All language subtitles for Museum.Secrets.S03E03.Inside.the.Uffizi.Gallery.Florence.720p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-TEPES

(suspenseful music)

- [Narrator] Florence,

a city of intrigue

and inspiration.

And at its heart,

a museum with secrets dark and strange.

A fight to the death,

an alchemist's dream,

and a crypt that conceals a lost soul.

Secrets hidden in plain sight
inside the Uffizi Gallery.

(suspenseful music)

In the city of Florence, Italy,

birthplace of the Renaissance,
stands a former palace

that is now one of the most
popular museums in the world.

The Uffizi is filled with works
of genius by Michelangelo,

Botticelli, and Leonardo da Vinci.

Today, tourists stroll
through its galleries

and in the streets
beyond in perfect safety.

But in the 15th century,

Florence was rife with
intrigue and murder.

So turbulent was this period
that it recently inspired

a hugely popular video game
called Assassin's Creed.

In this action-adventure
game, players may be attacked

by agents of the Pope, or a daring noble,

or a wealthy citizen.

The game takes license with history

but not much.

This was a real daring noble.

The Duke of Urbino had himself
painted in left profile

because he lost his
right eye while jousting.

This was a real wealthy citizen.

Lorenzo de' Medici, the
head of a powerful family

who controlled Florence like a mafia don.

In Assassin's Creed, the
Medici family is under threat.

The conspiracy was real.

- The Pazzi conspiracy is actually

a really complicated affair.

It really is something right
out of the Godfather movies

where we have a Florentine
family by the name of Pazzi,

which actually gave name
to the conspiracy itself.

They're the eternal
number twos in Florence

during the 15th century.

They kind of rode the
coattails of the Medici family.

The Pazzi would not be satisfied

with that number two position
and I think that the Pazzi,

at this point, kind of
see a window, if you will,

a way that they can actually now oust,

bump the Medici out of power
and perhaps step in themselves

as the leading family
in the city of Florence.

- [Narrator] In this cathedral
on Sunday, April 26, 1478,

the Pazzis lay in wait
for Lorenzo de' Medici

and his brother, Giuliano.

- Giuliano walks in, from what we know,

presumably makes his way
down the nave of the church,

trying to get closer
to his brother Lorenzo.

Lorenzo goes down towards the
southern end of the church

there at the altar and
as more time passes,

all of the conspirators
are becoming a bit nervous

and they kind of jump
the gun, if you will.

Instead of waiting until Giuliano

is in the vicinity of his brother,

Francesco de' Pazzi, who seems
to be the most impassioned

of all the conspirators,
decides that it's now or never.

He pulls his dagger

and he begins to violently
inflict wounds on the person

of Giuliano de' Medici.

- [Narrator] He is stabbed 19 times.

- While this is happening,
while Giuliano himself

is being savagely murdered
over there by Porto de Servi,

Lorenzo, instead, finds
himself in this part

of the cathedral.

We're down towards the southern side,

very close to the high altar.

- [Narrator] Here, two
more assassins attack.

- They grab Lorenzo and turn him around

in an attempt to actually
get a clear shot at him.

But it was enough to warn
Lorenzo, who draws his own weapon.

- [Narrator] The Pazzis wounded him twice

but he escaped through
these doors to safety.

Lorenzo lived on and history records

that the Pazzi family conspired alone

but the real truth is a museum secret.

Historian Marcello Simonetta
has been investigating

the Pazzi conspiracy for decades.

He was also an advisor for the
Assassin's Creed video game.

- I had a lot of fun
playing with the writers

trying to prevent them from
doing egregious mistakes

but also giving them more detail.

(ominous music)

- [Narrator] During his research,

Marcello discovered a letter
sent to Popes Sixtus IV

shortly before the attack.

Some historians suspect that the Pope

supported the Pazzi conspiracy

but the letter shed no light on the matter

because it was encrypted.

- Nothing in it could be read
unless one broke the code.

