The Italian Renaissance Podcast: Recent Episodes
Lawrence Gianangeli
Welcome all! I am an impassioned scholar, student, and educator of what we call the Italian Renaissance. This podcast aims not only to provide a general overview of historical themes of the Renaissance, but also to dive deeply into my interpretation of how we understand the period today through analysis of key figures, moments, texts, but most importantly, the art. I intend this podcast to be both a useful study guide for students, and an engaging and digestible source of information for a general audience interested enhancing their own understanding of Western history. Follow us on Instagram for images and updates: @italian_renaissance_podcast
In 1534, Michelangelo was called back to Rome to complete his final work inside the Sistine Chapel for the altar wall, his Last Judgement. In the decades between his painting of the ceiling and his return, Rome was subject to two major historical events: the start of the Protestant Reformation and the 1527 Sack of Rome.
This episode looks at the Last Judgement as a product of this new historical shift in Renaissance Rome. We also look at the critics of the work, both locally from Biagio da Cesena, and from far off Venice from the infamous Scourge of Princes, Pietro Aretino, in order to understand how society responded to Michelangelo's work in the most holy chapel in all of Catholicism.
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Works Discussed:
Michelangelo, Last Judgement, 1535-41 https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/cappella-sistina/giudizio-universale.html
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Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling is one of the defining masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance, but its creation was equally defined by friction as much as genius. This episode follows Michelangelo's turbulent relationship with Pope Julius II, from the abrupt cancellation of the pope's monumental tomb commission to the unlikely assignment of painting the chapel's vast ceiling. We explore how Michelangelo transformed the project into an ambitious visual narrative and testament of divinely inspired artistic genius.
We examine how his revolutionary approach to anatomy, composition, and artistic invention, exemplified in The Creation of Adam, forever changed the course of Renaissance painting.
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Works Discussed:
Michelangelo, Pietà, 1499 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0_(Michelangelo)
Michelangelo, Tomb of Pope Julius II (unfinished), 1505-1545 https://www.wga.hu/html_m/m/michelan/1sculptu/giulio_2/giulio2.html
Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1508-1512 https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/cappella-sistina/volta.html
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Before the era of the High Renaissance, Pope Sixtus IV commissioned one of the most ambitious artistic projects of the Roman Quattrocento, the Sistine Chapel. In this episode, we explore the chapel's original decoration and the remarkable group of artists, including Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, Signorelli, and Roselli, who transformed its walls into a monumental visual narrative in line with the symbolic force of the papacy.
We begin by examining Pope Sixtus IV, his political ambitions, and his vision of the Sistine Chapel as a new Temple of Solomon and a powerful symbol of papal authority. From there, we analyze some of the cycle's greatest surviving frescoes, including Botticelli's Punishment of Korah, Perugino's Delivery of the Keys to Saint Peter, Signorelli's Death and Testament of Moses, and Cosimo Roselli's underrated Last Supper. Together, these masterpieces reveal how art, theology, and politics combined to create one of the defining monuments of the Renaissance and laid the foundation for Michelangelo's later masterpiece upon the chapel ceiling.
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Works Discussed:
Sandro Botticelli, The Punishment of Korah, 1481-82 https://www.wga.hu/html_m/b/botticel/4sistina/punishme/korah.html
Luca Signorelli and Biagio d'Antonio, Testament and Death of Moses, 1481-82 https://www.wga.hu/html_m/s/signorel/sistina/moses.html
Pietro Perugino, Delivery of the Keys to Saint Peter, 1481-82 https://www.wga.hu/html_m/p/perugino/sistina/keys.html
Cosimo Rosselli, Last Supper, 1481-82 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Supper_(Rosselli)
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Before the triumphs of Michelangelo and Raphael transformed Rome during the High Renaissance, the foundations of the Roman Humanism were laid by remarkable scholars, patrons, and artists whose stories are often overlooked. In this episode, we explore the extraordinary patronage of Cardinal Basilios Bessarion, the Byzantine humanist whose vision helped bridge the intellectual worlds of East and West following the fall of Constantinople.
Through the remarkable frescoes of the Bessarion Chapel, painted by the Roman artist Antoniazzo Romano, we uncover how theology, diplomacy, classical learning, and artistic innovation converged in fifteenth-century Rome. From Greek philosophy and manuscript collecting to the visual synthesis of Byzantine and Italian artistic traditions, this episode reveals how one cardinal's ambitious patronage helped shape the cultural landscape that would eventually give rise to the High Renaissance.
Works Discussed:
Antoniazzo Romano, Bessarion Chapel, 1463-1467, Santi XII Apostoli, Rome https://www.churches-of-rome.info/CoR_Info/SA-040/ChapBessarion.html
Antoniazzo Romano, Madonna of Cardinal Bessarion, 1467
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Raphael’s years in Florence (c. 1504–1508) placed him at the center of one of the most extraordinary moments in Renaissance art, where he encountered both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo at the height of their powers. Under the Soderini Republic, Florence became a stage for artistic innovation, marked by Michelangelo’s David, Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, and the unrealized battle frescoes commissioned for the Palazzo Vecchio.
This episode explores how Raphael absorbed and transformed the lessons of these two rival masters. From Leonardo, he adopted naturalism, portrait composition, and sfumato; from Michelangelo, monumental form, line, and color. Yet Raphael forged a distinctive style defined by harmony, clarity, and balance, culminating in works such as the Maddalena Doni portraits and the Madonna of the Goldfinch before his departure to Rome under the patronage of Pope Julius II.
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Works Discussed:
Michelangelo, David, 1501-1504 https://www.galleriaaccademiafirenze.it/opere/david-michelangelo/
Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-19 https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010062370
Leonardo da Vinci, The Battle of Anghiari, unfinished, lost.
Michelangelo, The Battle of Cascina, unfinished.
Raphael, Portraits of Agnolo and Maddalena Doni, 1504-07 https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/portraits-doni-raffaello
Raphael, Madonna of the Goldfinch, 1506 https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/mary-christ-and-the-young-john-the-baptist-known-as-the-madonna-of-the-goldfinch
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This episode explores the courtly culture of Renaissance Urbino through Baldassare Castiglione’s landmark Book of the Courtier (1528), one of the most influential literary works of the Renaissance. After considering Giovanni Santi’s Cronaca rimata and its celebration of Urbino’s artistic world, the discussion turns to Castiglione’s vision of the ideal courtier, shaped by his experiences in the courts of Milan, Mantua, and Urbino under Guidobaldo da Montefeltro.
Through a series of lively dialogues set in the Ducal Palace, Castiglione examines the qualities expected of the perfect courtier: elegance, wit, athleticism, eloquence, moral virtue, and the effortless display of mastery. Through this text, the episode also explores Renaissance attitudes toward humor, language, and the ideals around women of the court.
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Art Historian Linda Reynolds joins me to discuss the history of the court of Duke Federico da Montefeltro. Ruling over Urbino, the Montefeltro court was among the most important centers in Renaissance Italy. Professor Reynolds first explains how a simple mercenary like Federico was able to rise to the status of Duke. From there, she dives into the Duke's patronage of the arts, looking primary at the architecture of his palace in Urbino and his painters, Piero della Francesca and Justus van Ghent.
