Our guest today is friend of the show, one of our favourite people – artist Alex Kynaston. She was with us in Durham NC while we shot the Jesus film and was also on our inaugural European tour. She and Cameron (and her dad Tony) smoked stogies and caught some jazz in NYC and have hung out in Toronto. She’s known Cameron since she was 10 years old – and has been listening our to our shows since she was 15. She sent us a picture of herself wearing a toga when she was 14. So that tells you pretty m...
Feb 02, 2019•58 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Our guest today is friend of the show, one of our favourite people – artist Alex Kynaston. She was with us in Durham NC while we shot the Jesus film and was also on our inaugural European tour. She and Cameron (and her dad Tony) smoked stogies and caught some jazz in NYC and have hung out in Toronto. She’s known Cameron since she was 10 years old – and has been listening our to our shows since she was 15. She sent us a picture of herself wearing a toga when she was 14. So that tells you pretty m...
Feb 02, 2019•58 min•Season 1Ep. 41
THE MEDICI FAMILY fortunes eventually passed into the hands of Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici, head of the Cafaggiolo branch of the family, so called because it retained property in the Medici’s home village in the Mugello. Things started to really turn around for Giovanni in 1402 because of his relationship with a dodgy bloke called Baldassare Cossa, whom Giovanni befriended during his spell at the Rome office. Cossa would soon become Pope John XXIII. The post #40 The Rise Of The Medici (part 3) ...
Jan 17, 2019•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 40
THE MEDICI FAMILY fortunes eventually passed into the hands of Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici, head of the Cafaggiolo branch of the family, so called because it retained property in the Medici’s home village in the Mugello. Things started to really turn around for Giovanni in 1402 because of his relationship with a dodgy bloke called Baldassare Cossa, whom Giovanni befriended during his spell at the Rome office. Cossa would soon become Pope John XXIII. The post #40 The Rise Of The Medici (part 3) ...
Jan 17, 2019•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 40
The rise of the Medici included a few false starts, due to a failed military campaign and a working class revolution. Meanwhile Florence prospered, in part because of the integrity of their coinage – the florin. The post #39 The Rise Of The Medici (part 2) appeared first on The Renaissance Times .
Jan 08, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 39
The rise of the Medici included a few false starts, due to a failed military campaign and a working class revolution. Meanwhile Florence prospered, in part because of the integrity of their coinage – the florin. The post #39 The Rise Of The Medici (part 2) appeared first on The Renaissance Times .
Jan 08, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 39
One of the one of the most powerful and influential families of the Renaissance – the Medici – took centuries to rise to power. But when they did, they changed the world. The post #38 The Rise Of The Medici (part 1) appeared first on The Renaissance Times .
Jan 04, 2019•56 min•Season 1Ep. 38
One of the one of the most powerful and influential families of the Renaissance – the Medici – took centuries to rise to power. But when they did, they changed the world. The post #38 The Rise Of The Medici (part 1) appeared first on The Renaissance Times .
Jan 04, 2019•56 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Against complaints about how much they were demanding, the popes said “hey looking this good isn’t easy!” Clement VI had been forced to lend Philip VI of France 592,000 gold florins – $135 million. And 3,517,000 more to King John II, Philip’s son and heir. Roughly $800 million. Quick quiz – how long did the Hundred Years’ War last? 116 years. Fought from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the French House of Valois, over the right to rule the King...
Dec 13, 2018•58 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Against complaints about how much they were demanding, the popes said “hey looking this good isn’t easy!” Clement VI had been forced to lend Philip VI of France 592,000 gold florins – $135 million. And 3,517,000 more to King John II, Philip’s son and heir. Roughly $800 million. Quick quiz – how long did the Hundred Years’ War last? 116 years. Fought from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the French House of Valois, over the right to rule the King...
Dec 13, 2018•58 min•Season 1Ep. 37
After the death of Clement V, Dante wrote to the Italian cardinals and urged them to hold out for an Italian pope who would return the papacy to Rome. But only six of the 23 cardinals were Italian. And when they met just outside Avignon in their conclave to decide the new Pope, there were people outside shouting “Death to the Italian cardinals!” And then the mob set fire to the building where the conclave was meeting. So the cardinals made a run for out through a passage in a rear wall and there...