- [Narrator] In the same
archive were unencrypted letters

to one of Marcello
Simonetta's own ancestors.

- I found a lot of
letters and particularly

there were some letters from
Federico de Montefeltro,

Duke of Urbino, to my
ancestor, Chico Simonetta.

These letters were very curious.

- [Narrator] The Duke wrote
that on the day of the attack

soldiers had been seen outside the city.

But he dismissed the reports as unfounded.

- I got a bit suspicious about this

and slowly I realized that
some military operation

had to be ongoing in order
for the whole conspiracy

to be achieved.

- [Narrator] But there were no reports

of soldiers in Florence during
the attack or afterwards

when the Pazzis were captured by a mob.

- This is where the the
plotters were hanged

outside of the windows and
then their bodies were dropped

on the floor of the square
and the bodies were dragged

around the city for days
by the citizens of Florence

outraged by the attack against the Medici.

- [Narrator] It's starting
to look like the Pazzis

did act on their own.

But there is still that encrypted letter.

- At that point, I
remembered that my ancestor,

Chico Simonetta, had written
a treatise on how to decode

intercepted letters from enemies.

- [Narrator] The code
represents some words

as letter/number combinations.

- And so I started using
this code-breaking tips

and slowly I managed to break the code.

- [Narrator] The message assured the Pope

that the attack on the Medicis

would be backed up by soldiers.

- While the attack on the
Medici brothers was ongoing,

military forces that surrounded the city

were ready to come in and seize it.

- [Narrator] But when the
attack in the cathedral failed,

everything changed.

- They were ready to come
in but they never did.

They simply had to hide away.

- [Narrator] Below the
message is the signature

of the one-eyed Duke of Urbino.

- The Pope Sextus IV
and the Duke of Urbino

had been organizing the military operation

to seize the city of Florence
and destroy completely

the power of the Medici.

- [Narrator] It was the
kind of backstabbing move

you might expect in Assassin's Creed.

But in the mean streets
of 15th century Florence,

the game was real.

Next on Museum Secrets, a
lost and ancient martial art.

(light jovial music)

In Florence, Italy, inside the Uffizi,

there are galleries filled
with beautiful women

and equally beautiful men.

Some are gods, some are demons,

and some are tough guys.

This is one of the most
familiar statues in the world.

It is known simply as The Wrestlers.

And that makes sense because
these men are Greeks.

And the ancient Greeks invented
the sport of wrestling.

Wrestlers were the stars
of the first Olympic games.

Their holds and rules are familiar

to amateur wrestlers today.

But this story isn't about wrestling

because that's not what
these men are doing.

The martial art depicted in
this statue is a museum secret.

Our investigation begins
at a training facility

of the Italian Army
where elite paratroopers

prepare for hand-to-hand
combat under the watchful eye

of Aris Makris.

Aris hails from Montreal, Canada,

the son of Greek immigrants.

As a boy, he became obsessed with karate.

- I slept, ate, drank,
breathed martial arts

since the age of nine.

- [Narrator] Many disciplines
have Asian names like judo,

jujitsu, taekwondo.

Aris tried them all.

But then he stumbled upon a martial art

that had a Greek name, pankration.

- That's what sparked my
interest as a young boy,

as a young Greek boy, as
a young Greek Spartan boy,

growing up in a Greek
community and very bitten

by the martial art bug, to
actually find out more about it.

- [Narrator] Aris discovered
that in the Greek myth

of the labyrinth, the hero used pankration

to defeat the Minotaur.

(Minotaur roaring)

In the real world, Alexander
the Great ordered his men

to master it.

But over the centuries,
pankration became a lost art

surviving only in ancient images.

- I found the images very intriguing.

I mean, it almost connected
certain dots for me

because many of the different
martial arts I was doing

did have similar techniques.

I need to control the
upper ground all the time,

no matter what.

- [Narrator] Now Aris travels the world

introducing Pankration to modern warriors

like these Italian paratroopers.

