In the far southeast of Rome is a park with a long and watery history, Joe Gartman writes… Images by Patricia Gartman There is a place, not far from the old Via Appia, where you can step outside of Rome without leaving the city. You can almost step outside of time too, into a landscape […]
You could travel the world’s museums to see the works of Antonio Canova, or you could go to Possagno, Joe Gartman writes… Images by Patricia Gartman There’s an elegantly mirrored and frescoed room in Venice’s Correr Museum, just off Piazza San Marco. I suppose you’d call the décor neoclassical: the mirrors are square, the frescoes […]
If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer (Exodus 22:25) Photos by Patricia Gartman unless otherwise stated FAST CULTURE Let us carefully tiptoe with Dante Alighieri, indisputably the Italian language’s greatest poet, as he descends reluctantly yet resolutely into […]
Vide ‘o mare, quant’è bello! Spira tantu sentimento… Look at the sea, how beautiful it is! It brings out many feelings. Image: Vesuvius across the Bay of Naples from Sorrento by Patricia Gartman The Circumvesuviana commuter train between Naples and Sorrento is a somewhat ramshackle affair. It’s often crowded and always noisy, and it seems […]
Just outside Turin stands a pleasure place built for Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, who commissioned it as a hunting lodge. Image: Facade of the Palazzina di Caccia by Patricial Gartman It all started with Humbert the White-Handed. I don’t know how he got his nickname, but I’d guess that his hands, though white, weren’t […]
With its iconic bridge and elegant architecture, the Rialto district of Venice is steeped in history. Joe Gartman tells the story of Fondaco dei Tedeschi with images by Patricia Gartman Sunset view over the Rialto Bridge to Grand Canal from the roof of Fondaco dei Tedeschi It may be on a spring day, when the […]
The sculptor and architect created many of Rome’s most iconic sights – you can hardly take a selfie without him bombing you. Words by Joe Gartman, photos by Patricia Gartman Let us imagine that you are standing in Piazza Barberini, in Rome, gazing at the famous Triton fountain. Triton, the giant son of Poseidon […]
We are still making discoveries at Herculaneum, and computer technology may be about to reveal something very special, says Joe Gartman… Photos by Patricia Gartman It’s been ten years or more since I saw the little, old-fashioned wooden display cases sitting in a deserted room of the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. When I […]
On a hilltop in Sicily stand the ruins of what was once part of a great city – Joe Gartman explores the Valley of the Temples… Photos by Patricia Gartman It’s called the Valley of the Temples, though it isn’t really a valley at all. It’s a flat ridge on the outskirts of Agrigento, […]
Ovid was born in Sulmona, in the province of L’Aquila, but was destined to die far from home. Joe Gartman tells his story… Photos by Patricia Gartman unless otherwise stated In December of the year 8 AD, a Roman citizen named Publius Ovidius Naso left Rome on a long journey. After enduring ferocious storms […]