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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
Cities Artists Theory Answers to Open Questions Interviews
Florence Other Italian Cities Rome Venice
Episode 59 – Venice: La Serenissma – The History of the Republic
  • Posted: March 4th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode explores the history of the world's most unique city and the organization of the longest lasting republic of all time. From the original refugees who settled on the islands in the ancient world, to the theft of the body of St. Mark, to the formation of a "perfect governmen...
Episode 58 – Florence: Uffizi Gallery: International Gothic Style Paintings
  • Posted: February 26th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode explores the paintings in the Uffizi Gallery collection that best embody the principles of that style that marks the transition between the Gothic and Renaissance worlds, known as the "International Gothic Style." This style combines the elegance and elaborateness of Goth...
Episode 57: Florence – North Doors of Florence Baptistry
  • Posted: February 19th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the "North Doors" of Florence Baptistry that were produced by Lorenzo Ghiberti between 1403-1423 as a result of the famous competition of 1401 won by the same artist. The same International Gothic Style attributes that characterize Ghiberti's earlier competition p...
Episode 56: Florence – Competition Panels (Bargello)
  • Posted: February 12th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the event that sparked the Renaissance - the famous competition between Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi in 1401 for the contract for a set of bronze doors of Florence Baptistry. These two Renaissance giants produced bronze relief panels depicting the Old...
Episode 54: Florence: Santa Maria Novella – Strozzi Chapel
  • Posted: January 29th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the beautiful pictorial decorations in the 14th-century Strozzi Chapel in Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy by the brothers Andrea (better known as "Orcagna") and Nardo di Cione. Almost perfectly preserved after eight centuries, the chapel also offers the ext...
Episode 52 – Siena: Cathedral Pulpit by Nicola Pisano
  • Posted: January 15th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines Nicola Pisano's great sculptural pulpit in the cathedral in Siena, Italy. Carved five years after his pulpit in Pisa Baptistry, this work is much more Gothic in style, reflecting its highly decorative architectural surroundings. Yet, Pisano's work is still full of...
Episode 51: Florence – Uffizi Gallery – Medieval Paintings
  • Posted: January 8th, 2020
Episode Info: This episode examines the medieval paintings in the extraordinary collection of paintings in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Works by Giotto, Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti exemplify the move towards naturalism in this proto-Renaissance moment....
Episode 48: Florence – San Miniato al Monte
  • Posted: December 18th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores the history and examines the architecture of one of the most unique churches of medieval Europe. Consecrated in 1018 CE, the thousand-year-old Romanesque church of San Miniato in Florence, Italy houses an eclectic mix of artistic styles inside of a distinctly myst...
Episode 47: Pisa – Baptistry Pulpit by Nicola Pisano
  • Posted: December 11th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines one of the most extraordinary sculptures of the Middle Ages. Nicola Pisano revolutionized sculpture in the 13th century by introducing drama, psychology, classical motifs, anatomy and movement. Although few works exist by the great sculptor, he would inspire later...
Episode 46: Pisa – The Leaning Tower of Pisa
  • Posted: December 4th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores the great Romanesque architectural monuments of the Tuscan city of Pisa. From its majestic marble cathedral, to its elegant circular baptistry, to what I like to call the greatest architectural disaster since Babylon – the leaning tower, Pisa is home to some of ...
Episode 45: Florence – The Baptistry Part II – Mosaics
  • Posted: December 3rd, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will examine the breathtaking mosaics that decorate the ceiling of Florence Baptistry. Epic in scale and subject matter, and excruciatingly meticulous in execution, the mosaics represent one of the greatest works of art of medieval Europe and may have inspired both Dante a...
Episode 44: Florence – The Baptistry – Part I
  • Posted: November 20th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores the history and architecture of what is, in local tradition, the most important monument in Florence, Italy. Nearly a millennium old, the Romanesque building has always been the heart of Florentine society and tradition....
Episode 40 – Florence: Statues at Orsanmichele
  • Posted: October 23rd, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines the extraordinary collection of statues on the outside of the church of Orsanmichele in Florence, Italy. Produced by some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, such as Donatello, Ghiberti and Verrocchio, each statue reflects the changing artistic styles of t...
Episode 39 – Florence: Orsanmichele
  • Posted: October 16th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode recounts the history behind the medieval–grain–market–turned–church of Orsanmichele in Florence, Italy. The building has always reflected the bustling commercial character of the city, first as a marketplace for grain and then as its official guild church....
Episode 38 – Florence: Ponte Vecchio and the Vasari Corridor
  • Posted: October 9th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores the history and evolution of one of the world's most famous bridges – the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy. From ancient Roman times through to today, the bridge has served as a means of passage between the banks of the Arno river, as well a thriving commercial ...
