The second painting that Caravaggio produced for the Cerasi Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, Italy, depicts the dramatic conversion of St. Paul on the road to Damascus. While certainly inspired by Raphael’s and Michelangelo’s earlier interpretations of the same subject, Caravaggio has transformed St. Paul’s conversion into a deeply theatrical, spiritual, and intimate event.

Caravaggio’s interpretation of St. Peter’s particular martyrdom – crucifixion in an upside-down position – for the Cerasi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, Italy, is a moving example of realism and physicality. Three executioners struggle to lift the burly fisherman who seems to embrace his death.

Located in the Augustinian church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, Italy, the Cerasi Chapel contains two paintings by Caravaggio – the “Crucifixion of St. Peter” and the “Conversion of St. Paul.” The paintings were commissioned by Monsignor Tiberio Cerasi, who was the treasurer general of Pope Clement VIII, in 1600. Curiously, Cerasi had asked a different painter named Annibale Caracci to paint the altarpiece of the chapel, which is executed in stark contrast to Caravaggio’s style.

In 1602, Caravaggio signed his final contract with the Contarelli family to paint an altarpiece for their family chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, Italy. The first painting (now lost) that Caravaggio produced was rejected because it depicted St. Matthew as a rustic and rather simple looking figure. But the second version – which we say in the chapel today – is a triumph of Caravaggio’s realistic theatrical style.

The “Calling of St. Matthew” was the second of three paintings that Caravaggio executed for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, Italy. It depicts the dramatic moment when Christ called Matthew, the tax collector, to follow him in his mission. Caravaggio transforms a simple moment into a theatrical event set within a contemporary early 17th-century Roman setting.   

The first of three paintings that Caravaggio painted for the Contarelli Chapel in the official French church of Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi, the “Martyrdom of St. Matthew" was the artist’s first large scale painting.  It depicts the assassination of the saint and evangelist at high mass in a dramatic fashion that only Caravaggio could invent.

Only July 23, 1599, Caravaggio signed the contract with the heirs of Cardinal Matthieu Cointerel (“Contarelli” in Italian) to produce three paintings for their family chapel in the official French church of Rome called San Luigi dei Francesi. This episode examines the history of the church, chapel and commission surrounding Caravaggio’s great paintings.

This episode addresses three more of Caravaggio’s innovative early paintings in Rome, Italy. Each of the paintings treats conventional subjects in unconventional ways, including using well-known prostitutes as models for the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene, and introducing unprecedented violence into the Judith subject.

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence contains three paintings by Caravaggio. Two of them, the “Bacchus” and “The Medusa Shield” were sent by Cardinal Del Monte to Grand Duke Ferdinand de’ Medici, while the third, the “Sacrifice of Isaac,” was acquired later. All three paintings reflect Caravaggio’s unique and revolutionary painting style which incorporates shocking realism, violence, and the dramatic use of light and shadow.

After an inauspicious beginning to his artistic career in Rome, Caravaggio’s photorealistic style and “street” iconography began to draw the attention of some important patrons. The most important of the patrons was Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, whose patronage launched Caravaggio’s career. This episode will examine Caravaggio’s paintings and his entirely new approach to painting, which involved a close observation and faithful reproduction of nature and the introduction of...

Known as the “pittore maledetto” – or the “cursed painter”, Caravaggio not only revolutionized painting at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries with his “hyper-realistic” style, but he also literally turned Rome on its head with his often-criminal behavior. Spending much of his time between brothels and taverns, Caravaggio’s love of the vulgar and violence became his primary artistic inspiration. His paintings would often reflect his sociopathic lifestyle, frequently depicting Christian...

From the water source of the Neptune Fountain in Florence, to the animal symbolism of the Nativity subject, to the restorations of Masacccio’s Brancacci Chapel and “Holy Trinity,” to how Leonardo’s notebook ended up in the Windsor collection, to the accuracy of historical fiction movie and television series dealing with the Renaissance 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.

Left unfinished at this death in 1576, Titian’s “Pietà” was intended to serve as his funerary monument. Its extreme use of loose brushstroke and unconventional color combinations led one art historian to describe the painting as an example of “chromatic alchemy.”

Painted in the last year’s of Titian’s life, the “Crowning with Thorns” in Munich revisited a theme that he painted 30 years earlier in a painting today located in the Louvre in Paris. Examined side by side, there is perhaps no better way to demonstrate the dramatic evolution of Titian’s style to very loose and suggestive brushwork in the final stage of his career.

Painted around 1565, this exquisite painting exemplifies Titian’s later style with its loose brushstroke, sophisticated use of color, and delicate tonal transitions. The meaning of the painting is somewhat controversial as it does not fall into any traditional iconographical schemes and has consequently resulted in various scholarly theories being proposed.

In 1573, Paolo Veronese was commissioned by the Dominicans at the church of Saints Giovanni and Paolo in Venice to paint a “Last Supper” to replace an earlier version by Titian that had been destroyed by fire. The result was a massive image full of numerous figures engaged in a hedonistic celebration. Not surprisingly, a few months after completing the painting, the artist was called before the Holy Tribunal of Venice to answer to accusations of indecorous religious painting. Veronese was...

In 1562, Veronese was commissioned to paint a massive painting of the “Wedding Feast at Cana” to adorn the end wall of the refectory of the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio in Venice, Italy. What he produced was an extraordinary impression of typical Venetian revelry in the late 16th century with more than 100 figures participating in the great feast.

Paolo Veronese is the third member of the great Venetian late Renaissance trio that also includes Titian and Tintoretto. The church of San Sebastiano in Venice was decorated over 15 years with paintings exclusively by Veronese and is a veritable shrine to the genius of this great painter.

This episode addresses the paintings in the second half of the Chapter Hall of the Scuola, which focus specifically on the theme of food with scenes of “Manna Falling from Heaven” and the “Last Supper.”

Once he completed his paintings for the Albergo, Tintoretto continued the decoration of the Scuola with a series of paintings for the Chapter Hall. These paintings are some of Tintoretto’s best and demonstrate his revolutionary approach to painting. 

Tintoretto’s paintings in the Albergo (board room) of the Scuola of San Rocco are dramatic representations of the Passion of Jesus Christ. From his tragic “Ecce Homo” all the way to his Hollywood-style “Crucifixion,” Tintoretto produced some of the most innovative and theatrical paintings of the Renaissance.

In 1564, the Scuola of San Rocco announced a competition for the commission for the ceiling paintings of the Albergo (board room) of their meeting house. True to his nature, Tintoretto surprised and outwitted all his competitors. Find out how in this episode!

The Scuola Grande of San Rocco in Venice, Italy, is the only active “scuola,” or confraternity, in the city. It has maintained its original appearance and magnificent decoration – nearly all of which was by Tintoretto - for the last five centuries. This podcast explores the history of the scuola and its importance to Venice.

From the original location and patron of Donatello’s “Mary Magdalene,”  to the influence of Giotto on Taddeo Gaddi, to the original meeting hall of the Florentine government, to the dome of St. Peter’s, to the authenticity of the recently discovered “Flaget Madonna” attributed by some to Raphael, 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.

Stretching 120m in length with its walls covered entirely in 16th century maps of various Italian city states, principalities, and islands, the Gallery of the Maps is one of the most spectacular spaces in the Vatican Museums.