<iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-K3L4M3" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden">

Lead book review

Florence's black Medici prince: a drama worthy of Shakespeare

Catherine Fletcher’s account of the life — and violent death — of Alessandro de’ Medici, known as ‘il Moro’, is quite as gripping as Othello

7 May 2016

9:00 AM

7 May 2016

9:00 AM

The Black Prince of Florence: The Spectacular Life and Treacherous World of Alessandro de’ Medici Catherine Fletcher

The Bodley Head, pp.336, £20, ISBN: 9781847922694

In a recent interview, the African American actor Wendell Pierce revealed he had once been told by the head of casting at a Hollywood studio: ‘I couldn’t put you in a Shakespeare movie, because they didn’t have black people then.’ The story was repeated on social media with a mixture of horror and hilarity, many responding — as Pierce himself did — ‘You ever heard of Othello?’

Yet the head of casting’s comments represent a common misconception and a significant gap in historical memory.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Easter flash sale:
10 issues for $1

Subscribe this Easter and get the next 10 issues of the magazine, plus website and app access, all for just $1.

  • Weekly delivery of the magazine
  • Unlimited access to spectator.com.au and app
  • Spectator Australia podcasts and newsletters
  • Full access to spectator.co.uk
Or

Unlock 3 articles a month

REGISTER

Available from the Spectator Bookshop, £17.00. Tel: 08430 600033. Alex von Tunzelmann’s books include Indian Summer, about the partition of 1947, and Red Heat, about the Cold War in the Caribbean.

You might disagree with half of it, but you’ll enjoy reading all of it. Try your first month for free, then just $2 a week for the remainder of your first year.


Comments

Easter flash sale: 10 issues for $1

Join the conversation with other Spectator Australia readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Close