULD HAVE COME STRAIGHT FROM THE PAGES OF ONE OF THE ENDLESSLY CURIOUS JAHANGIR'S GREAT BOOKS.

HERE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE DEAD, WE HAVE AN ETERNAL SPRINGTIME.

NARRATOR: HERE, EVERY HINT OF THE UNEVEN ROUGHNESS OF LIFE HAS BEEN SMOOTHED AWAY.

IT COULDN'T BE MORE DIFFERENT FROM THE RENAISSANCE ART OF EUROPE, EVEN THOUGH IT HAS ELEMENTS OF ITALIAN CRAFTSMANSHIP.

AND THE ANONYMITY OF THE CRAFTSMAN WHO CREATED THIS TOMB IS A WORLD AWAY FROM WESTERN EUROPE'S OBSESSION WITH THE CULT OF INDIVIDUAL GENIUS.

SCHAMA: OUT THERE, THE WESTERN HURLY-BURLY IS GETTING READY TO MAKE TERRIBLE MISCHIEF, TO SMASH ITS WAY INTO THE DOMED HEAVENLY VAULT, TO STICK ITS BLOODY GREAT BRUTAL BOOTS RIGHT INTO THE PARADISE GARDEN.

IT'LL MAKE AN EMPIRE BASED ON MACHINES, MONEY, AND MUSKETS, AND THEN, SLOWLY BUT SURELY, THE MUGHAL EMPIRE WILL DISAPPEAR ENTIRELY INSIDE ITS COURTLY REFINEMENT, BECOMING INEXORABLY JUST A CULTURAL ORNAMENT.

NARRATOR: AFTER CENTURIES OF EXTRAORDINARY FLOWERING, THE EASTERN RENAISSANCE WAS TRANSFORMED BY THE TWIN FORCES OF EMPIRE AND COLONIALISM.

THE DELICATE BLOOMS AND GLOWING JEWELS SURVIVED IN WHAT EUROPEANS WORE ON THEIR BODIES AND HOW THEY DECORATED THEIR HOMES WHILE PAINTERS WERE MISLABELED AS MINIATURISTS AS THEY WERE FORCED, AT LEAST FOR A TIME, TO RELY ON THE PATRONAGE OF THEIR NEW BRITISH RULERS.

WESTERN ART CRITICS INCREASINGLY CALLED THE ARTISTIC BEAUTY OF THE EAST DECORATIVE TO DISTINGUISH IT FROM PICTURES THEY PUT IN FRAMES, WHAT EUROPEANS CONSIDERED REAL ART.

BUT IT WAS IN THE EAST THAT THE ANCIENT MEANING OF ARS, "CRAFT," WAS PRESERVED IN ALL ITS SPLENDOR, AND STILL IS... BECAUSE HERE, UNLIKE IN THE WEST, THE RENAISSANCE WASN'T ABOUT THE REBIRTH OF CLASSICAL KNOWLEDGE.

UNLIKE EUROPE, THE EAST HAD NEVER LOST TOUCH WITH ITS ANCIENT HERITAGE, A RICH HERITAGE WHICH IT CONTINUES TO CELEBRATE AND SHARE WITH THE WORLD TO THIS DAY.

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