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The Bonfire of the Vanities refers to an event in 1497 when followers of the priest Girolamo Savonarola collected and publicly burned thousands of objects in Florence, Italy. The focus of this destruction was on objects considered sinful, including vanity items such as mirrors, cosmetics, and fine dresses. Other targets included immoral books and pictures. Among the objects destroyed in this campaign were several original paintings on classical mythological subjects by Sandro Botticelli.
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.
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