The Italian Renaissance Podcast

25/03/2025

New YouTube video out now on Luca Signorelli's Apocalypse: https://youtu.be/hE3MC80SvHU?si=QmM3v_F_7BEqmg_T

In 1500, Luca Signorelli officially began his frescos in the San Brizio Chapel in the cathedral of Orvieto. The result is a dynamic representation of the Biblical Apocalypse, ranging from the prophecy of the Antichrist to the Last Judgement.

Signorelli shows off his obsession with human anatomy throughout, from his telling Resurrection of the Flesh to his scenes of Inferno and Paradise. Not only are these frescos in dialogue with the spirit of Signorelli's political atmosphere post-Savonarola, but they reside among the most important artworks for the development of the High Renaissance. Michelangelo himself would study Signorelli's work in Orvieto before completing his Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

17/03/2025

Happy Saint Patrick's Day 🍀

Allow me to introduce the Pozzo of San Patrizio (Patrick), a masterwork of Renaissance architecture in beautiful Orvieto. This well was built on the order Pope Clement VII and designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, nephew of the famous Giuliano da Sangallo.

The occasion of the well's construction is due to the Pope seeking refuge in Orvieto during the 1527 sack of Rome, an event that reshaped the history of Renaissance Italy.

Needing to dig first through a deep layer of tuff, Antonio cleverly designed the well as a helix system wide enough for pack-carrying animals to travel down and back up without crossing paths.

Although originally named Pozzo della Rocca, it was renamed in later centuries in dedication to the Irish Saint Patrick, built around the legend of a bottomless pit in Ireland that took one directly to Purgatory.

16/03/2025

Orvieto is one of the most spectacular places in Italy and a feast for the history entusiast. The best part is the stunning church facade of the Cathedral, completed during the Renaissance.

Inside, not only is there a delightful fresco of the Madonna by Gentile da Fabriano, but Luca Signorelli's San Brizio Chapel is one of the most fascinating fresco of the Renaissance. These frescoes detail the biblical apocalypse, resurrection, and the day of judgment. It is Signorelli's obsession with anatomy that would inspire Michelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel.

Beyond this, Orvieto has a rich Etruscan history, a complex cave system, and a lot of cats!!

28/02/2025

New Patreon Exclusive!
Armida: Tasso and Cecco Bravo
https://www.patreon.com/TheItalianRenaissancePodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata (1581) is one of the most celebrated epic poems of the late Renaissance. It is a work that tells a historical romance of the Frist Crusade, inspired by the epics of classical antiquity and medieval history. With almost instant popularity, artists of the blooming Baroque period began to paint the scenes from Tasso's masterpiece, resulting in a complex variety of artworks that navigate the Christian-Saracen relationship.

This episode focuses on Cecco Bravo's stunning depiction of Armida, a Saracen island sorceress who unleashes her wrath upon the Christians, before being converted by her lover Rinaldo. We discuss the history of the epic, looking at one the earliest depictions of Armida and Rinaldo by Annibale Carracci and using it as a base to understand the unconventional means in which Cecco Bravo painted Armida in her agony and wrath, one of the most stunning examples of 17th century Italian painting.

Works Discussed:

Cecco Bravo, Armida, 1650

Annibale Carracci, Rinaldo and Armida, 1601

26/01/2025

What's your zodiac sign?

New Renaissance Rush out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/20FIWIDxEbg?si=u3zq9LRVQzP4SCoS

The 15th century in Ferrara saw a boom in Renaissance style art under the Este family and the growing humanistic culture in the court of Borso d'Este. In one of the family pleasure palaces, the Palazzo Schifanoia, all of the most renowned painters of Ferrara contributed to the fresco cycle inside what is called the Hall of Months.

Take a close look with me at one of these frescoes, Francesco del Cossa's Triumph of Venus as part of the fresco depicting the month of April. What can we surmise by the way Francesco depicts the amorous activities of the youth of the court? What political message might this type of fresco be contributing to the goals of the powerful Este family?

In this hall, the months are all depicted with their zodiac signs, in this case, the Ta**us for April.

**us

21/01/2025

Last weekend, I visited Ferrara, one of the great northern courts of the Renaissance, ruled by the powerful Este family. This is a city rich in the art and architecture of the Renaissance as a unique blend of trends sprouting in Florence, Padova, and Venice, becoming something wholly it's own. Here, you find the stunning colors of Dosso Dossi (images 1 and 2), and the captivating architecture of Biagio Rossetti in the Palazzo dei Diamanti (image 3).

In the cathedral museum, Jacopo della Quercia's Madonna of the Pomegranate captivates, with an adorable Christ child with an adorable Gothic swoop (image 5).

One of the patron saints of Ferrara, Saint George, slays the dragon inside the cathedral (image 6). This work, completed in 1453 by Domenico de Paris, reminds you of the high sophistication of bronze work happening beyond the so-called centers of art production in Italy.

