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REBUILDING THE RENAISSANCE PODCAST
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Rebuilding The Renaissance podcast will explore the development of the art, architecture, culture and history in Italy, from ancient Roman times through the Renaissance. Listeners will develop an understanding of Italy’s role in the development of Western civilization and an ability to appreciate and understand works of art in their historical context.
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Episodes
Episode 331 – The Ceiling Fresco of Sant’Ignazio in Rome
  • Posted: May 21st, 2025
One of Rome’s most spectacular works of art is the illusionistic fresco that covers the ceiling of the church Sant’Ignazio. It was painted in 1685, covers nearly 40m of ceiling surface and depicts the “Glorification of St. Ignatius of Loyola” in an extraordinary example of trompe-l’oeil pe...
Episode 330 – Rome: The Capuchin Crypt
  • Posted: May 14th, 2025
Located on the famous Via Veneto in Rome, Italy, the 17th-century Capuchin Crypt is one of the world’s most unique examples of funerary decoration. It consists of a series of rooms decorated with human bones! Each room has a different theme based on the type of bone used – skulls, pelvises, leg ...
Episode 329 – Rome: The Spanish Steps
  • Posted: May 7th, 2025
Built between 1723 and 1725, the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy, are one of the most famous staircases in the world. Consisting of 135 stairs spread over different levels, the steps were immortalized in the famous movie “Roman Holiday” and today are one of the most popular destinations of the “e...
Episode 328 – The Trevi Fountain (Rome)
  • Posted: April 30th, 2025
The Trevi Fountain is arguably the world’s most famous fountain! It was designed in 1732 by the Roman architect Nicola Salvi for a competition staged by Pope Clement XII. Rushing water passes through massive allegorical sculptures and blocks of stones into a massive stone basin in a uniquely drama...
Episode 325 – Borromini’s Church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza
  • Posted: April 9th, 2025
Borromini began construction on another of his architectural masterpieces, the church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome, Italy, in 1642 for Pope Urban VIII. His curvilinear façade, bulging drum, and spiraling lantern are all eye-popping aspects of his design. But it is the extraordinary floor plan ...
Episode 317 – Bernini’s Bridge of Angels
  • Posted: February 12th, 2025
In 1669, at the age of 71, Gian Lorenzo Bernini was commissioned by Pope Clemet IX to renovate the most important pilgrimage bridge in Rome, the Ponte Sant’Angelo. Bernini planned on installing 10 spectacular statues of angels holding the instruments of the passion, only two of which were ultimate...
Episode 316 – Bernini’s “Elephant”
  • Posted: February 5th, 2025
Completed in 1667 and located in front of the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome, Italy, Bernini’s “Elephant” is a powerful symbol combining Egyptian lore and Roman power. The elephant was designed as an imaginative base for the ancient Egyptian obelisk from the 6th century BCE....
Episode 310 – Bernini’s Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome
  • Posted: December 26th, 2024
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was commissioned in 1658 by the nephew of the late Pope Innocent X to build the third Jesuit church in Rome. Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale was Bernini’s first church project, and he did not disappoint. The combination of convex and concave forms dressed in polychromed marbles, g...
Episode 309 – Bernini and St. Peter’s Square
  • Posted: December 18th, 2024
In 1656, Gian Lorenzo Bernini was commissioned by Pope Alexander VII to design and build an appropriate forecourt to the Basilica of St. Peter, known as Piazza San Pietro (“St. Peter’s Square”). The resulting space is one of the greatest triumphs of Baroque architecture, combining a trapezoida...
Episode 307 – Bernini’s “Fountain of the Four Rivers”
  • Posted: December 4th, 2024
In 1651, with the help of the niece of Pope Innocent X, Bernini was able to sneak his design for the “Fountain of the Four Rivers” into the Pamphilj Palace. When Innocent saw it, he realized that despite being excluded from the competition, Bernini was clearly Rome’s greatest artist and deserv...
Episode 306 – Rome: Piazza Navona
  • Posted: November 27th, 2024
Once the site of an ancient stadium used for athletics (“agones”), the Piazza Navona is arguably Rome’s most famous piazza. It was renovated during the reign of Pope Innocent X in the middle of the 17th century and contains some of Rome’s most spectacular monuments such as Bernini’s “Fo...
Episode 305 – Bernini’s “Ecstasy of St. Teresa” (Part II)
  • Posted: November 20th, 2024
The central sculpture of the Coronaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome, Italy, is one of history’s greatest statues. Bernini depicts the ecstatic heavenly experience of the Spanish nun, which is described in vivid detail in St. Teresa’s autobiography....
Episode 304 – Bernini’s “Ecstasy of St. Teresa” (Part I)
  • Posted: November 13th, 2024
In 1647, Gian Lorenzo Bernini was commissioned by Cardinal Federigo Coronaro to design a funerary chapel in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome, Italy. While the actual sculpture of the saint’s ecstatic experience is simply breathtaking, its architectural context is also magnificent. ...
Episode 301 – Rome: Bernini’s “Triton Fountain”
  • Posted: October 23rd, 2024
The spectacular “Triton Fountain” was carved by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1642 for Pope Urban VIII for the piazza named after him – the Piazza Barberini – in the heart of Rome. Made of travertine stone, the fountain depicts the sea god kneeling upon a shell blowing into a conch out of which wa...
Episode 299 – Bernini’s Towers for St. Peter’s
  • Posted: October 9th, 2024
In 1637, Pope Urban VIII decided to let his superstar artist, Gian Lorenzo Bernini realize a project that had been abandoned 25 years earlier – bell towers at either end of the façade of St. Peter’s in Rome. The project would end up being the greatest failure of Bernini’s long, illustrious ca...
Episode 298 – The Barberini Palace in Rome – Maderno, Bernini, and Borromini
  • Posted: October 2nd, 2024
In 1627, Pope Urban VIII hired Carlo Maderno to design his new family palace in Rome. When Maderno died two years later, instead of assigning Maderno’s nephew, the visionary architect Francesco Borromini, as architect, the pope gave the job to Gian Lorenzo Bernini. This may have been the beginning...
Episode 296 – Bernini’s Crossing Piers in St. Peter’s
  • Posted: September 18th, 2024
Under the direction of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, head architect of St. Peter’s, a group of sculptors closely associated with him produced three spectacular statues for the crossing piers of the church. These statues represent the three other most important relics of the Vatican – the largest piece o...