- A lot of militaries,

especially the ones that I've
worked with around the world,

they're trying to adapt
to a pankration style,

type of martial art because
it provides something

that is complete.

(suspenseful music)

- [Narrator] On the ground,
pankration looks like wrestling

but when opponents stand up,

it's more like bare-knuckle
boxing with karate kicks.

So far, these trainees have
been pulling their punches

but that's about to change.

- You work your way up,
now you start up slow.

- Later we throw in a punch?

- The punches and then
you throw everything in.

- Yeah.

(dramatic music)

- Beautiful job, very
beautiful work, excellent work.

- [Narrator] That was a real
fight but believe it or not,

they were still holding back.

(audience cheering loudly)

There are some pankration
moves that were only used

in ancient times.

- Finger breaks, small
joint breaks, eye gouging,

biting, and a tap on the
back of the cervical spine,

the groin area, from wrestling
to striking to kicking,

I mean, and that's what pankration means.

Pankratos, pankration means all powers,

all encompassing powers,
everything involved.

- [Narrator] In pankration, anything goes.

And that brings us back to the
statue called The Wrestlers.

- That is the father of all sculptures.

That represents pankration to the T.

That is clearly pankration.

- [Narrator] Aris intends
to prove his theory

with the help of two volunteers.

- Okay, so now this leg
will go on the inside.

Oh, that's the hook exactly.

This way the guy is locked in.

- [Narrator] He arranges their positions

to mirror the sculpture precisely.

- And this leg over here's got to be out.

That's it.

The guy on top, although he is locked in,

in a perfect lock, single-leg hook inside,

to make sure that he can hook himself

and attach himself to
the other guy's body,

the other leg stretched out on the side

to give him more like a tripod position.

- [Narrator] The stance
may come from wrestling

but one detail does not.

- What changes this from
being a wrestling move

into a pankration move is the
fact that he's got his hand

up in the air in a striking position.

His fist is closed.

He sees you punching in the
face so he turns that way.

That's right, see.

Now, if it was a strictly
wrestling position,

he would have his head tucked down

and this way we know that he's not going,

he's going to try to avoid the guy

from actually going in on
him, or going around his neck.

Only he knows he's going to take a punch.

He'd rather give the back of
his head as opposed to his face

or the side of his head is his temple.

The fist and the turning of the guy's head

combined with the locking
of the two bodies together

is the ultimate description
or example of pankration.

- [Narrator] As this ancient martial art

emerges from obscurity,
perhaps the Uffizi's sculpture

will become known by its true
name, The Pankration Fighters.

(dramatic music)

Next on Museum Secrets, the
artist who lost his head.

(dramatic orchestral music)

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy

houses some of the most sublime images

of the Italian Renaissance

and some of the most disturbing.

The face of this Medusa is a self-portrait

of history's most antisocial artist,

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.

- He had absolutely no social skills.

When it came to dealing with patrons,

when it came to dealing with his models,

and almost anybody else, his friends,

he would often fight with them.

He lived a life of drama
and he had a belief

in his own genius.

He lived a life on the edges,
on the margins in every way.

He also was a person who couldn't control

his own urges and desires.

He had sexual relations with women

but he was a practicing homosexual

and so that marginalized him in society.

Was he the person you'd
like your sister to marry?

I doubt it very much.

But is he a person whose
art you would love to have

on your wall and who would
continually inspire you

with an understanding of the
nature of the human condition?

Absolutely.

- [Narrator] He painted
the darkest subjects

with a mastery of light.

His talent made him famous and rich enough

to afford the carnal pleasures he craved.

But as time went on, he became
unstable, easily enraged,

and prone to violence.

Historians believe his
deterioration was caused

by the lead in his pigments.

In this self-portrait his teeth are green,

a symptom of lead poisoning.

But though historians have
dissected every aspect

of Caravaggio's life, one
critical detail remains unknown.

At the age of 38 he disappeared.