Dec 07, 2018•57 min•Season 1Ep. 36
After the death of Clement V, Dante wrote to the Italian cardinals and urged them to hold out for an Italian pope who would return the papacy to Rome. But only six of the 23 cardinals were Italian. And when they met just outside Avignon in their conclave to decide the new Pope, there were people outside shouting “Death to the Italian cardinals!” And then the mob set fire to the building where the conclave was meeting. So the cardinals made a run for out through a passage in a rear wall and there...
Dec 07, 2018•57 min•Season 1Ep. 36
We want to go back and discuss the political situation in Italy in the 14th century. We mentioned in an earlier episode that in 1309, Pope Clement V moved the Papacy from Rome to Avignon. He was French. The former bishop of Bordeaux. And King Philip IV of France, who arrested Pope Boniface VIII, and almost starved him to death, was the guy who made Clement the new Pope. Clement knew he wasn’t safe in Rome. And most of the “Sacred College” was now made up of French cardinals. They also didn’t fee...
Nov 30, 2018•56 min•Season 1Ep. 35
We want to go back and discuss the political situation in Italy in the 14th century. We mentioned in an earlier episode that in 1309, Pope Clement V moved the Papacy from Rome to Avignon. He was French. The former bishop of Bordeaux. And King Philip IV of France, who arrested Pope Boniface VIII, and almost starved him to death, was the guy who made Clement the new Pope. Clement knew he wasn’t safe in Rome. And most of the “Sacred College” was now made up of French cardinals. They also didn’t fee...
Nov 30, 2018•56 min•Season 1Ep. 35
BTW – in 1421, Bruno was awarded the world’s first ever patent for invention. The patent describes Bruno as “a man of the most perspicacious intellect, industry and invention,” And this document granted him a patent of monopoly for “some machine or kind of ship, by means of which he thinks he can easily, at any time, bring in any merchandise and load on the river Arno and on any other river or water, for less money than usual.” This ship was called Il Badalone, “the Monster.” According to the te...
Nov 22, 2018•46 min•Season 1Ep. 34
BTW – in 1421, Bruno was awarded the world’s first ever patent for invention. The patent describes Bruno as “a man of the most perspicacious intellect, industry and invention,” And this document granted him a patent of monopoly for “some machine or kind of ship, by means of which he thinks he can easily, at any time, bring in any merchandise and load on the river Arno and on any other river or water, for less money than usual.” This ship was called Il Badalone, “the Monster.” According to the te...
Nov 22, 2018•46 min•Season 1Ep. 34
So what was the magic solution that Bruno brought to the Dome on August 7, 1420? How do you build a dome out of bricks, that curves upwards, with no support, that won’t fall down? Well he actually invented not one, not two, but a handful of new tricks. And this is even BEFORE he invented linear perspective. The first thing I want to talk about is called In Italian – (”Spina di Pesce”) – spine of the fish. In English we call it Herringbone A Zig zag pattern. His idea was to zigzag the bricks. If ...
Nov 16, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 33
So what was the magic solution that Bruno brought to the Dome on August 7, 1420? How do you build a dome out of bricks, that curves upwards, with no support, that won’t fall down? Well he actually invented not one, not two, but a handful of new tricks. And this is even BEFORE he invented linear perspective. The first thing I want to talk about is called In Italian – (”Spina di Pesce”) – spine of the fish. In English we call it Herringbone A Zig zag pattern. His idea was to zigzag the bricks. If ...
Nov 16, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 33
It’s thought that Bruno returned to Florence probably in 1416 or 1417 Which means he was in Rome for 15 years. How did he earn a living? Vasari says he didn’t have to at first. Before he left Florence he sold a small farm that he owned. So he lived off that money for a while. When that ran out he worked as a goldsmith. Vasari states that while in Rome, there wasn’t a single standing classical structure that Bruno didn’t measure and study. When he got back to Florence, he would have noticed that ...
Nov 09, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 32
It’s thought that Bruno returned to Florence probably in 1416 or 1417 Which means he was in Rome for 15 years. How did he earn a living? Vasari says he didn’t have to at first. Before he left Florence he sold a small farm that he owned. So he lived off that money for a while. When that ran out he worked as a goldsmith. Vasari states that while in Rome, there wasn’t a single standing classical structure that Bruno didn’t measure and study. When he got back to Florence, he would have noticed that ...
Nov 09, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 32
When Bruno – or Pippo was he was known to his friends (short for Filippo) went to Rome, after the embarrassment of the Baptistery doors competition, it wasn’t the Rome of Augustus. At its height, Rome’s population was one million people. When Bruno arrived there, it was less than 20,000, thanks to the Black Death of 1348. 1/50th of its heyday. Can you imagine what that would look like? Rome had shrunk into a tiny area inside its ancient walls retreating from Seven hills to huddle among the few s...
