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"

- Historywrocky

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

- Treskovich

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Episodes

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Episode 201 – Palazzo Te in Mantua – Part III (The Room of Psyche)

Posted: November 23rd, 2022

The Room of Psyche in the Palazzo Te in Mantua, Italy, is one of the most erotic pictorial cycles of the Renaissance. From the 9 ceiling paintings that depict the story of Cupid and Psyche, to the lunettes depicting the labors of Psyche, to the wall paintings depicting examples of divine and bestial...

Episode 200 – 200th Episode Celebration!

Posted: November 16th, 2022

This milestone celebrates the production of the 200th episode of the Rebuilding the Renaissance podcast. Looking back at the approximately two millennia that we have covered thus far, the various special guests who have appeared in the series, and the particularly important specific episodes, this e...

Episode 199 – The Palazzo Te in Mantua Part II

Posted: November 9th, 2022

The pictorial decoration inside of the Palazzo Te in Mantua, Italy, is some of the most inventive and delightful imagery of the Italian Renaissance. From the Room of Ovid, with representations of episodes from the "Metamorphoses," to the Room of the Imprese, with its many coat of arms and playful su...

Episode 198 – The Palazzo Te in Mantua

Posted: November 2nd, 2022

The Palazzo Te (1526-1535) was both designed and decorated by the great Mannerist artist and pupil of Raphael, Giulio Romano. Built for the Marquis-turned-Duke of Mantua, Federico II Gonzaga, every detail of the building was intended to delight the visitor. This episode explores the history and ar...

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 ...

Episode 196 – Correggio’s Dome Frescoes in Parma Cathedral

Posted: October 19th, 2022

Correggio’s breath-taking dome fresco in the dome of Parma cathedral depicts the Assumption of the Virgin (1526). Gigantic painted figures of the apostles stand below an explosion of heavenly clouds and hundreds of angels that create a celestial architecture upon which the Virgin Mary is assum...

Episode 195 – Correggio’s Paintings in the National Gallery of Parma

Posted: October 12th, 2022

Parma's National Gallery of Painting houses one of Italy's most important collections of medieval and Renaissance paintings. Amongst its treasures are several altarpieces by the great Correggio. This episode examines these extraordinary paintings and their expressive emotional power, which has inspi...

Episode 194 – Correggio’s Dome Fresco in San Giovanni Evangelista in Parma

Posted: October 5th, 2022

After decorating the apartment of a Benedictine abbess, Correggio was called by the nearby Benedictine monks of Parma to decorate their church of San Giovanni Evangelista. The most spectacular of the paintings is the illusionist dome fresco depicting Jesus and the Apostles in dramatic di sotto in s�...

Episode 193 – Correggio’s “Camera di San Paolo” in Parma

Posted: September 28th, 2022

The Camera di San Paolo (1519) was Correggio’s first major commission in Parma. In the private quarters of a Benedictine abbess named Giovanna Piacenza, he executed a decorative fresco program filled with mythological and festive motifs. The particularly beautiful illusionistic ceiling decoration ...

Episode 192 – Answers to Open Questions XIII

Posted: September 21st, 2022

From medieval graffiti, Raphael suffering medical malpractice, Siena's many contrade, the damaged part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the four biblical rivers as symbols of the Evangelists, anatomical dissection in the ancient world - and much, much more - this episode answers the very questions tha...

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 189 – Theory – What Is Mannerism?

Posted: August 31st, 2022

The art produced in Italy in the first half of the 16th century seemed to intentionally reject the principles of Renaissance art. Artists such as Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino, Giulio Romano, Parmigianino, and Bronzino introduced their own particular styles to their works, creating what later art histo...

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 ...

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 184 – Michelangelo’s Facade Model for San Lorenzo (Casa Buonarroti Museum)

Posted: July 27th, 2022

In 1515, Michelangelo undertook his first architectural commission for the facade of the Medici church of San Lorenzo in Florence. For the project, he produced a large wooden model of the facade, today located in the Casa Buonarroti Museum in Florence, Italy. This episode examines the history around...

Episode 183 – Leonardo da Vinci’s Late and Controversial Works

Posted: July 20th, 2022

Although Leonardo’s Virgin, Child and St. Anne may have been commissioned as early as 1503, it was still in the artist’s studio in 1517 - two years before the artist died. The painting of St. John the Baptist is instead considered the master’s last known painting. This episode not only exa...

Episode 182 – Answers to Open Questions XIII

Posted: July 13th, 2022

From the evolution of Romanesque to Renaissance architecture, to urban tabernacles in Florence, to the identity of the apostles in Leonardo's "Last Supper," to Michelangelo's boxer nose, to Lorenzo Ghiberti potentially being insane - and much, much more - this episode answers the very questions that...

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 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 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 172 – Answers to Open Questions XII

Posted: May 4th, 2022

From unfinished church facades, to postponed Palios, to Renaissance giraffes, to Mona Lisa's smile, to the building behind the Trevi Fountain - and much, much more - this episode answers the very questions that you asked me about the great art, artists and history of the Italian Renaissance....

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 ...

The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Posted: April 22nd, 2022

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. is one of the most visited museums in the world, welcoming nearly 5,232,000 guests each year (though the numbers may differ now in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions). Located on Washington D.C.’s National Mall, between 3rd and 9th streets on Cons...

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...

The Passion Plays Tradition in Europe

Posted: April 8th, 2022

by Elena Miceli 1633 Germany doesn’t seem like it would be a relatable year to someone living in 2022, but if you were told the only way to save your village from plague was to act out the Passion of Christ, both people from respective years would respond with a resounding “yes!” This i...

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 ...

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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

"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

"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.