REBUILDING THE RENAISSANCE PODCAST
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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.
Episodes
Episode 78 – Florence: Brunelleschi’s Dome – Part I
Episode Info:
This episode examines the history leading up to the construction of Brunelleschi's great cupola. From the structural design of the tribunes, to the decision to add a drum, to the dilemma of wooden centering, what happened before Brunelleschi began building determined much of what he wo...
Episode 77: Answers to Open Questions – Part IV
Episode Info:
From Donatello's non-existent competition panel, to my favorite work of art by Michelangelo, to laser beams in art, this episode answers the very questions that you asked me about the great art of the Italian Renaissance....
Episode 76 – Florence: The Brancacci Chapel – Part II
Episode Info:
This episode is the second part of a two-part episode about the Brancacci Chapel in Florence, Italy. It examines the paintings inside of the Brancacci Chapel and discusses the authorship of each, and those attributes that made Masaccio one of the most revolutionary painters in history....
Episode 75 – Florence: The Brancacci Chapel – Part I
Episode Info:
This episode explores the history and several key paintings of the revolutionary Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria Del Carmine in Florence, Italy. There is no better place in the world in which to illustrate the evolution of late Gothic to Early Renaissance than this chapel...
Episode 74 – An Interview with Ross King – Part II
Episode Info:
In part 2 of my conversation with best-selling author Ross King, we discuss one of his later works entitled Leonardo and the Last Supper, as well as his upcoming publication The Bookseller of Florence, about famous Renaissance book merchant Vespasiano da Bisticci....
Episode 73 – An Interview with Ross King – Part 1
Episode Info:
This episode is the first of a two-part interview with best-selling author Ross King, author of Brunelleschi's Dome, Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling and other works addressing Renaissance subject matter....
Episode 72 – Florence: Brunelleschi and the Basilica of San Lorenzo
Episode Info:
This episode examines the construction history and architecture of the first Renaissance-style church ever built - the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy - which was designed by the great Filippo Brunelleschi. From modular systems, to the use of classical architectural vocabula...
Episode 71 – Theory – Florence: Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy
Episode Info:
This episode examines the first Renaissance-style interior space ever built, which is known as the "Old Sacristy" in San Lorenzo in Florence. Designed by the great Filippo Brunelleschi, the revolutionary space also served as the funerary chapel of the patriarch of the Medici family - G...
Episode 69 – 360° With Dr. Peter Weller – Part II
Episode Info:
This episode is the second part of my interview with celebrated Hollywood actor Dr. Peter Weller, where we discuss the subject of his doctorate, Italian food, and his acting career. Find out how the Renaissance man still finds time for acting and directing!...
Episode 68 – 360° With Dr. Peter Weller – Part I
Episode Info:
This episode is the first of a two-part interview with the famous actor Peter Weller, who has starred in over 70 films and television programs, but who also holds a doctorate in Renaissance art history. Find out how Robocop became a veritable Renaissance man....
Episode 67 – Florence: Brunelleschi and the Hospital of the Innocents
Episode Info:
This episode examines the early part of Brunelleschi's career and his first major architectural project. His revival of a Classical architectural vocabulary and logic revolutionized architecture in the late medieval European world, and would establish this new style as the foundation f...
Episode 65 – Venice: The Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge
Episode Info:
This episode explores the history and architecture of Venice's most important thoroughfare and its surrounding churches and palaces, as well as one of the world's most celebrated bridges - the Rialto - that has spanned the Grand Canal for nearly the last 1,000 years....
Episode 64 – Venice: Basilica of St. Mark and Doge’s Palace
Episode Info:
This episode examines the history, architecture and importance of Italy's most unique church. An example of Italo-Byzantine architecture, St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, was built primarily to house the relics of the evangelist and to serve as the private chapel of the Doge. The...
Episode 63: Answers to Open Questions – Part III
Episode Info:
This episode answers our third round of general questions. From dinner with historical personages, to my favorite restaurants and dishes in Italy, to saving Venice and its art, all the way down to how much "Leonardo" there is in the "Salvator Mundi" painting, hear me voice your questio...
Episode 62 – Florence: Donatello’s St. George (Bargello)
Episode Info:
This episode examines Donatello's sculptural representation of the St. George subject for the Sword and Armor Guild at the church of Orsanmichele, although both sculpture and niche are in the Bargello Museum today. Not only was this first sculpture of the Renaissance to depict a subjec...
Episode 61: Florence – Donatello’s Marble “David” (Bargello)
Episode Info:
This episode examines Donatello's seminal heroic interpretation of the "David" subject in sculpture. Removed from its original context at the Duomo and inserted into a civic setting at the Palazzo Vecchio, the statue became the symbol of divine protection for the Florentine Republic....
Episode 60: Florence – Cathedral Facade Sculptures
Episode Info:
This episode examines the statues that were produced by the likes of Arnolfo Di Cambio, Nanni Di Banco and Donatello and adorned the original facade of Florence cathedral. These extraordinary statues reflect the transition from the International Gothic to the Early Renaissance style....
Episode 59 – Venice: La Serenissma – The History of the Republic
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
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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
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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)
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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 55: Answers to Open Questions – Part II
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Posted: February 5th, 2020
Episode Info:
This episode will answer many of the questions proposed by my listeners. From how the frescoes on the dome of Florence cathedral were executed, to how the artist Caravaggio died, to the Kenneth Clark vs. John Berger controversy - and much more - I respond directly to your very own ques...
Episode 54: Florence: Santa Maria Novella – Strozzi Chapel
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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 53: Saints and Symbols
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Posted: January 22nd, 2020
Episode Info:
This episode examines the sometimes violent, often bizarre, and always fascinating representations of saints and martyrs in Italian medieval and Renaissance art. From St. Sebastian's arrows to St. Lucy's eyeballs to St. Lawrence's barbecue grill, we shall discuss saint imagery and its ...
Episode 52 – Siena: Cathedral Pulpit by Nicola Pisano
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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
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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 50 – 50th Episode Celebration!
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Posted: January 1st, 2020
Episode Info:
This milestone episode celebrates the production of my 50th episode by telling you more about who I am, what I do, why I do it and I how I got there from both a personal and professional perspective....
Episode 49 – A Renaissance Christmas
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Posted: December 25th, 2019
Episode Info:
This holiday episode explores the history and traditions of the world's most popular holiday - Christmas! From St. Nick to Jesus' infancy to candy canes, we discuss how both pagan and Christian traditions magically coalesced into the holiday that we celebrate today....
