Rebuilding The Renaissance

This 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.

Episode 349 - Siena - The Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (Cathedral Museum)

The Museo dell’Opera del Duomo houses some of medieval Siena’s most important masterpieces. Works such as Duccio’s “Maestà” and stained-glass window,  Giovanni Pisano's 13th-century facade sculptures, and Donatello’s “Madonna del Perdono” are but a few of those masterpieces.

09-24
24:00

Episode 348 - Florence - The Accademia Gallery

While most people visit the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Italy, to see Michelangelo’s great statue of “David,” there is much more to this museum. The Accademia is also home to masterpieces by Botticelli, Lippi, Giambologna, Perugino, Andrea del Sarto and Pontormo, as well as Michelangelo’s unfinished “Slaves."

09-17
24:44

Episode 347 - Florence - Museum of Orsanmichele

Built in the 14th century, the Museum of Orsanmichele was originally a grain market, but later turned into a church.  The museum is housed inside of this church and includes a beautiful “Madonna and Child by Bernardo Daddi and a magnificent Gothic “Tabernacle” by Orcagna on the ground floor, as well as many sculptural masterpieces by Donatello, Ghiberti, Verrocchio, and Giambologna on the first floor.  The upper-most floor of the museum offers breathtaking 360° views of the surrounding city of Florence.   

09-10
23:28

Episode 346 - Florence - The Casa Buonarroti Museum

Once a property owned and lived in by Michelangelo, the Casa Buonarroti Museum was created by the famous artist’s nephew to celebrate the legacy of his famous uncle. The museum contains Michelangelo’s two earliest known sculptures - “The Madonna of the Stairs” and “The Battle of the Centaurs,” his spectacular wooden model for the facade of San Lorenzo and the world’s largest collection of Michelangelo drawings. There is also a group of paintings celebrating Michelangelo by important 17th-century artists including Artemisia Gentileschi. 

09-03
23:53

Episode 345 - Florence – The Bargello Museum Part III

The collection of sculptures on the ground floor of the Bargello Museum in Florence, Italy, contains one of the world’s most important collections of 16th-century sculptures, including Michelangelo’s “Bacchus”  and  “Pitti Tondo,” Giambologna’s “Mercury” and “Florence Triumphing over Pisa,” and Cellini’s wax bozzetto (or small model) for his “Perseus with the Head of Medusa.”  

08-27
25:08

Episode 344 - Florence – The Bargello Museum Part II

The collection of sculptures in the great hall of the Bargello Museum in Florence, Italy, located on the second floor, contains one of the world’s most important collections of sculptures, including Ghiberti’s and Brunelleschi’s “Competition Panels,” Donatello’s marble and bronze “Davids” and “St. George,” and Verrocchio’s bronze “David.” 

08-20
30:02

Episode 343 - Florence: The Bargello Museum - Part I

The building that houses the Bargello Museum in Florence, Italy,  is the earliest example of civic architecture in Florence, built in 1255. Today it houses one of the world’s greatest collections of Renaissance sculpture, including works by Donatello, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, Giambologna, and Bernini.

08-13
24:44

Episode 342 - Florence: Museo dell”Opera del Duomo (Cathedral Museum) Part 4

This podcast explores the extraordinary artwork found on the second floor (Primo Piano) of the Cathedral Museum of Florence, including the beautiful belltower sculptures by Donatello, the “Cantorie” by Donatello and Luca della Robbia, and the Neo-Gothic façade proposals.  

08-06
21:06

Episode 341 - Florence – Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (Cathedral Museum) Part III

This podcast examines two of the greatest sculptures of all time – Donatello’s “Penitent Magdalene” and Michelangelo’s “Florence Pietà” – which are part of amazing collection of the Museo dell”Opera del Duomo in Florence, Italy. 

07-30
26:55

Episode 340 - Florence: Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Cathedral Museum) Part 2

The Cathedral Museum of Florence, Italy, contains the three original bronze doors from Florence Baptistry by Andrea Pisano and Lorenzo Ghiberti. This podcast analyzes history, style, and influence of all three masterpieces. 