Works Discussed:
Luciano Laurana, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino, second phase 1464-72 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_ducale_di_Urbino
The Ideal City, 1480's https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ideal_City_-_formerly_attributed_to_Luciano_Laurana_-_Galleria_Nazionale_delle_Marche,_Urbino
Piero della Francesca, Double Portrait of Duke Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza, 1473-75 https://www.uffizi.it/opere/i-duchi-di-urbino-federico-da-montefeltro-e-battista-sforza
Justus van Ghent, Portrait of Federico da Montefeltro with His Son Guidobaldo, ca. 1475 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Federico_da_Montefeltro_with_His_Son_Guidobaldo
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This episode examines how artistic influence and innovation intersect in the work of Perugino and Raphael, using their two Marriage of the Virgin paintings as a lens. It explores the defining qualities of Perugino’s calm, orderly style alongside Raphael’s more dynamic and spatially refined approach. Set against the cultural importance of the subject in Renaissance Perugia, the comparison reveals how shared compositions can yield very different visual experiences. Ultimately, the discussion highlights a pivotal artistic moment: the transformation of a master’s visual language into something more expressive, marking Raphael’s emergence as one of the most compelling and influential painters of the Renaissance.
Works Discussed:
Perugino, Marriage of the Virgin, 1500-1504 https://mba.caen.fr/en/oeuvre/le-mariage-de-la-vierge
Raphael, Marriage of the Virgin, 1504 https://pinacotecabrera.org/en/collezioni/collezione-on-line/the-marriage-of-the-virgin/
More on Perugino and Raphael in our online course: https://www.udemy.com/course/the-florentine-renaissance/?referralCode=FF28E9B6B8BB41DD78AF
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This episode explores how Perugia functioned as a dynamic center of Renaissance art and how Perugino emerged as its most influential painter. It considers the city’s political, religious, and economic structures as active forces shaping artistic production, while examining how workshop practices, patronage, and regional identity intersected with broader Florentine influences.
At the heart of the discussion is Perugino’s distinctive style—marked by clarity, harmony, and compositional balance—and the role his workshop played in spreading that visual language across central Italy. The episode ultimately frames Perugia not as a peripheral center, but as a key contributor to the artistic networks that helped define the transition toward the High Renaissance.
Works Discussed:
Perugino, Adoration of the Magi, 1470's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoration_of_the_Magi_(Perugino,_Perugia)
Perugino, Apollo and Daphnis, 1475-1500 https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010064934
Perugino, Decemviri Altarpiece, 1495/96 https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/la-pinacoteca/sala-vii---secolo-xv-xvi/perugino--la-madonna-col-bambino-e-i-ss--lorenzo--ludovico-di-to.html
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Michelangelo takes to the stage, and playwright and actor Justin Garascia joins us to discuss his dynamic reimagining of the early life of Michelangelo. Set in Renaissance Italy, MIKEY! unfolds as a gothic, queer fever dream, moving between the sculpting of David and the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. As Michelangelo reflects on the life that brought him to this moment, he wrestles with how he wants to be remembered — as a sculptor, not a painter.
Through a reimagined history, the play asks: what if there was a secret relationship at the House of Medici that shaped the artist’s emotional life and propelled the work we still revere over 500 years later?
Crowd Fund: https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/mikey-a-new-play/campaigns/f6cecfad-a8b2-4ca1-a00f-b50d6d6e053d
Show Dates:
Tue, May 19 at 7 PM
Tue, May 26 at 7 PM
Thu, May 28 at 7 PM
Sat, May 30 at 3 PM
Sun, May 31 at 7 PM
Tickets on Sale Now: https://thetanknyc.org/calendar-1/2026/5/19/mikey
Follow along: @mikeytheplay and @justingarascia (Instagram)
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The Sforza Altarpiece (Pala Sforzesca) is among the single most important works of art commissioned by Ludovico il Moro. Through this painting, we can trace both the heavy religious history of Milan and the dynastic ambitions of the Sforza court. By investigating this painting, we can further understand the atmosphere leading to the decline of Sforza power.
Additionally, this painting shows the dramatic influence of the convergence of styles in Milan, from Leonardo da Vinci to the Flemish masters. With this comes the complicated attribution of the work, which until very recently, had remained unknown.
Work Discussed:
Giovanni Angelo Mirofoli (Master of the Sforza Altarpiece), Madonna Enthroned with Child, the Doctors of the Church and the Family of Ludovico il Moro (Sforza Altarpiece), 1495
https://pinacotecabrera.org/collezioni/collezione-on-line/madonna-in-trono-con-il-bambino-i-dottori-della-chiesa-e-la-famiglia-di-ludovico-il-moro-pala-sforzesca/
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There is no better way to explore the art and politics of the Sforza court in Milan than through the eyes of Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo spent most of his early career employed by Ludovico il Moro, the regent and eventual Duke of Milan. This episode ties together the drama and intrigue of Sforza court politics with the work Leonardo did during his First Milanese Period (1482-1499).
Some of Leonardo's most innovative painting arrived in this period. Beyond his Last Supper, the Renaissance master also worked on court portraits. Looking at both Lady with an Ermine and La Belle Ferronniere, we unpack the history of the ladies of the Sforza court and the complex social structures in Leonardo's Milan. Additionally, we explore the sophistication of Leonardo's style and ingenuity, especially as precursors to his Mona Lisa.
This conversation ultimately ties the complicated threads that unite art, court culture, politics, gender, and romance in Renaissance Milan.
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Works Discussed:
Leonardo da Vinci, Genevra de' Benci, ca. 1478 https://www.nga.gov/artworks/50724-ginevra-de-benci-obverse
Leonardo da Vinci, Lady with an Ermine, ca. 1490 https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/lady-with-an-ermine-leonardo-da-vinci/HwHUpggDy_HxNQ?hl=en-GB
Leonardo da Vinci and workshop, La Belle Ferronniere, ca. 1497 https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010062372
Salai, Head of Christ the Redeemer, 1511 https://ambrosiana.it/opere/testa-di-cristo-redentore/
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Art Historian Eleanor Walker joins us this episode to discuss the life and patronage of Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua. Isabella perfectly bridges the northern courts of Este Ferrara and Gonzaga Mantua, serving as the pivotal figure who united the two courts.
Eleanor Walker introduces us to the life and vibrant personality of this Renaissance giant, looking at the scope and limitations of women in power in the northern courts. Then we turn to her patronage, diving deep into her portrait by Titian and a copy of another Titian portrait of Isabella by the Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens.
