Bonfire of the Vanities
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- This article is about the historical event; for the novel see The Bonfire of the Vanities, for the film see The Bonfire of the Vanities (film).
The focus of this destruction was on objects considered sinful, including vanity items such as mirrors, cosmetics, fine dresses, and even musical instruments. Other targets included immoral books, manuscripts of secular songs, and pictures. Among the objects destroyed in this campaign were several original paintings on classical mythological subjects by Sandro Botticelli, who placed them in the bonfire himself.
Such bonfires were not invented by Savonarola, however, and they were a common accompaniment to the outdoor sermons of San Bernardino da Siena in the first half of the century.
Tom Wolfe's novel The Bonfire of the Vanities, published in 1987, makes reference to the original event, but is not a retelling of the story.
The event plays a part in Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason's The Rule of Four. It is the motivation for the writing of a Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in the novel.
It also finds itself in Timothy Findley's novel, entitled Pilgrim (1999).
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