Episode 294 – Maderno’s “Confessio” in St. Peter’s
  • Posted: September 4th, 2024
Located directly in front of the high altar of St. Peter’s and below Bernini’s magnificent Baldacchino, Maderno’s “Confessio” is an architectural stage that allows the faithful to revere the remains of St. Peter.  It consists of a beautiful marble balustrade, nearly 100 perpetually burnin...
Episode 293 – Bernini’s Baldacchino
  • Posted: August 29th, 2024
Commissioned in 1623 by Pope Urban VIII – whose coat of arms are ubiquitous throughout the monument - Bernini’s Baldacchino was his first large-scale project. Standing over 100ft. tall, the bronze structure marks the central point of the great Basilica of St. Peter over the tomb of the first pop...
Episode 291 – Bernini’s “Apollo and Daphne”
  • Posted: August 15th, 2024
In 1622, at the age of 24, Gian Lorenzo Bernini began carving his most spectacular sculpture, the “Apollo and Daphne,” for Cardinal Scipione Borghese. The marble statue magically demonstrates the transformation of the nymph Daphne into a laurel tree to escape the advances of the god Apollo....
Episode 290 – Bernini’s “Pluto and Persephone”
  • Posted: August 7th, 2024
Located in the Borghese Gallery in Rome, Italy, and carved when Bernini was only 23 years old, the spectacular “Pluto and Persephone” depicts the Greek myth which explains the cyclical seasons. Pluto, the god of the underworld, abducts Persephone. Eventually forced to release her, Pluto tricks P...
Episode 287 – The Façade St. Peter’s
  • Posted: July 17th, 2024
In 1608, the architect Carlo Maderno was commissioned by Pope Paul V to complete the Basilica of St. Peter by building its façade. That façade has been criticized for centuries for looking more like a palace façade than a church façade because of its emphasis on horizontality. This podcast explo...
Episode 277 – Caravaggio’s “Sleeping Cupid”
  • Posted: May 8th, 2024
Caravaggio, still a fugitive from justice, left Naples for Malta in the second half of 1607 most likely because the sensational paintings he produced in Naples were drawing too much attention to him. When he arrived in Malta, he was inducted into the brotherhood and apparently changed his ways. One ...
Episode 272 – Caravaggio’s “David with the Head of Goliath”
  • Posted: April 3rd, 2024
Painted shortly after Caravaggio killed a man in Rome and was a fugitive from justice, the “David with the Head of Goliath” is today located in the Borghese Gallery in Rome, Italy. The painting was given to Cardinal Scipione Borghese in hopes that he could convince his uncle, Pope Paul V, to par...
Episode 271 – Caravaggio’s “Supper at Emmaus” (2nd Version)
  • Posted: March 27th, 2024
Located in the Brera Gallery in Milan, Italy, Caravaggio’s 2nd “Supper at Emmaus” was painted in the immediate aftermath of Caravaggio’s murder of Ranuccio Tommasoni on the streets of Rome. A wounded Caravaggio was a fugitive from justice and hiding out from the authorities in the hills sur...
Episode 270 – Caravaggio: Wanted Dead or Alive
  • Posted: March 20th, 2024
O May 28, 1606, Caravaggio stabbed and killed a man named Ranuccio Tommasoni in Rome, allegedly over an unpaid wager. Discover the details of the homicide that changed Caravaggio’s life forever and turned him into a fugitive from justice....
Episode 269 – Caravaggio’s St. Jerome (Borghese Gallery)
  • Posted: March 13th, 2024
In 1605, Caravaggio painted an image of St. Jerome for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, and the painting is still located in the Borghese Gallery in Rome, Italy. Caravaggio’s depiction of the Father of the Church is a very quiet and intimate one, where we see a scholar in a sparsely furnished room cons...
Episode 265 – Caravaggio’s “Madonna of Loreto”
  • Posted: February 14th, 2024
Located in the Augustinian church of Sant ’Agostino in Rome, Italy, the “Madonna of Loreto” is one of Caravaggio’s most beautiful paintings. It was painted for the Cavalletti family in 1604 and depicts a barefoot Virgin Mary (who was modeled from a well-known prostitute) standing in a rundow...
Episode 259 – Caravaggio’s “Conversion of St. Paul”
  • Posted: January 3rd, 2024
The second painting that Caravaggio produced for the Cerasi Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, Italy, depicts the dramatic conversion of St. Paul on the road to Damascus. While certainly inspired by Raphael’s and Michelangelo’s earlier interpretations of the same subject, Ca...
Episode 258 – Caravaggio’s “Crucifixion of St. Peter”
  • Posted: December 27th, 2023
Caravaggio’s interpretation of St. Peter’s particular martyrdom – crucifixion in an upside-down position – for the Cerasi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, Italy, is a moving example of realism and physicality. Three executioners struggle to lift the burly fisherman who seems to embr...
Episode 257 – Caravaggio’s Cerasi Chapel
  • Posted: December 20th, 2023
Located in the Augustinian church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, Italy, the Cerasi Chapel contains two paintings by Caravaggio – the “Crucifixion of St. Peter” and the “Conversion of St. Paul.” The paintings were commissioned by Monsignor Tiberio Cerasi, who was the treasurer general o...
Episode 256 – Caravaggio’s “St. Matthew and the Angel”
  • Posted: December 13th, 2023
In 1602, Caravaggio signed his final contract with the Contarelli family to paint an altarpiece for their family chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, Italy. The first painting (now lost) that Caravaggio produced was rejected because it depicted St. Matthew as a rustic and rather s...
Episode 255 – Caravaggio’s “Calling of St. Matthew”
  • Posted: December 6th, 2023
The “Calling of St. Matthew” was the second of three paintings that Caravaggio executed for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, Italy. It depicts the dramatic moment when Christ called Matthew, the tax collector, to follow him in his mission. Caravaggio transfo...
Episode 254 – Caravaggio’s “Martyrdom of St. Matthew”
  • Posted: November 29th, 2023
The first of three paintings that Caravaggio painted for the Contarelli Chapel in the official French church of Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi, the “Martyrdom of St. Matthew" was the artist’s first large scale painting.  It depicts the assassination of the saint and evangelist at high mass in a d...
