LIONS OF FLORENCEbyKenneth Whiteadapted from excerpts from"The Agony and the Ecstasy"byIrving Stoneand"The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci"byDmitri MerejkowskiKenneth White1108 Wellesley AvenueModesto, CA 95350-5044(209) 567-0600Ken1White@aol.com

1FADE IN:TITLE CARD"He who, without Fame, burns his life to wasteleaves no more vestige of himself on earth thanwind-blown smoke, or foam upon the water"-- Dante,

Inferno

EXT. FLORENCE, ITALY - DAYJust across the Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi gallery,stands the stately Palazzo Canigiani.The building directory lists the occupants. One name reads:"Editech Art Diagnostics."INT. PALAZZO CANIGIANI – OFFICE – SAME TIMEIn a high-ceilinged office, RESEARCH ASSISTANTS andUNIVERSITY INTERNS hustle about, busy working on a varietyof projects.Two giant images shimmer on side-by-side, electronic displayscreens hung from the rafters. The displays are almostthree-dimensional in depth and clarity.The image on the right is a sketch of men and horses lockedin fierce combat over a flag.The image on the left is a sketch of naked men scatteredalong a riverbank, struggling into their battle armor.DR. MAURIZIO SERACINI, dressed in his usual tweed jacket and tie,chews on his fingernails.DR. MAURIZIO SERACINIBenvenuto Cellini called it the schoolof the world.

Scuola del mondo

.DR. CARLO PEDRETTI, impeccably dressed, sips espresso.DR. CARLO PEDRETTIKenneth Clark christened it the birthof the Renaissance.The two scholars sit side-by-side, staring across the top of twohigh-resolution computer monitors. A digital version of eachsketch is displayed on each monitor.

2SERACINIImagine, Leonardo and Michelangelo.Painting in the same room. Side-by-side.PEDRETTITwo tortured, insecure geniuses.Obsessed with their legacy.SERACINIThis was to be their signatureachievement.(gestures expansively)These lions of Florence.

New York Times

reporter, MELINDA HENNEBERGER, perches in a chairbeside the two men, taking notes on a portable computer.MELINDA HENNEBERGER A painting competition. How incredible.PEDRETTIOrchestrated by Niccolo Machiavelli,the master manipulator.SERACINIIt just doesn’t get any better.Seracini calls up two new, digital images on the twomonitors. These are thermo-graphic projections.SERACINIVasari transformed the Grand Hall intothe Granduke's hearing room. He builtnew walls and covered them with his ownfrescoes.PEDRETTIIt was common to build a new wallinstead of knocking down the old one.Seracini leans into the monitor, chin in hand, too absorbed topush up the eyeglasses that are nearly slipping off his nose.SERACINIWe’re studying the hall’s walls usingnon-destructive, multi-spectraldiagnostic imaging. By employing aportable echo-graph, we should be ableto penetrate Vasari’s walls with low-frequency sound waves.