Of course, a visit to Ferrara is not complete without seeing the Hall of Months in the Palazzo Schifanoia, or the views from the Castello Estense. All of this complete with a meal at Al Brindisi, an old inn famous as early as 1425, and frequented by the Renaissance giants such as Titian, Ariosto, and Benevento Cellini!

13/01/2025

Had a magnificent trip to the Palazzo Vecchio to see "Michelangelo e il potere," an exhibition dedicated to the exchange between the artist and his patrons. In addition to letters and drawings, a series of casts detailing his career were on display right next to Donatello's Judith!

Michelangelo's Brutus went on display in the Palazzo for the first time as well, on loan from the nearby Bargello Museum. All of this was complimented by the permanent work by the sculptors hand, his Genius of Victory that was originally made for the tomb of Pope Julius II, now in the Sala del Cinquecento.

For my own pleasure, I also included Vasari's ceiling showing the virtue of Lorenzo the Magnificent, namely because I have previously discussed the giraffe in it 😄

06/01/2025

Happy Epiphany to those who celebrate and to those like me, who just like Renaissance art!

Behold Ghirlandaio's Adoration of the Magi from ca. 1488. This painting was completed for the foundling hospital and orphanage in Florence, the Ospedale degli Innocenti, and is still there today in their painting. It is a must-see when you visit Florence.

Here, we have the scene of the three Magi visiting the newborn Christ and offering gifts. Mary serves as a throne for Christ, both blessings the Magi, Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior.

To the left, image 4, Saint John the Baptist points to Christ. Just as his gaze meets yours to point the way to salvation, so does the gaze of the artist himself in a self-portrait, Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Above his head, the scene of the Massacre of the Innocents takes place. Although a violent episode, the swaddled children remind you that you are viewing this work in an orphanage, one that is decorated with the symbol of the swaddled child.

26/12/2024

A beautiful post-Christmas stroll through Florence brought me to find this city celebrity at last enjoying a bit of peace (interrupted by me). Usually suffocated by tourists on the back end of a leather market, the Porcellino has become an icon of the city. A touch of his nose brings fortune to us, but over centuries, it damages the artwork. Although this is a copy, it is an object of excellent craftsmanship, especially the intricate details of the base, filled with critters of all kinds, like frogs, snakes, and snails.

The original bronze was completed under the orders of Cosimo II de' Medici, after he was gifted a marble antique original from Pope Pious IV. That means this is a bronze copy of an original ancient Roman marble, which the Romans copied from a Greek original (bronze?).

23/12/2024

New Patreon Exclusive Podcast!
Piero di Cosimo's Portrait of Giuliano and Francesco da Sangallo
https://www.patreon.com/TheItalianRenaissancePodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

Continuing our journey with Piero di Cosimo's work, we take a close look at this double portrait of the famed architect Giuliano da Sangallo and his father Francesco Giamberti da Sangallo. Not only do we look at the clever ways in which Piero expresses the identities of his sitters, but we examine the social implications of this work: Both men shown worked for the Medici family in their lifetimes, so the architect as patron of a painting is interestingly able to embody the agency of Florentine nobility. As such, this discussion bridges the social status of the banking nobility with those they gave patronage to. Piero di Cosimo becomes the expression of that relationship.

We also briefly discuss some of the important works of Giuliano da Sangallo in and around Florence, such at Palazzo Gondi, and for Lorenzo the Magnificent, the Medici Villa at Poggio a Caiano.

16/12/2024

New Renaissance Rush on Piero di Cosimo and his masterpiece Perseus Liberating Andromeda. Join us on YouTube for more content.

https://youtu.be/R99_lpzeLzQ?si=R16fV6n8qWYtSaua

Piero di Cosimo was a prolific Florentine painter during the Renaissance. While he painted secular and religious works, he is best known for his mythological paintings. Among his most intriguing works is his Perseus Liberating Andromeda of ca. 1515, now in the Uffizi Gallery. In this painting, we see a direct line between the written mythology of Ovid to the visual and marriage culture of Florence. After all, what well-mannered groom would not want to see himself as Perseus?

Known from Greek mythology passed to the Romans, Perseus is the slayer of Medusa and the liberator of Andromeda from a horrible sea monster. Andromeda is an Ethiopian princess. With this is mind, why is she so white? Join me in discussing the details of Piero di Cosimo's interpretation of the Perseus and Andromeda myth.

04/12/2024

Renaissance Reading: "The Bookseller of Florence" by Ross King

I have previously touted the absolute delight of reading this author in a post dedicated to his book "Brunelleschi's Dome." I had the pleasure of seeing Ross King speak at a symposium hosted by the university I work for and prepared by reading this gem that was released in 2021.

Among the most challenging tasks of Renaissance history is figuring out what and when ancient texts were found, reproduced, translated, read, and how their ideas influenced intellectual culture. That is the essence of the Renaissance. This book magnificently tells that history all linked through the bookshop of Vespasiano da Bisticci, one of the most important book makers in Renaissance Florence.

