The Italian Renaissance Podcast

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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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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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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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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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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.
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