Podcasts-2 - Rocky Ruggiero

Podcasts

Available on your favorite platform

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.

"No one brings the Renaissance to life better than Rocky"

- Valoreev

"No one brings the Renaissance to life better than Rocky"

- Historywrocky

"No one brings the Renaissance to life better than Rocky"

- Treskovich

iTunes

Android

Google

Stitcher

Spotify

RSS

iHeart Radio

Episodes

Cities Artists Theory Answers to Open Questions Interviews

Bernini Borromini Brunelleschi Canova Caravaggio Donatello Giotto Leonardo da Vinci Michelangelo Other Artists Raphael Tintoretto Titian

Episode 181 – Raphael’s “Transfiguration” (Vatican Museums)

Posted: July 6th, 2022

Commissioned in 1516, four years before Raphael's premature death at the age of 37, by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, the "Transfiguration" was Raphael's last great altarpiece. The painting is a sort of summation of Raphael's artistic evolution, and not only synthesizes the artistic styles of Leonardo ...

Episode 180 – Rome: The Villa Farnesina – Renaissance Pleasure Palace Part II

Posted: June 29th, 2022

This episode continues to explore the extraordinary painting decorations of Rome's seminal Renaissance suburban villa. From the zodiacal images that represent the patron's horoscope, to Sebastiano del Piombo's "Polyphemus," to one of Raphael's most beautiful paintings known as "The Galatea', and, fi...

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 173 – Raphael – The Prince of Painters

Posted: May 11th, 2022

This episode examines the extraordinary career of one of the most important painters in history – Raphael Sanzio da Urbino – better known simply as “Raphael.” Along with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, Raphael heralded in the period known as the High Renaissance. Combining grace, eleganc...

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. ...

"Rocky is a favorite and one of the best art historians we’ve ever used. He has led our family on occasion where are high school and college kids praised how Rocky made art "interesting" and "relevant", while his interactive style held everyone’s attention"

Michael Chesser

President and Founder Chesser Group Inc., Los Angeles CA

"We recently traveled to Florence with our twin daughters and we wanted them to experience the rich art history of Florence in a more personalized basis. We were grateful that Rocky agreed to this assignment. His Knowledge, love and enthusiasm for the arts was contagious. It was the highlight of our trip!"

Alan L. Rivera

CFO and General Counsel, Millbrook Capital Management, Inc.

"I can say that Rocky Ruggiero is the best among the very best. I have yet to encounter a more precise, informative and commanding teacher or conductor through the beauty and magnificence of Florence and Italy"

Peter Weller

Actor, Director, Writer, Musician, Scholar