Episode 253 – Caravaggio and the Contarelli Chapel
  • Posted: November 22nd, 2023
Only July 23, 1599, Caravaggio signed the contract with the heirs of Cardinal Matthieu Cointerel (“Contarelli” in Italian) to produce three paintings for their family chapel in the official French church of Rome called San Luigi dei Francesi. This episode examines the history of the church, chap...
Episode 251 – Caravaggio’s Paintings in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence
  • Posted: November 8th, 2023
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence contains three paintings by Caravaggio. Two of them, the “Bacchus” and “The Medusa Shield” were sent by Cardinal Del Monte to Grand Duke Ferdinand de’ Medici, while the third, the “Sacrifice of Isaac,” was acquired later. All three paintings reflect Carav...
Episode 249 – The Life of Caravaggio – The Cursed Painter
  • Posted: October 25th, 2023
Known as the “pittore maledetto” – or the “cursed painter”, Caravaggio not only revolutionized painting at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries with his “hyper-realistic” style, but he also literally turned Rome on its head with his often-criminal behavior. Spending much of his time...
Episode 247 – Titian’s “Pietà” (Accademia Gallery, Venice)
  • Posted: October 11th, 2023
Left unfinished at this death in 1576, Titian’s “Pietà” was intended to serve as his funerary monument. Its extreme use of loose brushstroke and unconventional color combinations led one art historian to describe the painting as an example of “chromatic alchemy.”  ...
Episode 242 – Paolo Veronese’s Church of San Sebastiano in Venice
  • Posted: September 6th, 2023
Paolo Veronese is the third member of the great Venetian late Renaissance trio that also includes Titian and Tintoretto. The church of San Sebastiano in Venice was decorated over 15 years with paintings exclusively by Veronese and is a veritable shrine to the genius of this great painter.  ...
Episode 237 – Tintoretto’s Scuola of San Rocco (Venice)
  • Posted: August 3rd, 2023
The Scuola Grande of San Rocco in Venice, Italy, is the only active “scuola,” or confraternity, in the city. It has maintained its original appearance and magnificent decoration – nearly all of which was by Tintoretto - for the last five centuries. This podcast explores the history of the scuo...
Episode 233 – Vasari’s “Last Judgment” (Florence Cathedral)
  • Posted: July 5th, 2023
The dome frescoes of Florence Cathedral cover nearly an acre of dome surface, making it the world’s largest fresco. Begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1572 and completed by Federico Zuccari in 1579, the main subject of the fresco is the Last Judgment and incudes some strikingly graphic imagery in the Hell...
Episode 232 – Ammannati’s “Neptune Fountain” (Piazza Signoria, Florence)
  • Posted: June 28th, 2023
Commissioned by Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici for the marriage of his son Francesco to Johanna of Austria, the massive fountain occupies the northwestern corner of the Palazzo Vecchio. Portraying the duke as the god of the sea, the fountain imagery was intended to glorify the Medici dynasty, but was no...
Episode 221 – Michelangelo’s Tomb (Santa Croce, Florence)
  • Posted: April 12th, 2023
Although he died in Rome, the nearly-89-year-old Michelangelo was buried in a tomb in the great Franciscan Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. Discover the tomb monument that celebrates the genius of the divine artist in this episode....
Episode 217 – Michelangelo’s “Crucifixion of St. Peter” (Pauline Chapel)
  • Posted: March 15th, 2023
Shortly after completing the “Conversion of St. Paul” fresco in the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, the 70-year-old Michelangelo began his complimentary “Crucifixion of St. Peter.” While the image of St. Peter crucified in an upside-down position was quite common in Ro...
Episode 215 – Cellini’s “Perseus with the Head of Medusa” (Florence)
  • Posted: March 1st, 2023
In 1545, the goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini was commissioned by Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici to create a large bronze statue of the Greek hero Perseus and Medusa. The resulting work was one of the most beautiful and famous of the Renaissance. This episode examines the history, style, and importance of Ce...
Episode 213 – Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library in Florence Part III
  • Posted: February 15th, 2023
This episode analyzes the extraordinary reading room of Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library in Florence, Italy. Faced with having to reduce the weight of the building, Michelangelo designed a type of structural cage into which he inserted layered walls, elegant architectural elements, and handsome f...
Episode 212 – Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library in Florence Part II
  • Posted: February 8th, 2023
This episode analyzes Michelangelo’s visionary architectural design for the vestibule - better known as the “Ricetto” – of the Laurentian Library. Dominated by the famous staircase which Michelangelo claimed appeared to him in a dream, the space perfectly expresses Michelangelo’s radical n...
Episode 211 – Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library in Florence Part I
  • Posted: February 1st, 2023
In 1524, the Medici Pope Clement VII asked Michelangelo to design and build a new library to house the extraordinary collection of manuscripts and books owned by the family. The logical location was the Medici-sponsored complex of San Lorenzo. This episode analyzes the construction history of the li...
Episode 210 – Baccio Bandinelli’s “Hercules and Cacus” (Florence)
  • Posted: January 25th, 2023
Although the commission was originally given to Michelangelo in 1508, the eventual carving of the sculpture fell into the lesser hands of Baccio Bandinelli. Symbolic of the new authoritative Medici regime and rule over the city, the sculpture was a strong man image intended to warn Florentines of th...
Episode 206 – Michelangelo’s Last Judgment Part I
  • Posted: December 28th, 2022
Twenty-four years after completing its ceiling, Michelangelo returned to the Sistine Chapel to paint its altar wall. His gigantic “Last Judgment” took five years to complete and scandalized Rome as many of its holy characters were depicted in the nude. This podcast examines the history of the c...
Episode 197 – Correggio’s “Danaë”
  • Posted: October 26th, 2022
Located in the Borghese Gallery in Rome, Correggio's sensual painting of the amorous relationship between Jupiter and the daughter of the King of Argos is sublime. Based on the account in Ovid's "Metamorphoses,'' Correggio is able to transform a literary metaphor into an equally powerful and erotic ...
Podcast 191 – The Capponi Altarpiece Part II
  • Posted: September 14th, 2022
Jacopo Pontormo's altarpiece for the Capponi Chapel in the church of Santa Felicità in Florence, Italy, is one of the most beautiful paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Yet, the subject matter of painting still confuses art historians as it does not fit in any traditional iconographic parameters....