Contained within these pages is not merely the much-duscussed history of Florence and the Medici, but how that history interacts with the other major powers in the Mediterranean and beyond, including Naples, Ferrara, Venice, Germany, England, and the Ottoman Empire.

If you want to understand a wide breadth of how ideas were spread and canonized, especially the renowned philosophers of antiquity like Aristotle and Plato, you must read "The Bookseller of Florence." It is social history. Book history. Art. War. Politics. Religion... All in one thrilling historical page-turner.

01/12/2024

Leonardo da Vinci's "Little Devil."

New Renaissance Rush out now: https://youtu.be/YO9wFc1NlLw?si=r6jTuKB2jg4YdqA8

Hot take: Leonardo da Vinci likely had an intimate relationship with his apprentice Salai.
Leonardo was an accused sodomite who enjoyed the company of handsome young men. Although we cannot make any definitive claims about his private, intimate life, a close look at his social environment and artworks can help us make informed evaluations about the dynamics of his workshop and his relationship to the one he called "Little Devil."

We could talk about these details for hours! Enjoy this discussion in less than 5 minutes, and let me know what you think in the comments.

30/11/2024

New Renaissance Rush is out! Leonardo's "Little Devil." https://youtu.be/YO9wFc1NlLw?si=a7rVzluuaC1uCQR7

This one is bound to cause some discourse. Please give it a watch, and comment if you have some thoughts.

Hot take: Leonardo da Vinci likely had an intimate relationship with his apprentice Salai. Leonardo was an accused sodomite who enjoyed the company of handso...

23/11/2024

New Patreon Exclusive Podcast!

Vasari's Women: https://www.patreon.com/TheItalianRenaissancePodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

In his collection of biographies, Giorgio Vasari represents the large disparity between women and men in the art world. Yet, contrary to the belief that women could not be artists, Vasari is decorous in his praise of the female painters and sculptors of his day: Properzia de' Rossi, Plautilla Nelli, Madonna Lucrezia, and Sofonisba Anguissola.

While we should always approach Vasari's treatment of female artist biographies with the absolute understanding that his social environment was both patriarchal and misogynistic, I believe there is value in how he helps us understand the way female artists were seen and functioned in Renaissance society.

This episode looks at the four women discussed by Vasari, along with the way he presents them to us. Further, it looks beyond Vasari to the triumph of these artists, with a particularly close look at Sofonisba Anguissola, her artwork, and tells an interesting history of her artistic relationship with Michelangelo.

Works Discussed:

Image 3: Lucrezia Quistelli della Mirandola, Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine, 1576.

Image 1: Sofonisba Anguissola, The Chess Game, ca. 1555

Image 2: Sofonisba Anguissola, Boy Bitten by a Crayfish, ca. 1554

Image 4: Michelangelo, Cleopatra,  1533-34

22/11/2024

Plautilla Nelli
Saint Catherine with a Lilly,
Last Supper, ca. 1560,

Watch my full discussion of Plautilla Nelli on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YmWXiqV1U3s?si=qYYEils7RdcaB07r

Suora Plautilla Nelli was a Florentine nun and self-made professional painter during the High Renaissance in the 16th century. While painting in manuscripts was not atypical for nuns, Nelli would have had to teach herself to paint on a monumental scale, as she would not have had access to workshop training as her male counterparts did. For someone without workshop training, her work shows a skilled hand capable of producing highly complex paintings that were certainly of the devout nature of a nuns work.

Her brief artist biography comes to us from Giorgio Vasari, who saw her as an anomaly. He does not omit that her ability to train herself is exceptional, but notes that she lacks the refinement of a trained master. He further points out that where she excels is in the representation of women, as we can see in her Saint Catherine with a Lilly, which is likely the portrait of one of her convent sisters.

Yet, her male figures are also quite skillfully executed, as seen in her Last Supper. This work firmly grounds her as an heir of the Florentine tradition, looking at previous Quattrocento scenes by Andrea del Castagno and Domenico Ghirlandaio, but injecting them with the contemporary taste of Andrea del Sarto and Bronzino, whose work she studied to perfect her craft.

#

17/11/2024

New Renaissance Rush on YouTube. Who likes Plautilla Nelli?
https://youtu.be/YmWXiqV1U3s?si=c9qaaIC2aiNu7skO

Plautilla Nelli rose to prominence in the 16th century as a self-made female artist. As a nun, she learned manuscript miniature painting, but took it upon herself to learn how to paint on a monumental scale, an occupation typically reserved for men in the Renaissance period. Her 1560 masterpiece, Last Supper, shows Nelli's keen awareness of the history of painting, especially of the Florentine tradition, as well as an acute skill in expressing color and emotion.

05/11/2024

Season finale out now!
We close our treatment of the early Renaissance with Pope Nicholas V and the rebuilding of Rome.
https://linktr.ee/italian_renaissance_podcast?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=084e1fb7-ec9b-451d-a0fd-3a2df08952b4

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 focused 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.