His final resting place
is a museum secret.

(upbeat string music)

The investigation begins
in the seaside town

of Porto Ercole.

In a local cemetery,
researchers pry open a hatch

that leads to an ancient crypt.

(suspenseful music)

They believe that Caravaggio
may be buried here

but identifying which bones
are his will be like finding

a needle in a haystack.

The team is led by
historian Silvano Vinceti.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] But why look
here in Porto Ercole?

Why not search the crypts in
Caravaggio's home city of Rome?

The reason is Caravaggio
didn't stay in Rome.

In 1606, the hotheaded artist
was goaded into a duel.

After he killed the man,

the authorities branded him a murderer.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] Caravaggio
fled South to Naples

where he lived in hiding.

Here his painting depicted
increasingly disturbing subjects

including these self-portraits
with their heads cut off.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] Then in 1610,
a message came from Rome.

A rich cardinal had arranged a pardon

in return for three of
Caravaggio's masterpieces.

To deliver them, he
would need to get to Rome

without being arrested.

He embarked on a sea
voyage via Porto Ercole

but at a stop along the
way, he was apprehended.

He was separated from his paintings

and some historians
believe he was murdered.

But Vinceti believes that
he wasn't murdered at all.

That he escaped and made
his own way to Porto Ercole.

And if he did, there's
a good chance his bones

are in the local crypt
amid thousands of others.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] Based on sex and
age, Vinceti's team identify

11 skeletons that could be Caravaggio.

But they need to narrow the field to one.

Then someone remembered
Caravaggio's green teeth

caused by lead poisoning.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] The skeletons are transported

to a laboratory in Ravenna
where they are examined

by researcher Elisabetta Cilli.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] The presence
of lead is intriguing

but lead paint was common at the time.

To find more evidence,

they'll need to saw through the bones.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] DNA would
provide a unique identifier

if it's still present.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] Now the
team has DNA to compare

with the DNA of Caravaggio's
living relatives.

But there are no records
of his descendants.

In the town where the artist was born,

they seek out men who share
his family name, Merisi.

When their DNA is analyzed,
it turns out they also share

a genetic heritage.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] Markers on these chromosomes

match the Caravaggio sample perfectly.

This is compelling evidence
that the bones of Caravaggio,

lost for 400 years,
have finally been found

here in Porto Ercole.

- (speaking Italian)

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] In death, as in life,

Caravaggio's final journey is by sea

as Vinceti and his team return
his bones to Porto Ercole.

A master of light was
revealed in the darkness.

But for those who love him,
he may always be a lost soul.

(pig grunting)

Next on Museum Secrets, the
treasure of the wild boar.

(dramatic music)

Inside the Uffizi,
curator Fabrizio Paolucci

oversees restoration of museum's
vast collection of statues.

Many are Roman imitations
of Greek statues that were,

in turn, imitated by the
artists of the Renaissance.

If imitation is the
sincerest form of flattery,

few statues have been
flattered more than this one.

(pig grunting)

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] The wild boar's popularity

may have something to do with luck.

At the center of Florence,
there's a bronze replica

with a shiny snout.

For centuries, tourist have
been encouraged to rub the snout

to ensure good fortune.

What makes a wild boar a good luck charm?

That is our museum secret.

(pig grunting)

(light jovial music)

Our story begins at a
restaurant in Florence

that specializes in Tuscan cuisine.

And that's because the wild boar's luck

is linked with the food
that Tuscany is famous for,

dishes flavored with a
fungus called a truffle.

Black ones are expensive,

white ones are ridiculously expensive.

A truffle this size could set you back

as much as a compact car.

In Italy, the truffle industry is worth

$400 million Euros per year.

In Florence, this delicacy is on the menu

at Cinghiale Bianco, The White Boar.

- Truffle is something

that you either totally fall in love with,

and it could be dangerous
because it's very expensive,

or you don't like it at all.