Episode 37 – Florence: Santa Maria Novella – The Spanish Chapel – Part II
  • Posted: October 2nd, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines the beautiful fresco decoration inside of the Spanish Chapel in the convent of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy. These paintings are not only prime examples of art produced in the wake of the Black Death, but they also testify to how the Dominicans effective...
Episode 36: Florence: Santa Maria Novella – The Spanish Chapel – Part I
  • Posted: September 25th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines the history and patronage of one of the great medieval churches of Florence: Santa Maria Novella. The seat of the Dominican Order in Florence, the rather severe style of the art in this church reflects the orthodox philosophy of this particular religious order. Pe...
Episode 35: San Gimignano: Black Death Paintings in the Collegiata
  • Posted: September 18th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode examines one of the most sinister and violent fresco cycles of the Middle Ages in the cathedral or "Collegiata" of the Tuscan town of San Gimignano. Attributed to a mysterious artist named Barna Da Siena, the frescoes are often used as an example of a "post-Black Death sty...
Episode 29: Padua – The Scrovegni Chapel Part 1: History
  • Posted: August 7th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will address the history of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy from its construction, to its patronage, to its decoration by the great painter Giotto. We will also discuss the modern system of conservation employed at the chapel in order to conserve the recently-restored...
Episode 28: Florence – Florence Cathedral
  • Posted: July 31st, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will examine the architecture and explore the epic construction history of one of the largest and most beautiful churches in the world....
Episode 27: Siena – Palio
  • Posted: July 24th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will explore the thrilling horserace known as the Palio that takes place in the central medieval square of Siena twice a year. Winning the race is the most important objective of every Sienese person, and we shall examine just how far the Sienese will go in order to obtain...
Episode 26: Siena – The Allegory of Good and Bad Government
  • Posted: July 17th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will examine one of the most timeless and politically enlightening works of art of all time - Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Allegory of Good and Bad Government - which clearly reveals that the governing principles of an effective democracy transcend time!...
Episode 24: Siena – The Palazzo Pubblico and Piazza del Campo
  • Posted: July 5th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will analyze the history and architecture of the medieval town hall of Siena known as the Palazzo Pubblico, which was one of the seminal civic structures in Europe. We shall also examine what has been described as the most beautiful urban space in all of Italy - the Piazza...
Episode 22: Siena – Siena Cathedral
  • Posted: June 19th, 2019
Episode Info: This podcast will recount the extraordinary construction history and examine the striking architecture of one of the world's most beautiful churches - the cathedral of Siena....
Episode 21: Siena – The Foundation Myth
  • Posted: June 12th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode recounts the foundation myth of the great Tuscan city of Siena and how 14th-century Sienese government officials claimed to have discovered a document that traced Siena's ancestry all the way back to Ancient Rome - but not to Rome's great founder Romulus, but instead to hi...
episode 18
Episode 18: Florence – Giotto’s Frescoes in Santa Croce
  • Posted: May 22nd, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will analyze Giotto's frescoes of "The Life of St. Francis" in the Bardi Chapel in Santa Croce. Giotto's introduction of  naturalism, psychology, movement, emotion, and drama into his paintings was a groundbreaking innovation for medieval painting....
Episode 17: Florence – Celebrity Tombs in Santa Croce
  • Posted: May 15th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores and examines what is arguably the world's most impressive collection of celebrity tombs that is housed in the great Franciscan basilica, including the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli....
Episode 16: Florence – The Basilica of Santa Croce
  • Posted: May 8th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode explores the history and architecture of this great church in Florence, Italy and how the social and economic forces of medieval Florence contributed to making it the largest Franciscan church in the world....
Episode 12: Florence – Speaking Statues in Piazza della Signoria
  • Posted: April 11th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will examine the extraordinary collection of sculptures in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. From Donatello's "Judith and Holofernes' to Michelangelo's "David" to Cellini's "Perseus and Medusa", each sculpture represents a chapter in the extraordinary story tha...
Episode 11: Florence – Palazzo Vecchio
  • Posted: April 5th, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will analyze the architecture of the building that was the seat of political power in medieval Florence - the Palazzo Vecchio - and the historical circumstances that led to its construction....
Episode 10: Florence – Out of Darkness
  • Posted: March 22nd, 2019
Episode Info: This episode will trace the historical evolution of Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire through Charlemagne and the creation of the Holy Roman Empire and finally to the rise of medieval city-states in Italy with particular emphasis given to the role of Florence....
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