Podcast - Rocky Ruggiero

REBUILDING THE RENAISSANCE PODCAST

Available on your favorite platform

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

iTunes

Android

Google

Stitcher

Spotify

RSS

iHeart Radio

Episodes

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 ...

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...

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...

Episode 163 – Venice – Titian’s “Assumption” and “Pesaro Altarpiece” in the church of the Frari

Posted: March 2nd, 2022

Titian's two great altarpieces in the great Franciscan basilica of Venice known as the "Frari" marked a turning point in the artist's career. These were his first two public commissions and allowed all of Venice to appreciate the extraordinary talent of a young artist who was still only in his twent...

Episode 162 – Titian’s “Allegory of Sacred and Profane Love”

Posted: February 23rd, 2022

This episode examines one of the milestone masterpieces of Renaissance painting. Baffling art historians for centuries as regards its iconography, the early work by Titian is one of the treasures of the Borghese Gallery. ...

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...