Dr. Rocky Ruggiero has been a professor of Art and Architectural History since 1999. He received his BA from the College of Holy Cross and a Master of Arts degree from Syracuse University, where he was awarded a prestigious Florence Fellowship in 1996. He furthered his art historical studies at the University of Exeter, UK, where he received a Ph.D. in Art History and Visual Culture.
With his unique and entertaining approach to art and history, Dr. Ruggiero provides specialized lectures and educational seminars throughout the United States. In Italy, Rocky offers private excursions and adult programs in Florence, Rome, Venice, Siena, northern and southern Italy.
Rocky has starred in various television documentaries concerning the Italian Renaissance and has appeared as an expert witness for NBC News, as well as in the History Channel’s “Engineering an Empire: da Vinci’s World;” “Museum Secrets: The Uffizi Gallery” and the NatGeo/NOVA PBS program on Brunelleschi’s dome entitled “Great Cathedral Mystery.”
Dr. Ruggiero is also staring in a new documentary entitled “Medici: The Art of Power” that premiered earlier this year in Florence at the Palazzo Tornabuoni. It is now being broadcast by PBS stations in America. In addition, he is the host of: Italian Masterpieces: Video Lecture Series, which presents an extraordinary and entertaining learning experience about the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance and the magnificent cultural heritage of Italy.
In New York City, Rocky mixes humor with key historical points and narratives. Some of his most recent sold out lectures in New York City include “Florence and Siena: A Tale of Two Cities,” “Leonardo da Vinci and the Last Supper: The Art of Throwing a Great Dinner Party,” “Medici: The Art of Power,” Saints, Symbols and Spaghetti,” “The Divine Michelangelo: His Life and His Works” and most recently, a lecture tour on da Vinci’s ‘Saint Jerome Praying in the Wilderness’ at the Met.
