On-Line/Live Event
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR & LIVE VIRTUAL TOUR BUNDLE
“May All-Inclusive Bundle”
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero and special guests Bill Wallace, Dr. Gary Radke, Quentin Hardy, and Eric Nicholson
Dates & Times:
Exclusive Webinars:
May 6, May 13, May 20, May 27
11:00 am – 12:00 pm ET (8:00 – 9:00 am PT)
Live Virtual Events:
May 1: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm ET (8:00 – 9:00 am PT)
May 2, May 28: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm ET (8:30 – 9:30 am PT)
May 8: 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET (11:00 am – 12:00 pm PT)
May 14, May 21: 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET (10:00 – 11:00 am PT)
June 5: 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET (11:00 am – 12:00 pm PT)
*This event was originally scheduled for May 1, 2021
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR BUNDLE | “Thursdays in May”
Each webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
LIVE VIRTUAL TOUR BUNDLE | “May Live Events”
Each webinar will include a 45-minute virtual tour followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
Please note:
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Michelangelo, God’s Architect”
Presented by Bill Wallace
with Additional Commentary by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
At age 71, Michelangelo Buonarroti, carver of the Pietà, David, Moses, and painter of the Sistine Chapel — was suddenly busier than ever. In 1546, Pope Paul III handed Michelangelo control of the beleaguered St. Peter’s project — a study in architectural mismanagement, plagued by flawed design and faulty engineering. Assessing the situation with his uncompromising eye and razor-sharp intellect, Michelangelo overcame the furious resistance of Church officials to persuade the Pope that it was time to start over. For the remaining 18 years of his life, Michelangelo devoted himself to constructing the largest building in the world, and the artist’s greatest masterpiece. This is the story of a person who never retired, yet gained strength and vitality by devoting himself to his most important creation.
William Wallace is the Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to being an extremely popular classroom teacher, he is an internationally recognized authority on the Renaissance painter, sculptor and architect, Michelangelo Buonarroti. He was one of a select group of scholars, curators, and conservators from around the world invited to confer with the Vatican about the conservation of Michelangelo’s frescos in the Sistine Chapel.
Professor Wallace has published extensively on Renaissance art: in addition to more than 90 articles and essays (including two short works of fiction), he is the author and editor of eight different books on Michelangelo, including the award winning, Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture, Painting and Architecture (1998), Discovering Michelangelo (2012), and a biography of the artist, Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man and his Times (2010/11), which is available in paperback. His most recent book, Michelangelo, God’s Architect (2019) focuses on the artist’s late life and his greatest creation: the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
The webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Inside the Palio”
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
Twice a year, on July 2 and August 16, the city of Siena transforms its main medieval square into an arena of unbridled fury. Ten bareback horses and their respective jockeys race three laps at breakneck speed around a dirt-covered piazza that is filled with fifty-thousand people! That is the Palio, and for the past seven centuries, winning it has been the most important objective of every Sienese citizen. Join Dr. Rocky for this exclusive webinar where he will unpack the history, traditions, and meaning of this great event and explain just how much needs to happen in order to obtain victory!
The webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Splendid Tables: The Renaissance Art of Banqueting”
Presented by Dr. Gary Radke
with Additional Commentary by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
Italians have always loved to eat—and show off what they’re eating—so join us in exploring how Renaissance Italians took dining to new heights. Even without tomatoes and cannellini beans (which were just being discovered in the Americas), Renaissance Italians set healthy tables that dazzled the eye as well as the stomach. Enjoy images from paintings, cookbooks, and surviving gold and silver table ornaments that demonstrate how splendid Renaissance tables could be.
Gary M. Radke is Professor Emeritus of Art History at Syracuse University, where he directed the Florence Graduate Program in Renaissance Art and was named Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence. His publications on Italian medieval and Renaissance art range from a book on the thirteenth-century papal palace in Viterbo to essays on the patronage of nuns in Renaissance Venice. He curated major loan exhibitions throughout the United States on Italian Renaissance sculptors Lorenzo Ghiberti, Luca della Robbia, Andrea del Verrocchio, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. His widely distributed college textbook on Italian Renaissance art, co-authored with John Paoletti, appeared in four editions and in Spanish and Chinese translations. Gary is past president of the Italian Art Society and a fellow of the American Academy in Rome.
In retirement Professor Radke and his wife Nancy have settled into an historic home in Savannah, Georgia, where Gary is now a trustee of the Historic Savannah Foundation and chair of its Architectural Review Committee. He continues to write scholarly articles and enjoys lecturing in Italy for various cultural groups.
The webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Tell Michelangelo It Was Only Business: Capitalism and Celebrity in the Renaissance”
Presented by Quentin Hardy
with Additional Commentary by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
The Renaissance created innovations in finance, commerce, and the power of a personal brand. Ideas of Credit, Faith, and Fortune all took on double-edged meanings that are with us today – and explain why the face of an unknown man by Botticelli sold for $90 million this year.
