Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

The fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 marked the official end of the Eastern Roman Empire (better known today as the Byzantine Empire) and the end of the Medieval world. Although this event was catastrophic for the eastern Christian world, it resulted in an extraordinary flowering of culture in the West. This was in part due to the massive influx of uncorrupted Classical knowledge into western Europe, mainly in the form of ancient manuscripts and Byzantine scholars who could translate and explain them. Florence was the first true center of Renaissance Humanism - a movement that sought to revive ancient Greek and Roman thought. But as the papacy began to reassert its political dominance in Italy, Rome eventually became the new early modern capital of Europe for most of the 16th and 17th centuries. This course explores the circumstances and events that surrounded the fall of Constantinople and its effects on the Renaissance culture of Italy, with particular emphasis given to Florence and Rome.

Course Objectives:
To learn to appreciate the rich and influential aspects of Italian art and architecture from the fall of Constantinople through the early Renaissance.
To bring a historical period to life through a “hands-on” approach to the monuments and works produced during this specific period known as the Renaissance.
To develop the fundamental skills of art historical analysis that include formal analysis and iconographic interpretation.
To develop an ability to interact in a personal and intimate manner with works of art and their surroundings.

THEME 1 - THE DEMISE OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE RISE OF HUMANISM

LECTURE 1 – Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation and the Fall of Constantinople

Kenneth Clark described Della Francesca’s painting as “the greatest small painting in the world.” Much has been written about the enigmatic meaning of the work, including it serving as a metaphor for the fall of Constantinople. This lecture examines the iconography of the famous painting and discusses its various interpretations.

LECTURE 2 – Lorenzo il Magnifico, Botticelli, and Mythology in Art

The fall of Constantinople marked a mass exodus of Byzantine scholars to Italy. Accompanying these scholars was an unprecedented number of manuscripts about the Classical world. Florence was a particularly appealing destination due to its reputation as a flourishing center for the arts. Moreover, many an eastern scholar had actually visited the great city just a few years earlier during the Council of Florence. This lecture examines the effect of this new surge of Classical knowledge on Florentine art in the last quarter of the 15th Century.

THEME 2 - THE PAZZI CONSPIRACY: THE FAILED PLOT THAT WOULD HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD

LECTURE 3 – Murder, Deception, and Betrayal in Renaissance Italy

On April 26, 1478, Giuliano de’ Medici lay dead on the pavement of Florence cathedral with 19 stab wounds serving as testimony to the vicious attack that he had just suffered. Had his assassins succeeded in eliminating his older brother, Lorenzo “il Magnifico” de’ Medici, that day as well, the history of western Europe, and the world for that matter, would have been drastically altered. This lecture examines the protagonists, motivation, and plot behind one of history’s greatest conspiracies.

LECTURE 4– The Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo

Decades before Michelangelo climbed up on the nearly 70 feet of scaffolding to adorn the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a veritable “All-Star Team” of late-15th- century artists had already decorated its walls. Artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, and Luca Signorelli were sent to Rome by Lorenzo “il Magnifico” de’ Medici to pay homage to the original patron and namesake of the chapel – Pope Sixtus IV. This lecture examines the pre-history of the Sistine Chapel and the early Renaissance frescoes that had already transformed the chapel into an extraordinary decorative complex.

THEME 3 - A NEW IMPERIAL ROME

LECTURE 5 – A Temple Fit for a Pope: The Building of St. Peter’s Basilica

After 100 years of construction, the reign of 18 different popes, and the direction of 12 different architects, St. Peter’s Basilica was finally completed in 1626. Measuring more than two football fields in length, it was by far the largest church in Christendom, and a fitting monument to the burial place of the first pope. This lecture explores the dramatic construction history of this great church, as well as the breathtaking artwork that adorns it.

LECTURE 6 –Villa Farnesina: Renaissance Pleasure Palace

The Villa Farnesina was the first Renaissance pleasure palace and belonged to the fabulously wealthy papal banker Agostino Chigi. From Raphael’s celebrated fresco of Galatea, to Giulio Romano’s erotic Loggia of Psyche, to the illusionistic Sala della Prospettiva, the decorations of the palace delighted many a pope and international ruler. On one occasion, dinner was served on golden tableware which guests were asked to dispose of by casting into the river Tiber. This lecture explores the art and the history of this extraordinary decorative complex and how the sensual and often erotic nature of the art clearly reflects the intentions of its patron.

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