Michelangelo and Leonardo struggle to make their reputations in the brutal world of Renaissance Italy, as both must play a high-stakes game to win favour.

Against a backdrop of political upheaval in Florence, Michelangelo and Leonardo jostle for artistic supremacy. But the arrival of the young prodigy Raphael threatens both men.

Michelangelo’s rivalry with Raphael reaches new heights in Rome, while a violent religious schism engulfs Europe and makes the artist question everything.