Toscana
Crete Senesi, what to see: itinerary in 10 steps
By Redazione | 04/06/2023
What to see in the Crete Senesi: a 10-step itinerary of must-see villages, art and nature.
Finestre sull'Arte Travel Notebooks
Travel Notebooks is Finestre sull'Arte's new space for those who love to travel to discover art. Insights into little-known places, gems of Italian and foreign cultural heritage, works and sites to visit. Suggestions of new travel routes and itineraries under the banner of art, always with the quality and rigor that distinguish the proposal of Finestre sull'Arte.
Choose your destination:
Toscana
The doors of the Baptistery of Florence, Lorenzo Ghiberti's masterpiece
By Francesca Interguglielmi | 01/06/2023
They are perhaps the most famous doors in the history of art: the North Door and the Gates of Paradise, which Lorenzo Ghiberti executed for the Baptistery of Florence, testify to the transition from Late Gothic to Renaissance.
Umbria
Perugino in the Collegio del Cambio frescoes: the classical and Christian Renaissance
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 27/05/2023
A masterpiece by Perugino, the frescoes in the Sala delle Udienze in the Collegio del Cambioa in Perugia are one of the pinnacles of the Renaissance, especially for their mixture of classical and Christian themes.
Umbria
Perugino's Madonna of Consolation, the work the artist did not want to deliver
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 24/05/2023
The Madonna of the Confraternity of Consolation is one of the masterpieces of Perugino's maturity and hides a peculiar story: the confraternity that commissioned it did not have the money to finish paying for it, and the artist did not want to deliver it. But in the end everything was resolved.
Malta
Malta, itinerary in the footsteps of Caravaggio and the Order of the Knights, from Valletta to the Three Cities
By Redazione | 23/05/2023
From Valletta to the Three Cities: an itinerary in Malta in the footsteps of Caravaggio and the Order of the Knights. Among artistic and scenic masterpieces.
Umbria
A cornerstone of the young Perugino: the Farneto PietÃ
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 20/05/2023
A very rare work, made on canvas (in ancient times it was a gonfalon), the Pieta del Farneto is one of Perugino's early masterpieces, a cornerstone in his artistic career.
Liguria
Golfo dei Poeti, what to see: 10 villages not to be missed
By Redazione | 19/05/2023
What to see on the Gulf of Poets: an itinerary among 10 must-see villages.
Umbria
Perugino's Adoration of the Magi, the masterpiece with which the painter introduced himself to the world
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 17/05/2023
Perugino's Adoration of the Magi, preserved at the National Gallery of Umbria, was painted in the 1570s and is the artist's early masterpiece, the work with which he introduced himself to the world.
Toscana
Caravaggio's enigmatic Bacchus, the early masterpiece at the Uffizi.
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 13/05/2023
The Uffizi Bacchus is one of Caravaggio's most famous works, but it is also one of the most enigmatic. We know little about its history and its meaning still eludes us.
Lombardia
Brescia, what to see: 10 places with art
By Andrea Laratta | 01/05/2023
What to see in Brescia: 10 places in an itinerary for those who love art, history, and archaeology.
Lombardia
A Cremonese among the Venetians. The Madonna of Altobello Melone at the Carrara Academy.
By Federico Giannini | 30/04/2023
The Hall of the Veneti at the Carrara Academy in Bergamo preserves a youthful summit by Altobello Melone of Cremona: the Madonna and Child with St. John. That is why it is a singular work.
Umbria
Perugino in Umbria, what to see: 10 places that preserve his works
By Redazione | 29/04/2023
Where to see Perugino's works in Umbria: an itinerary to 10 places where his works are kept.
Campania
Naples, 10 unusual places off the beaten path of mass tourism
By Andrea Laratta | 28/04/2023
10 unusual places in Naples, off the beaten path of mass tourism: here are which ones to visit.
Toscana
Botticelli's Venus, a symbol of the Renaissance
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 27/04/2023
The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli is one of the most important and significant works of the Renaissance. An article to analyze the work in detail.
Veneto
Venice, 10 unusual places off the beaten path of mass tourism
By Andrea Laratta | 24/04/2023
What are the unusual and quiet places to see in Venice, outside of mass tourism? Here are 10 places to play it safe!
Toscana
Giovanni Pisano's Pistoia pulpit, an innovative masterpiece
By Francesca Interguglielmi | 19/04/2023
When Giovanni Pisano finished the Pistoia pulpit, still visible today in the church of Sant'Andrea, he presented an extremely innovative work. That is why it is a masterpiece.
Sicilia
Sicily of the Florios: what to see, 8 stops
By Andrea Laratta | 15/04/2023
What to see in the Sicily of the Florios: an itinerary in eight must-see stops.
Liguria
Genoa, 10 unusual places off the beaten path of mass tourism
By Andrea Laratta | 09/04/2023
10 unusual, little-known and off the beaten path places to see in Genoa: not just the Aquarium and Palazzo Ducale!
Liguria
Bernardo Strozzi's cook: a work of pilgrim ingenuity
By Giorgio Dellacasa | 08/04/2023
Palazzo Rosso in Genoa preserves one of Bernardo Strozzi's masterpieces: the "Cook," a painting that represents all the originality of 17th-century Genoese art.
Toscana
Ilaria del Carretto's monument, the beautiful tomb in Lucca Cathedral
By Ilaria Baratta | 05/04/2023
A masterpiece of proto-Renaissance sculpture, the tomb of Ilaria del Carretto fascinates with its beauty, with the story of the young and ill-fated wife of Paolo Guinigi, and with its singularity.
Emilia-Romagna
Rimini gets a makeover: the refurbishment of the City Museum
By Fabrizio Federici | 03/04/2023
Rimini does not only want to be a seaside or conference destination, but for some time now it has also been presenting itself as a major cultural destination. And now, after opening the Fellini Museum and PART, it is preparing to renovate the City Museum.
Lombardia
A sumptuous painting by Camillo Procaccini hidden in the heart of Milan: the Martyrdom of St. Theodore
By Federico Giannini | 02/04/2023
In the church of Santo Stefano Maggiore, a short walk from Milan Cathedral, the Trivulzio Chapel preserves a little-known work by Camillo Procaccini: the Martyrdom of St. Theodore. A masterpiece of Counter-Reformation painting.
Liguria
Tærra bōnn-a. Brief travel notes on the ceramics of Savona and Albissola.
By Federico Giannini | 26/03/2023
Between Savona and Albissola, pottery has a centuries-old tradition. And it has become part of a way of life. A journey through ceramics among works of art, museums, workshops, and pieces of literature.
Toscana
Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus. The story of a masterpiece of Mannerism.
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 23/03/2023
Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus is today recognized as one of the greatest masterpieces of Mannerism. It was, however, a very painful work, and a challenge for its author.
Umbria
Discovering Perugino's places: thematic itineraries
By Redazione | 22/03/2023
On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the death of Pietro Vannucci known as Perugino, several thematic itineraries will lead to the territories linked to Perugino, combining art, landscapes, villages and local artisan and food and wine traditions.
Austria
Klimt's Kiss, the idyll to which two lovers tenderly surrender themselves
By Ilaria Baratta | 17/03/2023
A masterpiece by Gustav Klimt, the Kiss, created in 1908, is one of the world's icons of art, as well as one of the most popular works with the public.
Emilia-Romagna
Wiligelmo's Genesis plates, in Modena the masterpiece of a terrible revolutionary
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 15/03/2023
The slabs with Wiligelmo's Stories of Genesis, embedded in the facade of Modena Cathedral, are a masterpiece of Romanesque sculpture, highly original: here's why.
Lombardia
10 unusual or little-known places to see in Milan
By Andrea Laratta | 14/03/2023
Unusual and little-known places in Milan: a tour of 10 different than usual stops in the Lombard capital.
Liguria
The Gallery of Modern Art in Genoa: among Risorgimento battles, landscapes and pointillism
By Jacopo Suggi | 13/03/2023
Among the jewels that can be visited in Genoa, a prominent place belongs to the Gallery of Modern Art, which holds important works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Umbria
Finestre sull'Arte presents a web-series on Perugino, with Jacopo Veneziani
By Redazione | 09/03/2023
Filming of "Pills of Perugino," a web-series by Finestre sull'Arte, featuring art historian and popularizer Jacopo Veneziani, dedicated to Perugino, has ended: ten episodes on as many works to discover the artist in and around Perugia.
Toscana
Simone Martini's Annunciation, a summit of the Sienese school.
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 08/03/2023
Considered one of the greatest masterpieces of the Sienese school, Simone Martini's Annunciation, executed with his brother-in-law Lippo Memmi and now housed in the Uffizi, represented a turning point in his style.
Lazio
Rome, 10 unusual places far from mass tourism
By Andrea Laratta | 05/03/2023
Looking for unusual places in Rome? Here are 10 artful stops away from mass tourism!
Toscana
Val d'Orcia, what to see. Itinerary in 10 stages
By Andrea Laratta | 20/02/2023
What to see in Val d'Orcia, Tuscany: a 10-step itinerary of must-see art and villages.
Toscana
Siena Cathedral: a masterpiece of Gothic architecture and its wonders
By Francesca Di Lupo | 13/02/2023
Siena Cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, gathers within its walls evidence of the work of some of the most brilliant medieval and Renaissance artists
Emilia-Romagna
From Nicola Pisano to Michelangelo in one monument. The Ark of San Domenico in Bologna
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 01/02/2023
A single monument encompassing five centuries of sculpture history: this is the Arca di San Domenico in Bologna, begun by Nicola Pisano and modified in various stages until the 18th century.
Toscana
The Museum of San Marco in Florence, the former convent of Beato Angelico
By Francesca Di Lupo | 31/01/2023
In the San Marco Museum complex in Florence, consisting of the monastery, library and basilica, there are countless masterpieces to discover, including Beato Angelico's fresco cycle.
Lazio
Lake Vico, what to see: 10 must-see stops
By Andrea Laratta | 29/01/2023
What to see on and around Lake Vico: 10 stops between nature and art, not to be missed.
Campania
The disjointed nonconformity of Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli's Annunciation
By Federico Giannini | 29/01/2023
Appreciated but also panned by critics, Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli's Annunciation, now at the National Museum of Capodimonte, is nonetheless a very fascinating painting, among the most unique products of the most intellectualistic Mannerism.
Lazio
The Crypta Balbi, a journey into the everyday life of ancient Rome
By Redazione | 28/01/2023
Among the world's first urban archaeology laboratories, Rome's Crypta Balbi is more than a museum: it is a journey into ancient Rome.
Toscana
Lucca, the cathedral of San Martino: a journey through architecture, painting and sculpture
By Francesca Di Lupo | 25/01/2023
The Cathedral of St. Martin in Lucca, with its centuries-old history behind it, becomes a place of preservation of wonderful works of art, from altarpieces to the highly venerated statue of the Holy Face.
Abruzzo
Majella Park, what to see: 10 stops among nature, history, art
By Andrea Laratta | 22/01/2023
What to see in Majella National Park: 10-step itinerary among nature, history and art.
Toscana
Rosso Fiorentino's Deposition: a chilling hallucination
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 21/01/2023
Preserved at the Pinacoteca Civica in Volterra, Rosso Fiorentino's Deposition is one of the most original, unprejudiced and bizarre works in art history-a "chilling hallucination," Evelina Borea called it.
Toscana
Florence, the Museo degli Innocenti and its unique history
By Francesca Di Lupo | 17/01/2023
The Museo degli Innocenti in Florence collects its works inside the Spedale degli Innocenti, a splendid Renaissance building designed by the great architect Filippo Brunelleschi.
Piemonte
Susa Valley, what to see: 10-stop itinerary not to be missed
By Redazione | 16/01/2023
What to see in the Susa Valley: a 10-stop itinerary not to be missed, including villages, castles, abbeys, parks.
Lazio
Villa Borghese, what to see: 10 stops in the green heart of Rome
By Andrea Laratta | 15/01/2023
What to see in Villa Borghese: a 10-stop itinerary in the green heart of Rome, the great park, between art and nature.
Lazio
The MAXXI in Rome, Art within Art.
By Francesca Di Lupo | 11/01/2023
In Rome, within the walls of the MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts, you can enjoy a unique experience by immersing yourself in its art and architecture collections.
Toscana
Monte Argentario, what to see. Itinerary in 10 stages
By Andrea Laratta | 06/01/2023
What to see on and around Monte Argentario: a 10-step itinerary of art, history and nature.
Abruzzo
Gran Sasso Park, what to see: 10 places not to be missed
By Andrea Laratta | 05/01/2023
What to see in Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park: the 10 places not to miss.
Toscana
The Museum of Ancient Ships in Pisa, one of the most important museums on the sea in antiquity in the world
By Leonardo Bison | 04/01/2023
Opened in 2019 after an exceptional discovery of 30 Roman boats, the Museum of Ancient Ships in Pisa is among the world's largest on the subject of the sea and navigation in antiquity.
Toscana
Baroque Pontremoli: the sites and masterpieces of the Pontremoli Baroque period
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 30/12/2022
Among the Italian capitals of the Baroque is a city where the concentration of palaces, churches and masterpieces of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is high: Pontremoli. A journey to discover the sites and major works of the Pontremoli Baroque.
Toscana
Campari Fountains: when sculpture lent itself to advertising
By Andrea Laratta | 29/12/2022
Beginning in 1931, Campari had an eccentric idea to advertise itself: to place Art Deco-style fountains (from which, of course, water came out, not Campari) in some tourist resorts. The project was entrusted to sculptor Giuseppe Gronchi: today only three remain.
Toscana
Vasari House in Arezzo: the history and new life of the museum
By Francesca Di Lupo | 27/12/2022
Casa Vasari, Giorgio Vasari's home in his Arezzo, now houses a remarkable picture gallery among the walls frescoed by the painter himself.
Lombardia
Lorenzo Lotto's unconventional Adoration: human and divine live in the humility of Christmas
By Ilaria Baratta | 24/12/2022
As extravagant as any of Lorenzo Lotto's paintings, his Adoration of the Shepherds preserved at the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia is one of the most unconventional nativities in art history. Here's why.
Emilia-Romagna
A nativity scene that served as a predella. Antonio Begarelli's masterpiece in Modena Cathedral.
By Federico Giannini | 23/12/2022
It is not easy to make a nativity scene, wrote Dino Buzzati in 1934. For confirmation, one would have to ask Antonio Begarelli, an early 16th-century sculptor and author of one of the most beautiful nativity scenes in the history of art: the one in Modena Cathedral, a terracotta masterpiece.