Episode 190 – Pontormo’s “Capponi Altarpiece” – Part I
  • Posted: September 7th, 2022
In 1525, Jacopo Pontormo, one of the greatest Mannerist painters of Florence, was commissioned to decorate the family chapel of Ludovico Capponi in the church of Santa Felicità. While the altarpiece is the chapel's most celebrated work, Pontormo also decorated its dome, pendentives and window wall ...
Episode 186 – Michelangelo’s New Sacristy in Florence Part II
  • Posted: August 17th, 2022
This episode examines the extraordinary tomb of Giuliano de' Medici in the New Sacristy. The allegorical figures of "Day" and "Night" are two of Michelangelo's most beautiful statues, while the "Effigy of Giuliano de' Medici" is a revolution in funerary statuary....
Episode 187 – Michelangelo’s New Sacristy in Florence Part III
  • Posted: August 10th, 2022
This episode examines the extraordinary tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici in the New Sacristy. The allegorical figures of "Dawn" and "Dusk" are two of Michelangelo's most elegant statues, while the "Effigy of Lorenzo de' Medici" is a clear allusion to the Classical "thinker" pose. We also analyze how the s...
Episode 185 – Michelangelo’s New Sacristy in Florence Part I
  • Posted: August 3rd, 2022
While working on the facade project of San Lorenzo, Michelangelo undertook another architectural project for Medici Pope Leo X. Known as the New Sacristy, and located in the Medici Chapels in Florence, Italy, the space was intended to serve as a royal funerary space for the Pope's brother and nephew...
Episode 179 – Rome: The Villa Farnesina – Renaissance Pleasure Palace Part I
  • Posted: June 22nd, 2022
The Villa Farnesina was the first Renaissance pleasure palace and belonged to the fabulously wealthy banker Agostino Chigi. The decorations of the palace delighted many a pope and international ruler. On one occasion, dinner was served on golden tableware that guests were invited to throw into the T...
Episode 178 – Rome – Raphael’s Room of the Fire in the Borgo
  • Posted: June 15th, 2022
The last of the apartments decorated by Raphael for Popes Julius II and Leo X was the Room of the Fire in the Borgo, painted between 1514-1517. Although largely executed by Raphael's student and friend Giulio Romano, the frescoes represent Raphael's mature period and were completed only 3 years befo...
Episode 177 – Rome – Raphael’s Room of Heliodorus
  • Posted: June 8th, 2022
In 1511, after completing the decoration of the Stanza della Segnatura, Raphael began painting the walls of Pope Julius' private audience room. Named after its principal scene - The Expulsion of Heliodorus - the room contains four of Raphael's most beautiful paintings. This episode will explore the ...
Episode 176 – Rome – Raphael’s School of Athens Part III
  • Posted: June 1st, 2022
This is the final episode of a three-part series dedicated to Raphael's great fresco in the Vatican Museums. It addresses the extraordinary Classically-inspired architectural setting of the painting, as well as identifying the celebrated philosophical and scientific personages depicted. Lastly, this...
Episode 175 – Rome – Raphael’s “School of Athens” Part II
  • Posted: May 25th, 2022
This episode explores the decorative context of Raphael's famous fresco. From Apollo on Mt. Parnassus, to the allegorical figures of the cardinal virtues, the extraordinary "Disputa", the paintings around the "School of Athens" are fundamental to its meaning....
Episode 174 – Rome – Raphael’s “School of Athens” Part I
  • Posted: May 18th, 2022
Although Raphael's fresco known as the "School of Athens" is the most celebrated painting of the Stanza della Segnatura, it is actually a part of a much larger program. This episode addresses the original function of the room, which was Pope Julius II's library, and how all of Raphael's paintings ar...
Episode 171 – Rome: Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel Ceiling Part VI
  • Posted: April 27th, 2022
The prophets and sibyls that flank the main scenes of the Sistine Chapel ceiling are some of Michelangelo's most impressive figures. Their dramatic poses, expressive, vibrant colors and powerful forms are both inspirational and frightening. Below and between them, Michelangelo filled the spandrels ...
Episode 170 – Rome: Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel Ceiling Part V
  • Posted: April 20th, 2022
The last three Genesis scenes of the Sistine Chapel ceiling demonstrate Michelangelo's extraordinary ability to represent complex subjects in incredibly effective ways. But they also reveal the divine artist's haste to complete the ceiling project. This episode closely examines the iconography, styl...
Episode 169 – Rome: Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel Ceiling – Part IV
  • Posted: April 13th, 2022
By the time Michelangelo reached the frescoes in the middle of the ceiling, he introduced a major stylistic change, due, most likely, to being able to see the frescoes from the ground. This episode examines the Adam and Eve scenes and how they reflect this stylistic change as well as revealing the m...
Episode 168 – Rome: Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel Ceiling – Part III
  • Posted: April 6th, 2022
Painting an 8,000 sq. ft. fresco cycle onto the ceiling of a chapel must have been a daunting task even for an artist of the caliber of Michelangelo. This episode examines the process and order by which Michelangelo executed his frescoes, focusing specifically on the first three painted scenes that ...
Episode 167 – Rome – Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel Ceiling – Part II
  • Posted: March 30th, 2022
Although the Sistine Chapel is the Catholic world's most important chapel since it hosts papal conclaves, the subject matter of the ceiling paintings is largely Old Testament mixed with pagan imagery. This episode unpacks the rich and complex iconography of the many paintings executed by Michelangel...
Episode 166 – Rome: Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel Ceiling – Part I
  • Posted: March 23rd, 2022
When Michelangelo signed the contract with Pope Julius II in 1508 to paint the Sistine Chapel Ceiling, little did he know the turmoil that awaited him. This first of several podcasts dedicated to the world's most famous ceiling will examine the circumstances behind the contract between artist and ...
Episode 165 – Rome: The Basilica of St. Peter
  • Posted: March 16th, 2022
After 120 years of construction, the reign of 18 different popes, and the direction of 12 different architects, St. Peter’s Basilica was finally consecrated in 1626. Measuring more than two football fields in length, it was by far the largest church in Christendom, and a fitting monument to the bu...
Episode 164 – Michelangelo and the Tomb of Julius II
  • Posted: March 9th, 2022
When Michelangelo was called to Rome in 1506 by the Pope Julius II, it was to design and carve the mother of all tombs. Intended to stand four stories in height and directly over the tomb of St. Peter, and to accommodate 40 over-life-sized statues, it was a direct reflection of both the pope’s meg...
