The Italian adaptation of Thomas Mann’s Fiorenza, which imaginatively reconstructs the conflict between Lorenzo de Medici and Girolamo Savonarola in 15th-century Florence, was successfully presented on the Italian stage in 1986. This volume makes available the translated text of the Italian version, rounded out by an historical introduction and the complete texts of Mann’s Fiorenza and Gladius Dei, the short story which served as a kind of preliminary study for the drama of conflict between pagan estheticism and tragic fanaticism.