Emilia-Romagna
Guido Reni's Samson the Victorious, a symbol of ideal beauty
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 21/12/2022
Preserved at the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna, the Samson the Victorious is among Guido Reni's most famous works and a proud symbol of his Classical idealism.
Lazio
Centrale Montemartini, the most amazing archaeological museum in Rome (and beyond)
By Leonardo Bison | 20/12/2022
A power plant converted into a museum, Rome's Centrale Montemartini is one of Italy's most beautiful archaeological museums.
Umbria
The Farrattini Altarpiece, singular story of an early masterpiece by Federico Zuccari
By Federico Giannini | 18/12/2022
The Farrattini Altarpiece, a youthful masterpiece by Federico Zuccari (Sant'Angelo in Vado, 1539 - Ancona, 1609), can be admired today in the chapel of the same name in Amelia Cathedral, but this was not always the case: the work stayed away for a long time and has recently returned there, a rare occurrence. Moreover, we can see in it the self-portrait of Frederick as a young man.
Piemonte
Vigezzo Valley, what to see: 10-step itinerary
By Andrea Laratta | 17/12/2022
What to see in Vigezzo Valley: 10 places for an itinerary among nature, art, history.
Umbria
See Narni through the eyes of travelers and painters of the Grand Tour
By Federico Giannini | 16/12/2022
Between the 18th and 19th centuries there were many Grand Tour travelers and painters who, in words and pictures, described the wonders of Narni, one of Umbria's most beautiful towns. A journey of discovery of the town and its territory through the eyes of Corot, Addison and others.
Lombardia
Lake Pusiano, what to see: 5 stops between art and nature
By Andrea Laratta | 11/12/2022
What to see on Lake Pusiano in Brianza: 5-step itinerary between art and nature.
Toscana
Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci's Baptism of Christ: when pupil and master collaborate
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 11/12/2022
The Baptism of Christ by Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci, preserved in the Uffizi, gives a close look at the relationship between master and pupil.
Piemonte
Lake Mergozzo, what to see: 5-point itinerary
By Andrea Laratta | 10/12/2022
What to see on Lake Mergozzo: a 5-point itinerary among history, art and nature.
Campania
Capri, what to see: the 10 must-see stops on the island
By Andrea Laratta | 06/12/2022
What to see in Capri: the 10 must-see stops during a trip to the island.
Piemonte
For eighty cents! The hard work of the mondine in Angelo Morbelli's masterpiece
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 02/12/2022
"For Eighty Cents!" is one of Angelo Morbelli's masterpieces: preserved at the Borgogna Museum in Vercelli, it recounts the hard work of the mondine.
Toscana
Buti, the Tuscan oil village celebrated by D'Annunzio
By Andrea Laratta | 28/11/2022
What to see in Buti, in the Pisan Mountains, an ancient village famous for its oil but not only.
Emilia-Romagna
Arcadia in Painting. Donato Creti's pastoral fable at the Pinacoteca di Bologna.
By Federico Giannini | 27/11/2022
The Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna preserves one of Donato Creti's (Cremona, 1671 - Bologna, 1749) most beautiful works, the "Arcadia Scene," an idyllic landscape that gives shape to the dreams of early 18th-century literati.
Toscana
Paolo Uccello's Equestrian Monument to Giovanni Acuto, a symbol of the Renaissance
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 25/11/2022
The whole story of Paolo Uccello's Equestrian Monument to Giovanni Acuto, preserved in Florence Cathedral.
Piemonte
Lake Viverone, what to see. Itinerary between nature and history
By Andrea Laratta | 25/11/2022
What to see on Lake Viverone, Piedmont: a five-step itinerary between nature and history.
Toscana
Florence, Pitti Palace. History and masterpieces of the Florentine museum
By Redazione | 23/11/2022
Palazzo Pitti is the former Medici palace and is now an important museum home to remarkable masterpieces from Raphael to Caravaggio.
Toscana
Holy Island, what to see in the beautiful village between the Apuan Alps and Garfagnana
By Redazione | 13/11/2022
What to see in Isola Santa, the beautiful stone village nestled between the Apuan Alps and Garfagnana.
Austria
The places of Empress Sisi: an itinerary in her footsteps in Vienna
By Redazione | 09/11/2022
An itinerary to discover the places of Empress Elisabeth Amalia Eugenie of Wittelsbach, better known as Sisi, in the Austrian capital.
Lombardia
Cremona: an itinerary to discover the places of music
By Redazione | 05/11/2022
Cremona is considered the city of music and violin making. An itinerary to discover the places of music in and around the city.
Veneto
Berici Hills, what to see: itinerary in 10 stages
By Redazione | 03/11/2022
What to see in the Berici Hills, in the Palladian areas: a 10-stage itinerary of art and more.
Lazio
Lake Nemi, what to see: 5-step itinerary
By Redazione | 02/11/2022
What to see on Lake Nemi, among the Alban Hills: a five-step itinerary.
Lombardia
City Life, what to see in the modern heart of Milan: 10 stops
By Redazione | 01/11/2022
What to see in City Life, the modern heart of Milan: a 10-step itinerary among skyscrapers and contemporary art.
Lombardia
Lake Idro, what to see: 10 must-see stops
By Redazione | 23/10/2022
What to see on Lake Idro: 10 must-see stops for an itinerary among lake, mountains, villages, and art.
Calabria
Archaeological excavations in the library: the museum of the National Library of Cosenza
By Redazione | 18/10/2022
The uniqueness of the National Library of Cosenza lies in the fact that its location ... includes an archaeological trail: these are the excavations of the ancient capital of the Brettians and the Roman Consentia, which can be visited in the museum of the Calabrian library.
Austria
Viennale, Vienna's international film festival, kicks off. To be directed by Italian Eva Sangiorgi
By Redazione | 18/10/2022
From Oct. 20 to Nov. 1, 2022, Viennale - Vienna International Film Festival, Austria's most important international film festival, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, will be held in the Austrian capital. At the direction is the Italian Eva Sangiorgi.
Lombardia
Do you know how a violin is made? Visit the violin-making workshops of Cremona
By Redazione | 15/10/2022
Do you know how a violin is made and what woods are used to make it? You can find out in Cremonese violin-making workshops.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
San Daniele del Friuli, what to see: itinerary in 10 steps
By Redazione | 09/10/2022
What to see in San Daniele del Friuli, the land of San Daniele ham: a 10-step itinerary.
Toscana
The elegance of power. Bronzino's Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo.
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 09/10/2022
The portrait of Eleanor of Toledo with her son Giovanni, a Bronzino masterpiece preserved in the Uffizi, is one of the most famous portraits in history: an official portrait, an image of power, a testament to the refinement of the Medici court, and much more.
Fiandre
The KMSKA, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp: a new museum idea
By Francesca Anita Gigli | 06/10/2022
Reopened to the public on September 24, 2022 after ten years of closure for construction, KMSKA, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, was designed following an innovative and engaging idea of a "museum." Here is why and how it was renovated.
Piemonte
Guardabosone, village Museum alive. What to see in the ancient medieval village of Vercelli
By Redazione | 05/10/2022
On a scenic hillside between Valsesia and Valsessera, in the province of Vercelli, stands an ancient village with medieval origins: this is Guardabosone, known as the Museo vivo village. Here's why.
Toscana
Journey through the Unesco World Heritage Sites of Tuscany
By Redazione | 03/10/2022
Tuscany boasts eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the Italian region with the most variety. Eight sites to visit for eight different reasons, for an unforgettable journey through time, eras, masterpieces of art, and the beauty of the landscape.
Emilia-Romagna
Bologna in the Renaissance, what to see: a 9-step itinerary
By Redazione | 30/09/2022
What to see of Renaissance Bologna: a 9-step itinerary promoted by three museum institutions.
Lombardia
Mantua city of water, art and nature
By Redazione | 23/09/2022
Mantua city of water, art and nature. An itinerary to discover the many artistic and natural beauties of the city of the Gonzaga, to be experienced at any time of the year.
Veneto
The most extravagant child of the Renaissance: the Portrait of a Child by Giovan Francesco Caroto
By Ilaria Baratta | 17/09/2022
Giovan Francesco Caroto's Portrait of a Child is the most unconventional child portrait of the Renaissance, and it has become so famous that it has become a symbol of the Veronese Renaissance. Here is everything we know about this important work.
Piemonte
The Diocesan Museum of Cuneo turns 10 years old. Its history and what to see
By Redazione | 15/09/2022
The San Sebastiano Diocesan Museum in Cuneo is celebrating its first 10 years of operation with various initiatives in September. Here is its history, halls and works.
Valle d'Aosta
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Aosta Valley
By Redazione | 13/09/2022
Last leg of the journey to discover fantastic animals in Italian museums: today we discover the creatures of the Aosta Valley.
Austria
The Kunsthistorisches Museum: history and masterpieces of Vienna's most famous museum
By Redazione | 13/09/2022
Among the most important museums in the world, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna was built at the behest of Emperor Franz Joseph to house and display the imperial collections of the Habsburgs. History and masterpieces of the Viennese museum.
Lombardia
San Benedetto Po, a thousand-year-old village of Lower Mantua. Art, nature and enogastronomy
By Redazione | 12/09/2022
What to see in San Benedetto Po, a village with a thousand-year history in Basso Mantovano. An itinerary among art, nature and food and wine to discover its beauty.
Liguria
Gerard David's Our Lady of the Loaf: a mother feeding her child.
By Federico Giannini | 11/09/2022
Gerard David's Madonna of the Meal, of which seven versions are known (one is in Genoa, Palazzo Bianco), is a painting full of complex theological references, but at first it surprises us with the immediacy of its subject: a mother feeding her child.
Piemonte
All the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci at the Royal Library of Turin
By Redazione | 10/09/2022
The Royal Library of Turin holds an important nucleus of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings: there are 13 of them, starting with the most famous, the so-called "Self-Portrait," to which is added the Codex on the Flight of Birds. What are all these drawings doing in Turin? And what do they represent?
Piemonte
Five Varallo churches to visit with masterpieces by Gaudenzio Ferrari
By Redazione | 09/09/2022
In Varallo, in the province of Vercelli, there is not only the Sacro Monte and the Pinacoteca Civica to see, but it also offers its visitors churches and places of faith within which masterpieces, particularly by Gaudenzio Ferrari, are kept.
Spagna
The great masters of Spanish painting in the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville
By Jacopo Suggi | 07/09/2022
Andalusia has been one of Europe's most prolific and interesting centers of art history; a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville provides insight into the main protagonists and the course of Iberian art.
Trentino-Alto Adige
Animals and fantastic places in the museums of Italy: Trentino-South Tyrol
By Redazione | 06/09/2022
Nineteenth and penultimate leg of the journey to discover animals and fantastic places in Italian museums: we go today to Trentino-Alto Adige.
Friuli Venezia Giulia
Maniago's Museum of Craftsmanship and Cutlery: shared tradition becomes storytelling
By Redazione | 03/09/2022
Maniago is world famous for its production of knives and cutting implements. The Museum of the Art of Manufacture and Cutlery chronicles this ancient tradition whose roots date back to the mid-15th century.
Toscana
Mugello's museums, between tradition, arts and landscape
By Redazione | 02/09/2022
The museum system of Mugello, a Tuscan territory a few kilometers from Florence, is a widespread museum organized into four different thematic itineraries: ethnographic, artistic, naturalistic and archaeological. Here are what they are.
Sicilia
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Sicily
By Redazione | 30/08/2022
To Sicily for the third-to-last leg of our journey to discover animals and fantastic places in Italian museums.
Campania
Casertavecchia, what to see: eight-step itinerary
By Redazione | 29/08/2022
What to see in Casertavecchia, one of the most beautiful villages in southern Italy: an eight-step itinerary.
Lombardia
Oltrepò pavese, what to see: itinerary in 10 stages
By Redazione | 27/08/2022
What to see in Oltrepò pavese, land of wines, villages and castles: a 10-step itinerary.
Austria
Austria's most beautiful palaces and castles
By Redazione | 26/08/2022
Austria is rich in palaces and castles. Let's find out which are the most beautiful in the various regions of the country, starting with the capital.
Lazio
The autographs of St. Nilus, the 10th-century manuscripts of the founder of Grottaferrata Abbey
By Redazione | 25/08/2022
The Grottaferrata National Monument Library preserves the precious autographs of St. Nilus: three 10th-century codices written by the founder of the Abbey of St. Mary of Grottaferrata that have been part of the monastery's library holdings for more than a thousand years.
Umbria
Santa Maria della Vittoria in Gubbio: the church where St. Francis tamed the wolf
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 24/08/2022
In Gubbio, on the edge of a beautiful park, there is a small church, Santa Maria della Vittoria (or della Vittorina), famous because it is the place where St. Francis tamed the wolf of Gubbio. A place rich in art and suggestion.
Abruzzo
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Abruzzo
By Redazione | 23/08/2022
Stage number seventeen of the journey to discover fantastic animals in Italian museums: the itinerary takes us today to Abruzzo.
Toscana
Benvenuto Benvenuti's tower of Calafuria, the visionary evocation of an emotion
By Federico Giannini | 21/08/2022
Among the masterpieces of Benvenuto Benvenuti (Livorno, 1881 - 1959), "The Tower of Calafuria" at the Fattori Museum in Livorno is a splendid example of the poetics of this visionary artist, who transfigured memories of his emotions into dreamlike images.
Basilicata
Albert Friscia: in Potenza a twentieth-century artist to be rediscovered
By Redazione | 20/08/2022
The National Library in Potenza holds the most complete existing collection of the works of Albert Friscia, an Italian-American artist who was an important exponent of kinetic art, in contact with Burri, Afro, Matta and many other greats of the time. An artist to be rediscovered.
Lombardia
The ancient herbaria of the University Library of Pavia
By Redazione | 18/08/2022
The University Library of Pavia, since its foundation, has always had a strong scientific vocation: this is demonstrated by the numerous texts it preserves, including some precious and rare ancient and modern herbaria.
Calabria
The Riace Bronzes. History of the two masterpieces of Greek sculpture.
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 16/08/2022
The Riace Bronzes, found in the waters of Riace, Calabria, on August 16, 1972, are two masterpieces of fifth-century B.C.E. Greek sculpture: their entire history, possible identifications, what we know for sure about these two mysterious sculptures.
