Tuscany - Finestre sull'Arte

The Harsh Life in the Fields of the Maremma in the Works of the Macchiaioli

The history of the depiction of labor in art is long and complex, but in Italy it took on particular significance throughoutthe 19th century—not only in the most explicit forms of social critique, but also in the more subdued and less overt expressio...
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Caravaggio's Wine: What Does the Goblet Offered by the Uffizi's Bacchus Signify?

One could almost say that Caravaggio’s*Bacchus* (Michelangelo Merisi; Milan, 1571 – Porto Ercole, 1610), now housed in the Uffizi Gallery, is a 20th-century painting: for more than three centuries, in fact, the painting depicting the Ro...
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Watermelon in 17th-Century Painting: The Story of a Fruit in Tuscan Still Lifes

A fruit that symbolizes summer, the watermelon has always been associated with the idea of freshness and refreshment during the hottest months of the year. Its presence on our tables, however, tells a much older story, linked to the places and cultur...
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Giovanna Garzoni’s Cabinet of Curiosities: Fruit, Porcelain, and Miniatures

We tiptoe into the Medici villa at Poggio Imperiale, on the hill of Arcetri, a quarter-hour’s ride on horseback from the Pitti Palace. It is the spring of 1768, and the sumptuous residence, after three decades of neglect, is bustling with activ...
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Pontormo's Diary: What Did an Artist Eat in the 16th Century?

Anyone who opens the pages of the diary that Pontormo (Jacopo Carucci; Pontorme di Empoli, 1494 – Florence, 1557) kept during the final years of his life, from January 7, 1554, to October 23, 1556, is confronted with a unique text: not a narrat...
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The submerged village of Lake Vagli could resurface in 2028: President Giani's hypothesis

2028 could be the year when Fabbriche di Careggine—the medieval village submerged by the waters of Lake Vagli in Garfagnana, Tuscany—reemerges. The president of the Tuscany Region, Eugenio Giani, has finally indicated a possible date, revealing that ...
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Jacopo Ligozzi’s Absurd, Whimsical Glasses: Fantasy at the Medici Table

During the final decade of his long career in Florence, Jacopo Ligozzi—who was one of the most original painters active between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries—devoted himself to an undertaking that at first glance seems far remove...
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Inside the halls of Palazzo Staffetti Del Medico Sarteschi, the hidden heart of Carrara

To see the palace, you have to turn your back on the Duomo; if you want to see the Duomo, you have to forget about the palace. Two visions of stone and marble. The palace and the cathedral scrutinize and measure each other, standing face to face—for ...
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