The Renaissance Times

The Price Just Doubled: Michelangelo, the Doni Tondo, and the Birth of the Artist as Rockstar – The Renaissance #234

In this episode of The Renaissance Times, Cameron and Ray dive deep into Michelangelo’s three extraordinary marble and painted roundels — the tondos — created during his Florence years between 1501 and 1506. Beginning with the origins of the tondo format itself (those circular domestic artworks that started life as elaborately painted birth trays brought to mothers who’d survived childbirth), the hosts examine what makes Michelangelo’s approach so audaciously different from everyone else’s. In the Taddei Tondo, now housed in the Royal Academy of Arts in London, his signature *non finito* technique — deliberately leaving sections rough and unpolished — makes Baby Jesus emerge luminously from raw marble while John the Baptist lurks in the background in a pose that raises some eyebrows and a great deal of laughter. The Pitti Tondo, now in the Bargello in Florence, features a proud, regal Virgin Mary whose head breaks the boundary of the circle itself — a deliberate choice, since both works were designed to be viewed from below, above a doorway. Then comes the main event: the Doni Tondo, the only surviving panel painting by Michelangelo, which Ray declares — with complete sincerity — his single favourite painting in the world after encountering it unexpectedly in the Uffizi. Cameron breaks down Michelangelo’s use of *cangiante* colour technique — swapping to entirely different colours to create shading rather than using Da Vinci’s smoky *sfumato* — producing something that looks, as Cameron puts it, like it was lit by a social media ring light compared to the gentle atmospheric glow of the Mona Lisa. The hosts also dig into the painting’s contested symbolism: the pagan nudes lounging in the background, the possible Dominican theological argument about Mary’s sanctification at the moment of conception, and the conspicuous placement of Christ’s anatomy. Then there’s the business drama — when patron Agnolo Doni tried to pay 40 ducats instead of the agreed 70, Michelangelo doubled the price to 140 and told him to pay up or hand back the painting. Doni paid. It’s a pivotal moment: the artist as rockstar, commanding the room and rewriting the rules of patronage in Renaissance Florence. There's something secret here that only members can see. Probably an audio player or something. If you want to listen to one of our many free episodes, go here. FREE EPISODES The post The Price Just Doubled: Michelangelo, the Doni Tondo, and the Birth of the Artist as Rockstar – The Renaissance #234 appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Renaissance #225 – Teenage Michelangelo: The Buff Baby Jesus and the Marble Prodigy (Michelangelo, part 3)

In this episode of The Renaissance Times (Episode 225), Cameron and Ray return to Florence to explore Michelangelo’s earliest surviving sculpture, Madonna of the Stairs (Madonna della Scala)—a marble relief carved when he was just fifteen. They marvel at his prodigious skill, discussing how this modest, unfinished piece already reveals his genius for depth, motion, and emotional complexity. Along the way, they detour through Florence’s real estate market of the 1500s (where a thirty-three-year-old Michelangelo was rich enough to buy five adjoining properties), laugh about Renaissance lifestyles, and draw irreverent but sharp connections between theology, symbolism, and art history—from cherubs in the Book of Ezekiel to Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction speech. It’s a lively, funny, and deeply informed tour through the early stirrings of one of art’s great minds. There something secret here that only members can see. Probably an audio player or something. If you want to listen to one of our many free episodes, go here. FREE EPISODES The post Renaissance #225 – Teenage Michelangelo: The Buff Baby Jesus and the Marble Prodigy (Michelangelo, part 3) appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Renaissance #224 – Privilege, Paint, and Patronage (Michelangelo, part 2)

In this episode of Renaissance, Cameron and Ray continue their exploration of Michelangelo’s life and career, digging into the family connections, social structures, and cultural forces that shaped his rise. They trace Michelangelo’s privileged entry into the Medici circle, compare his fortunes to Leonardo da Vinci’s tougher climb, and dive into Florence’s vibrant humanist culture of the late 15th century. The conversation ranges from patronage networks and family loyalty, to the artistic apprenticeship system, to Michelangelo’s sexuality and celibacy, with plenty of irreverent humour along the way. From Giovanni Rucellai’s church facades to Medici palace gossip, this episode paints a vivid portrait of how power, privilege, and art collided in the making of one of history’s greatest geniuses . There something secret here that only members can see. Probably an audio player or something. If you want to listen to one of our many free episodes, go here. FREE EPISODES The post Renaissance #224 – Privilege, Paint, and Patronage (Michelangelo, part 2) appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Renaissance #223 – Mickey The Angel (Michelangelo part 1)

Cameron and Ray dive into the life and legend of Michelangelo, kicking off what promises to be a long-running series on one of history’s most celebrated artists. Drawing on Vasari’s Lives of the Artists and contemporary sources, they explore Michelangelo’s early years, the mythology surrounding his divine protection, his family’s noble (and possibly invented) lineage, and the role of Florence in shaping his destiny. Along the way, they discuss Vasari’s glowing (and often revised) accounts, Michelangelo’s rockstar reputation, the tragic loss of his mother, and the cultural weight of his name. From divine breast milk to stepping in shit, this episode mixes history, irreverence, and insight in equal measure. There something secret here that only members can see. Probably an audio player or something. If you want to listen to one of our many free episodes, go here. FREE EPISODES The post Renaissance #223 – Mickey The Angel (Michelangelo part 1) appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Renaissance #222 Thank Christ: The End of the First Crusade (The Crusades part 31)

In this final instalment of the First Crusade series, Cameron and Ray bring the long march to its bloody climax with the siege and fall of Jerusalem in 1099. They blend dark humour with historical detail as they recount the Crusaders’ desperate conditions, the political and religious fervour driving them, and the brutal reality of the conquest. Along the way, they explore the parallels between medieval crusading zeal and modern Christian Zionism, the strategic blunders and visions that shaped the battle, and the horrifying aftermath as the victorious Crusaders massacred Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. The episode closes by reflecting on how this slaughter reshaped Christian-Muslim relations for centuries and teeing up a return to Renaissance art in future episodes. There something secret here that only members can see. Probably an audio player or something. If you want to listen to one of our many free episodes, go here. FREE EPISODES The post Renaissance #222 Thank Christ: The End of the First Crusade (The Crusades part 31) appeared first on The Renaissance Times.