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"

- Valoreev

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

- Treskovich

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

- Historywrocky

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Episodes

Cities Artists Theory Answers to Open Questions Interviews

Episode 312 – Bernini’s “Vision of Constantine”

Posted: January 8th, 2025

Originally commissioned in 1654 by Pope Innocent X to be a free-standing statue in the Basilica of St. Peter, Bernini’s “Vision of Constantine” was later incorporated into Bernini’s Scala Regia. The marble statue represents – in typical Bernini dramatic fashion – the miraculous vision of...

Episode 311 – Bernini’s Scala Regia

Posted: January 2nd, 2025

In 1663, Pope Alexander VII commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to restore and reinvent the official royal staircase – “Scala Regia” in Italian - leading up to the Apostolic Palace. The result was one of the world’s most majestic and breathtaking staircases....

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 308 – Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s “Chair of St. Peter”

Posted: December 11th, 2024

In 1647, Gian Lorenzo began work on a monumental reliquary for an ancient wooden chair (“Cathedra Petri”) thought to have belonged to St. Peter himself. The result was a spectacular ensemble of sculpture, gilded architecture, stained-glass and stucco that dominates the western apse of the grea...

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 303 – Bernini’s “Truth Unveiled by Time”

Posted: November 6th, 2024

Begun in 1645, one year after the death of his great patron Pope Urban VIII, the unfinished “Truth Unveiled by Time” is perhaps Bernini’s most personal statue. He was carving it for himself as a visual expression of vindication against the slander against him by his rivals for his earlier mish...

Episode 302 – Bernini’s Tomb of Pope Urban VIII

Posted: October 30th, 2024

Although commissioned in 1627, at the height of Bernini’s involvement at St. Peter’s, Bernini did not complete the tomb of Pope Urban VIII until 3 years after the pope’s death. Inspired by Michelangelo’s tombs in the New Sacristy in Florence, Italy, the tomb of Urban VIII was also the first ...

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 300 – Answers to Open Questions XXII

Posted: October 16th, 2024

Celebrating my 300th episode by answering your questions! From why we call him Titian in English instead of Tiziano to the influence of Donatello on Masaccio to why I dedicated so many podcasts to Caravaggio to the “Venus of the Beautiful Buttocks” to St. Peter’s feet, and much, much more –...

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 297 – Bernini’s “St. Bibiana”

Posted: September 25th, 2024

In 1624, Pope Urban VIII commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to carve a statue of the early Christian saint, virgin, and martyr St. Bibiana. The result is one of Bernini’s most overlooked but by no means less beautiful statues....

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 295 – Bernini’s “St. Longinus”

Posted: September 11th, 2024

In 1627, Bernini became the head architect of St. Peter’s Basilica. His first project was to oversee the decoration of the great crossing piers of the church. Four different sculptors – including Bernini – each produced a large-scale sculpture of a saint. But it was Bernini’s 4m tall marble ...

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 292 – Bernini’s “David”

Posted: August 21st, 2024

Gian Lorenzo Bernini carved his statue of “David” in 1623 in only 7 months, interrupting his work working on the “Apollo and Daphne” to do so. His “David” shows the young shepherd boy in the act of casting the stone with an assortment of symbols surrounding him. Perhaps the most striki...

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 289 – Bernini’s “Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius”

Posted: July 31st, 2024

Carved when Bernini was only 20 years old for the powerful cardinal-nephew Scipione Borghese, the “Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius” demonstrated the extraordinary talent of the sculptor to the world. Mesmerizing special effects transform stone into stretching, malleable flesh, and textures that yo...

Episode 288 – The Life of Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Posted: July 24th, 2024

Born in Naples in 1598, the sculptor, painter and architect, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, showed signs of genius from a very early age. He produced some of history’s greatest sculptures, such as the “Apollo and Daphne” and the “Pluto and Persephone.” But he also blurred the lines between sculptur...

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 286 – Answers to Open Question XXI

Posted: July 10th, 2024

From Caravaggio’s courtesan models to the “Michelangelo” kitchen drawing going up for sale for €8M, to the restoration of Masaccio’s “Holy Trinity” and Brancacci Chapel frescoes, to my recommendations for art historical journals, to moving massive canvas paintings and much, much more �...

Episode 285 – The Death of Caravaggio

Posted: July 3rd, 2024

In the summer of 1610, allegedly after obtaining a papal pardon for his crime of murder, Caravaggio headed back to Rome. But he would never make it to Rome nor enjoy his reacquired freedom. Instead, he would die under rather mysterious circumstances in southern Tuscany. This podcast explores the m...

Episode 284 – Caravaggio’s “Martyrdom of St. Ursula”

Posted: June 26th, 2024

Located in the Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano in Naples, Caravaggio’s “Martyrdom of St. Ursula” is considered the great artist’s last painting. Depicting the moment when St. Ursula is shot at close range by an arrow and including a self-portrait of the artist in the background, the painting mark...

Episode 283 – Caravaggio’s “Denial of St. Peter”

Posted: June 19th, 2024

In the fall of 1609, shortly after returning to Naples in hopes of receiving a papal pardon, Caravaggio was ambushed by four men who severely disfigured his face. It was a few months later that Caravaggio painted the “Denial of St. Peter,” which was one of his last two paintings and that perhaps...

Episode 282 – Caravaggio’s “Adoration of the Shepherds”

Posted: June 12th, 2024

Painted for the Capuchin fathers at the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Messina, Sicily, in 1609, Caravaggio’s “Adoration of the Shepherds” is a moving spiritual scene within an impoverished and dilapidated setting....

Episode 281 – Caravaggio’s “The Raising of Lazarus”

Posted: June 5th, 2024

After spending some time in Siracusa, Sicily, Caravaggio – still on the run from the Knights of Malta - headed north to the town of Messina. There he painted another of his hauntingly beautiful late works, which, in this case, depicts Christ bringing Lazarus back from the dead. The disturbingly re...

Episode 280 – Caravaggio’s “Burial of St. Lucy”

Posted: May 29th, 2024

After his daring escape from the island of Malta, Caravaggio went to Siracusa, Siscily. There he painted one of his most haunting works – the “Burial of St. Lucy.” An oppressive yellowish light illuminates the macabre burial of the early Christian martyr whose head almost looks detached from i...

Episode 279 – Caravaggio: Back to Black

Posted: May 22nd, 2024

After having been invested into the Knights of Malta and producing two of his most beautiful paintings while he was on the island, Caravaggio finally seemed to have cleaned up his act. But, on the night of August 28, 1608, Caravaggio was involved in a near fatal assault on a superior officer and imp...

Episode 278 – Caravaggio’s “The Beheading of St. John the Baptist”

Posted: May 15th, 2024

While in Malta in 1608, Caravaggio painted one of his most sensational paintings – “The Beheading of St. John the Baptist.” Measuring 12ft. (3.7n) x 17ft. (5.2m), the massive oil on canvas work depicts the moment after the executioner had used his sword to decapitate the Baptist. We now see hi...

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 ...

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"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.

"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

"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