Toscana
All the sublime and beautiful in art: the Christ at the Sodom Column
By Federico Giannini | 14/08/2022
Among the pinnacles of the production of Giovanni Antonio Bazzi known as Sodoma (Vercelli, 1477-Siena, 1549), the Christ at the Column now in Siena's Pinacoteca Nazionale hides a singular story, but it was also considered one of the most beautiful images of its time.
Austria
The Mozarthaus: the only Viennese apartment in which Mozart lived that can still be visited
By Redazione | 12/08/2022
At No. 5 Domgasse in Vienna, you can visit the Mozarthaus, the only Viennese apartment of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that has been preserved to this day. A permanent museum tour was opened in 2006 to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth
Piemonte
Borromean Islands, what to see: the 5 must-see stops
By Redazione | 10/08/2022
What to see at the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore: the 5 must-see stops on a trip.
Sardegna
The Condaghe di San Pietro di Silki: a story, partly female, from medieval Sardinia
By Redazione | 10/08/2022
The Condaghe di San Pietro di Silki is a collection of deeds preserved at the University Library in Sassari: despite appearances, it is an extremely interesting manuscript for learning about medieval Sardinia. It also partly conceals an all-female story.
Sardegna
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Sardinia
By Redazione | 09/08/2022
Stage number fifteen on our journey to discover animals and fantastic places in Italian museums-we go to Sardinia today.
Puglia
Porto Cesareo, what to see: 5 places not to miss between sea and history
By Redazione | 08/08/2022
What to see in Porto Cesareo in Salento: 5 places not to miss among historical sites and a wonderful sea.
Lazio
The Casanatense Library's collection of scientific instruments.
By Redazione | 08/08/2022
The Casanatense Library in Rome has a valuable collection of scientific instruments that began to grow from the time of the institution's founding and was enriched over time, according to the idea that the library is also a museum of knowledge.
Umbria
The mystery of the Madonna and Child by Bartolomeo Caporali, a piece of Mantegna culture in Umbria
By Federico Giannini | 07/08/2022
Attributed to Bartolomeo Caporali, this Madonna and Child in a Wreath preserved at the National Gallery of Umbria in Perugia is not only a marvelous painting but also the most adherent work of Mantegna culture to be found in Umbria.
Toscana
Casentino forests, what to see: 10 places not to be missed
By Redazione | 07/08/2022
What to see in the Casentino Forests: 10 places not to miss on a trip to Casentino and Valtiberina between art and nature.
Emilia-Romagna
The autograph manuscript of Piero della Francesca's De Prospectiva Pingendi
By Redazione | 06/08/2022
The Palatina Library in Parma holds the only entirely autograph manuscript of Piero della Francesca's De Prospectiva Pingendi, the fundamental treatise on scientific perspective written by the great Tuscan painter.
Emilia-Romagna
Cattolica, what to see: not only sea, 8-step itinerary
By Redazione | 05/08/2022
What to see in Cattolica (Rimini): not only sea and beaches, but also history and culture. 8 places to see.
Lombardia
Val Brembana, what to see. A journey in 10 stages
By Redazione | 04/08/2022
What to see in Val Brembana: a 10-step sightseeing itinerary among villages, art and nature.
Emilia-Romagna
Colli Bolognesi, what to see: 10 must-see stops
By Redazione | 03/08/2022
What to see in the Bolognese Hills: 10 places not to be missed on an itinerary between art and nature.
Austria
The Esterházy family and their palace in Eisenstadt, a Baroque masterpiece of Austria
By Redazione | 02/08/2022
The Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt is the most important residence of the Esterházy family of the same name, among Hungary's oldest noble families. Today it is one of the most beautiful Baroque palaces in Austria and through its opulent rooms tells the story of this ancient lineage.
Toscana
Apuan Alps, what to see: 10 places not to miss
By Redazione | 02/08/2022
What to see in the Apuan Alps: 10 must-see places in the mountains in northern Tuscany.
Liguria
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Liguria
By Redazione | 02/08/2022
Fourteenth leg of our journey through Italian museums to discover fantastic animals and creatures: let's find out today what's hiding in Liguria.
Lombardia
The Manzonian fund of the Braidense National Library in Milan
By Redazione | 01/08/2022
The Braidense National Library in Milan preserves the Manzoni Fund, the collection of Alessandro Manzoni's autographs, rare editions, letters, objects and memorabilia: among the treasures are the early drafts of Promessi Sposi and Cinque Maggio.
San Marino
San Marino, what to see: 10 places not to miss in the Republic of Titan
By Redazione | 28/07/2022
What to see in San Marino: the 10 places to visit in and around the capital of the small Titan Republic.
Toscana
The Amiatine Bible, the oldest copy of the Scriptures in the Latin version by St. Jerome
By Redazione | 28/07/2022
The Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, which holds one of the largest collections of manuscripts in the world, preserves a precious treasure: the Amiatine Bible (7th-8th centuries), the world's oldest and most complete witness to the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Holy Scriptures performed by St. Jerome.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
On Pasolini's trail in Friuli, from Casarsa della Delizia to Grado
By Redazione | 28/07/2022
Itinerary in the footsteps of Pier Paolo Pasolini in Friuli-Venezia Giulia: some places are still intimately linked to the life and education of one of the greatest poets and intellectuals of the 20th century.
Calabria
Animals and fantastic places in the museums of Italy: Calabria
By Redazione | 26/07/2022
New stop on our journey among museums in Italy to discover fantastic animals and creatures: here's what we found in Calabria.
Austria
Not only Salzburg. Vienna also has a Mozart House.
By Redazione | 22/07/2022
Mozart's House is not only located in Salzburg. The famous composer also lived in Vienna and the largest, most distinguished and most expensive apartment Mozart ever lived in can still be visited.
Austria
The Vienna House of Music: an immersive and playful journey into the world of sound
By Redazione | 19/07/2022
In the center of Vienna, it is possible to visit the House of Music (Haus der Musik), a sound museum inside which visitors are invited on a journey into the world of music, including workshops and immersive experiences.
Marche
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Marche
By Redazione | 19/07/2022
Marche is the twelfth stop on our journey to discover fantastic animals and creatures in Italian museums. A project in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture.
Lazio
Piero di Cosimo's Magdalene, a lady in the guise of a saint
By Federico Giannini | 17/07/2022
The apex of Piero di Cosimo's (Florence, 1462 - 1522) production, the Magdalene of Palazzo Barberini is such a vivid and realistic image that we think, rather than of a saint, of a Florentine gentlewoman of the late 15th century.
Lazio
The erotic ceramics of the National Archaeological Museum in Tarquinia.
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 15/07/2022
The National Archaeological Museum in Tarquinia preserves an important nucleus of Attic ceramics with erotic subjects: here are the subjects and their meanings.
Veneto
Animals and fantastic places in the museums of Italy: Veneto
By Redazione | 12/07/2022
Eleventh leg of the journey to discover animals, creatures and fantastic places in Italian museums: today we go among the museums of Veneto.
Sicilia
Selinunte, what to see: 11 stops at the archaeological site
By Redazione | 12/07/2022
What to see in Selinunte: Here is an 11-stop must-see itinerary of the archaeological site, a piece of Greece in Sicily.
Puglia
Tremiti Islands, what to see: 7 places not to miss
By Redazione | 11/07/2022
What to see in the Tremiti Islands: not only sea, but also art and history in a 7-step itinerary.
Liguria
The versatile originality of Grechetto: the Nativity of St. Luke in Genoa
By Federico Giannini | 10/07/2022
The church of San Luca in Genoa preserves what many consider to be the greatest masterpiece of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione known as Il Grechetto (Genoa, 1609 - Mantua, 1664): the Nativity, a work that with great originality and inventiveness sums up all the painter's artistic interests.
Lombardia
Franciacorta, what to see: itinerary in 10 steps
By Redazione | 06/07/2022
What to see in Franciacorta: among vineyards, villages and art, a 10-step itinerary.
Basilicata
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Basilicata
By Redazione | 05/07/2022
Tenth leg of our journey through Italian museums to discover animals and fantastic places: we set off for Basilicata.
Umbria
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Umbria
By Redazione | 28/06/2022
The ninth leg of our trip to Italy to discover animals and fantastic places in museums, we travel to Umbria today to see what's hiding in the region's museums.
Toscana
Lunigiana stele statues, the ancient prehistoric sculptures of the Apuan Ligurians
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 28/06/2022
The Lunigiana stele statues are a very ancient artistic-religious expression of the peoples who inhabited these lands on the border between Tuscany and Liguria, produced between the 4th millennium and the 7th-6th centuries BC. An article to discover them in detail.
Campania
The Farnese Cup, the splendid ancient cameo from the National Archaeological Museum in Naples
By Redazione | 23/06/2022
The National Archaeological Museum in Naples preserves the Farnese Cup, one of its most fabulous objects. It is the largest hard stone vase worked in relief in the ancient world, and it is special because it was not found underground-it has passed from hand to hand for more than two thousand years.
Emilia-Romagna
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Emilia Romagna
By Redazione | 21/06/2022
The journey through Italy to discover animals and fantastic places in museums across the peninsula continues. Here we are in Emilia Romagna, the eighth stop on the itinerary.
Austria
Esterházy Palace and the St. Margarethen Quarry: two treasures of Burgenland, Austria
By Redazione | 20/06/2022
Eisenstadt, in the Burgenland region of Austria, is home to two outstanding treasures: the Esterházy Palace, one of the country's most beautiful Baroque castles, and the St. Margarethen Quarry, one of the oldest stone quarries in Europe.
Toscana
This is why the divine Michelangelo was named after him. A suggestion with Giuliano Amidei's triptych.
By Federico Giannini | 19/06/2022
In Michelangelo's birthplace in Caprese, Valtiberina, the room where the genius was given birth houses a triptych by Giuliano Amidei. A work that offers us a suggestion: the possible story of how Michelangelo's parents chose that unusual name for their son.
Liguria
Villa Durazzo in Santa Margherita Ligure, a splendid 17th-century Genoese mansion
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 17/06/2022
A splendid abode of summer pleasures: thus was born Villa Durazzo, a sumptuous residence in Santa Margherita Ligure, surrounded by a lush park, a very high and well-preserved testimony to the arts and patronage of 17th-century Genoa. And today a museum open to all.
Veneto
Soave, what to see: 8 places in the Veronese village
By Redazione | 17/06/2022
What to see in Soave, a village in the Verona area famous for its wine. An eight-stage itinerary through history and art.
Basilicata
Venosa, what to see: 10 places in the city of Horace
By Redazione | 12/06/2022
What to see in Venosa, the city of Horace, a center of ancient origins: a 10-step itinerary.
Emilia-Romagna
Giorgio Belloni's La Mareggiata, a verista with the soul of a poet
By Federico Giannini | 12/06/2022
A calm and sensitive painter, a verist with the soul of a poet, Giorgio Belloni was most famous for his original sea views. The "Mareggiata" in the Ricci Oddi Gallery in Piacenza is one of his finest masterpieces.
Piemonte
The castles of the Vercelli area, places of charm and history: which ones to see
By Redazione | 09/06/2022
The territory of Vercelli is dotted with ancient and wonderful castles, usually surrounded by nature. Here are which ones to see.
Lombardia
What a seventeenth-century Wunderkammer looked like: the Gonzaga's Metamorphosis Gallery
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 07/06/2022
In Mantua, at the Ducal Palace, a new exhibit has opened since April 2022 that evokes, in the Galleria delle Metamorfosi, the Wunderkammer of the Gonzaga, the chamber of wonders that was kept here. Here are the Naturalia and Mirabilia that the court of Mantua displayed and showed.
Toscana
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Tuscany
By Redazione | 07/06/2022
Sixth leg of the journey to discover fantastic animals in Italian museums: we go to Tuscany. Jellyfish, sphinxes, centaurs, assorted fantastic creatures await you in the region's museums!
Lazio
Vatican Museums, what to see: the museums of the popes in 10 steps
By Redazione | 06/06/2022
What to see at the Vatican Museums, the great museum complex of the popes: a 10-step itinerary.
Toscana
Erasing peace to spread its seeds. Pacem in Terris by Emilio Isgrò
By Federico Giannini | 05/06/2022
Made in 2019, Emilio Isgrò's "Pacem in Terris," kept at the Museum of the Battle and Anghiari, is a work that brings together John XXIII and Leonardo da Vinci to spread a high content of peace.
Lombardia
Titian's Averoldi Polyptych, "la migliore pictura ch'el facesse mai"
By Francesca Anita Gigli | 02/06/2022
In 1522, Titian delivered to the church of Santi Nazaro e Celso the Averoldi Polyptych, considered until then his best work. On its fifth centenary, a ramp has been set up in the collegiate church that allows the work to be viewed up close, as never before.
Calabria
Pollino Park, what to see: 10 stops among villages, art and nature
By Redazione | 02/06/2022
What to see in Pollino Park: a 10-step itinerary of villages, art and nature.
Molise
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Molise
By Redazione | 31/05/2022
Fifth leg of the journey through Italy's museums to discover animals and fantastic places: today it's Molise's turn. A project of Windows on Art in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture.
Lazio
Tuscia, what to see: journey in 10 must-see stops
By Redazione | 30/05/2022
What to see in Tuscia, between Viterbo and Tarquinia: a trip to 10 must-see places.
Verona
Giovan Francesco Caroto, a Holy Family between Leonardo and Michelangelo
By Federico Giannini | 29/05/2022
Painted with references to Leonardo and Michelangelo, Giovan Francesco Caroto's Holy Family preserved at the Museo di Castelvecchio in Verona is one of the key paintings in the Veronese artist's career, often likened to the manner of Giulio Romano.
Toscana
Chianti, what to see: 10 places not to miss
By Redazione | 26/05/2022
What to see in Chianti: not only wine, but splendid villages, art treasures, landscapes among the most beautiful in Italy. Here are 10 must-see places.
Lombardia
Lake Varese, what to see: 10 must-see places
By Redazione | 25/05/2022
What to see on Lake Varese: a ten-step itinerary among art, nature and villages.
Piemonte
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Piedmont
By Redazione | 24/05/2022
Sphinxes, sea monsters, winged horses and more: we discover the fantastic animals in Piedmont's museums.
Campania
Underground Naples: how to see it, what to see, which sites to visit
By Redazione | 23/05/2022
There is another Naples, an underground Naples made of tunnels, galleries, aqueducts, catacombs: here is what to see and how.
