Saints, Symbols and Spaghetti Webinar to Benefit Bishop Hendricken's COVID-19 Emergency Fund

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WARWICK  —Art History Professor, Italian Renaissance Expert and Bishop Hendricken 1991 alumnus, Dr. Rocky Ruggiero, will present a fun and fascinating webinar on Tuesday, June 23, at 7 p.m. to benefit his alma mater's COVID-19 Emergency Fund. The popular seminar will support a special fund set up for families impacted by the pandemic whose sons are in danger of not being able to remain at Hendricken without additional assistance.

This lecture will explore the sometimes violent, often bizarre, and always fascinating representations of saints and martyrs in Italian art by artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Bronzino, Verrocchio, and Caravaggio.

From St. Sebastian's arrows and St. Lucy's eyeballs, to St. Lawrence's barbecue grill, Dr. Ruggiero will provide an engaging, informative and entertaining webinar presentation about saint imagery and symbolism, as well as some surprising traditional Italian recipes that are associated with saints.

Dr. Ruggiero appears regularly on Rhode Island PBS, and as an expert witness for NBC News. He has starred in the History Channel’s “Engineering an Empire: Da Vinci’s World” and “Museum Secrets: the Uffizi Gallery,” as well as the more recent NatGeo/NOVA PBS program on Brunelleschi’s dome entitled “Great Cathedral Mystery. Dr. Ruggiero is originally from Providence. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross where he majored in Art History and later received his Ph.D. in Art History and Visual Culture from the University of Exeter, UK. He lived in Florence, Italy for twenty years teaching art history for various American universities. In 2015, Ruggiero and his family moved to East Greenwich, RI and he now divides his time between the US and Italy.

The $25 webinar will include a 40 minute lecture, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A.

To register, contact Heather Picillo at hpicillo@hendricken.com or 401-739-3450, ext. 130.

Learn more on Dr. Rocky Ruggiero at www.rockyruggiero.com