Works Discussed:
Titian, Isabella in Black, ca. 1536 https://www.khm.at/kunstwerke/isabella-d-este-markgraefin-von-mantua-1474-1539-1940
Peter Paul Rubes, Isabella in Red (copied after Titian), ca. 1605 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_in_Red_(Rubens)
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Jennifer Samit and Eleanor Walker, Women Artists in Their own Words: https://www.merrellpublishers.com/9781858947235
Jill Burke, How to Be a Renaissance Woman, https://www.amazon.it/How-Renaissance-Woman-Jill-Burke/dp/1788166663/ref=asc_df_1788166663?mcid=84574746f829322698bfc93eb94e80af&tag=googshopit-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=700814440216&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11473624181355666976&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9199215&hvtargid=pla-1888711395289&psc=1&hvocijid=11473624181355666976-1788166663-&hvexpln=0
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This episode looks at how the Gonzaga family of Mantua shaped their political image through art patronage. Ludovico Gonzaga, eager to raise his court’s prestige, brought the painter Andrea Mantegna to Mantua in 1460. Under Gonzaga patronage, Mantegna transformed court painting with his mastery of perspective and classical form. Their collaboration produced the fresco cycle in the Camera degli Sposi, a landmark of Renaissance art that blended dynastic portraiture with political messaging. Together, they turned Mantua into one of the most influential artistic centers of fifteenth-century Italy.
Works discussed:
Andrea Mantegna, Camera degli sposi / Camera picta, 1465-1475, Mantua.https://www.wga.hu/html_m/m/mantegna/07/index.html
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Join me and writer/translator Michael Curtotti on a discussion about the literary patronage of the Este court. Centered around Micheal's new translation of the playwright and novella author Cinzio, our discuss dives deep into the cultural moment of Duke Ercole d’Este’s Ferrara. Michael walks us through the history of Cinzio and his work, both in theater and prose.
Further, Michael leads us through his translation of the short story that would eventually influence Shakespeare's Othello, primarily investigatin notions of Renaissance misogyny and racism.
Acquire Michael Curtotti's "Cinthio's Desdemona: The Story that Inspired Othello": https://beyondforeignness.org/book/cinthios-desdemona-the-story-that-inspired-othello
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We continue our journey through the Este court of Ferrara, moving from Borso’s decoration of the Palazzo Schifanoia to the ambitious reign of Ercole I. We explore his transformation of Ferrara with the Addizione Erculea and the dazzling Palazzo dei Diamanti, before turning to his son Alfonso and the overlooked brilliance of court painter Dosso Dossi. Finally, we trace how Este patronage shaped Renaissance literature through Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, a chivalric epic that fused fantasy, wit, and courtly ideals into one of the great masterpieces of the age, one that enabled further crosscurrents between the visual and written world.
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Works Discussed:
Palazzo Schifanoia Frescos: https://youtu.be/20FIWIDxEbg?si=_-6t4Iba48X0ozuK
Palazzo dei Diamanti: https://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/r/rossett/diamant.html
Dosso Dossi
Portrait of Alfonso I, ca. 1534, https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battista_Dossi,_ritratto_di_Alfonso_I_d%27Este_-_Modena.jpg
Triumph of Bacchus, ca. 1514: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dosso_dossi,_trionfo_di_bacco,_00,1.jpg
Apollo and Daphne, ca 1525: https://youtube.com/shorts/P3o367FdT_c?si=mwY2Z-7Rr0T2Pmyc
Circe/Melissa, ca 1524: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_(Dossi)
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In this episode, we explore the rise of the Este family and the transformation of Ferrara into a vibrant Renaissance court. From Niccolò III’s political maneuvering to Leonello’s humanist vision and groundbreaking artistic patronage, we trace how the Este shaped culture and power in northern Italy. We then turn to Borso d’Este’s reign, examining his use of art and spectacle to project authority, including his enthroned bronze statue. Along the way, we uncover surprising details—like a controversial monument restoration—and set the stage for Ercole I’s ambitious ducal legacy.
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Images Discussed
Pisanello, Portrait of Leonello d'Este, 1441-44 https://www.wga.hu/html_m/p/pisanell/1paintin/este.html
Pisanello, Medal of John VIII, 1438 https://www.wga.hu/html_m/p/pisanell/2medals/palaeol.html
Pisanello, Medal of Leonello d'Este, ca. 1444 https://www.wga.hu/html_m/p/pisanell/2medals/leonell1.html
Antonio di Cristoforo, Niccolo Baroncelli, and Leon Battista Alberti, Equestrian Monument to Niccolo III, 1441 https://equestrianstatue.org/nicolo-lll/
Niccolo Barroncelli, Monument to Borso d'Este, ca. 1452 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Monument_to_Borso_d%27Este_(Ferrara)
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The Court of Lorenzo the Magnificent Part 6 of 6: Architecture
This episode looks at the most significant works of Lorenzo's court architect and dear friend, Giuliano da Sangallo. Among his most important designs, Sangallo was the chief architect and designer behind the Medici Villa at Poggio a Caiano, a countryside escape for Lorenzo that would serve as a prototype for Renaissance villas that came after. Additionally, Lorenzo and Sangallo were involved in the design and creation of the splendid church of Santa Maria delle Carceri in Prato.
Overall, this podcast addresses the way Sangallo served as Lorenzo's chief architect, as well as the way in which he remains an essential figure in understanding Renaissance architecture as a whole. Sangallo was a dedicated follower of Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti, as well as an expert on the rules of classical architecture.
Works Discussed:
Giuliano da Sangallo, Medici Villa at Poggio a Caiano, begun 1485. http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/villa-poggio-a-caiano.html
Giuliano da Sangallo, Santa Maria delle Carceri, Prato, 1495. https://www.cittadiprato.it/en/Sezioni/content.aspx?XRI=186
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The Court of Lorenzo the Magnificent Part 5: Antonio and Piero Pollaiuolo
Among the many artists who earned the attention of the Magnificent, the Pollaiuolo brothers left behind an artistic legacy closely tied with Medicean propaganda. This episode explores the role of the Pallaiuolo brothers in the development of Florentine Renaissance art, specifically through the works they completed for the Medici Palace: The Labors of Hercules.
Later reappropriated, this episode also dives into how Hercules is used as a Florentine political symbol and is adaptable as both a pro-Medici and an anti-Medici symbol, similar to function of the biblical heroes David and Judith.
Works Discussed
Antonio Pallaiuolo, Hercules and the Hydra, ca. 1475 https://www.uffizi.it/opere/pollaiolo-ercole-idra
Antonio Pallaiuolo, Hercules and Antaeus, ca. 1475 https://www.uffizi.it/opere/pollaiolo-ercole-anteo
Antonio Pallaiuolo, Hercules and Antaeus, ca. 1475, bronze Antonio https://www.wga.hu/html_m/p/pollaiol/antonio/sculptur/hercul2.html
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The Court of Lorenzo the Magnificent Part 4: Angelo Poliziano
Born Agnolo Ambrogini in Montepulciano in 1454, Poliziano rose to intellectual supremacy in Laurentian Florence as the premier Humanist and poet of the Medici court. This episode exlpores his education, life, and works in vernacular Italian, namely his Stanze and l'Orfeo.