Toscana
Colonnata, what to see in the village of lard and marble
By Redazione | 22/05/2022
What to see in Colonnata, a village in the mountains of Carrara, near the marble quarries, famous for its lard.
Toscana
Pontormo's Deposition, a nonconformist masterpiece that breaks with tradition
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 18/05/2022
Pontormo's "Deposition," preserved in the church of Santa Felicita in Florence, is considered one of the founding masterpieces of Mannerism. It is certainly a nonconformist work that marks a clear departure from tradition.
Lazio
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Lazio
By Redazione | 17/05/2022
From Andersen's centaurs to Luca Longhi's unicorn, from the monsters of Bomarzo to the wolf-man of the Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia: a journey among the fantastic creatures of Lazio. A Windows on Art project in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture.
Toscana
Pino Pascali's Great Reptile, the dinosaur that invites us not to take ourselves too seriously
By Federico Giannini | 15/05/2022
A symbolic work of the twentieth century in Livorno, the Great Reptile by Pino Pascali (Bari, 1935 - Rome, 1968) is perhaps the best known of the Apulian artist's "fake sculptures." A work that obliterates the solemnity of sculpture and invites us not to take ourselves too seriously.
Toscana
The restoration of the monument to Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in Livorno
By Jacopo Suggi | 13/05/2022
Recently finished being restored, the monument to Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in Livorno, by Domenico Andrea Pellicca, is the oldest effigy of the Lorraine ruler and is one of the main monuments of the 18th century in Tuscany, a period that is experiencing a gradual rediscovery.
Piemonte
Vercelli, five beautiful parishes surrounded by rice fields
By Redazione | 12/05/2022
The Vercelli area is famous for rice cultivation: this activity has led, over the centuries, to the birth of many small rural villages, where ancient churches and parish churches stand. In this article we present five of them of great charm.
Campania
Animals and fantastic places in Italy's museums: Campania
By Redazione | 10/05/2022
From Naples to Paestum, Pompeii to the Reggia di Caserta: fantastic animals in Campania's museums.
Liguria
The Adoration of the Magi by Giovanni Bernardo Carbone, a Genoese between Van Dyck and Stomer
By Federico Giannini | 08/05/2022
The Adoration of the Magi is one of the masterpieces of Giovanni Bernardo Carbone (Genoa, 1614 - 1683), a Genoese painter who looked northward: the work, housed in the Museo dell'Accademia Ligustica, moves between the Flemish Antoon van Dyck and the Dutch Matthias Stomer.
Lombardia
Antonio Canova's Palamedes
By Elena Lissoni | 05/05/2022
A masterpiece by Antonio Canova completed in 1805, the Palamedes depicts the wisest of the Greek heroes who fought at Troy. Purchased by Count Giovanni Battista Sommariva, it has been at Villa Carlotta in Tremezzina since 1819.
Lombardia
Animals and fantastic places in the museums of Italy: Lombardy
By Redazione | 03/05/2022
The journey through animals and fantastic places in Italian museums begins. We start in Lombardy: from the Pinacoteca di Brera to the frescoes of Palazzo Teglio, from Palazzo Ducale in Mantua to the Certosa di Pavia.
Piemonte
Giuseppe Cominetti's Conquerors of the Sun, a hymn to work and hope
By Federico Giannini | 01/05/2022
It is titled "The Conquerors of the Sun" the most famous work by Giuseppe Cominetti, an original pointillist from Vercelli. A hymn to work, May Day, and hope for the future.
Calabria
From Capo Colonna to the National Archaeological Museum: a journey through ancient Crotone
By Andrea Laratta | 28/04/2022
Crotone is one of the oldest cities in Italy: here many relics of a past that saw its heyday in the era of Magna Graecia are preserved. A journey through the city's antiquities, from the Archaeological Park of Capo Colonna to the National Museum.
Lazio
Lake Turano, what to see: five-step itinerary
By Redazione | 19/04/2022
What to see on Lake Turano, Lazio, near Rieti: a five-stop itinerary not to be missed.
Lombardia
That resurrected Christ of Marco Basaiti ... sitting around.
By Federico Giannini | 17/04/2022
The Resurrected Christ by Marco Basaiti (Venice, c. 1470 - post 1530), kept at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan, has a peculiarity: from what we know, it is the first time it is depicted seated instead of standing. For what reason? Let's try to give us some answers.
Emilia-Romagna
The Castle Picture Gallery: the splendid collection of Michelangelo Poletti
By Tristana Chinni | 13/04/2022
Michelangelo Poletti's collection, with pieces between the late 15th century and the 18th century, stands out as a unicum on a private but also national level. It is on display for the first time to the general public in the exhibition La Quadreria del castello (Bologna, Palazzo Fava).
Sicilia
Val di Noto, what to see: 10 places not to be missed
By Redazione | 10/04/2022
What to see in Val di Noto: among baroque cities, an itinerary of ten must-see places.
Lombardia
San Pellegrino Terme, what to see: five-step itinerary
By Redazione | 09/04/2022
Not just water: San Pellegrino Terme is also known for its architectural gems. Here is what to see, five-step itinerary.
Calabria
Once upon a time, Zungri, the stone town in Calabria.
By Anna de Fazio Siciliano | 09/04/2022
In Calabria, near Vibo Valentia, there is a city of stone: it is Zungri, a jaw-dropping rock settlement whose origins are unclear. Scholars have long wondered about the origin of this singular place.
Piemonte
Bernardino Lanino, protagonist of the Piedmontese Renaissance. Works in Vercelli and Valsesia.
By Redazione | 07/04/2022
Bernardino Lanino was one of the leading Renaissance artists in Piedmont. Here is where to find his works in the area in an itinerary between Vercelli and Valsesia.
Turchia
Arslantepe, the archaeological site in Anatolia where the first state societies were born
By Michela Bassanello | 07/04/2022
Arslantepe, in Anatolia (eastern Turkey), is an important archaeological site located in the area of the Near East where the first state societies were born. It was here that the logic of paid labor began to take hold.
Liguria
Manfredino di Alberto's San Michele, a bridge between Liguria and Tuscany in the Middle Ages
By Federico Giannini | 03/04/2022
The Museo di Sant'Agostino in Genoa holds an important detached fresco by Manfredino d'Alberto, a St. Michael, a fragment of a fresco decoration (only one other piece survives) that helped spread Cimabue's ideas in Liguria.
Toscana
Bia de' Medici: history of the Bronzino portrait that still enchants audiences
By Ilaria Baratta | 02/04/2022
The portrait of Bia de' Medici, a masterpiece by Bronzino, is one of the Uffizi's most famous and appreciated works. Behind this painting, however, lies a sad story.
Lombardia
Villages on Lake Garda, which ones to see: 10-step itinerary
By Redazione | 31/03/2022
Which are the most beautiful villages on Lake Garda? Here are which ones to see: a 10-step itinerary in three regions.
Lazio
A garden in a first-century B.C.E. room: the viridarium of Livia at the National Roman Museum
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 30/03/2022
One of the pinnacles of ancient Roman painting is preserved at the National Roman Museum, in the Palazzo Massimo building: the viridarium of Livia, a splendid frescoed garden from 30-20 BC from the villa of Augustus' wife.
Toscana
Maremma, what to see: 10 villages not to be missed
By Redazione | 30/03/2022
What to see in Maremma: an itinerary through 10 must-see villages.
Lombardia
"La Madonnina quasi persiana" by Vitale degli Equi at the Poldi Pezzoli in Milan.
By Federico Giannini | 27/03/2022
The Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan holds one of Vitale degli Equi's (Bologna, documented from 1330 to 1359) best masterpieces, a Madonna and Child from his last phase. Roberto Longhi called it "the almost Persian Madonnina."
Toscana
Mount Amiata, what to see: itinerary in 10 steps
By Redazione | 26/03/2022
What to see in the lands of Mount Amiata: a 10-step itinerary in this lesser-known corner of Tuscany.
Marche
Conero, what to see: itinerary in 10 steps
By Redazione | 21/03/2022
What to see on the Conero Riviera: a 10-step itinerary of villages and art.
Toscana
San Miniato, what to see: 8 places not to be missed
By Redazione | 20/03/2022
What to see in San Miniato, one of the most beautiful cities in Tuscany: an itinerary of eight must-see places.
Umbria
"A gay painting": the Madonna of the Belvedere by Ottaviano Nelli.
By Francesca Interguglielmi | 19/03/2022
The Madonna of the Belvedere is considered the greatest masterpiece of Ottaviano Nelli, an important Umbrian painter of the early 15th century. The work had great success in the 19th century, and thanks to the 2021 exhibition on the painter, it can be said to have been rediscovered.
Lombardia
Valtellina, what to see: 10 places not to be missed
By Redazione | 18/03/2022
What to see in Valtellina: itinerary in 10 places among nature, villages and art.
Marche
Sibillini Mountains, what to see: 10 stops among villages, nature and art
By Redazione | 17/03/2022
What to see in the Sibillini Mountains, one of the most beautiful places in central Italy: a 10-stage journey through villages, nature, art.
Toscana
Getting to know the Etruscan princes. An itinerary from Chianti to Valdichiana
By Redazione | 14/03/2022
The province of Siena contains numerous records of the life of Etruscan princes. An itinerary in the museums of the area, from Chianti to Valdichiana via Val di Merse.
Sicilia
What to see in the Aeolian Islands. 10 must-see stops
By Redazione | 13/03/2022
Aeolian Islands, what to see: a 10-stop trip not to be missed among nature, museums and villages.
Piemonte
Palazzo Madama, Turin: a visit with new director Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa
By Anna de Fazio Siciliano | 12/03/2022
A visit to Palazzo Madama, Turin, with new director Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa declaring the thrust of his plan for the museum: to give the institution a new centrality.
Piemonte
Discovering the Mastallone Valley: what to see among art and culture
By Redazione | 12/03/2022
The Mastallone Valley is one of the three main valleys of Valsesia, along with Valgrande and Valsermenza. An itinerary of places to discover, including art and culture.
Emilia-Romagna
Po Delta, what to see: journey in 10 stages
By Redazione | 12/03/2022
What to see on the Po Delta: a journey to discover 10 must-see places.
Lazio
Lake Bracciano, what to see: 10 must-see stops
By Redazione | 11/03/2022
What to see on Lake Bracciano: a trip to 10 must-see places.
Campania
Paestum, what to see: the 8 must-see stops
By Redazione | 07/03/2022
What to see in Paestum: here are the 8 must-see stops during one's visit to the archaeological site.
Lombardia
Lake Iseo, what to see: 10 stops not to be missed
By Redazione | 06/03/2022
What to see on Lake Iseo: here are 10 places to visit, must-see stops during a stay.
Marche
The Ideal City of Urbino: one of the mysteries of the early Renaissance
By Ilaria Baratta | 06/03/2022
The Ideal City preserved at the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino is one of the most mysterious paintings of the Renaissance. Until March 27, 2022, it is placed in relation to the Danteum projects of Lingeri and Terragni in an exhibition in its museum.
Sicilia
Western Sicily, what to see: 10 towns and villages not to be missed
By Redazione | 05/03/2022
What to see in Western Sicily: 10 towns and villages to visit and not to be missed.
Puglia
Santa Maria di Leuca, what to see: 5 places not to miss
By Redazione | 04/03/2022
What to see in Santa Maria di Leuca: 5 places to visit at the tip of the boot.
Puglia
Salento, what to see: 10 places to visit in and around Lecce
By Redazione | 03/03/2022
What to see in Salento: here are 10 must-see places in and around Lecce.
Calabria
The silk road in Calabria: to San Floro, where worms are bred and silk is spun
By Anna de Fazio Siciliano | 03/03/2022
Calabria is the only region in Italy where the entire silk industry endures. In San Floro there is a museum that tells the story of silk spinning. And a group of young people opened a cooperative in 2014 that has restarted silkworm breeding and silk production.
Veneto
Euganean Hills, what to see: 10 places to visit
By Redazione | 01/03/2022
What to see in the Euganean Hills: 10 places to visit including villages, art, museums, castles, villas.
Campania
Cilento, what to see: 10 places not to be missed
By Redazione | 27/02/2022
What to see in Cilento: 10 places not to miss, including art, villages, nature, archaeological sites.
Puglia
Gargano, what to see: 10 places not to be missed
By Redazione | 25/02/2022
What to see in the Gargano: the Park, ancient churches, museums and more. 10 places not to be missed.
Ucraina
Ukraine has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Here are what they are
By Redazione | 24/02/2022
Ukraine is also a very important land in terms of culture. There are seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites in its territory. Here are what they are.
Lazio
Lake Bolsena, what to see: 10 places not to miss
By Redazione | 24/02/2022
What to see on Lake Bolsena, here are 10 places not to miss: villages, churches, museums, archaeological parks.
Sicilia
Modica, what to see: 10 places in the baroque city
By Redazione | 23/02/2022
What to see in Modica: 10 places not to miss while visiting the city, among the major Baroque centers of the Val di Noto.
Toscana
Perfumes, mirrors and jewelry: the beauty of the Etruscan woman in Siena's museums
By Redazione | 22/02/2022
Etruscan women loved to take care of their bodies and spent a lot of time making themselves beautiful. The archaeological museums of the Sienese Museums Foundation hold several objects that testify to this. Here is a Sienese itinerary to discover the beauty of the Etruscan woman.
Piemonte
Langhe, what to see: 10 destinations among ancient and contemporary art and landscapes
By Redazione | 21/02/2022
What to see in the Langhe: 10 destinations to compose a beautiful itinerary among ancient and contemporary art masterpieces, landscapes and lots of wine.
Toscana
Domenico Beccafumi's diverse Siena: the Trinity at the origins of Mannerism
By Federico Giannini | 20/02/2022
The Triptych of the Trinity, a masterpiece by Domenico Beccafumi (Monteaperti, 1486 Siena, 1551) kept at the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, is a work of great modernity that predates the great masterpieces of Mannerism by Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino by a decade or so.
Turchia
Journey to the Neolithic sites of Anatolia, among humanity's oldest temples
By Michela Bassanello | 19/02/2022
From Göbekli Tepe to Karahan Tepe in Anatolia (Turkey) there are some of the oldest temples of mankind. A journey of discovery of these Neolithic sites, inside a universe of immmages, icons, shapes, symbols.
