Season 20

Alberto Angela takes us on an exceptional journey: Jerusalem in the time of Jesus. Following the narrative thread of the story of Jesus, as it is presented by the Gospels and tradition, we discover Israel as it was in those years and getting to know the historical figures who forged. Starting from Herod the Great, at the end of whose reign Jesus was born, with the numerous architectural testimonies he left in the territory: from the fortress of Masada to the city of Caesarea Maritima, from the sumptuous tomb of Herodion to the Temple, up to his successor, Herod Antipas, to whose name the story of Salome is linked. The investigations into the death of John the Baptist and the events of the complicated trial of Jesus. We meet Pontius Pilate, a figure who has remained enigmatic due to the few historical testimonies available.

The journey will begin in France, in Amboise, on the banks of the Loire, in the places where Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last years of his life. With Alberto Angela, immersing yourself in the Renaissance atmosphere, you will discover the genesis of many Leonardo's works and you will follow in his footsteps, trying to unravel Leonardo's enigma: who really was that brilliant man who was an artist, scientist, engineer, painter, musician, sculptor and architect at the same time? From the manor that the King of France, Francis I, gave him, we will then move to Florence, where the young Leonardo went to study with an exceptional master: Andrea dei Verrocchio, one of the most representative artists of his time. And, in this pearl of the Renaissance, Alberto Angela from his most famous museum, the Uffizi, will lead the public on a visit to the Leonardo Room, where the first masterpieces of the Tuscan genius are exhibited.

Ulisse will tell, from the places of his history, the life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. Daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, Marie Antoinette married, in her early teens, Louis XVI, Dauphin of France. Their life took place in the marvelous Palace of Versailles, just outside Paris, in the 18th century. From these famous places, Alberto Angela will try to make us relive the atmosphere that preceded the French Revolution, an event that overwhelmed the life of Marie Antoinette, her husband Louis XVI and many aristocrats who were part of that court. Marie Antoinette's life, like that of her husband, ended in Paris, under the blade of the guillotine on the Place de la Revolution, now Place de La Concorde.

This fourth episode is dedicated to the Sicily of the Leopard locations, which inspired Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel and Luchino Visconti's cinematic masterpiece.

Ben Hur, the blockbuster film of 1959, winner of 11 Oscars. Alberto Angela makes us relive the story of the famous charioteer and the city of Rome in the first century AD, accompanying spectators to the places that saw the events told by the film, starting from the central place of the chariot competitions: the Circus Maximus, a structure immense, of which today only the large esplanade is visible. Ben Hur is a fictional character, the result of the creativity of an American novelist. Alberto Angela, however, tells of an equally famous character who actually existed: the charioteer Scorpo, a much loved arena star, the greatest champion of the Flavian era, remembered several times by the poet Marziale.