Episode 161 – Venice: Giorgione’s “Tempest” and “La Vecchia”
  • Posted: February 16th, 2022
Notwithstanding that his life and artistic career were cut short by plague in 1510 while the artist was in his thirties, Giorgione revolutionized European painting by his introduction of enigmatic and unconventional iconography. This episode examines two of Giorgione's most important paintings, both...
Episode 160 – Venice – Vittore Carpaccio’s “The Legend of St. Ursula”
  • Posted: February 9th, 2022
Carpaccio's extraordinary visual narrative of the life of St. Ursula is one of the most celebrated examples of cyclical Venetian Renaissance painting. Recently restored, the nine large canvases are now on display in the Accademia Gallery of Venice and present a vivid snapshot of life in Venice at th...
Episode 158 – Venice: Giovanni Bellini’s “St. Job Altarpiece”
  • Posted: January 26th, 2022
This episode examines the first great Venetian painting of the Renaissance. Although the Venetian school of painting appeared almost a full century after that of Florence, the extraordinary genius of Venetian painters such as Giovanni Bellini rapidly made it the major rival of central Italian Renais...
Episode 156 – The Divine Michelangelo Part VIII – The Doni Tondo
  • Posted: January 12th, 2022
This episode examines the only painting by Michelangelo in Florence, and one of only two finished paintings executed by the artist before he decorated the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. In many ways the vibrant, expressive colors and sculptural plasticity of the figures in this painting anticipated ...
Episode 155 – Leonardo vs. Michelangelo- The Battle of the Battles – Part II
  • Posted: January 5th, 2022
In 1504, Florence found its two greatest artists in the city at the same time. Not wanting to miss this rare opportunity to have them test their talents against each other, massive murals were commissioned from each in the great hall of Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. This second part of a 2-part podc...
Episode 154 – Leonardo vs. Michelangelo- The Battle of the Battles – Part I
  • Posted: December 29th, 2021
In 1504, Florence found its two greatest artists in the city at the same time. Not wanting to miss this rare opportunity to have them test their talents against each other, massive murals were commissioned from each in the great hall of Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. This first of a two-part series w...
Episode 148 – The Divine Michelangelo Part III – The Bacchus
  • Posted: November 17th, 2021
Michelangelo arrived in Rome for the first time in 1496 at the age of 21. His first important patron was the fabulously wealthy Cardinal Riario who wanted the young sculptor to carve a statue of the Roman god of wine that he could pass off as an antique. Surprisingly, Riario did not accept the finis...
Episode 144 – The Brera Gallery in Milan, Italy
  • Posted: October 20th, 2021
This episode explores the extraordinary collection of Italian Renaissance paintings in Milan's most important painting museum, which houses masterpieces by Caravaggio, Raphael, Piero Della Francesca, Tintoretto, Bellini and Mantegna.  ...
Episode 142 – Leonardo da Vinci’s Sala delle Asse
  • Posted: October 6th, 2021
This episode examines one of the most unique decorative programs in history. A room in the Sforza Castle in Milan whose walls and vault are covered with illusionistic trees that form a natural pergola. We also discuss how Leonardo's expression of arboreal architecture has been brought back to life w...
Episode 137 – Leonardo da Vinci and the Bronze Horse
  • Posted: September 1st, 2021
Duke Ludovico Sforza’s principal motivation for bringing Leonardo to Milan was most likely Leonardo’s experience in working with bronze. The duke was hoping to apply Leonardo’s experience and talent to the realization of a colossal equestrian monument in honor of his father Francesco Sforza. T...
Episode 132 – Florence: Strozzi Palace
  • Posted: July 28th, 2021
This podcast explores the architecture and history of one of the largest family palaces in Florence, built for the illustrious Strozzi family. After nearly a half-century of exile for their failed attempt at exiling the Medici, the fabulously wealthy banker Filippo Strozzi was the first of his famil...
Episode 131 – Florence: Rucellai Palace
  • Posted: July 21st, 2021
This podcast examines the architecture, authorship, and history of one of Florence's most important early Renaissance family palaces. Perhaps the most classically inspired of the 15th-century palaces in the city, the Rucellai Palace is a true Renaissance architectural gem.      ...
Episode 127 – Leonardo da Vinci’s Resume
  • Posted: June 23rd, 2021
In 1482, Leonardo da Vinci sent a letter to the then regent of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, in hopes of landing the position of court artist of the duchy of Milan. This episode will examine this letter, which is essentially the resume of the great artist, and how someone like Leonardo would qualify himse...
Episode 122 – Botticelli’s Muse – Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci
  • Posted: May 19th, 2021
This episode will attempt to unravel the mystery behind one of the world’s most famous paintings – the Birth of Venus by Botticelli. Was the artist's muse the legendary Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci, who is still reputed to be the most beautiful woman of Renaissance Florence? Just who was this leg...
Episode 121 – History: The Pazzi Conspiracy
  • Posted: May 6th, 2021
On April 26, 1478, Giuliano de’ Medici lay dead on the pavement of Florence cathedral with 19 stab wounds serving as testimony to the vicious attack that he had just suffered. Had his assassins succeeded in eliminating his older brother, Lorenzo “il Magnifico” de’ Medici, that day as well, t...
Episode 120 – Rome: The Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo
  • Posted: May 5th, 2021
Decades before Michelangelo climbed up on the nearly 70 feet of scaffolding to adorn the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a veritable “All-Star Team” of late-15th- century artists had already decorated its walls. Artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, and Luca Si...
Episode 119 – Florence: Uffizi Gallery – Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”
  • Posted: April 28th, 2021
Sandro Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" is one of the most celebrated paintings in the history of art. The work depicts how the Roman goddess of love, Venus, came into being. This episode will examine the style, composition and symbolism of the painting, as well as discuss those factors that give the p...
Episode 118 – Florence: Uffizi Gallery – Botticelli’s “Primavera”
  • Posted: April 21st, 2021
When Botticelli painted the "Primavera" in the 1470s, he opened up a veritable Pandora’s Box. No longer would Renaissance artists be limited to simply dressing Christian saints in togas and sandals, they could now gradually introduce the very literature, philosophy and religion of the ancient Grec...
