Cat and Mouse

Leo has been hard at work perfecting an early version of his "Mona Lisa" painting. Naturally, Lisa is the one who's secretly posing for it in her famous pink dress. Verrocchio is tired of Leo's "freelancing" and temporarily banishes him from the workshop to work on a mural. While he's gone Verrocchio sells his painting to an art dealer. Leo is upset as the painting is not yet up to his standards. Tom persuades Verrocchio to retrieve the painting and he gives it back to Leo.

"Bellissimo!"

Meanwhile, Lorenzo is hurtling down the path to matrimony. When his parents go to Pisa to arrange his wedding date he meets Bruno, an old acquaintance of Mac's who is looking for help with a "job". He befriends Lorenzo who is flattered by his attention and tries to impress him by showing him Leo's bicycle. In a fit of recklessness he decides to show Bruno that he is not a spineless, obedient little son.

Lorenzo and Bruno hard at play

They proceed to wreck the Medici palace fencing on the dining table and breaking priceless ornaments. Mac tries to warn Lorenzo that Bruno is only interested in his money, but as usual no one listens to Mac.

"If people would take my advice we would have 50% less bad stuff happen to us!"

That night while Lorenzo sleeps Bruno sneaks out of the Medici palace to rob his employer, the hook-handed queen of thieves Mazzola. Bruno uses Lorenzo for an alibi as he believes that Bruno has been in his house all night. In a particularly nasty move, Bruno lies and tells Mazzola that Mac has been bragging about a big haul. When she searches Mac's house she finds a locket from her stash that Bruno planted. Lorenzo finds Bruno gloating over his loot and realizes that he's been used. Lorenzo helps Mazzola find Bruno who is drinking up his profits at a local tavern. He disarms him in a fencing bout and hands him over to Mazzola's tender mercies.

Mazzola's tender mercies

Lorenzo makes the requisite apology to Mac for ignoring his good advice and rushes to clean up the palace before his parents come home.

Sadly, some things will have to be chucked

This episode is notable for the appearance of Pam St Clement, most famous for her role as Pat Butcher on East Enders. She plays the fearsome Mazzola, so frightening that even the swashbuckling Bruno is afraid of her. She does make a lovely villain all decked out in a leopard fur coat and waving her hook around menacingly.

Pam St Clement as Mazzola

On a more historical note, in this episode Leo is working on the "Mona Lisa". Now everyone knows that the Mona Lisa wasn't painted until at least 1500, more than 30 years after this episode takes place. It's fun to think that Leonardo spent years perfecting his masterpiece, one of the most recognizable paintings in the world, even if it's completely improbable (Let's be honest; if we pick the series apart historically speaking we will be here all day!). What is really interesting about this is that it means in this timeline Tom (real name Lisa Gherardini) will one day marry Francesco del Giocondo and have five children. Two of these children were named Andrea (presumably after Verrocchio in the Leonardo universe) and Piero!

Leo's early version of the "Mona Lisa"

Another brief historical reference is the mention of Leo's work on a mural at the Pazzi Chapel which in fact is a real chapel in Florence. Although there is no evidence that Leonardo Da Vinci ever painted a mural in the chapel, it was still being finished in the 1460s, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he did some work there. The patron family of the chapel (The Pazzis) also made an attempt on Lorenzo's life in 1478, about a decade after this story takes place and after his scheming (in the Leonardo universe) father had died.

A 19th century painting of the Pazzi Chapel