Poliziano is inseparable from the larger history of the Medici court. His output is directly tied to Medici family. He was friends with Giuliano and witnessed his murder at the climax of the infamous Pazzi Conspiracy. He was loved by Lucrezia Tornabuoni, but greatly unfavorable in the eyes of Lorenzo's wife, Clarice Orsini. Then, he helped educate the young Michelangelo and even advised on subjects for his earliest works. This discussion looks at these relationships, ultimately arriving at the questionable circumstances of his premature death at the age of forty in 1494.
Works Discussed,
Michelangelo Buonarotti, Battle of the Centaurs, ca. 1492
https://www.casabuonarroti.it/en/museum/collections/michelangelos-works/battle-of-the-centaurs/
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The Court of Lorenzo de' Medici Part 3: Large-Scale Mythological Painting
The 1480's in Florence was an age of relative prosperity under Lorenzo the Magnificent. During this period, the visual arts began to take a new shape. Influenced by both classical and contemporary literature and poetry, Lorenzo's court saw the introduction to large-scale mythological painting, ushered in by the famed Sandro Botticelli.
This episode looks closely at the formation of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, as well as the subsequent Court of Pan by Luca Signorelli in 1490. We discuss the cultural and political circumstances around the development of this new genre of painting, as well as a host of patrons, including the Vespucci family and Lorenzo il Popolano de' Medici. A close look at these works alongside scholarly research reveals a tension between representation and actual cultural attitudes, especially around differentiating between philosophical representation and lived, sensual realities.
Works Discussed:
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, ca. 1485 https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/birth-of-venus
Sandro Botticelli, Venus and Mars, ca. 1485 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/sandro-botticelli-venus-and-mars
Luca Signorelli, The Court of Pan, ca. 1490 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Education_of_Pan
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Youtube Videos mentioned for extra information:
Piero di Cosimo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R99_lpzeLzQ&list=PLUejELZ-zvuCN0XSgU-4JoV4ezeU6MBLb&index=4
Luca Signorelli: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE3MC80SvHU&list=PLUejELZ-zvuCN0XSgU-4JoV4ezeU6MBLb
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The Court of Lorenzo de' Medici Part 2: Lucrezia Tornabuoni
Lucrezia Tornabuoni (1427-1482) was one of the key figures in both the political and cultural influence of the Medici family during the late 15th century. She served as a diplomat and stateswoman in the place of her ill husband, Piero the Gouty, and helped manage affairs for Lorenzo and Giuliano during their premature rise to power. In addition to her stately duties, Lucrezia was also an important patron and an achieved poet.
This episode looks at the broader scope of Lucrezia's achievements and positions them against the thriving cultural output that occurred during Lorenzo's reign. Importantly, it appears that Lucrezia was not merely the mother of a cultural giant, but directly influenced major cultural shifts in Florence and helped solidify Medici power for her son.
Looking closely at her sacre storie, particularly the violent story of Judith and Holofernes, we can observe Lucrezia as a participant in both skilled literary production and in the propagation of Medici prestige. Her poetry produces the similar effects of Cosimo de' Medici's patronage of Donatello, and his bronze David and Judith and Holofernes that were in the Medici Palace.
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The Court of Lorenzo de' Medici Part 1: Lorenzo the Magnificent
To engage Lorenzo de' Medici's court in Florence, there is no better topic to introduce the subject than the man himself. This episode takes a glance at the life of Lorenzo as the quintessential "Renaissance Man." In his lifetime, not only was he a devoted head of his family, but a clever statesman, a patron of art, literature, and philosophy, and an exceptional architect and poet.
More masterfully, Lorenzo had to combine all of these to create decades of cultural production which made concrete the fledgling ideas of his grandfather Cosimo into what we define today as the Renaissance. Through his civic engagement, Lorenzo inspired a generation of patronage that would not only inspire Florentines, but the wider world of European nobility.
Central to Lorenzo's narrative is the bloody drama of the Pazzi Conspiracy, the graceful beauty of large-scale mythological painting, and the revival of carnal and evocative vernacular poetry.
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Rome was a neglected swamp when Pope Nicholas V came to power. An extremely well educated humanist, Medici ally, and frequenter of the classicist circles in Florence and Bologna, Nicholas was elected pope in 1447, arriving in a city whose former glory was buried in the mud.
The papacy he inherited was fragile, as it recently endured the relocation from Avignon and the infamous Papal Schism. A relatively peaceful man, Nicholas V was intent on dispelling further papal conflicts and focus on rebuilding the Eternal City. Only through his mass patronage of artists, architects, and bookmakers was Rome able to awake from its slumber, reborn with a new Renaissance skin. This episode looks into the history of Pope Nicholas V, his patronage, and the crucial groundwork he laid for the reconstruction of not only the Vatican and the Apostolic Library, but for all of Rome to prepare itself for the glory of the High Renaissance.
Primary Works Discussed:
Fra Angelico, Niccoline Chapel, 1447-49.
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Lustful, unpredictable, and mischievous, Fra Filippo Lippi is a notorious figure of the Italian Renaissance. This episode surveys his life, looking primarily at three artworks: the San Lorenzo Annunciation, the Double Portrait at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and his famous Lippina.
Together, these works uncover a story about a skilled artist, but one who constantly upset his social structure. We use his work to glimpse into the world of Renaissance women, including the nun Lucrezia Buti who he stole from her convent and eventually married. Beyond the works, we explore stories about his turbulent life. Was Fra Filippo really sold as a slave by Barbary pirates? Did Cosimo de' Medici truly lock him in the Palazzo Medici to stop him from womanizing Florence? All of these questions and more are answered.
Works Discussed:
Annunciation, San Lorenzo, ca. 1440
Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement, Met NYC, ca. 1440
Lippina, Uffizi Gallery, ca. 1457-1465
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San Marco, Florence: Nowhere else does the entirety of Renaissance social history converge in such a dynamic way. Upon returning from exile in 1434, Cosimo de' Medici found himself laden with guilt over the means in which his family had acquired their massive fortune. Certainly, with Pope Eugenius IV living in Florence with the Papal Curia, there was no better time for the wealthy banker to invest in religious buildings, namely the convent of San Marco.
On this site, Cosimo de' Medici would display the wide range of his patronage, extending to architecture, painting, and to establishing a public library for the Republic of Florence. This episode analyzes the social and visual components of the reconstruction of San Marco, unpacking the rich symbolism in Michelozzo's structure built to house the vast collection of manuscripts acquired by the humanist Niccolò Niccoli. Then, it looks at the painted decoration of San Marco by the famed Renaissance artist Fra Angelico, deeply considering how painting displays the social structures that enabled their very creation.
Works Discussed:
Michelozzo, San Marco, Florence, 1429-44
Fra Angelico, San Marco Altarpiece, 1438-43
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What does it look like across three mediums when a new style harmonizes, and the conventions of the Middle Ages take a new form? Looking at three diverse artists and three different patrons, as well as an example of painting, sculpture, and architecture, this episode argues for the legibility of new stylistic concepts that constitute the modernity of the 15th century. Ultimately, this interaction gives insight to the intentions of the patrons in question, Cosimo de' Medici, Paolo Guinigi, and the Uzzano family (or Capponi?).
