On-Line/Live Event
FREE WEBINAR | “Big Business and the Renaissance” with Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
December 10, 2024
1 hour
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR BUNDLE
“Exclusive Webinars in May”
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero and special guests Dr. Fabrizio Ricciardelli, Dr. Marcello Simonetta and Dr. Dr. Peter Weller and Jordan Ledy
Dates & Times:
Thursday, May 4, 11, 18 & 25
2:00 – 3:00pm ET | 11:00am – 12:00pm PT |
7:00 – 8:00pm London
EXCLUSIVE WEBINARS | “Exclusive Webinars in May”
Each webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
Please note:
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “The Origin of a Family: The Medici in Florence”
Presented by Dr. Fabrizio Ricciardelli
The Medici dynasty is one of the most famous in history. The story of the family was inextricably bound up with Florence, the city of the Renaissance, and influenced its destiny from the time of Cosimo the Elder (1389-1464) up to the reign of Gian Gastone (1671-1737). It maintained a firm grasp of political and economic power while also fostering literature and the arts. This lecture tells the story of the rise of a family tracing its origins back to the Middle Ages and dwelling on its most famous exponents, by now emblematic figures in the collective imagination.
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Donatello and Siena: A Stranger in a Strange Land”
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
In 1427, Donatello was commissioned by the Opera of the Baptistry of Siena to demonstrate his skill in bronze relief sculpture for the city’s main baptismal font. Other panels for the same font were produced by the celebrated Florentine goldsmith Lorenzo Ghiberti and Siena’s own renowned sculptor Jacopo della Quercia. Ultimately, Donatello’s often-overlooked panel not only outshined the works of the other two sculptors, but it also clearly displays Donatello’s mastery over the rules of linear perspective and over all sculptural media.
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “The Beautiful and Damned – Portraits of the First Dukes and Duchesses of Florence“
Presented by Dr. Marcello Simonetta
This lecture will focus on the portraits of the first dukes and duchesses of Florence, namely Alessandro and Cosimo I de’ Medici, and their wives Marguerite of Austria and Eleonora de Toledo. Their tragic and splendid stories will be told through visual and written documents.
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Post-War Italian Cinema”
Presented by Dr. Peter Weller and Jordan Ledy
In the wake of the Second World War, a film movement emerged from the wreckage of fascist-partisan Italy that we now call Neorealism, although Realism might better encapsulate the films that were produced from 1943-1952. Utilizing real locations over studio sets and often authentic non-actors over trained professionals in addition to some of the most celebrated actors and directors of cinema history, these films sought existential meaning from the confused void of Italy’s post-war ethic and were the first to explore social narratives of self-search within an economic blitz of poverty and pulchritude. While Hollywood continued pushing post-war glitz and glamour, Italy’s liberation from fascist, male-driven narrative freed their cinema to depict the changing social reality of gender roles within their stories. In this course, legendary directors Fellini, Antonioni, Germi, De Sica, Wertmüller sail us further through Italy’s post-war struggles to not only survive but reevaluate the dynamic between men and women jolted by the fall of Fascism, and to ultimately find a national identity through cinema.
On May 25th, Dr. Peter Weller and Jordan Ledy will recap key scenes and themes from four essential post-war Italian films of post-war:
