Arte - Episode 1 - Arte Defiantly Cuts Long Hair

In Renaissance Era Florence, no artist workshop would take a woman apprentice, so Arte showed the depth of her passion by cutting her long hair to throw away her womanhood for art's sake.

The opening credits shows some of the characters Arte will meet while working for her Master Leo. His patron Veronica will pose for a portrait and Katarina is shy, so she hides behind Sofia.

Arte pursued art with the blessing of her noble Florentine father, but upon his death, her mother sought to focus her attention on pursuits to woo suitors for love because they couldn't afford a large dowry to attract offers of marriage. Arte just wants to be an artist.

This era being the Renaissance, male and female roles in society were starkly delineated. No artist workshop would take on a woman apprentice, noble or not. Leo, an aloof but respected artist, saw a spark of the same class-breaking defiance he had in his youth, so decided to take her on as his apprentice. Leo may or may not have been taught by the great Florentine Leonardo da Vinci. We'll have to see how much fun the show has with his namesake.