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.
Episodes
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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 macab...
Built between 1723 and 1725, the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy, are one of the most famous staircases in the world. Consisting of 135 stairs spread over different levels, the steps were immortalized in the famous movie “Roman Holiday” and today are one of the most popular destinations of the “eternal City.”
The Trevi Fountain is arguably the world’s most famous fountain! It was designed in 1732 by the Roman architect Nicola Salvi for a competition staged by Pope Clement XII. Rushing water passes through massive allegorical sculptures and blocks of stones into a massive stone basin in a uniquely dramatic fashion.
From how many paintings Caravaggio produced, to visiting Florence at Easter time,
In 1653, Borromini was asked by Pope Innocent X to take over the building of his family church of Sant’Agnese in Agone in Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy. The result was a revolutionary façade design that tragically was not realized according to Borromini’s plans.
Borromini began construction on another of his architectural masterpieces, the church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome, Italy, in 1642 for Pope Urban VIII. His curvilinear façade, bulging drum, and spiraling lantern are all eye-popping aspects of his design. But it is the extraordinary floor plan of the church which makes it unique – an equilateral triangle with semi-circular n...
In 1637, Francesco Borromini designed and began building an oratory – a place for public worship and musical performances – for the followers of St. Phillip Neri, known as the “Filippini.” The façade of this oratory is another of Borromini’s visionary architectural projects with its curved plan and unorthodox sculptural elements.
The cloister and façade of the church complex San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (better known in Rome as “San Carlino”) are two of the most beautiful and revolutionary aspects of Borromini’s design for this project.
The church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1634) - better known to the Romans as San Carlino (“little St. Charles”) due to its small size - is one of the most revolutionary in the history of art and introduces the new architectural vision of a Baroque genius named Francesco Borromini.
Francesco Borromini is celebrated as the greatest architectural genius of the Baroque age. This podcast shall examine his life, career, and rivalry with the great Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
On November 28, 1680, the 82-year-old Bernini passed away. His spectacular career was nearly 70 years long, during which he worked for 8 different popes. Only Michelangelo surpassed him in terms of lifespan and papal patrons! This podcast looks back on Bernini’s career, his rather surprisingly modest tomb, and the great legacy that he left behind.
In 1672, Gian Lorenzo began the creation of the most spectacular papal tomb monument in St. Peter’s Basilica – the “Tomb of Pope Alexander VII.” Located in the southern transept arm of the church, the monument depicts a pious figure of the pope kneeling in prayer, surrounded by four massive marble statues representing the virtues of Charity, Truth, Prudence, and Justice. But the most amazing aspect of the tomb ...
Carved in the last decade of Bernini’s life, the monument to Blessed Ludovica Albertoni shows that Bernini had not lost his touch in his later years. As sensual and beautiful as his more celebrated earlier works such as “Apollo and Daphne” or “Ecstasy of St. Teresa,” the “Blassed Ludovica Albertoni” depicts the mystic in an ecstatic state of union with God.
In 1669, at the age of 71, Gian Lorenzo Bernini was commissioned by Pope Clemet IX to renovate the most important pilgrimage bridge in Rome, the Ponte Sant’Angelo. Bernini planned on installing 10 spectacular statues of angels holding the instruments of the passion, only two of which were ultimately carved by Bernini.
Completed in 1667 and located in front of the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome, Italy, Bernini’s “Elephant” is a powerful symbol combining Egyptian lore and Roman power. The elephant was designed as an imaginative base for the ancient Egyptian obelisk from the 6th century BCE.
From why the façade of San Lorenzo was never completed, to the use of the “golden ratio” in the Medici Palace, to the speed of Caravaggio’s painting technique and his use of the camera obscura, to future podcasts on Sofonisba Anguissola and Artemisia Gentileschi, to why Bramante is considered the first High...
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