I guess a little bit
like oysters or caviar,

it's a very refined kind of food.

- [Narrator] Truffles are expensive

because they cannot be grown on farms.

They grow underground
in the Tuscan forest,

the natural habitat of the wild boar.

Wild boars love them and
their snouts have evolved

to sniff them out.

In the past, domesticated
boars were employed

to help find truffles for their masters.

In their enthusiasm,
boars would often destroy

as many truffles as they found.

So today's truffle hunters
like Stefano Braccini

employee a special breed of dog

called the Lagotto Romagnolo.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] These dogs have
no urge to destroy the truffles

but they must be trained to retrieve them.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] Stefano even gives puppies

truffles to play with
which makes these truffles

the world's priciest chew toys.

As they mature, the dogs
become obsessed with truffles.

And while their noses can't
match the sensitive snout

of a wild boar, a single
dog can find truffles

worth thousands of Euros.

Today Stefano delivers
a sample of his harvest

to The White Boar.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] For Marco, the nose knows.

- The first thing you do when
Stefano brings his truffle,

you check the consistence
and you smell the truffle

because smell is important.

It tells you if the truffle is good.

- [Narrator] Marco decides
that Stefano's truffles

are a worthy addition to the
gourmet cuisine of Tuscany.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] But even
the nose of a Tuscan chef

isn't sensitive enough to
detect the tasty truffle

in the ground without a little help.

(pig grunting)

And that brings us back to why
a boar is a good luck charm.

Because a nose that can
sniff out buried treasure

is surely worth a rub.

Next on Museum Secrets,

a 16th century crime scene investigation.

(suspenseful music)

The Uffizi Gallery was once
the political headquarters

of the powerful Medici family.

In the 16th century,

these rich commoners reinvented
themselves as nobility.

The Medicis were known as schemers

but this Medici was a dreamer.

Grand Duke Francesco I built the Tribuna,

a chamber of dreams at
the heart of the Uffizi.

Decorated with alchemical
symbols, shells for water,

red velvet for fire,
stone inlay for Earth,

and a weather vane for air.

- It's governed by his
belief in the four elements

and his desire was to find
mechanisms to transform

one thing into another.

The Tribuna really is
a kind of distillation

of his thinking and his world
view and his personality.

This place that he was creating

in order to engage in
his mystical thinking.

- [Narrator] Francesco created
another stranger sanctuary

just across the river from the Uffizi.

Ghostly spirits loom
and pagan gods frolic.

All for the delight of
his lovely wife, Bianca.

She was a dreamer, too, but
their dream was cut short.

During a visit to their
country villa in 1587,

both Francesco and
Bianca fell ill and died

within days of each other.

Francesco's younger brother,
Cardinal Ferdinando,

ordered an autopsy that determined malaria

was the cause of death.

Malaria was common in
the swampy countryside

but there were rumors of foul play.

How and why did Francesco and Bianca die?

That is our museum secret.

(dramatic music)

Our investigation begins beneath
the chapel of San Lorenzo

in the crypt of the Medicis.

Recently, researchers
exhumed human remains

hoping to discover the causes
of death of many members

of the family.

The team's medical historian
is Donatella Lippi.

- We found that the corpses
of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany

in small, zinc boxes.

In the box belonging to Francesco I,

we found only his bones.

- [Narrator] When Francesco's
bones were tested,

they found DNA but no
evidence of why he died.

And as for his wife Bianca,

her bones weren't allowed
in the family crypt

by order of Francesco's
brother, Ferdinando.

Bianca was rumored to be a witch.

- Ferdinando said I
don't want Bianca close

to the Medici family and
Bianca's corpse disappeared.

- [Narrator] A few years
before the couple died,

Ferdinando also became
concerned about Duke Francesco.

- Francesco I was a very strange man.

He should, to some extent,
have been a perfect ruler

but it was quite clear

that that wasn't his primary interest.

His real interest was in what
we would now call science

but in those days was
much closer associated

with magic and alchemy.