07-23
23:18

Episode 339 - Florence – Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (Cathedral Museum) Part 1

The Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence is one of the world’s premier sculpture museums with works by Donatello, Ghiberti, and Michelangelo. This podcast examines the history of the museum and its spectacular reconstruction of the original early 14th-century façade of Florence Cathedral.

07-16
26:40

Episode 338 - Answers to Open Questions XXV

From Leonardo making marzipan sculptures and his “Madonna of the Yarnwinder,” to whether Jesus died of cardiogenic shock or asphyxiation, to the recently discovered “Judith and Holofernes” and “Ecce Homo” attributed to Caravaggio, to how to transfer panel paintings to canvas, to how to recognize a Michelangelo, to whether being familiar with historical context increases your appreciation of a work of art, this episode answers the very questions that you ask me about the great art, artists and history of the Italian Renaissance.

07-09
33:57

Episode 337 - Canova’s “Three Graces”

Antonio’s Canova’s statue of the “Three Graces” is considered a benchmark of beauty. It’s elegantly erotic representation of the Three Graces huddled in an intimate composition is a fitting final representation of the subject born in the ancient Greco-Roman world and later revived in the Renaissance. 

07-02
22:15

Episode 336 - Canova’s “Paolina Bonaparte as Venus Victrix”

Napoleon’s younger sister, Paolina Bonaparte, married Prince Camillo Borghese in 1803. One year later the prince commissioned Antonio Canova to carve his new wife as the mythological goddess of chastity, Diana. The licentious Paolina laughed off the suggestion claiming that no one would be believe her a virgin and chose to be represented scandalously as the semi-nude Venus instead. 

06-25
21:19

Episode 335 - Canova’s “Perseus Triumphant”

Carved in only a few months between 1800-1801, Canova’s “Perseus Triumphant” is one of history’s great sculptures. It exists in several versions, the most important of which are in the Vatican and Metropolitan Museums. Clearly inspired by Cellini’s earlier version, Canova also depicts the Greek hero as he contemplates his victory over the Gorgon as he stares at her severed head. 

06-18
23:26

Episode 334 - Canova’s “Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker”

In 1802, Napoleon courted Antonio Canova to go to Paris to make a bust of him. Four years later, Canova instead completed an 11ft. (3.5m) free-standing idealized nude statue depicting Napoleon as the Roman god of war, Mars. Surprisingly, Napoleon was not pleased with the sculpture, describing it as “too athletic.” 

06-11
20:26

Episode 333 - Canova’s “Cupid and Psyche”

Carved by Antonio Canova in 1787 and today located in the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Neoclassical sculpture of “Cupid and Psyche” is one of history’s most beautiful and popular sculptures. The romantic sculpture depicts Cupid cradling the head of his lover after reviving her from a supernatural slumber, while she reaches up to him preparing to receive a kiss. 

06-04
23:20

Episode 332 - The Life of Antonio Canova

Antonio Canova was Europe’s most famous artist round the year 1800. His sublime Neoclassical style sculptures – such as “Cupid and Psyche,” “”Perseus with the Head of Medusa,” and the “The Venus Victrix (Paolina Bonaparte)” - are some of the most beautiful in the history of art. This podcast will explore the life and career of the great Italian sculptor. 

05-28
23:12

Episode 331 - The Ceiling Fresco of Sant’Ignazio in Rome

One of Rome’s most spectacular works of art is the illusionistic fresco that covers the ceiling of the church Sant’Ignazio. It was painted in 1685, covers nearly 40m of ceiling surface and depicts the “Glorification of St. Ignatius of Loyola” in an extraordinary example of trompe-l’oeil perspectival painting. 

05-21
20:53

Episode 330 - Rome: The Capuchin Crypt

Located on the famous Via Veneto in Rome, Italy, the 17th-century Capuchin Crypt is one of the world’s most unique examples of funerary decoration. It consists of a series of rooms decorated with human bones! Each room has a different theme based on the type of bone used – skulls, pelvises, leg bones, etc., resulting in an absolutely fascinating – some might say macabre – display of human creativity!

05-14
20:29

Atahualpa Flores Estrella

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08-19 Reply

maryam moradi

Hi. I liked your podcast, but I have a request. could you speak about effect of Rom architecture on Iranian architecture. And if Iranian architecture had effect on Rom architecture ? thank you 😊🙏

03-29 Reply

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