Nov 02, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 31
When Bruno – or Pippo was he was known to his friends (short for Filippo) went to Rome, after the embarrassment of the Baptistery doors competition, it wasn’t the Rome of Augustus. At its height, Rome’s population was one million people. When Bruno arrived there, it was less than 20,000, thanks to the Black Death of 1348. 1/50th of its heyday. Can you imagine what that would look like? Rome had shrunk into a tiny area inside its ancient walls retreating from Seven hills to huddle among the few s...
Nov 02, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 31
After he finished the first set of doors, he was commissioned to make a huge bronze statue of John The Baptist by the same guild – by the cloth merchant’s guild, the Arte di Calimala . – for the outside wall of Orsanmichele (Orsan-mikele) – (or “Kitchen Garden of St. Michael”) – another church in Florence. It was the largest statue ever cast in Florence up to that point. From its base, it rises 2.55 meters. By comparison, Michelangelo’s David stands at 5.17-metres. Vasari: In this work, which wa...
Oct 17, 2018•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 30
After he finished the first set of doors, he was commissioned to make a huge bronze statue of John The Baptist by the same guild – by the cloth merchant’s guild, the Arte di Calimala . – for the outside wall of Orsanmichele (Orsan-mikele) – (or “Kitchen Garden of St. Michael”) – another church in Florence. It was the largest statue ever cast in Florence up to that point. From its base, it rises 2.55 meters. By comparison, Michelangelo’s David stands at 5.17-metres. Vasari: In this work, which wa...
Oct 17, 2018•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Anyway – governors of Florence may have had a more immediate reason for selecting this story. The climax of the story emphasizes divine intervention, and we must remember that the Florentines were facing a series of threats from outside forces – we’ll discuss them in later episodes – and had just had another dose of the plague. So at the end of the year, all of the artists handed in their work. And it came down to two finalists: Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. So let’s introduce him. He’s ano...
Oct 12, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Anyway – governors of Florence may have had a more immediate reason for selecting this story. The climax of the story emphasizes divine intervention, and we must remember that the Florentines were facing a series of threats from outside forces – we’ll discuss them in later episodes – and had just had another dose of the plague. So at the end of the year, all of the artists handed in their work. And it came down to two finalists: Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. So let’s introduce him. He’s ano...
Oct 12, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 29
If you’ve ever been to Florence, you’ve no doubt paid a visit to the Duomo, the Florence Cathedral, formally the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. Known as the Duomo. Well we’re NOT going to be talking about that today. Instead we’re going to be talking about the building right next to it – the Baptistery of St John, one of the most historic and important buildings in Florence. Aka the Battistero di San Giovanni John the Baptist was the patron saint of baptistries as well as the patron saint ...
Oct 05, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 28
If you’ve ever been to Florence, you’ve no doubt paid a visit to the Duomo, the Florence Cathedral, formally the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. Known as the Duomo. Well we’re NOT going to be talking about that today. Instead we’re going to be talking about the building right next to it – the Baptistery of St John, one of the most historic and important buildings in Florence. Aka the Battistero di San Giovanni John the Baptist was the patron saint of baptistries as well as the patron saint ...
Oct 05, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 28
So let’s talk about The Decameron . The book’s primary title exemplifies Boccaccio’s fondness for Greek philology: Decameron combines two Greek words, δέκα, déka (“ten”) and ἡμέρα, hēméra (“day”), to form a term that means “ten-day [event]”. Ten days is the period in which the characters of the frame story tell their tales. It was set during the Black Death hit Florence in 1348. Boccaccio wasn’t there at the time, he was back in Naples. According to Machiavelli, Florence lost 96,000 people. Mode...
Sep 22, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 27
So let’s talk about The Decameron . The book’s primary title exemplifies Boccaccio’s fondness for Greek philology: Decameron combines two Greek words, δέκα, déka (“ten”) and ἡμέρα, hēméra (“day”), to form a term that means “ten-day [event]”. Ten days is the period in which the characters of the frame story tell their tales. It was set during the Black Death hit Florence in 1348. Boccaccio wasn’t there at the time, he was back in Naples. According to Machiavelli, Florence lost 96,000 people. Mode...
Sep 22, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 27