That is the transformation of substances

and his desire was to find
mechanisms to transform

base metals into gold.

He became so obsessed

that he would leave early in the morning

and lock himself in his
room for experiments

and not come until very,
very late at night.

- [Narrator] His dream was innocent

but it stole time from his
duties as head of state.

- Cardinal Ferdinando felt that the future

of the Medici dynasty was,
in fact, being compromised

and the well-being of the
state was being compromised

by Francesco's increasing interest

in his alchemical experiments.

- [Narrator] Did Ferdinando's
fears about his brother

give him a motive for murder?

Ken and Donatella visit the
villa where Francesco and Bianca

fell fatally ill.

It happened during a family gathering.

- So we must imagine the
situation, many people,

the Grand Duke Francesco,
his wife, Bianca,

and Cardinal Ferdinando.

- [Narrator] According
to eyewitness accounts,

something unexpected happened.

- During the lunch, very suddenly
Francesco felt great pains

in his stomach and at
the same time, Bianca.

- [Narrator] They died
so soon after their meal,

it suggests poison was involved.

So why did the autopsy say malaria?

- Ferdinando took upon
himself to have the autopsies

performed on the bodies and he was the one

who released the medical reports

and he kept complete control.

He became the spin doctor of
Francesco's and Bianca's death.

- [Narrator] But recently,

Donatella discovered a second autopsy.

This one conducted by
Francesco's personal physicians.

- The corpses were opened
and the surgeons realized

that the same kind of poison
had spoiled the entrails

of Bianca and Francesco.

This record was hidden, was concealed

because it was too dangerous.

- [Narrator] The second
autopsy also states

that the internal organs
were buried in the church

close to the villa.

Donatella went there hoping
to excavate under the floor.

Church officials allow her to descend

through an existing cavity
but not to enlarge it.

- I'm lucky that I'm so small

because it was very difficult to go in.

I had to take out a great
amount of masonry, debris,

stones, bricks, bones.

I managed to find the six
or seven small fragments

of biological substances
which revealed themselves

to be pieces, fragments of livers.

- [Narrator] Tests revealed
a mix of male and female DNA.

The male sample matched the DNA

found in Duke Francesco's bones.

And the liver contents
revealed something else.

- Fragments of entrails, of
liver, belonging to Francesco,

we had found the evidence,
arsenic was found.

So this was the evidence that
Francesco had been poisoned.

- [Narrator] The alchemist
and the alleged witch

were probably poisoned by Ferdinando

but he never faced justice.

In an act of political
alchemy, he transformed himself

from a cardinal into a grand duke,

usurping his brother's power in Florence.

Some say that murder victims become ghosts

if their deaths are unavenged.

If that is so, then Francesco
and Bianca are with us still.

And perhaps they whisper,

in the Medici clan there
is no place for dreamers.

(solemn string music)

Up next, the art loving
Nazi who saved Uffizi.

(suspenseful music)

Inside the Uffizi,

a locked door leads from
the public galleries

to a private passageway

called the Vasari Corridor.

It was built to allow a
Medici patriarch to travel

to and from his palace
without fear of assassination.

For several centuries, it has
been extension of the museum

featuring self-portraits of
great artists like Rubens,

Bernini, and Chagall.

Its windows provide a unique
view of the Arno River

because the corridor is the
second story of a bridge.

The Ponte Vecchio is
one of several bridges

that span the river.

Most appear to be very old

but historian Lee Windsor knows better.

- We're coming upon the
Ponte Santa Trinita,

arguably the most important
bridge in all of Florence

architecturally, culturally, structurally.

And it looks at those it
pre-exists the war but, in fact,

in the 1950s local
architects rescued the rubble

from the bottom of the river

and used it to rebuild the
bridge almost as it was.

- [Narrator] It needed to be rebuilt

because of what happened
here in World War II

when allied forces began to
push the Nazis out of Italy.