In doing so, works like Michelozzo's Palazzo Medici can be seen in conjunction with Domenico Veneziano's Saint Lucy Altarpiece, or with Jacopo della Quercia's sculptural works. With radical innovation and antique revival at the center, this episode evaluates the artist-patron relationship and the effects of multi-medium stylistic solidification against the Quattrocento public eye.
Works Discussed:
Michelozzo, Palazzo Medici, ca. 1446.
Jacopo della Quercia, Monument to Ilaria del Carretto, 1406.
Domenico Veneziano, Saint Lucy Altarpiece, ca. 1446.
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In this monumental 50th episode, join me in discussing a likewise monumental artist of the early Renaissance: Donatello.
This episode examines the landmark works of the Florentine sculptor, taking a close look at his early life, mature works, and cultural impact. Donatello skillfully navigated the practical world of civic sculpture, then became a sought-after court artist in the elite world of early modern Italy. Looking closely at three sculptures in three mediums, this discussion details Donatello's vast innovations towards embedding life and sensation in his figures, an effect that would pulse through the veins of future Renaissance sculpture thanks to his departures from convention.
Works Discussed:
David, marble, ca. 1408.
Saint George, marble, 1415-17.
Penitent Magdalene, wood, ca. 1430-50.
Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata, 1453.
David, bronze, 1440-60.
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Undoubtedly one of the most important painters of the Florentine Renaissance, Masaccio broke the barriers of convention, producing the first monumental works in the Renaissance style. This episode discusses Masaccio's life and works, focusing on the famous Brancacci Chapel and his Holy Trinity in Santa Maria Novella.
A close look at these works illuminates the effects of heightened naturalism and linear perspective as artists looked away from the conventions of Gothic painting, particularly in the Holy Trinity, which demonstrated a new mastery over perspectival techniques, paving the way for future Renaissance artists to expand upon Masaccio's genius.
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Works Discussed:
Masaccio, Expulsion from Paradise, Brancacci Chapel, 1425-27
Masolino, Temptation in the Garden, Brancacci Chapel, 1425-27
Masaccio, Tribute Money, Brancacci Chapel, 1425-27
Masaccio, Holy Trinity, Santa Maria Novella, ca. 1427
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The early 1400's in Italy saw the transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance style in painting. In major areas of patronage, be it for churches or wealthy patrons, a new style flourished that was representative of the interconnectivity between European cultures and the wider Mediterranean, one that bridges the Gothic and Renaissance styles - the International Gothic. Looking at two masterworks, one from Lorenzo Monaco and one from Gentile da Fabriano, this episode examines the historical moment and the stylistic factors that unify and separate the Gothic and International Gothic in Italy.
Further, through Giorgio Vasari, we can look at how historical shifts in artistic style were perceived by later Renaissance writers, who looked to organize the trajectory of Italian art as a series of quantifiable improvements. These two artists help us bridge the end of the medieval period with the developments that will become Renaissance art.
Works discussed:
Lorenzo Monaco, Coronation of the Virgin - https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/coronation-of-the-virgin
Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi -
https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/adoration-of-the-magi
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While the idea of an entirely joyous rise of Renaissance culture might sound apt for a period known for mesmerizing art and literature, history tells a different story, one of war, of plague, and of death. This episode discusses just a small amount of the social issues that contributed to the rise of Renaissance culture in Italy, from the multiple plagues that continued after the Black Death, to the banking crisis in Florence at the dawn of the Hundred Years' War, and Milanese military aggression under Gian Galeazzo Visconti.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, Italy was a center of trade and multi-branch banking that spanned the Mediterranean and beyond. This discussion looks at the relationship between trade routes and plague outbreaks in the larger picture of Florentine banking and mercantilism as necessary precursors for the rise of civic Humanism. Likewise, it explores the religious and visual implications of post Black Death Italy, and the significance of Florence's unexpected triumph over Milan.
Images discussed:
Titian, Saint Mark Enthroned, ca. 1510, Santa Maria della Salute, Venice
Triumph of Death, ca. 1440, Palazzo Abetellis, Palermo
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It is time to open the next chapter of our dive into Renaissance history, dialing back to look at the early Renaissance and the Proto-Renaissance. The terminology of periodization is loose and malleable, and brings to light of other renaissances that occurred throughout the Middle Ages. What is the difference between the way classical revival was exercised from the 8th and 12th centuries, and the world of Renaissance Italy?
This episode provides the fundaments of the earliest years of the Renaissance in Florence. The discussion links the literary developments of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio to the art developments of Cimabue and Giotto. Did the Black Death, that devastating plague that swept through Italy in 1348, have an impact on intellectual development? What did the early phases of Humanism look like, before the late 15th century?
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I am joined by the Florence based artist and art historian Dr. Alan Pascuzzi for a thrilling interview about his career as an artist following the techniques of the Renaissance masters. We first discuss the process of becoming a sculptor and painter in the Renaissance techniques. He walks us through his technical process, looking closely at his recent allegorical bronze group for Florida State University in Florence. Our conversation drifts to the monumental Perseus by Benvenuto Cellini, where Alan talks us through the relationship between the casting process in the Renaissance and the modern age.
We conclude our conversation around Alan's methodology in his book, "Becoming Michelangelo: Apprenticing to the Master and Discovering the Artist Through His Drawings," where he recounts the insight learned by copying 135 of Michelangelo's drawings from his early career, a unique blending of studio art and art historical scholarship.
To purchase "Becoming Michelangelo:" https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Becoming-Michelangelo/Alan-Pascuzzi/9781950994373
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Join me in conversation with Frank Nero, who takes us on a journey to a hidden gem in Florence, San Martino del Vescovo. This oratory serves as a fascinating case study of the intersections between Medici power and art patronage, as well as offering a glimpse into the everyday of Florentine life in the Quattrocento.
The oratory frescoes depict scenes of the deeds of the buonuomini, painted by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his workshop. Nero gives us a detailed history of the foundation and function of the space, as well as a captivating explanation of the fresco cycle found within.
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It is with great pleasure that I welcome Frank Nero to the podcast. Nero is an art historian, award-winning educator, and former director of Florida State University Florence. He specializes in on-site lectures, having taught and inspired thousands of students during his career, myself included.
The first part of this interview departs from our typical mode of discussion, and looks at the living legacy of Renaissance art from the perspective of someone who teaches it outside of the classroom. Not only does Nero provide inside information on the structure of international education through the American university system, the good and the bad (also the ugly), but also tells hilarious stories and experiences that come with hauling students through crowded historical sites across Italy.
***Nero calls by my familiar name, Reed instead of Lawrence... or Reedy, because he's a funny guy.
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Join me in the continuation of my conversation with ecocritical art historian and climate activist Esme Garlake. In the second part of our interview, we discuss the works of Raphael's pupil, Giovanni da Udine. Giovanni not only had an intense fascination with accurately depicting the natural world, which we discuss via his drawings, but had a substantial role in decorating Agostino Chigi's Villa Farnesina in Rome alongside Raphael and Giulio Romano.