Umbria
Lake Trasimeno, what to see: 10 places of art
By Redazione | 19/02/2022
What to see on Lake Trasimeno among villages, frescoed palaces, ancient churches, museums: 10 places not to be missed.
Piemonte
Lake Maggiore, what to see among art and villages: 10 places not to be missed
By Redazione | 18/02/2022
What to see on Lake Maggiore: here are ten places not to be missed. Castles, villas, wonderful villages, churches with art treasures.
Campania
What to see on the Amalfi Coast: 10 art treasures between Amalfi and Ravello
By Redazione | 17/02/2022
What to see on the Amalfi Coast if you are an art lover: not only sights and landscapes but treasures of great value.
Toscana
The least known and least visited part of the Uffizi. Here's what it is
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 16/02/2022
Thousands of people come to the Uffizi and skip a part of the museum that is, however, full of very interesting works. But it is also the least known and visited by the general public. Here is what it is, and what it contains.
Lombardia
What to see on Lake Como: 10 places among basilicas and art treasures
By Redazione | 16/02/2022
Lake Como is not only a glamorous desination but also a place rich in art. Here are 10 must-see stops to discover the artistic and cultural treasures of the Lario.
Lombardia
What to see on Lake Garda: 10 artful destinations
By Redazione | 15/02/2022
The shores of Lake Garda are rich in art: here are ten places to see on a trip.
Piemonte
Val Grande churches: four little-known art treasures in the Vercelli area
By Redazione | 12/02/2022
Churches in the Val Grande, the largest of the Valsesia valleys, preserve an extraordinary artistic heritage: here is an itinerary to discover four wonderful churches in the area.
Liguria
A Van Dyck in a small village in Liguria. The Crucifix of San Michele di Pagana
By Federico Giannini | 06/02/2022
The Crucifix by Antoon van Dyck (Antwerp, 1599-London, 1641) kept in the parish church of San Michele di Pagana, a small village in eastern Liguria, is one of only two public works by the Flemish artist in Italy, and is one of his most fascinating masterpieces.
Toscana
The Chapel of the Magi in the Medici Riccardi Palace in Florence, a masterpiece by Benozzo Gozzoli
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 05/02/2022
No one in Florence should miss the pleasure of a visit to Benozzo Gozzoli's Chapel of the Magi in Palazzo Medici Riccardi: Ernst Gombrich said so. It is one of the most spectacular and innovative rooms of the Renaissance. An exhibition through March 10, 2022 delves into it.
Toscana
Siena, an itinerary through the places of memory
By Redazione | 31/01/2022
From the Ghetto to the Rooms of Remembrance, from the Synagogue to the Stumbling Stones, in Siena an itinerary through the places of memory to remember the tragedy of the Holocaust as seen from the Tuscan city.
Liguria
The saints who covered the triptych: Carlo Braccesco at the Diocesan Museum of Spezia
By Federico Giannini | 30/01/2022
The Diocesan Museum of La Spezia houses a singular work by Carlo Braccesco, a great exponent of the Renaissance in Liguria: two fragments of a canvas that once covered the triptych the artist executed for the church of Sant'Andrea in Levanto.
Calabria
Sibari Park, an opportunity for Calabria. With interview with director Filippo Demma
By Anna de Fazio Siciliano | 27/01/2022
The Archaeological Park of Sibari and the Museum of the Sibaritide have since September 2020 a new director, Filippo Demma, who is working to revitalize the site. It can be an opportunity for all of Calabria. We look at it in this article, including an interview with the director.
Sicilia
For a rediscovery of the Renaissance in Sicily. Francesco Laurana between Palazzolo Acreide and the Val di Noto.
By Giacomo Montanari | 19/01/2022
Sicily is home to some of the most beautiful marbles of the 15th century: those of Francesco Laurana. Works that weave a profound dialogue with the paintings of Antonello da Messina.
Toscana
Real and fantastic animals in the lands of Siena: itinerary to discover the Sienese bestiary
By Redazione | 18/01/2022
In the lands of Siena it is possible to find depicted many species of animals in sculptures, paintings or in objects. An itinerary to discover an all-Sienese bestiary, on the trail of fantastic and non-fantastic animals from Prehistory to the present day.
Lazio
Jacopo Zucchi's The Kingdom of Amphitrite: a private painting featuring the cardinal's mistress
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 17/01/2022
An enigmatic and perturbing painting, Jacopo Zucchi's The Coral Fishery, also known as The Kingdom of Amphitrite, may have been a tribute by Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici to his mistress, Clelia Farnese.
Toscana
Verrocchio's "spectacular" Madonna of Santa Maria Nuova
By Federico Giannini | 16/01/2022
It is Verrocchio's only known terracotta Madonna: the Madonna of Santa Maria Nuova, housed in the Bargello Museum, is one of the most interesting works of his production.
Piemonte
Fondazione Cassa di Risparmi di Tortona: the museum that collects masterpieces of Divisionism
By Jacopo Suggi | 05/01/2022
In the Piedmont town of Tortona, a foundation has transformed a bank darte collection into Italy's leading museum and study center of Divisionism. A brief journey through its wonders.
Emilia-Romagna
The art of Giuseppe Zola, modern landscape painter in eighteenth-century Ferrara
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 29/12/2021
A modern and up-to-date artist, Giuseppe Zola is one of the masters of 18th-century landscape painting and is the subject of a long rediscovery whose most recent chapter is the exhibition "Paesi vaghissimi. Giuseppe Zola and Landscape Painting" at the BPER Banca Gallery in Modena.
Austria
Maria Lassnig's Self-Portrait narrated by Peter Assmann
By Redazione | 29/12/2021
Innsbruck Tiroler Landesmuseen director Peter Assmann discusses Maria Lassnig's Self-Portrait in a short video. The painting is kept at the Ferdinandeum and is about everyone's awareness of their own body.
Veneto
The "Domus" of Palazzo Grimani, one of the most spectacular places in Venice
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 27/12/2021
Publicly owned since 1981 and open since 2005, Palazzo Grimani, a hidden gem in the heart of Venice, was temporarily refitted in 2019 with much of the collection of Giovanni Grimani, the nobleman who set up his Antiquarium in the building's halls.
Lazio
Nativities in San Giuseppe dei Falegnami, two masterpieces saved after collapse
By Ilaria Baratta | 24/12/2021
On August 30, 2018, the collapse of the roof of the Church of St. Joseph of the Carpenters had led to fears of the worst for the works preserved inside. However, they were saved. And today it is possible to see two beautiful Nativities inside.
Austria
Peter Assmann narrates Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Josef Pembauer.
By Redazione | 19/12/2021
The director of the Tiroler Landesmuseen in Innsbruck, Peter Assmann, talks about Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Josef Pembauer in a short video. The painting is preserved in the Ferdinandeum.
Toscana
Giotto, the Santa Maria Novella Crucifix: the first real Christ on the Cross in Italian painting
By Francesca Interguglielmi | 18/12/2021
With the Crucifix of Santa Maria Novella, probably executed in the first half of the 1390s, Giotto achieved a real revolution: for the first time, the faithful saw a real body on the cross.
Toscana
An itinerary in Val d'Orcia in the footsteps of Pope Pius II, great humanist of the 15th century
By Redazione | 16/12/2021
An itinerary between Pienza and the Val d'Orcia in the footsteps of Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini, one of the greatest humanists of the 15th century.
Austria
Angelika Kauffmann's Self-Portrait in the words of the director of the Tiroler Landesmuseen
By Redazione | 11/12/2021
Director of the Tiroler Landesmuseen in Innsbruck, Peter Assmann, talks in a short video about Angelika Kauffmann's Self-Portrait preserved at the Ferdinandeum.
Toscana
Orazio Riminaldi's study for the Assumption, one of the most beautiful faces of the seventeenth century
By Federico Giannini | 05/12/2021
The study that Orazio Riminaldi (Pisa, 1593 - 1630) made for the Assumption painted in the dome of Pisa Cathedral is one of the most beautiful faces of the 17th century. A model, it has, however, the same force as a finished work.
Austria
Bernardo Strozzi's Portrait of Monteverdi narrated by the director of the Tiroler Landesmuseen
By Redazione | 05/12/2021
The director of the Tiroler Landesmuseen in Innsbruck, Peter Assmann, talks in a short video about the Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi made by Bernardo Strozzi and preserved in the Ferdinandeum.
Piemonte
The Varallo Art Gallery: the art of Valsesia from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century brought together in a museum
By Redazione | 03/12/2021
The Pinacoteca Civica di Varallo, located in the Palazzo dei Musei, is one of the first public art collections in Piedmont and holds masterpieces by artists such as Gaudenzio Ferrari, Tanzio da Varallo, Antonio Fontanesi and others. A short journey through the wonders of the museum.
Austria
Innsbruck city of art: 5 museums to learn about art in the capital of Tyrol
By Redazione | 01/12/2021
Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol and the fifth largest city in Austria, is also a wonderful city of art, full of magnificent artworks and monuments, as well as museums: in this itinerary we look at five museums to learn about all the art in Innsbruck.
Toscana
The fifteenth century in San Gimignano: works and artists between Florence and Siena
By Redazione | 30/11/2021
San Gimignano is known for its extraordinary history related to the 14th century, but even in the following century it experienced intense artistic activity: in the 15th century there were many artists, both Sienese and Florentine, active in the city. An itinerary to discover the fifteenth century in San Gimignano.
Umbria
Assisi, an itinerary in 15 works to learn about St. Francis through art
By Redazione | 29/11/2021
Discover the life and works of St. Francis through works of art: here is a 15-step itinerary, corresponding to as many works, to do in Assisi.
Liguria
Ludovico Mazzolino's Holy Family, between monkeys and classical architecture
By Federico Giannini | 28/11/2021
Kept at the Lia Museum (La Spezia), the "Holy Family with St. John and St. Elizabeth" is one of Ludovico Mazzolino's most interesting works, showing many of the typical features of his art.
Italia
Where to see Andrea Mantegna's works in Italy. Journey through 11 cities
By Redazione | 27/11/2021
There are many cities in Italy where you can see works by Andrea Mantegna, some of them still in the places for which they were intended. Here is a journey in 11 stages.
Lombardia
The Renaissance in Milan: 10 places to see in the city
By Redazione | 20/11/2021
Milan is one of the capitals of the Italian Renaissance, although it may not seem like it: here are 10 places to see to learn about Renaissance art in the center of the Lombard capital.
Toscana
10 quiet places to see in Florence off the beaten path of mass tourism
By Redazione | 13/11/2021
Are you in Florence but already tired of mass tourism? No problem: Here are 10 quiet places to see with no queues and little crowds, but plenty of masterpieces.
Piemonte
Sodom's only work in his hometown: the Holy Family in Vercelli
By Ilaria Baratta | 10/11/2021
Sodom was one of the major artists of the early 16th century: he was from Vercelli, but only one work, the Holy Family in the Borgogna Museum, is preserved in his hometown. We discuss it in this article.
Lombardia
10 little-known gems of art and history to see in and around Mantua
By Redazione | 09/11/2021
Mantua, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, is known for the Ducal Palace, Palazzo Te, and the Basilica of Sant'Andrea. But the city and province have true hidden, little-known and wonderful treasures to offer. We have chosen ten of them to suggest for a trip.
Marche
The tribulated history of the Mercatello Cross by Giovanni da Rimini, a masterpiece of the 14th century
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 01/11/2021
The Mercatello Cross is a decisive masterpiece by Giovanni da Rimini, thanks to which it has been possible to better reconstruct his figure. And it is also a work with a very tribulated history. We discover it in this article.
Toscana
Pietro Tacca's Four Moors in Livorno. Beauty enslaved
By Fabrizio Federici | 23/10/2021
The Four Moors of Livorno, a masterpiece by Pietro Tacca, are four large bronze statues depicting chained slaves: they were added to the monument to Ferdinand I de Medici to celebrate the power of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Knights of St. Stephen.
Trentino-Alto Adige
Art in Val di Fiemme: 10 places to see
By Redazione | 19/10/2021
Not only mountain tourism and winter sports: Val di Fiemme, in Trentino, is also an art destination. Here are 10 places to see to discover art in Val di Fiemme.
Piemonte
In the footsteps of Gaudenzio Ferrari, in Piedmont between Valduggia, Vercelli and Varallo
By Redazione | 18/10/2021
Gaudenzio Ferrari was one of the greatest 16th-century artists in northern Italy and is the true genius loci of the Vercelli area: some of his most important works are preserved in the Vercelli area. Here is an itinerary between Valduggia, Vercelli and Varallo to discover them.
Toscana
Art in Livorno: 10 places to visit in the city
By Redazione | 17/10/2021
Livorno, one of the least considered cities in Tuscany in terms of art, actually has a lot to offer those who love art and culture. Here are 10 places (among many) to visit.
Toscana
The Majesty of Duccio di Buoninsegna: a masterpiece of Italian art history
By Francesca Interguglielmi | 15/10/2021
Duccio di Buoninsegna's Maestà , a masterpiece preserved at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Siena, is one of the fundamental works of Italian art history. It was painted between 1308 (but possibly earlier) and 1311, and its delivery was also an event for Siena.
Trentino-Alto Adige
Among the mountains of Trentino, an enigmatic Last Supper: Ferdinando Valdambrini in Tiarno di Sotto
By Federico Giannini | 10/10/2021
The Last Supper in the church of San Bartolomeo in Tiarno di Sotto, Trentino, Italy, is to date the only work we know of by Ferdinando Valdambrini, an enigmatic seventeenth-century painter: this only known work of his, however, is a painting of great quality.
Austria
Alfons Walde, the Austrian painter who looked to Klimt and Schiele, and celebrated Kitzbühel
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 06/10/2021
Less famous than Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, by whom he was inspired, Alfons Walde is nonetheless one of the most interesting Austrian artists of the 20th century: he is most famous for fixing in the collective imagination the beauty of Kitzbühel and the Tyrolean Alps.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Discovering Friuli Venezia Giulia at low cost: the benefits of the FVGcard
By Redazione | 04/10/2021
The FVG card is a digital named card that allows free entry to affiliated facilities and special discounts to discover the beauty and treasures of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Available is the FVGcard 48h and the FVGcard 1 week or the FVGcard Aquileia. Discover the boasts
Piemonte
Three museums of different eras in one: the Leone Museum in Vercelli
By Ilaria Baratta | 01/10/2021
A sixteenth-century frescoed house, a sumptuous eighteenth-century palace, a twentieth-century sleeve: the Leone Museum in Vercelli merges three museums from different eras into one, in one decidedly fascinating journey. We find out in this article.