Episode 116 – Florence: Andrea del Verrocchio – Part II
  • Posted: April 7th, 2021
This episode is the second part of a two-part episode about the extraordinary 15th-century Florentine artist who is best known as the master of Leonardo da Vinci. We examine Verrocchio's later sculptures such as the "Putto with a Dolphin", "Lady with a Primrose" and his "Equestrian Monument to Barto...
Episode 115 – Florence: Andrea del Verrocchio – Part I
  • Posted: March 31st, 2021
This first part of a two-part episode examines the art and career of the extraordinary sculptor who is best known as the master of Leonardo da Vinci. Although often overshadowed by the notoriety of his pupil, Verrocchio was one of the most significant sculptors in history.  He was also one of the ...
Episode 105 – Florence: The Facade of Santa Maria Novella
  • Posted: January 20th, 2021
This episode examines the architectural style and history of Florence's only Renaissance-style church facade at the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, which was designed by the architect Leon Battista. From its classically-inspired forms, to the abundance of heraldic symbolism of both the Rucellai and...
Episode 104 – Florence: The Basilica of Santo Spirito – Part IV
  • Posted: January 13th, 2021
This episode is the fourth and final episode of our examination of the construction history of Brunelleschi's great Basilica of Santo Spirito in Florence, Italy. We look specifically at the most sensational and well-known controversy concerning the building of the church regarding how many doors sho...
Episode 103 – Florence: The Basilica of Santo Spirito – Part III
  • Posted: January 6th, 2021
This episode continues to examine the construction history of Brunelleschi's great Renaissance-style church. Based on extraordinarily detailed archival records regarding the construction of the church over nearly a decade, we are able to paint an incredibly vivid picture of how, literally, brick by ...
Episode 102 – Florence: The Basilica of Santo Spirito – Part II
  • Posted: December 30th, 2020
This episode continues to examine the construction history of Brunelleschi's great Renaissance basilica. Based on the findings from my book about the church, we will examine how the various chapel types and chapel sales directly reflect the progress of construction at Santo Spirito.    ...
Episode 101 – Florence: The Basilica of Santo Spirito
  • Posted: December 23rd, 2020
This episode explores the architecture and early building history of the Brunelleschi's great Renaissance church. By comparing the account of Brunelleschi's earliest biographer to the known extant archival documentation, it is clear that construction on the church began shortly before the architect'...
Episode 98 – Florence: Uffizi Gallery Early Renaissance Paintings
  • Posted: December 2nd, 2020
This episode examines those works in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, that best express the principles of Early Renaissance style painting.  From the rigid perspectival constructions of Paolo Uccello, to the sensually beautiful madonnas of Fra Lippo Lippi, to the iconic portraits of the duke ...
Episode 95 – Florence: Chapel of the Magi (Medici Palace)
  • Posted: November 11th, 2020
This episode examines the splendid artistic decoration of one of Florence's best hidden gems - the Chapel of the Magi inside of the Medici Palace. Full a sumptuous materials and decorations, the walls of the chapel were beautifully painted by Benozzo Gozzoli in 1459 depicting the voyage of the Magi ...
Episode 94 – Florence: The Medici Palace
  • Posted: November 4th, 2020
This episode examines the history and architecture of the first Renaissance-style family palace in Florence, Italy. The Medici Palace was not only the home of the family, but also the seat of their political and financial power. Commissioned by Cosimo de' Medici, the palace was an integral part of t...
Episode 93 – Florence: The Medici Dynasty
  • Posted: October 28th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the rise to power and legacy of one the longest-lasting dynasties in history. From relatively modest beginnings, the Medici family became one of the most wealthy and powerful families of Renaissance Italy, as well as great patrons of the arts....
Episode 92 – Florence: Last Supper by Andrea del Castagno (Sant’Apollonia)
  • Posted: October 21st, 2020
Episode Info: This episode analyzes one of the best-preserved and influential Renaissance paintings of the Last Supper. Located in the former refectory of a nunnery in Florence, Italy, the painting exhibits various traditional elements typical of the subject, but it also displays numerous innovat...
Episode 91 – Florence: The Convent of San Marco – Part II
  • Posted: October 14th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode explores the sublime painting decoration of the great Early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico in the convent of San Marco. From his utilitarian paintings in the cloister, to the majestic Crucifixion in the chapterhouse, to his celebrated Annunciation and finally to the ...
Episode 90 – Florence: The Convent of San Marco – Part I
  • Posted: October 7th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode is the first part of a two-part episode that examines the history and architecture of the first-ever Renaissance style convent. San Marco, which has been described as the most beautiful convent in all of Italy, was designed by Michelozzo and entirely funded by Cosimo De'Me...
Episode 84 – Florence: The Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti – Part II
  • Posted: August 26th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode is the second part of the two-part episode dedicated to Lorenzo Ghiberti's celebrated doors known as the "Gates of Paradise". In this second part, we look at each individual panel to examine its style, composition and iconography, where we discover Ghiberti was indeed a ma...
Episode 83 – Florence: The Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti – Part 1
  • Posted: August 19th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the history and provenance of the world's most famous and beautiful doors - the so-called "Gates of Paradise" that were produced by Lorenzo Ghiberti between 1425-1452. Today, the Renaissance doors are one of the artistic gems of the Museo Dell'Opera del Duomo (Cat...
Episode 81 – Florence: Holy Trinity by Masaccio Part II
  • Posted: August 5th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode analyzes the mathematics involved in the creation of the first perspectival painting in history. Learn how geometry and algebra were not only part of the construction of the three-dimensional space, but also a surprising way to illustrate important theological doctrines....
Episode 80 – Florence: Holy Trinity by Masaccio
  • Posted: July 29th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode will discuss what might just be the most important painting in Florence - Masaccio's Holy Trinity in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy. Learn how this fresco, which was the first in history to apply linear perspective, was lost in the 16th Century when t...
Episode 79 – Florence: Brunelleschi’s Dome – Part II
  • Posted: July 21st, 2020
Episode Info: This is the second part of my two-part episode about Brunelleschi and the construction of the dome of Florence cathedral. Learn how the great architect out-smarted his competitors, won the contract for and then realized the world's largest dome in only 16 years. Then discover the secre...