Beyond the Renaissance, Esme provides valuable perspective on climate activism in museum spaces, and the role of art in how we envision the sustainability of our planet.
For more of Esme's work:
Blog: https://medium.com/@esme.garlake
Article: https://envhistnow.com/2023/05/04/towards-an-ecocritical-art-history/
Research Profile: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/art-history/esme-garlake
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Join me in conversation in two parts with Esme Garlake, an ecocritical art historian and climate activist who centers her research on the interaction between the artist and the natural world. We are talking about two artists who were trained under Raphael, Giulio Romano and Giovanni da Udine. How do animals manifest in their works, and what does it tell us about the social history of sixteenth century Italy?
Part one focuses on establishing how an ecocritical approach is used to analyze Renaissance art via Raphael before turning to the Palazzo Te in Mantua, and Giulio Romano's Sala dei Cavalli and the Banquet of Cupid and Psyche.For more of Esme's work:
Blog: https://medium.com/@esme.garlake
Article: https://envhistnow.com/2023/05/04/towards-an-ecocritical-art-history/
Research Profile: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/art-history/esme-garlake
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Welcome to the Italian Renaissance Podcast Interview Series!
Passionate translator Michael Curtotti joins us on the podcast to discuss the Renaissance novelliere Matteo Bandello and his Romeo and Juliet, which serves as the inspiration to the famous play by William Shakespeare. Curtotti has recently published a new translation of Bandello's novella, a must read for all lovers of Renaissance literature.
Purchase the book here:
English only: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMPFGPCJ
English-Italian Parallel Language Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645844608
For more information on Michael Curtotti: https://beyondforeignness.org
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Leonardo da Vinci arrived in Milan around the year 1482. Under the patronage of Duke Ludovico Gonzaga, Leonardo painted his famous Last Supper on the wall of the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Still, his technical application of paint was a failure, causing almost immediate damage to the famous work. Between his inadequate innovation, the wars with Napoleon, and WWII, the Last Supper fresco has absorbed an excessive amount of damage.
This discussion looks at the history of Last Supper depictions leading up to Leonardo, from the Early Christian catacombs to Byzantine mosaic. It explores how his innovative approach to art elaborated a traditional theme, making it more in line with the ideals of Renaissance Humanism. Although the application was a grave error, the technical design of the work and rich symbolism position this work as among the most important paintings of the Renaissance.
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Season 2 Finale! For the conclusion of this treatment of Renaissance Venice, we discuss Paolo Veronese and his famous painting that enraged the Holy Inquisition: The Supper in the House of Levi.Indeed, upon completion of this painting, the forces of the Counter-Reformation descended upon Veronese, bringing him under interrogation to explain what they deemed to be inappropriate in his art. This discussion details the painting itself along with the trial that condemned it within the greater context of the Protestant Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, and the Roman Inquisition as it manifested in Venice.
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Touted as the 'triumvirate' of sixteenth century Venice, Titian, Jacopo Sansovino, and Pietro Aretino were cultural megaliths that bolstered the ambitious city development plan under Doge Andrea Gritti. This episode explores the presence of both Aretino and Sansovino in Venice.
Aretino was a famed writer, open homosexual, and merciless critic of the famed nobles of Italy. His court presence was one of high drama and unease, his pen a fearsome instrument of both mockery and flattery. Sansovino was a renowned architect, one who brings design ideals of the Roman Renaissance to the very heart of Venice. This discussion explores their joint presence as outsiders in the Venetian Lagoon who rise to prominence among the cultural elite.
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Gaspara Stampa is among the most important poets of the Renaissance. Living in Venice, she was a central figure in the music and literary scene thriving during the sixteenth century. Her Rime, published the year of her death, give us insight to the brilliant mind of an upper class socialite with a complicated love life, far flung from the rigid confines of what we might expect from a Renaissance woman in a male dominated world.
Looking at her life and two sonnets, this discussion elaborates her role within the larger context of the Italian literary tradition, especially through Petrarch, and how these modes and tropes can be adapted and reworked through the culture of the Venetian Renaissance.
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In 1494 upon the expulsion of the Medici from Florence, Michelangelo Buonarotti left his native city for the Republic of Venice. His stay there was brief and mostly undocumented. Yet, close comparison of source material and stylistic analysis reveals that perhaps Michelangelo was more influenced by his time in Venice than previously considered.
The master all'antica marble sculptor Tullio Lombardo had likely completed his masterpiece Adam the year before Michelangelo's arrival. Was the divine Michelangelo inspired by a Venetian Renaissance master before creating his own large-scale Bacchus,a marble nude figure modelled on antiquity? In this episode, we unpack the layers of influence that appear to manifest in Michelangelo's work as a potential result of Venetian influence.
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With great pleasure, I welcome Gee Cooper back to the show to discuss the afterlife of Titian. Given his proliferation and international appeal, the works of Titian and his role as court painter had a ripple effect in courts throughout Europe. Among the most important figures is Charles I of England who looked to expand the Royal Collection after a visit to Spain where he saw Titian's poesie series and was permanently changed. The Titian List is the inventory of his works by Titian until his execution and the dispersal of his collection.
Charles I wanted a Titian of his own. He employed Antony Van Dyck as his court painter, who would emulate Titian, reproduce his works, and adjust his own style to the preference of the King.
In this conversation, we cover essential aspects of the poesie series in Spain to understand the impact that it had on Charles I. We then look at two types of Imperial portraiture to determine the direct influence of Titian's work in the seventeenth-century, not merely as items in an inventory, but as a highly praised style that infiltrated courtly painting.
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Known as the greatest master of the Venetian Renaissance, Titian's painting career spanned most of the sixteenth century. This episode aims to give an overview of his life and works, focusing on three paintings from three different genres: an altarpiece, a portrait, and a mythological scene.
Just as they represent different genres, the paintings discussed serve as timestamps in his career, marking his earliest masterpiece, the height of his career, and one of his last works. By doing this, Titian's variety of skill and talent is put on full display, sorting through the variances in his style, and how he positions himself as the forerunner of conventional change in European painting.
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The conquest of Constantinople placed the Ottoman Empire at the center of the Mediterranean world. Sultan Mehmed II thrived under the cultural pluralism of his new court, procuring artists from both sides of his world: Italy and Persia. However, the Italianization of the Ottoman Empire is locked within Mehmed's reign, as the greater Ottoman court did not share his appreciation for European art and design.
Gentile Bellini arrived in Istanbul around 1479. This episode looks at his experience and works produced during his stay, elaborating them in relation to Mehmed II and his artistic taste.
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I sat down with Julia Bender, a student and researcher of Islamic and medieval art, to discuss the relationship between the Venetian Republic and the Islamic powers that competed for mercantile control of the Mediterranean.
Looking at the Mamluks and Ottomans, two major dynasties that coincide with the Renaissance period, we discuss what exchanges were being made, how Venice served as a transition point for Eastern goods into Europe, and the major influence of Islamic innovations in Venice. This episode also covers essential information about Aldus Manutius, his printing press, and the proliferation of printed goods as it relates to Venetian mercantilism. Further, we discuss the stylistic influences of Islamic lands on European art production, primarily through the oriental carpet trade.
