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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
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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 ...
Michelangelo’s Three Pietàs
  • Posted: March 18th, 2022
by Elena Miceli Normally when discussing an artist’s “development,” one is referring to the development of style and technique, not that of religion. A religious journey is something that is deeply personal and therefore would never be as public as a famous masterpiece. However, Michela...
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...
The Abbey of San Galgano
  • Posted: March 11th, 2022
Just 45km south of Siena, Italy lay the haunting remains of a 13th-century Cistercian Monastery – the Abbey of San Galgano, built in honor of the legendary Tuscan saint Galgano Guidotti. Located in a field between the towns of Chiusdino and Monticiano, the abbey’s skeletal remains are an evocati...
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...
The Northern Renaissance: An Instagrammer’s Nightmare
  • Posted: March 4th, 2022
by Elena Miceli   We’re all familiar with the one major unspoken rule of Instagram; brandish only the mirage of your aesthetic, polished life. Of course, this comes with the constant pressure to show only the meticulously manicured side of living. A photo of you in sweats without ma...
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...
The Contrade of Siena
  • Posted: February 4th, 2022
The Palio di Siena – an electrifying bareback horse race that takes place twice a year in the city of Siena, Italy – only lasts approximately 90 seconds. However, for the Sienese – and for their contrade – the Palio is more than just a race. It’s a way of life.   There’s a...
Venice, The World’s Most Unique City
  • Posted: January 28th, 2022
  Venice is a city like no other. There are no streets, no cars: the only way to get around is by boat or vaporetto (water taxi) floating down a labyrinth of narrow canals that connect to Venice’s main thoroughfare, the aptly named Grand Canal. Called “The Floating City” or “The Quee...
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...
The Mystical Nature of La Verna, Tuscany
  • Posted: January 21st, 2022
  There is a palpable spiritual energy to remote La Verna, an isolated mountain hidden away in the Tuscan Apennines, and no wonder: it was here that St. Francis of Assisi allegedly received the stigmata in the summer of 1224. Part of the Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi and covered ...
Episode 157 – Answers to Open Questions XI
  • Posted: January 19th, 2022
From Botticelli and the Bonfires of the Vanities, to the extraordinary collection of artists' portraits and self-portraits in the Uffizi Gallleries, to the use of AI in art authentication, to Botticelli's $92M "Portrait of a Young Man with a Medal," to the Virgin Mary's thoughts in Michelangelo's P...
Montefioralle: The Tiny Tuscan Town That Will Capture Your Heart
  • Posted: January 14th, 2022
  Considered one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, Montefioralle (just east of Greve in Chianti) offers the best of Tuscan wines, medieval charm, and rural beauty.     Surrounded by lush vineyards, cypress trees and olive groves, Montefioralle sits at the heart ...
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 ...
Fiesole: A Florentine Hilltop Treasure
  • Posted: January 7th, 2022
  The hilltop town of Fiesole – rising 295 meters above the city of Florence – has ensnared the imaginations of writers and poets since Renaissance times. Filled with relatively undiscovered treasures, including Etruscan ruins, an ancient Roman amphitheater, beautiful churches, Renaissan...
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...
La Befana – Italy’s Christmas Witch
  • Posted: January 4th, 2022
  According to Italian legend, on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5th), a little witch known as La Befana delivers presents and goodies to all the good children throughout Italy. She swoops down chimneys on her broomstick, and if the children have been well-behaved, she leaves present...
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...
Il Giorno di Santo Stefano
  • Posted: December 23rd, 2021
  Il Giorno di Santo Stefano In Italy, St. Stephen’s Day (il Giorno di Santo Stefano) is a national public holiday. Celebrated on December 26, the day after Christmas, Italians honor the saint – the very first martyr ever recorded in Christian theology – with joyous celebrations and tim...
Episode 153 – Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
  • Posted: December 22nd, 2021
When Leonardo began painting the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of the wealthy cloth merchant Francesco del Giocondo, in 1503, little did he know just how much employment he would generate for future art historians. From theories concerning her enigmatic smile, to the painting being a self-portra...
Madonnelle in Italy (Street Shrines)
  • Posted: December 17th, 2021
  Ancient Origins Italian Madonnelle - or street shrines - can trace their origins as far back as ancient Rome. The tradition began with ancient lares (paintings or statues of domestic Roman deities) placed at crossroads (or compita) to guard passersby. Roman legend held that demons from ...
Episode 152 – The Divine Michelangelo Part VII – The David (Part III)
  • Posted: December 15th, 2021
This episode is the third and final part of a three-part podcast on the world's most celebrated statue. From the lack of Goliath's head, to the sling and hard-to-see stone in David's hands, to the expressive body language of the statue, this podcast will examine the unique iconography and local civi...
Christmas in Italy!
  • Posted: December 10th, 2021
Italy is at its most magical during the Christmas season. From the twinkling lights to the Christmas markets to roasted chestnuts and other seasonal delights, there is no better place to be than Italy during the holiday season! How Long the Celebrations Last In Italy, Christmas spirit abou...
Episode 151 – The Divine Michelangelo Part VI – The David (Part II)
  • Posted: December 8th, 2021
This episode is the second of a three-part podcast on the world's most celebrated statue. From the original contract drawn up in 1463 - 12 years before Michelangelo was even born! - to Michelangelo's sculptural inheritance and eventual triumphant completion of the statue, to the city-wide commission...
Episode 150 – The Divine Michelangelo Part V – The David (Part 1)
  • Posted: December 1st, 2021
This episode is the first of a three-part podcast on the world's most celebrated statue. From its original location in Piazza della Signoria, to its move in the 19th century to a newly built museum, to the centuries of erosion and damage that the sculpture has suffered, this podcast examines the pro...
Episode 149 – The Divine Michelangelo Part IV – The Pietà
  • Posted: November 24th, 2021
The Pietà was Michelangelo’s first “number one hit.” At the ripe old age of 23, he produced one of the greatest statues of all time. The innocence, sensitivity, and technical virtuosity of this particular early work would never be achieved again in Michelangelo’s entire 72-year career. ...
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 147 – Answers to Open Questions – Part X
  • Posted: November 10th, 2021
From contemporary theories about Brunelleschi's dome, to Ghirlandaio's frescoes in Santa Trinita, to the abandoned design of semi-circular chapels on the outside of Santo Spirito, to Bernini's extraordinary early sculpture of Aeneas, this episode answers the very questions that you ask me about the ...
Episode 145 – The Divine Michelangelo – Part I
  • Posted: October 27th, 2021
Michelangelo Buonarroti’s artistic career spanned more than seven decades, during which time he produced some of the most extraordinary works of art in human history. This episode will examine the early years of the artist from his birth through his apprenticeship to his earliest teachers and his ...
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