Quentin Hardy is the Head of Editorial at Google Cloud. He has lectured on the History of Information Technology at the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University, and has written monographs on modern and late Medieval painting. For 30 years he worked for The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The New York Times, writing about technology, wine, and society.
The webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
LIVE VIRTUAL TOUR | Live Stream Walking Tour of Venice
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
Join us for a LIVE STREAM Virtual Tour – in REAL TIME – from Venice, Italy. We shall walk along the canals and through the back streets of the great “city on the sea” in order to admire its beauty, but also to see how the city is coming back to life after months of lock down. Stroll across the Rialto Bridge and along the Grand Canal, wander down the labyrinth of “calle” near San Marco, admire the famous Bovolo staircase, and then marvel at the majesty of St. Mark’s Square. See and appreciate the beauty of Venice in REAL TIME!
The live virtual tour will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
LIVE VIRTUAL TOUR | The Art of Glass Making in Murano – Exclusive Live Stream Demonstration
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
It is not known exactly when the art of glass making began in Venice, except that it has been confined by law to the island Murano since 1291. Since then, Murano glass has been celebrated worldwide for its craftsmanship, creativity, and originality. Murano glass is still made by hand by a team of artisans known as a “piazza” working around a glass master who sits in his “scagno” (studio) while directing and working the glass with his team. Join us for this EXCLUSIVE LIVE STREAM demonstration direct from a historic glass factory in Murano and watch the magic of glass blowing IN REAL TIME!!!
The live virtual tour will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
LIVE VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE| Boccaccio’s Storytelling Art of Living Well
Presented by Dr. Eric Nicholson
with Additional Commentary by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
The late great Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez explained how we can live our lives to tell our tales, but the first great Italian prose author, Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), still shows us how telling tales can keep us alive. How? Thanks to his collection of 100 (actually 100 ¾) “novelle” called The Decameron: this all-time classic of Italian and world literature has more to teach us than ever, since its stories are told by a group of ten young storytellers, in order to help them survive the traumas of the 1348 “Black Death” pandemic. In this unique interactive event hosted by Professor Eric Nicholson, of Syracuse University Florence and NYU Florence, Boccaccio will appear before your eyes, to tell you not only of his fascinating life in 14th-century Italy, but also how he learned that the art of storytelling enables us to live, and to live well.
The live virtual performance will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
LIVE VIRTUAL TOUR | Inside the Palio: A Candid Discussion with Two of the Race’s Most Successful Jockeys
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
Join us for a LIVE STREAM Event – in REAL TIME – from Piazza del Campo in Siena, Italy, where two of the historic race’s most successful jockeys will walk us through the various stages of the race directly from the famous medieval square where it takes place. Hear the stories about their greatest nail-biting victories, their dramatic battles with their rivals, and their most devastating losses. Learn about the behind-the-scenes events, intrigues, traditions, and superstitions that lead up to race – and discover the magic of the Palio!
The live virtual tour will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
LIVE VIRTUAL TOUR | The Wine Windows of Florence
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
Join us for a LIVE STREAM Virtual Tour – in REAL TIME – from Florence, Italy. We shall walk the streets of the great Renaissance city in search of the famous “wine windows” whose purpose and popularity have resurfaced during the pandemic. Recent media coverage by the New York Post, Wine Spectator, and Stanley Tucci’s CNN program Searching for Italy, have made these objects incredibly popular.
Known as “buchette del vino” in Italian, these “small wine holes” were introduced into Florentine palaces in the 16th century so that noble families could sell their wine directly to the consumer and today are a convenient socially distanced way to enjoy a glass of wine.
The live virtual tour will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
LIVE VIRTUAL TOUR | The Glory of Ancient Rome
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
Join us for a LIVE STREAM Virtual Tour – in REAL TIME – from Rome, Italy. This tour will begin at the Colosseum, where we will admire the largest amphitheater of the ancient world and discuss the most popular of Roman social activities – gladiatorial games. We shall then stroll past the Roman Forum, stepping back in time to the days of Romulus and Julius Caesar, weaving our way past the ruins of their great culture and through the tales, legends, and events of their great history. We shall then climb up to the Capitoline Hill, connecting the ancient emperors to the Renaissance popes, and then conclude in awe- inspiring fashion at the Pantheon.
The live virtual tour will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
LIVE VIRTUAL TOUR | Exclusive Live Stream Visit from Inside the Basilica of San Marco in Venice
Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero
The Basilica of San Marco was originally constructed in the 9th century CE to house the mortal remains of St. Mark the Evangelist. The style of the church is the perfect marriage of eastern and western Christian architecture, showcasing the world’s most extensive and beautiful program of mosaic decoration. Join us for this EXCLUSIVE LIVE STREAM Virtual Tour from inside the great basilica where we will enjoy a dramatic illumination of the mosaics, have rare access to the Baptistry, admire the exotic architecture of the building, wander up to the high altar, and gaze in awe of the sparkling Pala d’Oro. ALL IN REAL TIME!!!
The live virtual tour will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.
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