... issues: the naked corruption ofthe hierarchy, the love of power of the aristocracy, and the belief in rule by the people.As the Medici family gradually swept away the remnants ofthe old ... topics included the evils of bishops and popes, the oppression ofthe poor by the rich, and the injustices perpetrated by the Medici, often calling to mind the lurid fate of sinners at the Last Judgment. ... take either of their sides in the endless struggles between the French and the Spanish. The goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini, who was then in the service of Pope Clement, had visited Clement the day...