On-Line/Live Event
FREE WEBINAR | “Superstar Saints of the Italian Renaissance” with Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
March 11, 2025
1 hour
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR BUNDLE
“Exclusive Webinars in December”
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero and special guests Dr. Eric Nicholson, Dr. Meghan Callahan and Dr. Kristin Stasiowski
Dates & Times:
Thursday, December 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29
2:00 – 3:00pm ET | 11:00am – 12:00pm PT |
7:00 – 8:00pm London
EXCLUSIVE WEBINARS | “Exclusive Webinars in December”
Each webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
Please note:
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Renaissance Painting in Perspective: Masaccio’s Holy Trinity”
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
Although not as famous as many other Renaissance paintings, the Holy Trinity by Masaccio might just be the most important painting in Florence, and is one of the most important of all time. The reason is that it was the first painting to ever apply a technology known as linear or single-point perspective. Suddenly, painting no longer just looked three-dimensional, it was three-dimensional!!!
Join Dr. Rocky for this exclusive webinar where he will explore the mathematical principles behind the great painting, as well as how, for the first time, science and theology synergized in Renaissance art.
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “A Thin Line Between Tragedy and Comedy: Shakespeare Goes Italian (Again)”
Presented by Dr. Eric Nicholson
Just as there can be a thin line between love and hate, so too can several of Shakespeare’s best-known plays dance on the border between comedy and tragedy, thanks to the lively contrasts and dynamic energies of their Italian style. The avant-garde Italian drama of Shakespeare’s time also enabled him to experiment with a third genre, called “tragicomedy,” during the final years of his exceptionally successful career. In this special webinar, also a preview of my three-part seminar on “Shakespearean Tragedy and Tragicomedy, Italian Style” to be offered in January, I will focus on how Shakespeare’s theater can be called a “Made in Italy” one for a variety of reasons that shape contemporary performing arts, and still matter urgently today.
Being set in “fair Verona,” it’s only natural that Romeo and Juliet has Italianate qualities, but it may come as a surprise that several Italian theatrical versions of the story conclude with a happy ending and the accepted marriage of the title characters, rather than their double suicide. My webinar will make use of improvisation, custom-made masks and live performance samples—with a special guest appearance—to explain Shakespeare’s comic/tragic transformations of the dynamic “commedia dell’arte,” and his engagement with the key innovation of early modern European professional theater: the emergence of the actress-diva. These same developments are even more evident in Antony and Cleopatra, where the Egyptian queen has all the gifts of a versatile performer, and is a true “Diva,” the Italian word for “divine woman”: today’s theatrical-operatic term was already being used to praise the extraordinarily talented and charismatic female stars of the late Renaissance Italian stage. Shakespeare’s Cleopatra self-consciously puts the divine in “diva,” by impersonating the goddess Isis, and steering the play towards an ending more tragicomic than fully tragic. Finally, the third featured play of the webinar, The Tempest, is a full-blown “marine pastoral tragicomedy,” a masterpiece of theatrical mash-up artistry with Italian characters, routines, and an envisioned sequel in Naples and Milan. As Duke Prospero observes, we are such stuff as dreams are made on, but he also could remind us that his play is a delicious, multi-flavored banquet made from a mix of classic Italian recipes.
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Roman Britain”
Presented by Dr. Meghan Callahan
with Additional Commentary by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
When the Romans invaded Britain in 55 and again in 54 BC, Caesar and his men found a land of unfriendly Britons and unwelcoming weather. His incursions led to war, exchange, and trade. By 43 AD Claudius received the surrender of British tribes, and large areas of the country would become part of the Roman Empire.
This exclusive webinar will examine the reasons for the Roman interest in this land of mists, and explore the cultural changes that took place in Britain under Roman occupation.
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “A Revamped Renaissance Christmas”
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
This new lecture will retell “the greatest story ever told” through the creative genius of the great Renaissance masters. Come get into the holiday spirit with artists such as Duccio, Raphael, Titian, Giorgione, Tintoretto and Caravaggio and their moving visual interpretations of the story that define the Christmas season.
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Casanova’s Lusty Literary Life”
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
Synonymous with scandal and intrigue, the figure of Giacomo Casanova has enthralled, mystified, and positively tickled the imagination of curious lovers of Venice for centuries. In this seminar, participants will delve deeper into the complex and often contradictory elements of Casanova’s fascinating personality to understand more fully his radical literary genius and cultural significance. Using his autobiography as a guide and Venice as his stage, we will trace the contours of his intellectual, moral, and spiritual foundation in order to decipher the myth and comprehend the man. Join Dr. Kristin Stasiowski for an in-depth look at this captivating, essential figure of Italian history!
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