Shortly after completing the “Conversion of St. Paul” fresco in the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, the 70-year-old Michelangelo began his complimentary “Crucifixion of St. Peter.” While the image of St. Peter crucified in an upside-down position was quite common in Rome, it was unusual to see him in process of being hoisted upwards as Michelangelo depicted. This episode analyzes this late painting of Michelangelo and the various interpretations associated with it. 

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. Used as an antechamber to the Sistine Chapel, the Pauline Chapel contains Michelangelo’s last two paintings. This episode discusses the history and function of the chapel, as well as the first of the two frescoes executed by a 67-year-old Michelangelo.

In 1545, the goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini was commissioned by Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici to create a large bronze statue of the Greek hero Perseus and Medusa. The resulting work was one of the most beautiful and famous of the Renaissance. This episode examines the history, style, and importance of Cellini’s bronze masterpiece.

From the type of snake that appears in Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment,” to the suspected poisoning of Pico dell Mirandola and Angelo Poliziano, to Lorenzo Lotto’s unorthodox “Annunciation,” to Brunelleschi’s role in the development of linear perspective, 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.

This episode analyzes the extraordinary reading room of Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library in Florence, Italy. Faced with having to reduce the weight of the building, Michelangelo designed a type of structural cage into which he inserted layered walls, elegant architectural elements, and handsome furniture. His creative wood ceiling and terracotta floor designs also are part of the overall decorative scheme of this beautiful building. 

This episode analyzes Michelangelo’s visionary architectural design for the vestibule - better known as the “Ricetto” – of the Laurentian Library. Dominated by the famous staircase which Michelangelo claimed appeared to him in a dream, the space perfectly expresses Michelangelo’s radical new vision for Renaissance architecture. 

In 1524, the Medici Pope Clement VII asked Michelangelo to design and build a new library to house the extraordinary collection of manuscripts and books owned by the family. The logical location was the Medici-sponsored complex of San Lorenzo. This episode analyzes the construction history of the library and how Michelangelo once again applied his innovative ideas to architecture. 

Although the commission was originally given to Michelangelo in 1508, the eventual carving of the sculpture fell into the lesser hands of Baccio Bandinelli. Symbolic of the new authoritative Medici regime and rule over the city, the sculpture was a strong man image intended to warn Florentines of the consequences of revolt. It is also a prime example of the new Mannerist style which dominated Florentine art in the 16th century.

This final episode dedicated to Michelangelo’s great fresco on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel addresses the controversy surrounding the explicit nudity in the painting. When formal protests by high-ranking figures in the papal court were made, Michelangelo responded by including one of their portraits in hell. We also discuss the eventual alterations made to the painting after Michelangelo’s death.

This episode analyzes the majestic composition and singular iconography of Michelangelo’s fresco on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. From the lack of any architectural elements to the use of ambiguous saint imagery, Michelangelo introduced a revolutionary and surprisingly modern way to represent a popular biblical subject.