The room was found in 1975 by then museum director Paolo Dal Poggetto and colleagues while looking for a new way for tourists to exit, National Geographic reports After the initial discovery of the room, which was filled with coal, experts undertook the careful job of removing layers of plaster from the walls to reveal […]
He was one of the genius artists of the 1400s and a spectacular example of the Renaissance man. Andrea Mantegna (1436-1506) is one of the greats in art from the 1400s. Why? Because he was a true master of disegno, both in the literal translation of the word and in the deeper, more complex, definition […]
Mario Matassa reveals the inside story on the gondola as he visits the workshops and discovers a tale of tradition, craftsmanship and politics… It’s as Italian as spaghetti al pomodoro. It’s an icon of our times. It’s a 10.87m long symbol of a city, a country and a people. It’s 900 years of history and […]
The Pope commissioned Michelangelo to build a new burial chamber for his family on the San Lorenzo church The Medici Chapels in Florence is a fascinating complex. It is entirely planned both architecturally and sculpturally by Michelangelo, whose own life was so intertwined with the Medici family. When he was commissioned the project by Pope […]
What, you may well ask, are 400 or so classical sculptures, as well as mosaic panels, stone funerary monuments and sarcophagi, doing in a power plant? Just off Via Ostiense, in Rome, about halfway between the Pyramid of Cestius and the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, you can visit the first public electrical […]
What the Vespa was to private transport in Italy in the lean years following the Second World War, the Ape would be to commercial transport… When the Second World War ended, Italy was in ruins. Not only had she fought on the losing side but, in the process of losing, much of her infrastructure – […]
Beyond the palazzo… now, rising elegantly up the slope was a series of manicured terraces, and a grand stairway climbing with them Oltrarno means ‘beyond the Arno’, and refers to the part of Florence south of the river. Although you can find many famous sights there – the Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens, and Piazzale Michelangelo […]
Photojournalist Marina Spironetti travelled to inland Sardinia and the remote region of Barbagia to document the most fascinating and ancient carnival traditions of the island… The glitzy atmosphere of the North Sardinia coast could not be further away. That coastline may be what the island is most famous for, but it’s not the real Sardinia […]
The marble sculptures on Rome’s altar of absolute peace attract visitors because of their beauty, but their origins lie in celebrating the victories of Emperor Augustus… The Ara Pacis Augustae, or altar to the absolute peace, was commissioned by the Roman Senate in 13BC, and in 9BC was dedicated to the peace established by Emperor […]
When it comes to works of religious art, the Medici chapel in Florence has plenty to offer. Take a closer look at the history behind the paintings with Marina Belozerskaya Classical stories and portraits graced the homes of rich and self-consciously enlightened Florentines, but by far the most common household images were the Madonna and […]