A painting often really does speak a thousand words and in this one, we get to dive into the mystical world of Dante Inside the cathedral in Florence, just before the presbytery, on the left aisle wall, there is a painting of Dante (1265-1321). It is a wonderful visual biography of this much-loved national icon. […]
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 […]
Internationally renowned sculptor Rod Dudley is Australian, but the heart of his art is in Besozzo on Lake Maggiore. Lifelong friend Rosalind Milani Gallieni pays him a visit… Photos by Rosalind Milani Gallieni unless otherwise stated In fondo! In fondo, giù a sinistra…” I take the turning as instructed by the local Besozzo messo, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Vatican Museums are by far the most visited art galleries in Italy. And so they should be. There are more than 20,000 items on display at any one time – and sometimes it feels as if there are just as many people seeing them. The Museums house the collections of five centuries’ worth of […]
Alan Reed and his wife Susan run painting holidays in Italy. This is a beautiful and unique way to explore everything that the country has to offer. Here he tells us all about his journey. It was my wife Susan who first introduced me to Italy. She had lived in Venice for five years and […]
Venice celebrated its world-famous Murano glassmaking heritage in an exciting programme of citywide events this September. Sitting in its own sea of glass, the city of Venice and its islands has long held a tradition of glassmaking. Thanks to its strategic geographical location, the Republic of Venice was a cultural and political hub for travellers […]
This statue in the Vatican‘s Pio Clementino Museum may be the most influential of them all… Michelangelo admired it, as did Donatello before him, and Pliny the Elder long before them; this latter attributed it to three sculptors from Rhodes, but we don’t know who commissioned it, nor when it was sculpted, nor whether there […]