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In our third and final discussion on Giorgione, this episode covers his final work, the Sleeping Venus, which was finished by Titian upon his death. A close look at the history of this painting helps understand the development of Titian's style in light of Giorgione, which ultimately arrives at his most famous work, the Venus of Urbino.
This conversation compares the two paintings, understanding Titian's masterpiece as a result of Giorgione's influence.
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I sat down with Venetian Renaissance expert Monika Schmitter to discuss the enigmatic Tempest by Giorgione. Why is this image so difficult to define? What is the current state of scholarly interpretation of its form and function? This interview covers the complicated history of the painting, in part responding to Prof. Schmitter's recent publication on the work, available here: https://www.academia.edu/98650605/Describing_Giorgiones_Tempest_Iconography_Genre_Interpretation
Prof. Schmitter is also the author of "The Art Collector in Early Modern Italy: Andrea Odoni and his Venetian Palace," available here:
https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/arts-theatre-culture/western-art/art-collector-early-modern-italy-andrea-odoni-and-his-venetian-palace?format=HB&isbn=9781108844086
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This episode explores Giorgione -Giorgio da Castelfranco - a founding artist of the Venetian High Renaissance. Although he lived a short life, the impact of his art echoes throughout the history of Venetian art. With influences like Giovanni Bellini, Leonardo da Vinci and Francesco Petrarch, his pictorial style is elaborated into a poetic mode of painting.
This discussion focuses on Giorgione in relation to major cultural shifts in Italy around the year 1500. Using his so-called Laurafrom 1506, Giorgione is elaborated as a poetic painter, decoding visual symbols and subverting iconographical norms.
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The Lombardo family workshop in Venice was the most prominent in the city for the development of Renaissance sculpture. This episode looks briefly at the history of the family before taking a more focused look at the works of Tullio Lombardo and how he revolutionized sculpture in Venice. What happens when classical revival combines with Netherlandish and Venetian design influence?
Tullio worked with a large number of classical and contemporary influences resulting in a new sculptural genre. He additionally expanded the design vocabulary of the monumental tomb of the Venetian Doge's, particularly in that of Doge Andrea Vendramin.
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Venice is a unique blending of cultural influences that has a lasting impact on artistic development and style. This episode focuses on the the transition from Venetian Gothic palace architecture in Venice to Renaissance style. How do we talk about the unique architecture of Venice? What historical changes impacted the shift in style from Gothic to Renaissance? How did the Venetians respond to Florentine artists, and the hosting of the Medici? Listen in to learn about the Doge's Palace and the subsequent architecture of Venetian nobility.
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Jacopo Bellini is one of the most influential figures in the development of a Renaissance style in Venice. This discussion takes a close look at Jacopo as an innovator and teacher. What influences did he pass on to his sons Gentile and Giovanni, and where did they come from? This episode looks closely at Giovanni Bellini's Saint Giobbe Altarpiece, which serves as an example of Jacopo's lasting impact and the trajectory of future Venetian Renaissance Art.
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The foundational myths and stories of Venice revolve around the importance of Saint Mark the Evangelist and Venetian relations to Alexandria. In this discussion, we sort through the stories about the theft of his body, the construction of his basilica, and how this influences art and society in Renaissance Venice - namely in painting.
Through Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, and Tintoretto, paintings of the legend of Saint Mark and the link to Alexandria gives us a means to read Venetian identity, which is thoroughly explored in this episode.
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Season 2 is all about Renaissance Venice! For this season premier, we are laying the foundations of the cultural forces that existed in Venice and how they interact with the revival of classical antiquity. This episode explores the geography of Venice and how it shaped a city that is wholly unique in landscape, artistic production and style.
This discussion contains everything you need to know before diving into the lagoon, contextualizing Venice between empires, between religions, illuminating the inevitable visual culture that brewed in this unique space.
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This third and final installment on Filippo Brunelleschi focuses on his architectural works beyond the Dome of Florence. Brunelleschi's style, in part, defines how we read Renaissance architecture, creating the baseline standard and influencing generations of architects to come.
This episode principally explores the Ospedale degli Innocenti and the Medici church of San Lorenzo, contextualizing secular and religious architecture with larger themes of architectural design and Florentine society.
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How was the Dome of Florence built? What were the circumstances that helped Brunelleschi solve the greatest architectural mystery of the Renaissance? This episode talks about the predominant Gothic style, and how Brunelleschi adapted it through his sojourn in Rome. What was the role of the Roman Pantheon, and did an unnamed female architect influence the final design of the lantern of the Duomo?
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Kicking off this Interseason Trilogy, this episode discusses the early life of Filippo Brunelleschi, the early phases of the construction of the Duomo, and the famous competition against Lorenzo Ghiberti for the commission of the bronze doors of the Baptistry of Florence.
All of this is meant as a prelude of how Brunelleschi came to be the architect who solved the mystery of how to construct the largest dome in the world.
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The Magi, or the Three Wise Men who followed the star of Bethlehem to find the infant Christ, are essential components of understanding religious life in Florence. In the 1400's under Cosimo de' Medici, the culture around the Magi was appropriated to establish a parallel between local devotion and Medici power and patronage. This episode highlights how the Magi became a symbol for the Medici family, and how the use of a popular Christmas theme enabled a vivid propaganda based on establishing the Medici as a global dynastic entity.
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The Season 1 finale brings you five tales from Italy of ghosts, witches, murder, and plague. Story-telling and folklore are essential aspects of Renaissance history and society. Many of the stories told on this episode are grounded in truth. Whether or not the supernatural lays its cold, chill hands upon these moments or not, is up to you.
Why is a disembodied head on the walls of Santa Maria Maggiore? How did the bones of 800 bodies come to decorate the Otranto Cathedral? What happened when the cruel culture of the Inquisition believed it found witches in Triora? All this, and more in this spine-tingling, hair-raising, heart-pounding Halloween special.
Frontier Gentleman
Herewith an Englishman’s account of life and death in the West.
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All across the United States debates are flaring up around the legacy of Christopher Columbus and social traditions that spawned from his journey across the Atlantic. In light of a developing history around Columbus, one that highlights his cruelty and questionable navigational ability, the call has been made: eliminate Columbus Day and replace it with a holiday that elevates those who fell victim to his imperial mode of 'discovery.'
Based on thorough historical analysis, The Italian Renaissance Podcast supports this notion. This episode looks to lay out the argument, supported by contemporary, medieval, and renaissance sources, in order to exam the facts around Columbus. Additionally, it looks at the voice of the opposition, the stakes of cultural heritage, and the difficulties of nationalistic patriotism in light of this essential moment that bridges the Renaissance to the modern Americas.
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The name Sandro Botticelli is inseparable from a rich visual vocabulary of mythological subjects, abstract bodies, and an achieved pictorial aesthetic that diverts the mind from the vast complexities of his work. Yet, when we dive deep and look close, his works demonstrate a series of compound interpretations that render them often puzzling and difficult.