- In August of 1944, when
the Germans evacuate,

begin to evacuate Florence,

they need to establish the
Arno River as a speed bump

so that the allies can't
chase them too quickly

into their new gothic lined defenses.

They need to hold the allies
here for a short period of time

and in order to do that,
they're going to blow

all of the bridges over the Arno River.

(bombs exploding)

- [Narrator] One after
another, the historic bridges

were reduced to rubble
except for the Ponte Vecchio.

Why did the Ponte Vecchio survive?

That is our museum secret.

(crowd roaring loudly)

The story begins in 1938 when Adolf Hitler

arrived in Florence with his Italian ally,

Benito Mussolini.

At Hitler's request,

they visited the Ponte
Vecchio's Vasari Corridor.

Mussolini was bored but
the furor fancied himself

a connoisseur of color and form.

He paused to examine several masterpieces

before he stopped to wave to the crowds.

Some Floretines still remember.

- (speaking Italian)

- [Narrator] Some believe
that six years later

when Hitler's army was in
retreat, he couldn't bear

to see the bridge destroyed.

- They were bombing all
the bridges, obviously,

because there's eight
more bridges to our left

and to our right, they bombed them all.

But wait a second, Hitler
sends in a telegram saying

don't bomb this bridge here.

Why?

Because of all the artwork up above.

So that's the only thing
that saves the bridge

and the Germans do not bomb this bridge.

- [Narrator] But was the Ponte Vecchio

really saved by Adolf Hitler?

Local filmmaker Gianmarco
D'Agostino doesn't think so.

Beneath the arches he
recently noticed a plaque

commemorating someone named Gerhard Wolf.

- I pass here a lot of times, of course,

but I never, never looked at the plaque.

I think almost nobody do it.

- [Narrator] The plaque thanks
Wolf for helping Florence

and saving the Ponte Vecchio.

- I became really curious about this story

and I started to research.

- [Narrator] Gianmarco soon discovered

that during World War II,

Gerhard Wolf was the
German consul for Florence.

While Nazis in other cities looted art,

Wolf did something strange.

Secretly he helped Florentines

transfer the Uffizi's
treasures to hiding places

outside the city.

- He tried hard to save the
works of art of Florence.

- [Narrator] And his un-Nazi behavior

extended to people as well.

When local Jews were threatened,

Wolf used his position to help them.

- (speaking Italian)

Here in the building
was the German consulate

during the World War II.

Here Gerhard Wolf worked during the day.

He got in contact with
a very famous Jew lawyer

in Florence and started to
give him the names of people

before they were deported to Auschwitz

and other concentration camps.

He had to act undercover

because he was risking
his life, of course.

- [Narrator] By the time the
Germans began their retreat,

Wolf had saved hundreds of lives.

He also tried to save the city's bridges

by pleading with his superiors
to stop the demolition.

(bombs exploding)

Did his pleas save the Ponte Vecchio?

Lee Windsor has a different theory.

- Prime Minister Winston Churchill

described the Ponte Vecchio as venerable

but was totally inadequate
for military purposes.

You can see that it really
is a pedestrianized bridge.

It's not capable, not suitable
for heavy vehicular traffic.

You can tell that it's
strained, and old, and weak.

To put any kind of amount
of heavy military traffic

onto that bridge is
going to knock it down.

The bridge is militarily useless.

The Germans know it so it's
the only one they leave intact.

- [Narrator] If the
bridge had been sturdier,

it might not be here today

and neither would the masterpieces
of the Vasari Corridor.

And without a traitorous
Nazi named Gerhard Wolf,

the museum's collections
might now be gone.

The galleries would no longer whisper

that humanity achieves
its highest expression

during the darkest of times.

(dramatic music)

In this place where intrigue
and inspiration meet,

for every mystery we reveal,
far more must remain unspoken.

Secrets of the questing
mind and the troubled heart,

hidden in plain sight,
inside the Uffizi Gallery.

(tense dramatic music)