This episode explores the extraordinary collection of Italian Renaissance paintings in Milan's most important painting museum, which houses masterpieces by Caravaggio, Raphael, Piero Della Francesca, Tintoretto, Bellini and Mantegna. 

Rebuilding The Renaissance

Episode 144 - The Brera Gallery in Milan, Italy

This episode addresses the world's most expensive painting that sold for nearly a half billion dollars in 2017. Although the attribution to Leonardo da Vinci is not certain, the astonishing cost, murky provenance and uncertain current location of the painting have made it one of the most famous works of art in history. 

Episode 143 - Salvator Mundi and Leonardo da Vinci

This episode examines one of the most unique decorative programs in history. A room in the Sforza Castle in Milan whose walls and vault are covered with illusionistic trees that form a natural pergola. We also discuss how Leonardo's expression of arboreal architecture has been brought back to life with the help of modern technology.

Episode 142 - Leonardo da Vinci's Sala delle Asse

This is the second of a two-part episode on Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" which is considered the first work of the High Renaissance. From the meticulously constructed linear perspective, to the theatrical gestures of the apostles, to the singular dramatic moment that Leonardo almost seemed to "capture" rather than "depict," we shall examine all aspects of one of the most extraordinary paintings in history.  

Episode 141 - Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper - Part 2

This episode will introduce Leonardo's famous work. From its location, to the rather complicated process of making arrangements to see it, to its poor state of conservation, discover the surprising reality behind one of the most famous paintings in the world.

Episode 140 - Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper - Part 1

This episode examines one of the most famous drawings in the world - Leonardo's "Vitruvian Man." From the meaning of the subject, to those artists who influenced Leonardo, to how the drawing has come to symbolize the historical period known as the Renaissance, we shall unpack the extraordinary image that put humanity back at the center of the universe.

Episode 139 - Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man

This episode examines one of Leonardo da Vinci's most celebrated portraits, the subject of which was Cecilia Gallerani, mistress of Ludovico Sforza. In this beautiful portrait, today located in Krakow, Poland, Leonardo introduced further innovations to the genre of Italian portraiture particularly by figuring out how to bring the portrait to life.  

Episode 138 - Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine

Duke Ludovico Sforza’s principal motivation for bringing Leonardo to Milan was most likely Leonardo’s experience in working with bronze. The duke was hoping to apply Leonardo’s experience and talent to the realization of a colossal equestrian monument in honor of his father Francesco Sforza. This episode examines the complex 20-year history of this never-realized monument.

Episode 137 - Leonardo da Vinci and the Bronze Horse

From the disproportions in Botticelli's "Birth of Venus", to the origins of the name "Colosseum", to the original decoration on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, this episode answers the very questions that you ask me about the great art, artists and history of the Italian Renaissance.

Episode 136 - Answers to Open Questions - Part IX

This episode examines the exquisite Flemish masterpiece which was painted for a prominent Italian patron. Located in the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Italy, the "Portinari Altarpiece" exhibits all those aspects typical of the early Flemish Renaissance period, but with an Italian twist to suit the patron's tastes. 

Episode 135 - Hugo van der Goes' "Portinari Altarpiece" (Uffizi Gallery, Florence)

This episode examines one of the most important paintings of the early Renaissance, which is also known as the Montefeltro or Brera Altarpiece.  Painted between 1472-74, the painting was most likely commissioned to celebrate the birth of the son of the Duke of Urbino, and displays an extraordinary precision as regards the architecture and sublimely beautiful figures.     

Episode 134 - Piero della Francesca's "Madonna of the Egg" (Brera Gallery, Milan)

In 1459, Pope Pius II transformed the provincial town of his birth, Corsignano, into an ideal Renaissance urban town and renamed it after himself - Pienza. His architect, Bernardo Rossellino, was a follower of Leon Battista Alberti, and applied both medieval and classical architectural principles to his design. This episode explores the history and architecture of this exquisite and charming example of Renaissance urbanism.    

Episode 133 - Pienza: The Ideal Renaissance Town

This episode explores the architecture and history of one of the largest family palaces in Florence, which was built for the illustrious Strozzi family. After nearly a half century of exile for their failed attempt at exiling the Medici, the fabulously wealthy banker Filippo Strozzi was the first of his family to return to Florence. His palace was a very public statement that the Strozzi had returned!

Episode 132 - Florence: Strozzi Palace

This episode examines the architecture, authorship and history of one of Florence's most important early Renaissance family palaces. Perhaps the most classically inspired of the 15th-century palaces in the city, the Rucellai Palace is a true Renaissance architectural gem.  

Episode 131 - Florence - Rucellai Palace

This episode examines the extraordinary early Renaissance fresco cycle in the family chapel of Giovanni Tornabuoni, who was the uncle of Lorenzo the Magnificent de' Medici. It was while Ghirlandaio was working on these frescoes in Santa Maria Novella in the 1480s that a 13-year-old apprentice named Michelangelo Buonarroti entered his workshop, who may have left his mark in the paintings.  

Episode 130 - Florence (Santa Maria Novella): The Tornabuoni Chapel Frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio

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.

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Rebuilding The Renaissance

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