Looking at his Primavera, this discussion unpacks several interpretations of the painting, looking at the literature around the subjects, and trying to place them in a specific historical time and context that gives a series of possible meanings to the work. We must also discuss questions of patronage, and how a work of art can give convincing clues as to its origin. All of this relates to cultural attitudes around paganism, Christianity, eroticism and marriage in Renaissance Italy.
Human Fuckery
If you waited by the TV for new episodes of “Are You Afraid of the Dark” each weekend...
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Equally as important as humanism, naturalism, innovation, and invention, the Cult of the Saints is a long standing tradition that continues to thrive during the Renaissance period. Only through understanding this current and ongoing cultural trend can art and society in Italy be properly comprehended.
This discussion details the position of saints, how they are worshiped, and how their pictorial depictions inherited from the Middle Ages are influenced by the changing attitudes of the Renaissance through the likes of Filippino Lippi and Leonardo da Vinci.
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Garden Basics with Farmer Fred
The healthiest food you can eat is the food you grow yourself. We have the tips!
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She was the ultimate Muse of the Renaissance, inspiring princes, painters and poets. This discussion looks to unpack the shockwave that followed the arrival of Simonetta Vespucci in Florence. Who was she, and how does history inform her impact on the Italian Renaissance?
We dive deeper, interpreting how to digest the questions around attributions of her image, and how virtue, courtship, and Neoplatonic thought elevated her in Florentine society. Even after her tragic death, La bella Simonetta was closely entangled in the developing culture by the likes of the Medici, Sandro Botticelli, and Angelo Poliziano.
Smells Like Humans
Like spending time with funny friends talking about curious human behavior.
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Let's take a deep and thorough look at one of Michelangelo's most exceptional works, the drunken, stammering Bacchus.
Jumping off from where the Young Michelangelo episode ended, this discussion covers the commission, provenance, and a detailed visual analysis and interpretation of the artist's first major life-sized marble, Bacchus, the god of wine and fertility.
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We are shifting gears as I share my experiences on how the Renaissance fits into our modern world. Listen to these stories, some funny some not, that help paint a picture of how the Renaissance is engaged by scholars, students, and tourists. I do not intend to show it in its glory, but rather the difficulties and tensions.
Galleries in Italy are overcrowded. The process of art education is harmed by this. What is worse, many academics are in denial, or even hostile toward the Renaissance, especially in light of the Middle Ages. I will try to nuance how I have experienced this.
***When talking about the cathedrals, I meant to say Santa Maria del Fiore, not Santa Maria Novella. Begging your pardon.
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In our final discussion of Dante's masterwork, The Divine Comedy, this analysis seeks not only to outline these last two books, but to show them as precursors to Renaissance thought, grounding Dante as both a writer of the Middle Ages and an object of proto-humanism.
What must Dante do to ascend Mount Purgatory and reach the heavenly realm, and how does his poetics amplify this? How does his strong reliance on classical reference clash with his contemporary Christianity?
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Abandon all hope, you who enter here, into this gruesome telling of Dante's Inferno! This discussion aims to breakdown the first canticle of The Divine Comedy into one digestible episode, through all nine circles of Hell. Get insight into Dante's poetic meter and style on the work as a whole, all while listening to excerpts from the work to outline how Dante punishes his sinners, deeper and deeper into the icy cold heart of Hell.
This information is must-know for anyone interested in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, or world literature as a whole.
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Covering key elements of his life and essential works, this episode tracks the life of The Great Poet Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy. Using key literary movements, we discuss the greater influences on Dante's poetry, the dolce stil novo,and how it fits into the greater context of Mediterranean literature.
Additionally, the podcast covers in part his Vita nova,demonstrating the role of Beatrice in his life and works. All of this helps frame the political catastrophe that exiled Dante from his beloved Florence.
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In this episode, I chat with Ian Billig about Galileo Galilei and the development of Renaissance science. Ian, skilled in physical sciences and mathematics, as well as a self-taught classicist, walks us through the development of classical natural philosophy through Galileo, and how this translates into our concept of modern science.
Who was Galileo and what did his work entail? What was the state of science during the Renaissance? How do we distinguish natural philosophy from science? What are the consequences of Galileo on modernity? All of these questions are answered, and more!
To read Ian Billig et al.: Bibcode: 2020APS..DNP.SJ006C (access permission may be limited)
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Let's talk Michelangelo! This episode covers the essential beginning of Michelangelo's life and career, from his training to his first major commission. His life is a complicated one, though it is a story to tell full of drama and scandal. This discussion focuses primarily on Michelangelo as a student , from the workshop of Ghirlandaio to the Medici Garden under Lorenzo the Magnificent.
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Undoubtedly one of the most well-known Renaissance figures, Leonardo da Vinci has ascended beyond the realm of artist, appearing more as mythic or legendary. This episode explores not only how that came to be, but also why it is important that we look at his life with a touch of scrutiny in order to better understand Leonardo as he was, rather than how he was mythologized.
This episode likewise covers some essential information on Leonardo's life, his training, and his intent focus of reproducing Nature, and what he called the science of painting.
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We are very pleased to welcome our first guest for this episode, Gee Cooper. Gee works for the National Trust, specializing in the history and conservation of English country houses, primarily Claydon House and Uppark. With a thorough grasp on all of the major architectural intricacies of these houses, Gee and I discuss the lasting impact of the Renaissance architectural style of Andrea Palladio, and how the 18th century English country house proliferated a Palladian revival in relation to contemporary Neoclassic trends.
Andrea Palladio served the Venetian Republic as one of its most important architects from 1508 to 1580. His most famous works still stand today in Venice, Vicenza, and other parts of northern Italy. For Palladio, the primary inspiration for architectural design was Vitruvius, who wrote his architectural treatise in the first century B.C.E. This book was a major influence during the Renaissance, coming to print in 1486. As we will discuss, the impact of Vitruvius extends beyond Palladio, to the great English architects of the 1700’s.
*We are still working out audio issues through Zoom recording. Apologies and thanks. *
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This episode takes a glance at the general history around the infamous Pazzi Conspiracy that culminated over the Florentine Easter festivities in April of 1478, leading to the gruesome murder of Giuliano de' Medici, and the blood bath that followed. Happy Easter!
Using Donatello's David, this episode seeks to analyze and interpret the highly debated complications of this famous bronze. This work is an emblem of sculpture as political, subversive, and multi-layered. Through it, we can learn the general modes of analysis of Italian Renaissance sculpture in the Quattrocento.
This episode details the basics of the Italian Renaissance painting, covering medium and contracts, color and composition, and the culture and structure around them. Using Renaissance rock stars like Leonardo da Vinci, Ghirlandaio, and Raffaele, this talk demonstrates the complex structures around the development and changes of the general Renaissance painting in the 14/1500's.
In this episode, I discuss the basics of what makes the Renaissance period unique, how we define it, and who are some of the key players. The episode details the essential elements of the proto-Renaissance and how it helped create the lines of thought developed a century later. The episode additionally covers the basics of Neoplatonism and the aftermath of the fall of Constantinople in Italy.