Episode 78 – Florence: Brunelleschi’s Dome – Part I
  • Posted: July 15th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the history leading up to the construction of Brunelleschi's great cupola. From the structural design of the tribunes, to the decision to add a drum, to the dilemma of wooden centering, what happened before Brunelleschi began building determined much of what he wo...
Episode 76 – Florence: The Brancacci Chapel – Part II
  • Posted: July 1st, 2020
Episode Info: This episode is the second part of a two-part episode about the Brancacci Chapel in Florence, Italy. It examines the paintings inside of the Brancacci Chapel and discusses the authorship of each, and those attributes that made Masaccio one of the most revolutionary painters in history....
Episode 75 – Florence: The Brancacci Chapel – Part I
  • Posted: June 24th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode explores the history and several key paintings of the revolutionary Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria Del Carmine in Florence, Italy. There is no better place in the world in which to illustrate the evolution of late Gothic to Early Renaissance than this chapel...
Episode 72 – Florence: Brunelleschi and the Basilica of San Lorenzo
  • Posted: June 3rd, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the construction history and architecture of the first Renaissance-style church ever built - the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy - which was designed by the great Filippo Brunelleschi. From modular systems, to the use of classical architectural vocabula...
Episode 71 – Theory – Florence: Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy
  • Posted: May 27th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the first Renaissance-style interior space ever built, which is known as the "Old Sacristy" in San Lorenzo in Florence. Designed by the great Filippo Brunelleschi, the revolutionary space also served as the funerary chapel of the patriarch of the Medici family - G...
Episode 67 – Florence: Brunelleschi and the Hospital of the Innocents
  • Posted: April 29th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the early part of Brunelleschi's career and his first major architectural project. His revival of a Classical architectural vocabulary and logic revolutionized architecture in the late medieval European world, and would establish this new style as the foundation f...
Episode 65 – Venice: The Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge
  • Posted: April 15th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode explores the history and architecture of Venice's most important thoroughfare and its surrounding churches and palaces, as well as one of the world's most celebrated bridges - the Rialto - that has spanned the Grand Canal for nearly the last 1,000 years....
Episode 64 – Venice: Basilica of St. Mark and Doge’s Palace
  • Posted: April 8th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the history, architecture and importance of Italy's most unique church. An example of Italo-Byzantine architecture, St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, was built primarily to house the relics of the evangelist and to serve as the private chapel of the Doge. The...
Episode 62 – Florence: Donatello’s St. George (Bargello)
  • Posted: March 25th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines Donatello's sculptural representation of the St. George subject for the Sword and Armor Guild at the church of Orsanmichele, although both sculpture and niche are in the Bargello Museum today. Not only was this first sculpture of the Renaissance to depict a subjec...
Episode 61: Florence – Donatello’s Marble “David” (Bargello)
  • Posted: March 18th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines Donatello's seminal heroic interpretation of the "David" subject in sculpture. Removed from its original context at the Duomo and inserted into a civic setting at the Palazzo Vecchio, the statue became the symbol of divine protection for the Florentine Republic....
Episode 60: Florence – Cathedral Facade Sculptures
  • Posted: March 11th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the statues that were produced by the likes of Arnolfo Di Cambio, Nanni Di Banco and Donatello and adorned the original facade of Florence cathedral. These extraordinary statues reflect the transition from the International Gothic to the Early Renaissance style....
Episode 59 – Venice: La Serenissma – The History of the Republic
  • Posted: March 4th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode explores the history of the world's most unique city and the organization of the longest lasting republic of all time. From the original refugees who settled on the islands in the ancient world, to the theft of the body of St. Mark, to the formation of a "perfect governmen...
Episode 58 – Florence: Uffizi Gallery: International Gothic Style Paintings
  • Posted: February 26th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode explores the paintings in the Uffizi Gallery collection that best embody the principles of that style that marks the transition between the Gothic and Renaissance worlds, known as the "International Gothic Style." This style combines the elegance and elaborateness of Goth...
Episode 57: Florence – North Doors of Florence Baptistry
  • Posted: February 19th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the "North Doors" of Florence Baptistry that were produced by Lorenzo Ghiberti between 1403-1423 as a result of the famous competition of 1401 won by the same artist. The same International Gothic Style attributes that characterize Ghiberti's earlier competition p...
Episode 56: Florence – Competition Panels (Bargello)
  • Posted: February 12th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the event that sparked the Renaissance - the famous competition between Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi in 1401 for the contract for a set of bronze doors of Florence Baptistry. These two Renaissance giants produced bronze relief panels depicting the Old...
Episode 54: Florence: Santa Maria Novella – Strozzi Chapel
  • Posted: January 29th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the beautiful pictorial decorations in the 14th-century Strozzi Chapel in Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy by the brothers Andrea (better known as "Orcagna") and Nardo di Cione. Almost perfectly preserved after eight centuries, the chapel also offers the ext...
Episode 52 – Siena: Cathedral Pulpit by Nicola Pisano
  • Posted: January 15th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines Nicola Pisano's great sculptural pulpit in the cathedral in Siena, Italy. Carved five years after his pulpit in Pisa Baptistry, this work is much more Gothic in style, reflecting its highly decorative architectural surroundings. Yet, Pisano's work is still full of...
Episode 51: Florence – Uffizi Gallery – Medieval Paintings
  • Posted: January 8th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the medieval paintings in the extraordinary collection of paintings in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Works by Giotto, Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti exemplify the move towards naturalism in this proto-Renaissance moment....
Episode 48: Florence – San Miniato al Monte
  • Posted: December 18th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores the history and examines the architecture of one of the most unique churches of medieval Europe. Consecrated in 1018 CE, the thousand-year-old Romanesque church of San Miniato in Florence, Italy houses an eclectic mix of artistic styles inside of a distinctly myst...
Episode 45: Florence – The Baptistry Part II – Mosaics
  • Posted: December 3rd, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will examine the breathtaking mosaics that decorate the ceiling of Florence Baptistry. Epic in scale and subject matter, and excruciatingly meticulous in execution, the mosaics represent one of the greatest works of art of medieval Europe and may have inspired both Dante a...
Episode 44: Florence – The Baptistry – Part I
  • Posted: November 20th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores the history and architecture of what is, in local tradition, the most important monument in Florence, Italy. Nearly a millennium old, the Romanesque building has always been the heart of Florentine society and tradition....