Austria
Vienna world music capital: walk in the footsteps of famous composers
By Redazione | 27/09/2021
Vienna is not only the capital of Austria but also the world capital of music: the greatest composers in history have lived and worked here, from Mozart to Beethoven, Schubert to Strauss. Here is an itinerary around the city to get to know them.
Emilia-Romagna
10 places to see in Parma during Mercanteinfiera
By Redazione | 22/09/2021
From October 2-10, 2021, Parma will host the 40th edition of Mercanteinfiera, the traditional event of antiques, collectibles and historical design. A chance to discover the city: here are 10 places not to be missed.
Emilia-Romagna
Alessandro Tiarini's Rinaldo e Armida: a translation in pictures by Torquato Tasso
By Federico Giannini | 19/09/2021
Alessandro Tiarini (Bologna, 1577 - 1668) was one of the most cultured painters of the early 17th century: a great reader, with the "Rinaldo e Armida" in the BPER Banca di Modena Collection he left us one of the most beautiful interpretations in painting of Torquato Tasso.
Lombardia
The Brera Nativity. A thoughtful painting by Correggio
By Giuseppe Adani, Renza Bolognesi | 18/09/2021
Correggio's Nativity conserved at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan is a youthful panel, extremely weighted in its multiple subjectivities, and capable of a pictorial texture rich in luminous drafts and countless particular passages.
Liguria
Art in the Cinque Terre: 10 places to see between Riomaggiore and Monterosso al Mare
By Redazione | 16/09/2021
The Cinque Terre are famous for their beautiful views, but there is also a lot of art in the five villages of eastern Liguria: here are 10 places to see!
Austria
Egon Schiele in Vienna: masterpieces to learn about the artist's torment
By Ilaria Baratta | 13/09/2021
What are the works through which one can best understand the torment of Egon Schiele, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century? It is difficult, but in this article we try to trace a path among some of his paintings preserved in Vienna.
Lombardia
A theater of feelings: the Lamentation over the Dead Christ in Lombard Renaissance sculpture
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 12/09/2021
Some of the major innovations that affected Lombard Renaissance sculpture centered around the iconographic theme of the Lamentation over the Dead Christ: this is how Lombard artists meditated on Donatello's lesson, giving rise to true theaters of feelings.
Lombardia
Ten archaeological areas and parks to see in Lombardy
By Redazione | 06/09/2021
From the Alps to the Po Valley, Lombardy is a region rich in archaeological sites. Here are ten areas and parks to see in the region for an archaeological itinerary.
Liguria
Bernardo Strozzi's Miracle of San Diego: one of the artist's "happiest creations"
By Federico Giannini | 05/09/2021
"Discovered" in a haphazard way in 1890, Bernardo Strozzi's Miracle of San Diego altarpiece was called by Gustavo Frizzoni one of the Genoese artist's "happiest creations." It is located in the Church of the Annunziata in Levanto.
Trentino-Alto Adige
Ledro Land Art, the forest in Trentino where art meets nature
By Ilaria Baratta | 04/09/2021
In the Ledro Valley, in a beautiful fir forest, the Ledro Land Art project, a park where art, made entirely from local natural materials, meets nature, has come to life a few years ago.
Piemonte
The Sacred Mount of Varallo: an exciting journey, between faith and great art
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 03/09/2021
Created as an "alternative" to the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the Sacred Mount of Varallo, founded in the late 15th century, is a path of 44 chapels that recreate the life of Jesus in an exciting and engaging way. Many great artists worked there.
Toscana
Between wind, saltiness and thoughts. The Libecciata of Giovanni Fattori
By Federico Giannini | 29/08/2021
Between 1880 and 1885, Giovanni Fattori (Livorno, 1825-Florence, 1908), painted one of his greatest masterpieces, the Libecciata, a work depicting a windy day on the Livorno coast at Antignano, ahead of the poetic landscape-state of mind.
Toscana
The 1401 competition that changed art history: the challenge between Ghiberti and Brunelleschi
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 28/08/2021
Conventionally, we make the Florentine Renaissance begin with the celebrated competition of 1401, when two of the greatest artists of the time, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, competed for the North Gate of the Baptistery of Florence. Here's how things went down.
Portogallo
Lisbon's Gulbenkian Museum, the gigantic collection of a political persecutor
By Jacopo Suggi | 25/08/2021
Lisbon's Gulbenkian Museum, which originated from the collection of tycoon Calouste Gulbenkian (who had to leave the Ottoman Empire at the time of the persecutions against the Armenians), has become an essential stop for art lovers visiting the Portuguese capital.
Marche
A summit of modernity by Orazio Gentileschi: the Vision of Francesca Romana
By Federico Giannini | 15/08/2021
The "Vision of Francesca Romana," a masterpiece that Orazio Gentileschi made between 1618 and 1620, highly praised by Roberto Longhi, is one of the pinnacles of the Pisan painter's production because it is an extraordinarily modern painting.
Liguria
The artist who discovered the Cinque Terre. Telemaco Signorini and Riomaggiore
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 14/08/2021
Telemaco Signorini discovered the village of Riomaggiore in 1860: the artist found it to be an isolated village that was "resistant to civilization." But he fell in love with it, returned there on several occasions and contributed, with his paintings, to its discovery to the world.
Veneto
The Nasci-Franzoia Collection: the world's largest public collection of Venetian glass.
By Leonardo Bison | 12/08/2021
In Feltre, the precious Nasci-Franzoia Collection was recently donated to the Carlo Rizzarda Gallery, making it the world's largest public collection of Venetian glass. Here is the history and masterpieces of this collection.
Portogallo
Portuguese larte at Lisbon's Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga amid Flemish and Italian cues
By Jacopo Suggi | 11/08/2021
It is one of the largest museums in Europe, but it is not as well known as many of its counterparts: it is Lisbon's Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, whose 70-room itinerary allows visitors to follow developments in Portuguese art history, but not only.
Liguria
Ludovico Brea's Ascension: the golden triumph of the Ligurian Renaissance
By Federico Giannini | 08/08/2021
Ludovico Brea was one of the greatest Renaissance artists in Liguria: his Ascension, a work purchased by the state in 2009 and now at the National Gallery of Palazzo Spinola, is his best known and most fascinating work.
Umbria
Luca Signorelli, the frescoes in the Chapel of San Brizio in Orvieto Cathedral.
By Francesco Federico Mancini | 05/08/2021
The frescoes that Luca Signorelli (Cortona, 1445/1450 - 1523) painted in Orvieto Cathedral, inside the Nova Chapel (or Chapel of San Brizio) are one of the pinnacles of Renaissance art: powerful work that still leaves open questions about its meaning.
Toscana
The Brancacci Chapel: the new look at painting.
By Francesca Interguglielmi | 29/07/2021
In Florence, the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel, a masterpiece by Masaccio and Masolino later completed by Filippino Lippi, are one of the pinnacles of all-time Italian art. Ingres had called them "the true cradle of painting."
Toscana
Beato Angelico's Annunciation of Cortona: divine light reflecting on earth
By Federico Giannini | 25/07/2021
It is one of the most beautiful annunciations by Beato Angelico (Giovanni da Fiesole, born Guido di Pietro; Vicchio, c. 1395 - Rome, 1455): the Annunciation of Cortona. Looking at it, one understands the nature of the great friar-painter's art.
Austria
Austria, Vorarlberg: between nature, art, music and sustainability
By Redazione | 23/07/2021
Vorarlberg, Austria's westernmost region, is known for its natural beauty, but not everyone knows that it is also a place of art: in fact, the stories of Franz Schubert and Angelika Kauffmann intersect here.
Liguria
Domenico Fiasella's St. Lazarus: a masterpiece of "Caravaggism revisited" to drive out the plague
By Federico Giannini | 18/07/2021
In 1616, Domenico Fiasella, one of the greatest artists of seventeenth-century Liguria, delivered to the hospital of San Lazzaro in Sarzana one of his masterpieces, the purpose of which was to invoke protection for the town.
Austria
Angelika Kauffmann, the story of a great artist and an emancipated woman
By Ilaria Baratta | 17/07/2021
Angelika Kauffmann was among the freest and most emancipated women of her time. She was able to build a career as an independent painter, met artists and men of letters, and, unusual for the time, had separation of property with her husband. Her story, with an itinerary through Austria.
Piemonte
A castle as big as a village: history of the Consortium Castle of Buronzo
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 14/07/2021
In Buronzo, in the Vercelli area, there is a rare example of a consortium castle: it is the Castle of Buronzo, a fortress complex as large as a village. Or a village that is shaped like a castle. Certainly an exceptional place, all to be discovered.
Inghilterra
All the creativity of human beings in one museum: the Victoria & Albert Museum in London
By Redazione | 11/07/2021
Can a single museum encapsulate all the creativity of human beings throughout five thousand years of history? That is precisely the goal of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Umbria
A delicate Umbrian artist of the 14th century: the Crucifixion of the Master of Fossa
By Federico Giannini | 11/07/2021
Fourteenth-century Umbrian painting is a painting done mostly by artists whose names we do not know today: one of these, as well as one of the best, is the Master of Fossa, who produced one of his greatest masterpieces with the Trevi Crucifixion.
Austria
Salzkammergut: Klimt's beloved landscapes in Austria, between art and nature
By Redazione | 03/07/2021
The Salzkammergut, the mountainous area of Austria where Gustav Klimt used to spend his summer stays, is a place rich in art and nature. Let's discover the landscapes of this area of the country.
Belgio
The Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent, the oldest museum in Belgium
By Redazione | 02/07/2021
The oldest museum in Belgium is the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent, Flanders: it was opened in the late 18th century and houses one of the country's most interesting art collections.
Spagna
The Prado in Madrid, the museum born from the collections of the kings of Spain
By Redazione | 01/07/2021
With more than three million visitors a year, the Prado Museum in Madrid is one of the world's most visited museums, home to a vast collection as well as the most important collection of Spanish art in existence.
Germania
The Pergamonmuseum in Berlin, the home of the great Pergamon altar
By Redazione | 30/06/2021
The Pergamonmuseum, at the center of Berlin's Museum Island, is one of the world's best-known museums of antiquities and home to the great and spectacular Pergamon altar, a masterpiece of Hellenistic art.
Veneto
When Palladio designed the Ponte Vecchio in Bassano.
By Redazione | 30/06/2021
Bassano's Ponte Vecchio, a symbol of the Venetian city, was destroyed several times in the past by floods of the Brenta River. After one of these, the greatest architect of the time, Andrea Palladio, was called in to rebuild it.
Emilia-Romagna
Modena, the taste of a court: Ludovico Lana, Jean Boulanger and the artists of Francis I
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 29/06/2021
In the middle years of the seventeenth century, the Modena of Francesco I d'Este was the center of a refined taste that attracted the best of the age to the city, and the duke's collection became the most prestigious in Italy. A story told by the exhibition "Baroque Correspondences" (BPER Banca Gallery).
Francia
A museum inside a station: the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the home of the Impressionists
By Redazione | 29/06/2021
The Musée d'Orsay in Paris is a unique museum housed inside a large former train station, but it is above all the home of the Impressionists: the world's most important collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art is here.
Paesi Bassi
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, a museum entirely dedicated to the work of Vincent van Gogh
By Redazione | 28/06/2021
It is among the most visited museums in the world and perhaps the most famous dedicated to a single artist: it is the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, home to the world's largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh.
Portogallo
The Castle of the Moors in Sintra, the ancient medieval fortress that dominates the Portuguese city
By Redazione | 27/06/2021
The Moors' Castle of Sintra, a fortress overlooking the Portuguese city near Lisbon, dates back to the time when the Arabs ruled the Iberian Peninsula and is now one of Portugal's most popular destinations.
Austria
Schoenbrunn Palace, the magnificent Habsburg residence from Eleanor Gonzaga to Sissi
By Redazione | 26/06/2021
Schoenbrunn Palace, the magnificent residence just outside the center of Vienna, is one of the symbols of the Habsburg monarchy with its five-hundred-year history.
Austria
Story of Emilie Flöge, Gustav Klimt's muse and successful entrepreneur
By Ilaria Baratta | 25/06/2021
Emilie Flöge, Gustav Klimt's muse (she may be the one who appears in the Kiss), was not only the painter's model but also a successful fashion entrepreneur and founder of a major atelier. Here is her story.
Croazia
Zagreb's amazing Archaeological Museum, home to the longest Etruscan text in existence
By Redazione | 25/06/2021
The Zagreb Archaeological Museum may be little known, but it is one of the most interesting archaeological institutes in Europe: it boasts a collection of 450,000 items including such extraordinary finds as the longest known Etruscan text, the Vučedol dove, and other works.
Svezia
Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Sweden's third largest museum, between Rubens and Van Gogh
By Redazione | 24/06/2021
The Göteborgs Konstmuseum is the third largest museum in Sweden and houses an extensive collection from the 15th century to the present, with masterpieces by Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Picasso and many Nordic artists.
Polonia
The Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, the home of Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine
By Redazione | 23/06/2021
The Czartoryski Museum in Kraków is probably the most famous museum in Poland: in fact, it is the institution that houses one of the great masterpieces of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine.
Stati Uniti
Visiting the USA and its museums: how to apply for ESTA?
By Redazione | 22/06/2021
To go to the U.S. and visit its cities and museums, you need to apply for ESTA in advance. What is it all about? Who has to apply for it? How quickly can it be obtained? All the info in this article.
Repubblica Ceca
Prague Castle, the ancient complex that is among the largest castles in the world
By Redazione | 22/06/2021
Prague Castle, located on a hill overlooking the capital of the Czech Republic, is famous for being one of the largest castles in the world. And today it is also a national symbol.
Russia
The Hermitage in St. Petersburg: five buildings, one of the world's largest art collections
By Redazione | 21/06/2021
The Hermitage in St. Petersburg is a museum that needs little introduction: spread over five buildings, it contains one of the world's largest art collections.
Galles
Cardiff Castle, where the Middle Ages and the 19th century coexist harmoniously
By Redazione | 20/06/2021
Cardiff Castle is the best-known monument in the capital of Wales: it is a fortress with two thousand years of history, and which also retains a sumptuous Victorian soul.
