He rises from the bed of harlots to unlock or bolt the gates of heaven and purgatory.

In the midst of crime he believes himself to be the representative of Christ on earth.

These anomalies, glaring as they seem to us, and obvious as they might be to deeper thinkers like Machiavelli or Savonarola, did not shock the mass of men who witnessed them.

The Renaissance was so dazzling by its brilliancy, so confusing by its rapid changes, that moral distinctions were obliterated in a blaze of splendor, an outburst of new life, a carnival of liberated energies.

The corruption of Italy was only equaled by its culture.