Italy’s five best fountains

Trevi fountain, Rome, Italy

Italy’s public fountains speak of the nation’s history, culture and art. We’ve picked five of our favourites. What do you think? Have we missed any? Photos by iStock 1 The Trevi Fountain is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome and attracts millions of tourists every year. Clemens XII commissioned it in 1732, and it was christened […]

Five of Italy’s top art archives

Uffizi, Florence, Italy

Here are a few of the very best places to get your fix of world-class art next time you’re in Italy… Photos by iStock 1. Uffizi Gallery The experience always involves long queues – which are even longer if you go in high summer and haven’t booked in advance – but there are plenty of […]

Piano and the Port

Porto Antico, Genoa

Renzo Piano was born in Genoa, and the famous Italian architect has been instrumental the regeneration of the city’s Old Port… Photos courtesy of Genoa Tourism and Sarah Rodrigues   From the outside, the Piano-designed Aquarium may resemble nothing more spectacular than a large shipping container but, as one of the largest in Europe, the understatedness […]

A poet at the world’s edge

Statue of Ovid in Sulmona

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 […]

Unmasking the comedians

The influence Carlo Goldoni had on Italian theatre is immeasurable, and his museum is not to be missed. The palazzo is hard to find. The land entrance is in an alley so narrow that you must consider the width of your umbrella before venturing there in the rain. The water entrance is easier to locate, […]

Viewpoint: the intervention

An art installation by Lorenzo Quinn on Venice’s Grand Canal symbolises the threat to the city from rising waters caused by climate change… Opposite the Rialto fish market, two giant hands emerge from the waters and touch against the Ca’ Sagredo. Are they bracing the hotel, or reaching up to destroy it? The intervention is […]

Appassionata: Passion for painting

A few years ago we were invited over to our friend’s house for supper in Montefiore. We arrived late, as usual, my fault not Michael’s!  We were introduced to a lovely Dutch couple, Constance and Bert Jacobs. I liked them instantly, they have a zest for life and adventure and love Italy as much as […]

Michelangelo’s nephew

On the trail of Lionardo Buonarroti, and the family palace he renovated in Florence. Lionardo, I have received thy letter and with it the three shirts. I am very much surprised that ye should have sent them … they are so coarse that there is not a farm labourer here who would not be ashamed […]

The Painting Medium

We talk a lot about what a painting is of, and what it means, but not so much about what is made of, and how it was painted. Often when we are talking about paintings, the materials used to actually make the painting rarely get a mention. However, just like the ingredients of a great […]