An old tradition of burning of any objects that are regarded as sinful or immoral, as if a bonfire fueled by the condemned objects would erase the social problems associated with them.
The most infamous of such bonfires took place on February
7, 1497. The extremist Catholic priest Girolamo Savonarola organized a great public burning in Florence, a burning of what he saw as the frivolities of the Medici reign, and in particular that of
Lorenzo de' Medici, whom Savonarola blamed for decadence and immorality (which the zealous priest defined as any art that did not portray
Jesus or anything Biblical; nudity and paganism in contemporary art irked his one-
track mindset).
While prostitutes were beaten and gay
men were burned alive on his orders, Savonarola's campaign centered on the burning of books, paintings, sculptures, cosmetics, wigs,
fancy clothing, mirrors, jewelry, masks, playing cards, scripts of secular songs, musical instruments, anything that Savonarola deemed extravagant.
A "bonfire of the vanities" can be as a metaphor to refer to the
censorship or
ban on "controversial" materials.
The Bonfire of the Vanities was the result of a moral panic provoked by an extremist
monk who was horrified by the nudity and
pagan/secular images that were appearing in art as well as the perceived extravagance of the Medici, the family who ruled Florence and who was leading this artistic Renaissance and who Savonarola blamed for the economic and social problems that were beginning to plague the city. Any art or literature that he deemed "immoral" had to
go.
Eventually, Savonarola's campaign turned against him and he was executed, but his example of
censorship is one to be remembered as that matter is discussed.
