Podcasts-2 - Rocky Ruggiero

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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.

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

- Historywrocky

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

- Valoreev

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

- Treskovich

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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 252 – Caravaggio’s “Rest on the Flight into Egypt,” “Penitent Magdalene,” and “Judith and Holofernes”

Posted: November 15th, 2023

This episode addresses three more of Caravaggio’s innovative early paintings in Rome, Italy. Each of the paintings treats conventional subjects in unconventional ways, including using well-known prostitutes as models for the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene, and introducing unprecedented violence in...

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 250 – Caravaggio’s Early Works (Sick Bacchus, Boy with Basket of Fruit, Fortune Teller, Cardsharps, Musicians)

Posted: November 1st, 2023

After an inauspicious beginning to his artistic career in Rome, Caravaggio’s photorealistic style and “street” iconography began to draw the attention of some important patrons. The most important of the patrons was Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, whose patronage launched Caravaggio’s ca...

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 245 – Titian’s “Venus Blindfolding Cupid” (Borghese Gallery, Rome)

Posted: September 27th, 2023

Painted around 1565, this exquisite painting exemplifies Titian’s later style with its loose brushstroke, sophisticated use of color, and delicate tonal transitions. The meaning of the painting is somewhat controversial as it does not fall into any traditional iconographical schemes and has conseq...

Episode 244 – Paolo Veronese’s “Feast in the House of Levi” (Accademia Gallery, Venice)

Posted: September 20th, 2023

In 1573, Paolo Veronese was commissioned by the Dominicans at the church of Saints Giovanni and Paolo in Venice to paint a “Last Supper” to replace an earlier version by Titian that had been destroyed by fire. The result was a massive image full of numerous figures engaged in a hedonistic celebr...

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 234 – Giambologna’s “Rape of the Sabine” (Piazza della Signoria, Florence)

Posted: July 12th, 2023

Still located in the Loggia dei Lanzi where it was installed in 1583, the “Rape of the Sabine” was produced for Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici. While the group of three figures may seem like a fitting representation of the mythological event where Roman men took Sabine women as their wives, th...

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 224 – Tintoretto’s “Finding of the Body of St. Mark” (Brera Gallery, Milan)

Posted: May 3rd, 2023

Another of the great canvases for the Scuola Grande of San Marco dramatically depicts the episode where the body of the evangelist was discovered. The dark painting is dominated by theatrical chiaroscuro and showcases unconventional characters and gestures....

Episode 223 – Tintoretto’s “Stealing of the Body of St. Mark” (Accademia Gallery, Venice)

Posted: April 26th, 2023

Fourteen years after exploding onto the art scene in Venice, Tintoretto produced another dramatic work for the Scuola Grande of San Marco. The intense painting depicts the legendary story of two Venetian merchants stealing the body of St. Mark away from Alexandria in the 9th century....

Episode 222 – Tintoretto’s “Miracle of the Slave” (Accademia Gallery, Venice)

Posted: April 19th, 2023

The Venetian painter Tintoretto exploded onto the art scene in his native city with this large canvas depicting St. Mark rescuing one of his devotees from a horrific death. With its dramatic proscenium characterized by strong foreshortening and dramatic spotlighting, as well as a surprising and dari...

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 220 – Michelangelo’s “Rondanini Pietà” (Sforza Castle Museum, Milan)

Posted: April 5th, 2023

Abandoned by Michelangelo just six days before he died in 1564, this is the great artist’s last sculpture – and perhaps his most personal. This podcast explores the history of this unusually frail work and how it reflects the final dramatic years of the divine Michelangelo....

Episode 219 – Michelangelo’s “Bandini/Florence Pietà” (Museo dell’Opera, Florence)

Posted: March 29th, 2023

At about 75 years of age, Michelangelo began carving his second “Pietà” statue. Michelangelo was clearly trying to up his game by carving a group of four figures from a single block of marble. But the most intriguing aspect of this statue is that the extensive visible damage was inflicted by Mi...

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 188 – Michelangelo’s Unfinished “Slaves” (Accademia Gallery, Florence)

Posted: August 24th, 2022

With the death of Pope Leo X in 1521, Michelangelo was forced to abandon his work on the New Sacristy and to return to the unfinished tomb of Pope Julius II. It was, in fact, for the tomb that Michelangelo began work on the so-called "Slaves" today in the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Italy. Often ...

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"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