Slovacchia
The Slovenská Národná Galéria: a museum on several locations to tell the story of all Slovak art
By Redazione | 19/06/2021
Spread over several locations throughout the country, the Slovenská Národná Galéria, or Slovak National Gallery, is a very young but ambitious museum: it wants to tell the whole story of Slovakia's art and continue to follow its development.
Finlandia
A museum--in which 800 people live. Suomenlinna Fortress in Helsinki
By Redazione | 18/06/2021
The Suomenlinna Fortress in Helsinki, one of the symbols of Finland's capital, is much more than a collection of museums: it is a highly articulated complex as well as a living community inhabited by 800 people.
Veneto
Five spectacular churches to see for free in Venice
By Redazione | 17/06/2021
There are many churches in Venice where you pay a ticket to enter, but there are also some spectacular houses of worship, filled with masterpieces, where you can enter for free. Let's take a look at five of them!
Ungheria
The Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest, Hungary's largest art museum
By Redazione | 17/06/2021
The Szépművészeti Múzeum (Museum of Fine Arts) in Budapest is the largest art museum in Hungary: founded in 1896, it houses important masterpieces, including by Italian artists, from Raphael to Correggio.
Piemonte
Piedmont: 13 places to see in Stura Valley, including culture, art and nature
By Redazione | 16/06/2021
The Stura di Demonte Valley, nestled in the Alps, is one of the most beautiful places in Piedmont: let's take a look at 13 places to visit in this area of Piedmont for a journey through culture, art and nature.
Scozia
The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, the official residence of British kings in Scotland
By Redazione | 16/06/2021
Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the sovereigns of the United Kingdom during their stays in Scotland, and has long been the palace of Scottish kings. It has very ancient origins and today stands in its 17th-century appearance.
Macedonia del Nord
Stobi, the ancient capital of Macedonia Salutaris, an important Macedonian archaeological site
By Redazione | 15/06/2021
The city of Stobi, the ancient capital of the Roman province of Macedonia Salutaris, is one of the most important archaeological sites in North Macedonia.
Austria
Philippine Welser, story of the first woman to write a cookbook in the German area
By Ilaria Baratta | 15/06/2021
Philippine Welser's is a singular story: the morganatic wife of the governor of Tyrol, Ferdinand II of Habsburg, she received as a gift from him the Castle of Ambras and... was the first woman to write a cookbook in the German area.
Danimarca
The Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen: the largest art museum in Denmark
By Redazione | 14/06/2021
Denmark's largest art museum: the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen and its masterpieces, from Mantegna to Matisse, Titian to Picasso.
Emilia-Romagna
The works Dante saw in Ravenna, including Byzantine mosaics and masterpieces of the Giotto school
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 14/06/2021
What might Dante have seen in the last two years of his life when he was in Ravenna? And how might the works have inspired his Paradise? A Dante itinerary from the exhibition "Dante and the Arts at the Time of Exile."
Svizzera
The engaging Tinguely Museum in Basel, the institution where Jean Tinguely's work lives on
By Redazione | 13/06/2021
It is one of the most immersive museums there is: it is the Tinguely Museum in Basel, home to the world's most important collection of works by Jean Tinguely, the extraordinary kinetic artist who created works that could move on their own.
Austria
Ambras Castle in Innsbruck: the gift of Archduke Ferdinand II to his wife Philippine
By Redazione | 12/06/2021
Ambras Castle, located just outside Innsbruck, Austria, is one of the most sumptuous Habsburg residences and is also one of the oldest museums in the world. What's more, it was a gift from Archduke Ferdinand II to his wife Philippine Welser.
Turchia
Topkapı Palace, the huge palace of the Ottoman sultans in Istanbul
By Redazione | 12/06/2021
Topkapı Palace, which stands on the promontory overlooking Istanbul, is the former residence of the Ottoman sultans, but it is not like all the residences of European rulers: it is a very diverse and uneven complex.
Toscana
A journey into the sculpture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance: the Bargello Museum in Florence
By Redazione | 11/06/2021
Home to one of the world's most important collections of medieval and Renaissance sculpture, the National Museum of the Bargello in Florence is a must-see on a tour of the city.
Austria
Gustav Klimt, his passion for roses and the garden of his villa in Vienna
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 07/06/2021
The great Gustav Klimt nurtured a strong passion for roses: we find them in some of his important paintings and today we can still find them in the garden of the villa where he spent the last years of his life, now a visitable museum where his studio has also been reconstructed.
Piemonte
Vercelli turrita: journey through the ancient towers of the Piedmontese city
By Ilaria Baratta | 03/06/2021
In ancient times, Vercelli was a city full of towers, as an eighteenth-century print also attests: today only five remain, but they allow a journey into the past, to a city that no longer exists but has much to tell.
Piemonte
A new museum opens in Domodossola: the Gian Giacomo Galletti Civic Museums
By Redazione | 31/05/2021
A new museum opens in Domodossola on June 18, 2021: they are the Gian Giacomo Galletti Civic Museums, open to the public after decades of construction. They include a natural science museum, an archaeological museum, an art gallery, a sacred art section and a graphic art section.
Piemonte
A face impossible to forget. Tanzio da Varallo's David, between Testori and Rimbaud.
By Federico Giannini | 30/05/2021
Tanzio da Varallo's two Davids, preserved at the Pinacoteca Civica in Varallo, are among the most interesting images of early 17th-century art. Two unforgettable faces, according to Giovani Testori, who made them known and rediscovered.
Toscana
Giotto's work that Dante probably saw: the Badia Polyptych
By Ilaria Baratta | 29/05/2021
The Uffizi houses a masterpiece by Giotto, the Badia Polyptych, which Dante probably saw before he was exiled. It is one of the works in the exhibition "Dante. The Eyes and the Mind. The Arts at the Time of Exile."
Toscana
A treasure reunited. Siena rediscovers the Piccolomini Spannocchi collection, finally reunited
By Redazione | 24/05/2021
In Siena, after years of extensive research, the Piccolomini Spannocchi collection has finally been reunited. The 165 rediscovered paintings are reunited and are on permanent display in the Santa Maria della Scala complex.
Toscana
A brutal, verist Renaissance. Donatello's Magdalene
By Federico Giannini | 16/05/2021
Probably no other work of the Renaissance achieves the degree of verism of Donatello's Magdalene, one of the most singular works of the entire 15th century, capable even of provoking revulsion. A work that reveals the tragic side of the Renaissance.
Piemonte
Alexandria and Napoleon: the places that tell the story of the Battle of Marengo
By Redazione | 12/05/2021
The city of Alexandria and its surroundings are one of the most "Napoleonic" territories in Italy. Here are the places that tell of a crucial fact of Napoleon's epic, namely the Battle of Marengo on June 14, 1800.
Marche
A kilometer of mosaics: the artistic promenade of Marotta in the Marche region
By Redazione | 09/05/2021
For the past few years, the town of Marotta in the Marche region has kicked off a project to decorate its waterfront with mosaics, which already cover one kilometer of promenade. And in the coming months hundreds more meters will be added.
Lazio
Places of Mannerism in Tuscia and the Viterbo area: five sites to see in two days
By Redazione | 06/05/2021
Tuscia, or the territory that roughly corresponds to the current province of Viterbo, is home to several landmarks of Mannerism. Here are five sites to visit in two days.
Piemonte
Not just Tanzio: the variety of tradition in the Remogna Collection of the Varallo Art Gallery
By Redazione | 04/05/2021
In Varallo, in the province of Vercelli, the Pinacoteca di Varallo houses paintings from the important Remogna Collection: 105 works donated to the Palazzo dei Musei between 2002 and 2013. Masterpieces by artists such as Tanzio da Varallo, Camillo Procaccini, and Giambettino Cignaroli stand out.
Toscana
Uffizi, here are the new rooms of sixteenth-century Tuscany and Emilia: 129 works in 14 rooms
By Redazione | 03/05/2021
The Uffizi reopens to the public tomorrow, May 4, and features 14 new rooms, displaying 129 works from 16th-century Tuscany and Emilia: from Pontormo to Parmigianino, Rosso Fiorentino to Correggio, Andrea del Sarto to Bartolomeo Passerotti.
Lazio
"Almost as unbelievable as a church painting." Simon Vouet and his Saint Francis Tempted
By Federico Giannini | 02/05/2021
In 1624, for the Alaleoni Chapel in the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina in Rome, the Frenchman Simon Vouet (Paris, 1590 - 1649) painted one of the most daring and sensual paintings ever to enter a church: the Temptation of St. Francis.
Toscana
Giovanni Fattori and the peaks of Italian engraving
By Jacopo Suggi | 29/04/2021
Giovanni Fattori was also one of the greatest engravers of the 19th century, renewing a tradition now exhausted in Italy, but this output still remains little known today.
Liguria
Genoa's Doge's Chapel and its frescoes: a history of the city in pictures
By Giacomo Montanari | 24/04/2021
The most precious environment of the Ducal Palace in Genoa, the Doge's Chapel houses frescoes painted by 1655 by Giovanni Battista Carlone: the ideological center of power was enriched with paintings narrating some of the most significant episodes in the city's history.
Emilia-Romagna
Journey to Byzantine Ravenna: five places to see in two days
By Redazione | 22/04/2021
Windows on Art's travels continue: we discover Byzantine Ravenna through five must-see places to see in two days.
Lazio
When Sebastiano del Piombo allied with Michelangelo for a masterpiece: the Pieta of Viterbo
By Federico Giannini | 18/04/2021
After Raphael's successes in Rome, Michelangelo formed an alliance with Sebastiano del Piombo to offer clients a new product (Tuscan design and Venetian color) and counter his rival: the first fruit of the partnership was the Pietà of Viterbo.
Toscana
The Christ of Santi di Tito who rose twice
By Federico Giannini | 04/04/2021
The Resurrection by Santi di Tito (Florence, 1536 - 1603), a masterpiece preserved in the basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, is a work in which Christ is actually... resurrected twice.
Spagna
Essentiality and suffering: the beauty of Diego Velázquez's Christ on the Cross.
By Ilaria Baratta | 02/04/2021
Diego Velázquez's Christ on the Cross is one of the most extraordinary crucifixes in art history: the painter wanted to depict Christ as the most beautiful among men. And, in the twentieth century, Miguel de Unamuno dedicated a poem to the work.
Lombardia
The Leonardeschi: five museums in Milan to learn about their masterpieces
By Redazione | 01/04/2021
Five museums to see in two days in Milan to learn about the masterpieces of the Leonardeschi, the artists of Leonardo da Vinci's circle.
Toscana
A poem by Valentino Zeichen for Leonardo da Vinci's Annunciation.
By Federico Giannini | 28/03/2021
Valentino Zeichen, the great poet who died in 2016, dedicated many of his poems to works of art. Prominent among them are verses on the Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci, 1452 - Amboise, 1519).
Emilia-Romagna
A garland of primroses in stone: the Spring of Benedetto Antelami
By Federico Giannini | 21/03/2021
One of the earliest depictions of Spring that we have in Italy is the statue of the season that Benedetto Antelami (Val d'Intelvi, c. 1150 - Parma, c. 1230) made for the cycle of the Months, now in the Baptistery of Parma.
Toscana
Vincian Codicil No. 2. Leonardo's Adoration of the Magi: an unfinished work?
By Gigetta Dalli Regoli | 19/03/2021
We are used to thinking that Leonardo da Vinci interrupted the Uffizi's famous Adoration of the Magi before completing it. But what if he deliberately suspended it instead? The fascinating topic addressed in this article by Gigetta Dalli Regoli.
Emilia-Romagna
Properzia de' Rossi, first sculptor in the history of Europe: story of an enterprising woman
By Redazione | 08/03/2021
The Bolognese Properzia de' Rossi is remembered as the first sculptor in the history of Europe. She was a free woman, intrapredent, of strong and proud character, and in some ways even transgressive. We try to reconstruct her story in this article.
Piemonte
Journey through the treasures and masterpieces of Vercelli's museums
By Redazione | 08/03/2021
Vercelli's museums hold unexpected art treasures: from 19th-century works (from Morbelli to Induno, Favretto to D'Azeglio) to 16th-century Piedmontese masterpieces to cathedral treasures and archaeological finds. A journey through the city's museums.
Lombardia
Love, death and flowers. The brevity of life according to Genovesino
By Federico Giannini | 07/03/2021
Genovesino's (Luigi Miradori; Genoa?, c. 1605-1610-Cremona, 1656) vanitas are among the paintings that best convey to us the character of the 17th century. They include the masterpiece preserved at the Cremona Civic Museum.
Liguria
Ancient art in San Remo: five places to see in the city, in two days
By Redazione | 04/03/2021
Sanremo is not just about the Festival: here is an itinerary to discover unexpected and very interesting pieces of ancient art in the city, in a five-step itinerary to be completed in two days.
Lombardia
The emotion of winter in eight paintings: the "Winter Poem" by Vittore Grubicy
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 02/03/2021
Among the most important masterpieces of the landscape-state-of-mind genre in Italy, "Poema Invernale" is a cycle by Vittore Grubicy that in eight paintings restores to the viewer all the magic of winter.
Lazio
The wood gatherers who did not know they gave birth to the modern Italian landscape
By Federico Giannini | 28/02/2021
One of the seminal texts of modern Italian landscape painting is a work by Nino Costa (Giovanni Costa; Rome, 1826 - Marina di Pisa, 1903) that depicts some women gathering wood on the coast of Anzio.
Toscana
Duccio di Buoninsegna's Madonna Rucellai, the greatest panel painting of the 13th century
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 27/02/2021
Duccio di Buoninsegna's Madonna Rucellai is the largest painted panel of the 13th century that has come down to us. Kept in the Uffizi in the Hall of the Majesties, compared with Cimabue and Giotto, it is actually from the church of Santa Maria Novella. Let's find out about it in this article.
Lazio
The many lives of the Mausoleum of Augustus, from the dawn of the imperial age to the present day
By Claudia Farini | 26/02/2021
The whole history of the Mausoleum of Augustus, the great tomb of the first emperor, from antiquity to the present day.
Toscana
"The most beautiful panel by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in existence": the Madonna of Milk in Siena
By Federico Giannini | 21/02/2021
In 1879, a young Charles Fairfax Murray described it as the "most beautiful existing panel" by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (Siena, c. 1290 - 1348): it is the delicate Madonna del Latte of the Museo Diocesano in Siena, a highly original and innovative masterpiece.