Episode 40 – Florence: Statues at Orsanmichele
  • Posted: October 23rd, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines the extraordinary collection of statues on the outside of the church of Orsanmichele in Florence, Italy. Produced by some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, such as Donatello, Ghiberti and Verrocchio, each statue reflects the changing artistic styles of t...
Episode 39 – Florence: Orsanmichele
  • Posted: October 16th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode recounts the history behind the medieval–grain–market–turned–church of Orsanmichele in Florence, Italy. The building has always reflected the bustling commercial character of the city, first as a marketplace for grain and then as its official guild church....
Episode 38 – Florence: Ponte Vecchio and the Vasari Corridor
  • Posted: October 9th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores the history and evolution of one of the world's most famous bridges – the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy. From ancient Roman times through to today, the bridge has served as a means of passage between the banks of the Arno river, as well a thriving commercial ...
Episode 37 – Florence: Santa Maria Novella – The Spanish Chapel – Part II
  • Posted: October 2nd, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines the beautiful fresco decoration inside of the Spanish Chapel in the convent of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy. These paintings are not only prime examples of art produced in the wake of the Black Death, but they also testify to how the Dominicans effective...
Episode 36: Florence: Santa Maria Novella – The Spanish Chapel – Part I
  • Posted: September 25th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines the history and patronage of one of the great medieval churches of Florence: Santa Maria Novella. The seat of the Dominican Order in Florence, the rather severe style of the art in this church reflects the orthodox philosophy of this particular religious order. Pe...
Episode 35: San Gimignano: Black Death Paintings in the Collegiata
  • Posted: September 18th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines one of the most sinister and violent fresco cycles of the Middle Ages in the cathedral or "Collegiata" of the Tuscan town of San Gimignano. Attributed to a mysterious artist named Barna Da Siena, the frescoes are often used as an example of a "post-Black Death sty...
Episode 28: Florence – Florence Cathedral
  • Posted: July 31st, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will examine the architecture and explore the epic construction history of one of the largest and most beautiful churches in the world....
Episode 27: Siena – Palio
  • Posted: July 24th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will explore the thrilling horserace known as the Palio that takes place in the central medieval square of Siena twice a year. Winning the race is the most important objective of every Sienese person, and we shall examine just how far the Sienese will go in order to obtain...
Episode 26: Siena – The Allegory of Good and Bad Government
  • Posted: July 17th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will examine one of the most timeless and politically enlightening works of art of all time - Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Allegory of Good and Bad Government - which clearly reveals that the governing principles of an effective democracy transcend time!...
Episode 24: Siena – The Palazzo Pubblico and Piazza del Campo
  • Posted: July 5th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will analyze the history and architecture of the medieval town hall of Siena known as the Palazzo Pubblico, which was one of the seminal civic structures in Europe. We shall also examine what has been described as the most beautiful urban space in all of Italy - the Piazza...
Episode 22: Siena – Siena Cathedral
  • Posted: June 19th, 2019
Episode Info: This podcast will recount the extraordinary construction history and examine the striking architecture of one of the world's most beautiful churches - the cathedral of Siena....
Episode 21: Siena – The Foundation Myth
  • Posted: June 12th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode recounts the foundation myth of the great Tuscan city of Siena and how 14th-century Sienese government officials claimed to have discovered a document that traced Siena's ancestry all the way back to Ancient Rome - but not to Rome's great founder Romulus, but instead to hi...
episode 18
Episode 18: Florence – Giotto’s Frescoes in Santa Croce
  • Posted: May 22nd, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will analyze Giotto's frescoes of "The Life of St. Francis" in the Bardi Chapel in Santa Croce. Giotto's introduction of  naturalism, psychology, movement, emotion, and drama into his paintings was a groundbreaking innovation for medieval painting....
Episode 17: Florence – Celebrity Tombs in Santa Croce
  • Posted: May 15th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores and examines what is arguably the world's most impressive collection of celebrity tombs that is housed in the great Franciscan basilica, including the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli....
Episode 16: Florence – The Basilica of Santa Croce
  • Posted: May 8th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores the history and architecture of this great church in Florence, Italy and how the social and economic forces of medieval Florence contributed to making it the largest Franciscan church in the world....
Episode 12: Florence – Speaking Statues in Piazza della Signoria
  • Posted: April 11th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will examine the extraordinary collection of sculptures in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. From Donatello's "Judith and Holofernes' to Michelangelo's "David" to Cellini's "Perseus and Medusa", each sculpture represents a chapter in the extraordinary story tha...
Episode 11: Florence – Palazzo Vecchio
  • Posted: April 5th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will analyze the architecture of the building that was the seat of political power in medieval Florence - the Palazzo Vecchio - and the historical circumstances that led to its construction....
Episode 10: Florence – Out of Darkness
  • Posted: March 22nd, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will trace the historical evolution of Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire through Charlemagne and the creation of the Holy Roman Empire and finally to the rise of medieval city-states in Italy with particular emphasis given to the role of Florence....
Episode 9: Florence – Historical Origins
  • Posted: March 22nd, 2019
Episode Info: This podcast will examine the ancient Roman origins of the city of Florence and trace its urban development from its foundation in 59 B.C. to the modern city that we see today....
Episode 7: Rome – Constantine and Christianity
  • Posted: March 20th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will address the rise of Christianity in the Roman world and the critical role that Emperor Constantine played in its success and changing the world forever....
Episode 6: Rome – The Pantheon
  • Posted: March 20th, 2019
Episode Info: In this episode, we examine and analyze the ancient Roman temple that has been described as the most perfectly designed architectural monument in history....
Episode 5: Rome – Bread and Circus
  • Posted: March 20th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines that most decadent period in ancient Roman history when emperors provided both lavish foods and spectacular entertainment to the citizens of Rome....
Episode 4: Rome – Blood Sport
  • Posted: March 20th, 2019
Episode Info: In this episode we examine the jaw-dropping spectacles and bloody contests that took place inside of the Colosseum....
Episode 3: Rome – The Colosseum
  • Posted: March 20th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode analyzes the architecture and reconstructs the engineering marvels of the mother of all amphitheaters....
Episode 1: Rome – The Foundation Myth
  • Posted: March 20th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines the foundation myth of Ancient Rome and how it reflects those critical historical and social factors that contributed to making Rome the most absolute empire in history....
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