Rebuilding The Renaissance

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Episode 281 - Caravaggio's "The Raising of Lazarus" Jun 05, 2024

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After spending some time in Siracusa, Sicily, Caravaggio – still on the run from the Knights of Malta - headed north to the town of Messina. There he painted another of his hauntingly beautiful late works, which, in this case, depicts Christ bringing Lazarus back from the dead. The disturbingly realistic figure of the dead Lazarus led to the popular belief that Caravaggio had exhumated a corpse to serve as his model.

Episode 280 - Caravaggio's "Burial of St. Lucy" May 29, 2024

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After his daring escape from the island of Malta, Caravaggio went to Siracusa, Siscily. There he painted one of his most haunting works – the "Burial of St. Lucy." An oppressive yellowish light illuminates the macabre burial of the early Christian martyr whose head almost looks detached from its body.

Episode 279 - Caravaggio: Back to Black May 22, 2024

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After having been invested into the Knights of Malta and producing two of his most beautiful paintings while he was on the island, Caravaggio finally seemed to have cleaned up his act. But, on the night of August 28, 1608, Caravaggio was involved in a near fatal assault on a superior officer and imprisoned. After a daring escape from Malta, Caravaggio now found himself a fugitive from justice twice over. Discover what went wrong in this episode!

Episode 278 - Caravaggio's "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist" May 15, 2024

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While in Malta in 1608, Caravaggio painted one of his most sensational paintings – "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist." Measuring 12ft. (3.7n) x 17ft. (5.2m), the massive oil on canvas work depicts the moment after the executioner had used his sword to decapitate the Baptist. We now see him reaching for his knife to complete the gruesome act, and perhaps even more gruesomely, Caravaggio has used the blood of the Baptist to add his own signature to the painting.

Episode 277 - Caravaggio's "Sleeping Cupid" May 08, 2024

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Caravaggio, still a fugitive from justice, left Naples for Malta in the second half of 1607 most likely because the sensational paintings he produced in Naples were drawing too much attention to him. When he arrived in Malta, he was inducted into the brotherhood and apparently changed his ways. One of the paintings that he produced while in Malta was his beautiful "Sleeping Cupid," (today in the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy) which reminded its patron of his vow of chastity.

Episode 276 - Caravaggio's "Madonna of the Rosary" May 01, 2024

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Painted in 1607 while Caravaggio was in Naples, Italy, trying to elude the long arm of papal law for the murder he committed in Rome, the "Madonna of the Rosary" is Caravaggio's most standard Baroque painting. While the patron is unknown, curiously, the painting went up for sale a few months after being completed perhaps indicating an unsatisfied client.

Episode 275 - Caravaggio's "Flagellation" Apr 24, 2024

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Located in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, Italy, Caravaggio painted the "Flagellation" in 1607 while he was hiding out in Naples because he was wanted for murder in Rome. The "Flagellation" is dramatically sadistic scene of imminent torture set – like so many of Caravaggio's paintings - in a dark shallow theatrical space.

Episode 274 - Caravaggio's "Seven Acts of Mercy" Apr 17, 2024

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When Caravaggio arrived in Naples as a fugitive on the run from papal justice in 1606, he immediately began to receive commissions. One of his first was for a charitable organization called the "Pio Monte della Misericordia." This organization had just built a church with seven altars upon which seven separate paintings illustrating the "Seven Acts of Mercy" were to be placed. In true impetuous Caravaggio fashion, he produced a single beautiful painting that represented all seven acts!

Episode 273 - Answers to Open Questions XX Apr 10, 2024

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From similar faces in the Scrovegni Chapel, to identifying Judas in Veronese's "Feast in the House of Levi," to the symbolic gestures of the apostles in Caravaggio's "Supper at Emmaus," to the "Isleworth Mona Lisa," to my advice to a young person about life and much, much more - this episode answers the very questions that you ask me about the great art, artists and history of the Italian Renaissance – and the meaning of life!

Episode 272 - Caravaggio's "David with the Head of Goliath" Apr 03, 2024

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Painted shortly after Caravaggio killed a man in Rome and was a fugitive from justice, the "David with the Head of Goliath" is today located in the Borghese Gallery in Rome, Italy. The painting was given to Cardinal Scipione Borghese in hopes that he could convince his uncle, Pope Paul V, to pardon Caravaggio who was wanted dead or alive.

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