Rocky Ruggiero

Women, Gender, and Family in Renaissance Florence: Daily Lives and Social Dynamics

This course examines women and family life in Renaissance Florence, exploring gender as a social construct. Using primary sources, it looks at marriage, motherhood, work, and piety, highlighting how class, religion, and politics shaped women’s roles.

Struggle and Splendor: The Invention of Italy

This three-part series traces Italy’s evolution from a fragmented peninsula to a modern nation, exploring the Counter-Reformation, unification, Fascism, and the postwar Republic through art, politics, and culture.

Chisel & Brush: Making Italian Renaissance Masterpieces

This course answers these questions and more by providing an in-depth exploration of the techniques Italian Renaissance artists used to create their innovative and striking works from c. 1300 to 1600.

In the Shadow of Leonardo da Vinci: Verrocchio, Lorenzo di Credi, and the Art of Florence in the Late 15th Century

In this three-part class we’ll examine the various roles and influences of artists who have been largely forgotten in the wake of Leonardo da Vinci's fame.

The Divine Michelangelo: His Life and Works

This course will examine the epic life of Michelangelo Buonarroti using milestone works of art and architecture to illustrate the chapters of his artistic biography.