Austria
The essence of winter in a painting: the Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
By Claudia Farini | 18/02/2021
Pieter Bruegel's "Hunters in the Snow" are one of the great Dutch painter's masterpieces: housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, they are part of a cycle of paintings dedicated to the months of the year. And they truly communicate the essence of winter.
Campania
Medieval art masterpieces on the Amalfi Coast: five places in two days
By Redazione | 11/02/2021
Discovering the medieval Amalfi Coast: five must-see places to see in and around Amalfi in a weekend.
Lombardia
Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space. The conquest of the fourth dimension
By Federico Giannini | 07/02/2021
Considered to be the greatest sculptural masterpiece of Umberto Boccioni (Reggio Calabria, 1882 - Verona, 1916), "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space," a work well known to all also because it was reproduced on Italy's 20 cents, is the sculpture that opened up contemporary art.
Lazio
Raphael's works in Rome: five places to see in two days
By Redazione | 04/02/2021
What are the works of Raphael to see in Rome? For our weekend travel format, let's find out what Urbinate's masterpieces to see in five places in the capital over two days.
Emilia-Romagna
Margaret of Austria: history of the duchess who founded the Farnese Palace in Piacenza
By Ilaria Baratta | 01/02/2021
Duchess of Parma and Piacenza between 1547 and 1586, Margaret of Austria, daughter of Emperor Charles V, initiated the construction of one of the most important buildings of the second half of the 16th century in Italy, the Palazzo Farnese in Piacenza, now home to the civic museums.
Marche
A masterpiece of sweetness and minuteness: Pinturicchio's Madonna of Peace
By Federico Giannini | 31/01/2021
Kept in the Pinacoteca Civica in San Severino Marche, the "Madonna of Peace" is one of the greatest masterpieces by Pinturicchio (Bernardino di Betto; Perugia, c. 1452-Siena, 1513) and is a fundamental text of the Umbrian Renaissance.
Sicilia
The spectacle of Baroque in Palermo: five churches to see in two days in the city
By Redazione | 28/01/2021
Five churches to see in two days in Palermo, so as not to miss the spectacle of Baroque art in the capital of Sicily.
Emilia-Romagna
Correggio: the legacy of the masters and the restlessness of supreme space
By Giuseppe Adani | 26/01/2021
"Dum venĕris": a fifth centenary of extraordinary value in Parma. That of the dome of San Giovanni Evangelista frescoed by Correggio.
Lazio
Pessimism and Optimism: the futurist clash of two forces in Giacomo Balla's masterpiece
By Federico Giannini | 24/01/2021
In 1923 Giacomo Balla (Turin, 1871 - Rome, 1958) painted the work that he considered one of his greatest masterpieces, Pessimism and Optimism. Here, the artist succeeded in summarizing his research by shaping the clash between two forces that govern the universe.
Emilia-Romagna
A beauty with hair that jokes with the wind: Leonardo da Vinci's Scapigliata
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 22/01/2021
Leonardo da Vinci's La Scapigliata, preserved at the National Gallery in Parma, is one of the best-known works by the great Tuscan artist. At the center of a very long attributive debate, the work is one of the symbols of female beauty in Leonardo.
Toscana
Five places in Tuscany to see lesser-known works by Michelangelo in two days
By Redazione | 21/01/2021
In this new installment of the "Five Places in Two Days" format, we discover five sites in Tuscany where you can admire some lesser-known masterpieces by the great Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Veneto
Between Venice and Northern Europe: Andrea Previtali's Crucifixion at the Gallerie dellAccademia
By Federico Giannini | 17/01/2021
The Crucifixion by Andrea Previtali (Berbenno?, 1470/1480 - Bergamo, 1528) is perhaps one of the most underrated paintings in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, but to admire it is to enter an extraordinary world, that of early 16th-century Venice.
Emilia-Romagna
The life of an extraordinary woman: Matilda of Canossa, her castles, her places
By Ilaria Baratta | 16/01/2021
In the mountains of Reggio Emilia there is an area known as "Terre di Canossa": this is the territory where the castles in which the life of Matilda of Canossa, one of the most extraordinary and influential women in all of history, unfolded. We retrace her story through art and monuments.
Umbria
Dante and Orvieto, from Luca Signorelli to Federico Zuccari
By Alessandra Cannistrà | 15/01/2021
One connection between Dante, Luca Signorelli and Federico Zuccari comes through Orvieto. Here, Signorelli painted the spectacular frescoes in the Chapel of San Brizio that shape Dante's imagery. And they inspired Federico Zuccari's own visions.
Emilia-Romagna
Works by Parmigianino in five places in and around Parma to see in two days
By Redazione | 14/01/2021
An itinerary in and around Parma, to be accomplished in two days, to discover the works of Parmigianino in the city and its territory.
Veneto
A Holy Family by the "Caravaggio of Verona": the mysterious Pietro Bernardi
By Federico Giannini | 10/01/2021
Pietro Bernardi (Verona, 1580/1590 - 1623) is a virtually unknown artist today, but he was one of the first Caravaggesque painters in Italy. No one in Verona was closer to Caravaggio than he was. Why has he been forgotten? Let's find out his story with one of his beautiful paintings.
Lombardia
Five places to learn about Giulio Romano in and around Mantua in two days
By Redazione | 09/01/2021
An itinerary for discovering Giulio Romano in Mantua, in five of the city's best-known places that are inextricably linked to the name of the great 16th-century artist.
Lombardia
A hymn to light: Gaetano Previati's "Dance of the Hours," between music and poetry
By Federico Giannini | 03/01/2021
First exhibited at the 1899 Venice Biennale, Dance of the Hours is one of Gaetano Previati's (Ferrara, 1852 - Lavagna, 1920) masterpieces. It was not immediately understood by critics: instead, today we can consider it a manifesto of Italian Symbolism and Divisionism.
Svizzera
Canton Ticino was among the avant-garde of the 20th century. Should the history of abstract art be rewritten?
By Anna de Fazio Siciliano | 30/12/2020
In the early twentieth century, the unsuspected Canton Ticino represented one of the venues of the art avant-garde, on par with Paris, Zurich, and New York. Is the history of abstract art to be rewritten? Here is what happened in those years in this corner of Switzerland.
Toscana
Volterra's Amphitheater: discoveries from the most astounding archaeological excavation of 2020
By Redazione | 29/12/2020
It will be remembered as the archaeological excavation of 2020: the Volterra Amphitheater, discovered in 2015, has been thoroughly excavated since 2019 and this year revealed outstanding discoveries.
Emilia-Romagna
A great temple of seventeenth-century art in Emilia: the Madonna della Ghiara in Reggio Emilia
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 28/12/2020
On 1619, the faithful entered the temple of the Madonna della Ghiara in Reggio Emilia for the first time: an extraordinary building of worship, a summa of the great seventeenth century in Emilia, full of masterpieces.
Liguria
An image of the mind. Luca Cambiaso's Madonna of the Candle, anticipator of Caravaggio?
By Federico Giannini | 27/12/2020
Beginning around 1570 the art of Genoese artist Luca Cambiaso (Moneglia, 1527 - El Escorial, 1585) was populated with nocturnes that have been seen as anticipations of Caravaggio's art. Among them is the famous Madonna of the Candle.
Spagna
An intimate and collected nativity: the Nativity of Federico Barocci
By Ilaria Baratta | 24/12/2020
Among the best-known Nativity images of the 16th century is surely the canvas that Federico Barocci executed for the Duke of Urbino, Francesco Maria II della Rovere. One of the most intimate and collected nativities in the history of art.
Emilia-Romagna
Forli, art walks, from Canova to Palmezzano to the greats of the 20th century
By Lorenza Montanari | 23/12/2020
Forli's museums hold many masterpieces: from Canova's Hebe to the altarpieces of Marco Palmezzano to the greats of the 20th century such as Depero, Balla, Wildt, Morandi, and Capogrossi. An itinerary to discover the city's collections.
Ucraina
A small jewel of a museum in faraway Odessa: the Museum of Western and Oriental Art
By Nataliia Chechykova | 15/12/2020
Short trip to the 17th- and 18th-century Italian collection of the Odessa Museum of Western and Oriental Art, one of the most important museums in Ukraine.
Piemonte
The Vercelli Book: the book no one could read
By Timoty Leonardi | 14/12/2020
The Vercelli Chapter Library holds a mysterious medieval manuscript, the Vercelli Book, dating back to the 10th century: we do not know who its first possessor was or how it came to Piedmont, but we do know that this story originated in England.
Toscana
Masaccio and Masolino's St. Anna Metterza: two eras that meet in one table
By Federico Giannini | 13/12/2020
The St. Anne Metterza, preserved in the Uffizi, is a work made together by Masaccio and Masolino: a cornerstone of Italian art history, it is a painting that encapsulates the meeting (and the gap) between two eras.
Lazio
Bernini's dark years and his revenge with marble: the Truth of the Borghese Gallery
By Claudia Farini | 12/12/2020
After the disappointment of St. Peter's bell towers, Bernini entrusted his revenge to marble and sculpted one of his greatest masterpieces, the "Truth Unveiled by Time."
Emilia-Romagna
An itinerary of restoration: from the Abbey of the Mount to the Municipal Art Gallery of Cesena
By Redazione | 11/12/2020
Three important paintings, one by Francesco Francia and two by Giovanni Battista Salvi known as Sassoferrato, have been restored in Cesena. Here is an itinerary to discover them in the city.
Emilia-Romagna
Benedetto Antelami's masterpieces on the facade of the Parma Baptistery: the zooforo and portals
By Ilaria Baratta | 10/12/2020
The Baptistery of Parma, built between 1196 and 1216, has two masterpieces by Benedetto Antelami on its facade: the zooforo and sculpted portals.
Liguria
Antonio Canova's La Maddalena: from speed of thought to formal elegance
By Giorgio Dellacasa | 05/12/2020
Preserved in the Palazzo Bianco museum in Genoa, the Penitent Magdalene is a fascinating early masterpiece by Canova, from which we can already sense the great master's flair.
Piemonte
SantAndrea in Vercelli: first place of encounter between Lombard Romanesque and French Gothic
By Redazione | 01/12/2020
The basilica of St. Andrew in Vercelli is one of the earliest Gothic churches in Italy and a symbolic monument of a city that was among the most prosperous in the 13th century.
Emilia-Romagna
From Guercino to medieval sculptural apparatus: the treasures of Piacenza Cathedral
By Ilaria Baratta | 28/11/2020
The Cathedral of Piacenza is not only a place of faith, but also a treasure trove of art: from the frescoes by Guercino and Ludovico Carracci to the sculptural apparatus, from the splendid gilded polyptych to the panels of the paraments.
Liguria
Baroque places in Genoa: the conquest of an infinite space
By Giorgio Dellacasa | 26/11/2020
How did the Baroque come to Genoa? What early examples of the new style can be seen in the city? A journey through some of the most extraordinary sites of seventeenth-century Genoa.
Svizzera
Zentrum Paul Klee, the world's largest collection of the artist in Renzo Piano's Three Hills
By Redazione | 25/11/2020
Bern is home to the museum that brings together the world's largest collection of Paul Klee's works-a cultural center suitable for all ages nestled in an agricultural area.
Toscana
Coreglia, the ancient village of emigrants who brought plaster figurines to the world
By Redazione | 20/11/2020
The village of Coreglia Antelminelli in the Middle Serchio Valley is famous for two things: plaster figurines and emigration. And they are closely linked. A journey through the village that has taken the "figurines" created by its inhabitants into the world.
Emilia-Romagna
Our Lady of Simon of the Crucifixes and a flight of fancy between the pages of Marco Santagata
By Federico Giannini | 15/11/2020
What face could the Countess of Cinìn, protagonist of Marco Santagata's novel "The Master of the Pale Saints," have? With a lot of imagination one could imagine something very similar to the Madonna of Simone dei Crocifissi (Simone di Filippo Benvenuti; Bologna, c. 1330 - 1399) preserved in the Galleria Estense in Modena.
Toscana
An extraordinary episode of Franciscan art in Siena: the cycle of Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti
By Francesca Interguglielmi | 12/11/2020
Discovered in the mid-19th century, the frescoes by Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the Basilica of San Francesco in Siena are a singular episode of Franciscan art in the city, described according to a particular iconography.
Emilia-Romagna
The mental world of Cosmè Tura: the two tondi of san Maurelio at the Pinacoteca di Ferrara
By Federico Giannini | 08/11/2020
The two tondi with stories of St. Maurelius that are preserved in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Ferrara are among Cosmè Tura's most interesting achievements as well as among the very rare examples of his painting still found in his hometown.
Svizzera
The collector's apartment: the faithful reconstruction of the MAMCO in Geneva
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 07/11/2020
At MAMCO in Geneva since 1994 is the faithful reconstruction of the apartment of critic and collector Ghislain Mollet-Viéville, which transports a piece of the fervent Paris of the 1970s to Switzerland.
Calabria
Theft of rights, theft of works. Mattia Preti in Taverna, an unpublished account.
By Anna de Fazio Siciliano | 30/10/2020
In Italy, great stories of culture can find a place even in a small, seemingly marginal village: in this case, Taverna, Calabria. Where in 1970 there was a massive theft of works by Mattia Preti, one of the greatest Italian artists of the 17th century. An event that still makes us reflect on the importance of art in so-called minor places.
Toscana
As in a fifteenth-century painting: Cetona, the village beloved by Berenson
By Redazione | 29/10/2020
The great Bernard Berenson said that there are only two places in Italy that have preserved the spirit of the 15th century: Asolo in the Veneto region and Cetona in Tuscany. Cetona, in particular, is in an area that has changed little over time. And the same is true of the village.
Toscana
Casole d'Elsa, ten centuries of art in the hills of Siena
By Redazione | 22/10/2020
The journey through the villages of Tuscany continues with Casole d'Elsa, a place where art and nature have been inextricably linked for centuries.
Toscana
Michelangelo's early masterpieces: the Madonna della Scala and the Battle of the Centaurs
By Federico Giannini, Ilaria Baratta | 20/10/2020
The Madonna of the Stairs and the Battle of the Centaurs are the masterpieces of the adolescent Michelangelo, created when the artist was just 15 years old or so. But already from these works the personality of an independent genius emerges.
Toscana
A trek through art, nature and foliage in the Casentino Forests towards Camaldoli
By Redazione | 19/10/2020
A trekking route just right for autumn and suitable for those who love both art and nature: the Casentino Forests and the monastery and hermitage of Camaldoli.
Malta