more magnificent was the palace designed for cosimo de medici.his was not simply a home, but the center of a vast banking empire. massive doors and rusticated masonry on the ground floor, increasingly smoother stonework above, created a style that was to be imitated by palaces and banks in europe and america for the next 500 years. de medici created an elegant society where artists and scholars studied astrology and mythology, reviving antiquity for their private pleasure. cosimo commissioned the humanist ficino to translate the works of plato, and out of this intellectual climate came the paintings of botticelli, combining sensuality of pagan mythology with themes and images from christian art. in his painting of the primavera, zephyrus, the wind god, enters the scene and seizes the wood nymph chloris, whose mouth issues flowers as she is transformed into flora, the goddess of spring. in the center stands a figure who resembles both the christian madonna and venus, the goddess of love, and who directs the dance of the three graces. naked venus,

in 1622, maria de' medici, the mother of king louis xiii of france, commissioned peter paul rubens to paint for her new home in the luxembourg palace a series of more than 30 enormous canvases. they commemorated her four-year rule as regent after the assassination of her husband henry iv until louis came of age in 1614. even though maria wasn't really the queen at all, rubens employs the full apparatus of glamour, power, and glory to proclaim the greatness of her rule. king henry is shown being carried off to heaven, yet the action rushes towards maria, whose position in the painting is higher than the king's. odd, since he's the one going to heaven. but it's in the religious paintings that rubens pulls out all the stops. his church paintings, such as the descent from the cross, served the requirements of roman catholic counter reformation ideology, inspiring faith, inducing piety. the immediacy and individuality of the figures, the use of great circling arcs in the sweeping compositions, his dazzling use of color, all contribute to the heightened emotionalism that was intended to lif

in 1928 jules bache acquired the portrait of giuliano de medici. a broker himself, bache would have identified with that great family of renaissance bankers. other collectors bought works which were by or believed to be by raphael, including the portrait of a young man, now in the hyde collection at glens falls, new york. but by any count, the most successful of all these american collectors of raphael was andrew mellon. a leading force in banking and industry, mellon went on to become secretary of the treasury and later ambassador to england. he also had a second career as a collector. mellon acquired his first raphael in 1928: the large cowper madonna. at that time, the idea was beginning to take shape in mellon's mind for a national gallery, one which would rival the great european galleries. clearly, such a collection had to include raphael. in 1930 mellon was presented with an extraordinary opportunity. the soviet government agreed to sell two of their best raphaels. one was the alba madonna, for which mellon offered the highest price ever pai

in 1928 jules bache acquired the portrait of giuliano de medici. a broker himself, bache would have identified with that great family of renaissance bankers. other collectors bought works which were by or believed to be by raphael, including the portrait of a young man, now in the hyde collection at glens falls, new york. but by any count, the most successful of all these american collectors of raphael was andrew mellon. a leading force in banking and industry, mellon went on to become secretary of the treasury and later ambassador to england. he also had a second career as a collector. mellon acquired his first raphael in 1928: the large cowper madonna. at that time, the idea was beginning to take shape in mellon mind for a national gallery, one which would rival the great european galleries. clearly, such a collection had to include raphael. in 1930 mellon was presented with an extraordinary opportunity. the soviet government agreed to sell two of their best raphaels. one was the alba madonna, for which mellon offered the highest price ever paid

when we produce in the united states is by and large consumed in the medicis. we're still a net importer -- in the united states. we are still a net importer of crude oil. host: the next question comes from sam, ill., republican. caller: good morning, mr. gerard. i have a question no one seems able to answer. he said that guests at the pump price is reflective of the price of a barrel of oil. in 2008, it was $145 a barrel, and gas was $4. now is $105 a barrel, and guess is $4. your barrel of oil is losing out on $40 a barrel. why would they cheat themselves? guest: if you take a look the price of crude oil and the way it moves in the global marketplace you can almost tract directly the cost of gasoline. about 80% of the cost is tied directly to the cost of crude oil. the other big component is state and federal taxes, which is equal to about 50 cents an each gallon of gasoline. put those two items together, and you are well over $3 currently before you even get to refining, marketing, transporting, distribution, etc. that is what we do as an industry. you see t

when we produce in the united states is by and large consumed in the medicis. we're still a net importer -- in the united states. we are still a net importer of crude oil. host: the next question comes from sam, ill., republican. caller: good morning, mr. gerard. i have a question no one seems able to answer. he said that guests at the pump price is reflective of the price of a barrel of oil. in 2008, it was $145 a barrel, and gas was $4. now is $105 a barrel, and guess is $4. your barrel of oil is losing out on $40 a barrel. why would they cheat themselves? guest: if you take a look the price of crude oil and the way it moves in the global marketplace you can almost tract directly the cost of gasoline. about 80% of the cost is tied directly to the cost of crude oil. the other big component is state and federal taxes, which is equal to about 50 cents an each gallon of gasoline. put those two items together, and you are well over $3 currently before you even get to refining, marketing, transporting, distribution, etc. that is what we do as an industry. you see t

you look at alcohol through history and medicis nal uses ofle alcohol.r a better than the shot of vodka, but you get the decreased incidents with alcohol. >> mike: it would be a crime if i didn't drink a beer today. >> alisyn: thank you for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> mike: stay seated for the pledge of allegiance? that might happen if one council woman gets her way. >> alisyn: and g.o.p. candidates want less involvement. president obama says we're wrong, we need more government to help voters. we'll debate. what do you think. [ male announcer ] there are only so many foods that make kids happy. and even fewer that make moms happy too. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together like chicken noodle soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. >> good morning, everyone, it's saturday. march 17th. president obama says republicans are wrong when it comes to helping americans we've got a simple philosophy, everybody is better left on their own, they're wrong. >> alisyn: do voters think that big government is

medication discussion, and we're supposed to be talking about with our doctors and families with medicid i take an aspirin, be on a staten. why am i still on this drug, do i need it? i want you to go through everything, don't take it for granted. >> i watched your ted talk and how you started studying your body, and you weren't moving much during the day. move during the day, was it alarming for you? >> yeah, it was dramatic. the data really are. if you wild cheexercise in the morning and an hour at the gym and you negate at all. and i got one of the phones where i look like an air traffic controller and i cut in half the way i sit in the day. >> clayton: one thing you look up, cut this down, supplements and vitamins, and multi-vitamin. >> alisyn: what about vitamin d and all sorts of women are taking that extra supplement right now. >> a woman over 70 takes high dose of vitamin d increases her rate of bone fracture by 26%. yet to be a positive study in the 63 looked at more than 500 people randomize their vitamins to show it. an if a man takes vitamin e for three years, 17% elevated pr

weakens the ability -- they explained that it is a useful anti-american propaganda tool, depicting the medicis as hostile to russia, undermining international competitiveness. repealing this will take away the tools, and open rushed up to ideas and transparency. these activists have raise serious questions about russia's human rights and democracy record. i share these questions. like the activists, and believe there pntr should not be in question. we owe it to american businesses, ranchers, and farmers looking to increase exports. we owe it to u.s. workers whose jobs depend on those exports. we owe it to the russian activists who are asking for our help in their fight for democracy. let us to embrace this opportunity for our economy, and for american jobs. in this bid to of catherine the great, let us move forward with that with which we can all agree, let's work together to pass rusher pntr -- russia pntr. >> i think i understand the message this hearing is intended to convey -- american businesses one access to russian markets, we should repeal jacksonvanik. it is not a slam dunk. let's sti