Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Florence, Italy, was the cradle of the Renaissance and the birthplace of the modern world. From Dante to Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, this central Italian town produced the greatest concentration of artistic genius in history. The legacy of this creative explosion is s...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Join Dr. Rocky for this webinar as he gets you into the holiday spirit with Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, and the rest of the Renaissance gang and their moving interpretations of the Christmas story.

Join Dr. Rocky for this video lecture in honor of the current restoration of the marvelous frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence, Italy. There is no better place in the world in which to illustrate the evolution of late Gothic to Early Renaissance painting than this chapel. It was here tha...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Join Dr. Rocky for this webinar where he will retell the story of the three kings through the creative genius of great Italian Renaissance masters such as Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Tintoretto.

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

From Ravenna to Rome to Naples to Sicily, Italy is home to some of history’s most celebrated mosaics. Join Dr. Rocky for this webinar as he counts down Italy’s top 10 mosaics.

The first important phase of Venetian painting in the early Renaissance was defined by the work of Giovanni Bellini. But the arrival of Antonello da Messina to Venice in 1475 allowed Giovanni to perfect his mastery of the oil medium and to dramatically shift the direction of Venetian painting. Ot...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Join Dr. Rocky for this webinar as he explores the world’s most important collection of Venetian paintings. Showcasing masterpieces by Bellini, Carpaccio, Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese, the Accademia Gallery is a veritable shrine to the Venetian Renaissance.

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Known as “il Magnifico”, Lorenzo de’ Medici embodied the ideal Renaissance man. He was a poet, statesman, soldier, and philosopher, and successfully took over control of Florence at the age of 20. For more than two decades, Lorenzo served as the de facto ruler of the Renaissan...

Join Dr. Rocky for this webinar where he will examine masterpieces by the “High Renaissance Holy Trinity” in various museum collections throughout the world. Discover these artistic ambassadors of the Italian Renaissance to the world!

In 1975, a “secret” room was discovered below Michelangelo’s New Sacristy at San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy. After cleaning the walls, dozens of drawings came to light and the then director of the Medici Chapels attributed them to Michelangelo. His theory was that they were executed by Michelange...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

The Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Italy, contain the world’s most important collection of Italian Renaissance painting. A large portion of this collection is art of the High Renaissance. Join Dr. Rocky for this webinar where he will explore the High Renaissance masterpieces at...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Raphael heralded in the period known as the High Renaissance by combining grace, elegance, and beauty in his paintings. He also defined the standard for idealized painting. Join Dr. Rocky for this webinar as he counts down Raphael’s 10 best paintings!

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Even before completing “The Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel, Pope Paul III had chosen Michelangelo to decorate the walls of his new namesake chapel – the Pauline Chapel located in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City. Used as an antechamber to the Sistine Chapel, the Paul...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Although Michelangelo's artistic career began relatively late, he rapidly rose to stardom. Beginning in the workshop of the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio where Michelangelo quickly distinguished himself, he then moved on to the largesse of the Medici family and their sculpture ...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

While Michelangelo is best known as a sculptor, he was also a prolific painter. And his paintings were not only beautiful, they were also revolutionary! Join Dr. Rocky for this webinar as he counts down Michelangelo’s 10 best paintings!

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Many of the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance were inspired by women. Whether it was the “Marilyn Monroe of the Renaissance,” Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci, inspiring Botticelli, the Dominican nun, Lucrezia Buti, inspiring Fra Lippo Lippi, the adulterous Lucrezia del Fede ...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Leonardo entered the workshop of Florence’s most celebrated sculptor, Andrea Del Verrocchio, in 1467, sat the age of 15. He would remain part of Verrocchio’s household even after becoming an independent professional artist five years later. Join Dr. Rocky for this webinar wher...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

While Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” is one of the most famous paintings in history, few people realize it is just one of many representations of the famous biblical scene. Join Dr. Rocky for this webinar as he counts down the top 10 Last Suppers of the Italian Renaissance.

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

The fact that the lives and careers of these three extraordinary men not only overlapped but were directly intertwined is a direct reflection of the unique importance of their times. No other moment in western history witnessed the concurrence of such artistic genius in such c...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Michelangelo left more than half of all his sculptures in an unfinished state. Some because of the demands of his patrons, others due to personal circumstances. Join Dr. Rocky as he examines Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures and the amazing stories behind them.

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

On May 29, 1606, Caravaggio killed a man on Via della Scrofa in Rome. Wanted for murder, he immediately fled the city and spent the last four years of his life as a fugitive from justice. He went first to Naples, then to Malta, Sicily, and back to Naples again. While making hi...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Antonio Canova was Europe’s most famous artist at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. His sublime Neoclassical sculptures – such as “Cupid and Psyche,” ”Perseus with the Head of Medusa,” and the “Venus Victrix” (Paolina Bonaparte, younger sister of the emperor) – are some...

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Much of history’s greatest art and architecture was produced for Renaissance popes. In fact, artists such as Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, and Bernini all produced multiple masterpieces for those popes who reigned during the Renaissance. Join Dr. Rocky...