Bonfire of the Vanities were a common accompaniment to the outdoor sermons of San Bernardino di Siena in the first half of the XV century. The focus of this destruction was nominally on objects that might tempt one to sin, including vanity items. Other targets included books that were deemed to be immoral, such as works by Boccaccio, and manuscripts of secular songs, as well as artworks, including paintings and sculpture.

But one of the most infamous bonfires was organized by no less famous Girolamo Savonarola. He was an Italian Dominican friar and preacher known for his prophecies of civic glory and calls for Christian renewal. He denounced clerical corruption, despotic rule and the exploitation of the poor. In 1495 when Florence refused to join Pope Alexander VI’s Holy League against the French, Savonarola was summoned to Rome. He disobeyed and further defied the pope by preaching under a ban, highlighting his campaign for reform with processions, bonfires of the vanities, and pious theatricals.

The most infamous one took place on 7 February 1497, when supporters of the Dominican priest Girolamo Savonarola collected and publicly burned thousands of objects like cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy, on the Mardi Gras festival. It is widely reported that the Florentine artist Sandro Botticelli burned several of his paintings based on classical mythology in the great Florentine bonfire of 1492. Girolamo Savonarola and his close friend, the humanist poet Girolamo Benivieni, composed lauds and other devotional songs for the Carnival processions of 1496, 1497 and 1498, replacing the bawdy Carnival songs of the era of Lorenzo de’ Medici. These continued to be copied and performed after his death, along with songs composed by Piagnoni in his memory. A number of them have survived.