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Here’s looking at you, kid . . Rome, ca. 1598
February 2, 2012
Rome, Lazio
Among the other incredible works of art visible at Palazzo Barberini is one (below) by Michelangelo Merisi, aka Caravaggio (in self-portrait here). While it might not be one of his most famous pieces, its impact upon viewers today (as well as those 400 years ago!) is really no less than that from his major canvases. [...]
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Untouchable?
January 17, 2012
Rome
You don’t mess with perfection, right? There’s a reason they’re called “masters”, no? As in, the be-alls end-alls of Renaissance art, key figures in the development of all western art, immutable… Wrong! Take this painting for example. The photo is of the painting as it appeared until 1934. Until then, it was just a painting, [...]
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Old Fragment Found
December 12, 2011
Rome, Lazio
Vasari, our 16th century proto-Art Historian, writes that Pinturicchio: “…painted, above the door to the private rooms, Ms.Giulia Farnese in the likeness of Our Lady Mary; and within the same painting the figure of Pope Alexander prone in adoration.” So far so good… weren’t it for the fact that the private rooms in question were [...]
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L’Arte della Bottega
December 6, 2011
(map) Montottone, La Marche
There are moments when traveling that are so rare I hesitate to breathe in too deeply for fear of breaking the spell. My day with Annamaria in her pottery studio was one of those times. Located in this lesser known region of Le Marche, La Bottega dei Vasai has been using traditional techniques here since [...]
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Palazzo Farnese
November 9, 2011
(map) Rome, Lazio
Everyone knows the High Renaissance Palazzo Farnese in Rome. Many try to go visit and some succeed, though it is generally closed to the public as it houses the French Embassy. It began as a palace for the Farnese family in the 16th c., with construction undertaken first in 1513, an initiative that was thwarted [...]
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Santa Sabina
November 7, 2011
(map) Rome, Lazio
As far as paleochristian churches go, Santa Sabina on the Aventine hill is hard to beat. Although heavily restored throughout the ages, it maintains all the characteristics of the earliest churches in Rome. The layout is the standard converted Roman basilica, basically a covered public space, with its wide central nave and two narrower aisles [...]
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Muragghi
October 27, 2011
(map) Ragusa, Sicily
Folks don’t generally come to Sicily to look at a pile of rocks… although that’s too bad, because they’re missing out on muragghi. The land in the province of Ragusa is more rock than earth, and making a field into a piece of tillable land meant getting rid of the stones, an enormous amount of [...]
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Italian Impressionists
October 21, 2011
(map) Fauglia, Tuscany
Tucked inside the Pitti Palace is one of Florence’s lesser-known museums, and even more obscure chapter in art history. Inside the “modern” art gallery you’ll find paintings representing the movement known as the Macchiaioli. Often touted as the Italian cousin of the more famous French Impressionism, the Macchiaioli actually predates the Impressionists by nearly a [...]
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Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
October 19, 2011
(map) Milan, Lombardia
The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, a public art gallery, was established in 1618 alongside the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the library. Federico Borromeo, the archbishop of Milan, founded the picture gallery for the students of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture so that they might visit and be inspired. From the outside it’s a simple building, but inside is [...]
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Sgraffito…
October 12, 2011
(map) Casoli, Tuscany
Graffiti as a work of art? Amid the complaints of tourists and locals alike that graffiti is an eyesore, there is one place where it is considered a treasure. Casoli is a small village carved into the side of a steep ravine in Northern Tuscany. Each year a contest is held in June for examples [...]
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Looted Treasures Return Home
October 10, 2011
(map) Aidone, Sicily
If you are on the lookout for stolen treasures, head to the remote town of Aidone in the center of Sicily. After being looted and sold to the Metropolitan Museum, the stunning collection of 3rd century BC silver pieces known as the silver hoard of Morgantina are back in Sicily, and the exquisitely crafted bowls and [...]
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No Contest
September 29, 2011
(map) Rome
It’s almost hard not to feel bad for Giuseppe Obici (a good technical sculptor by all means, but no master.) One imagines a note delivered back in 1858… “Dear Giuseppe, wouldn’t you please come down to S.Maria sopra Minerva tomorrow. We would like to commission some art work. – Sincerely, the parish priest.” Maybe with [...]
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Bernini’s Elefantino
September 22, 2011
(map) Rome, Lazio
Perhaps Rome’s most smile inducing sculpture . . it’s hard not to when walking through Piazza della Minerva, a small intimate square just off of the Pantheon. In the mid-17th century, Pope Alexander the VII commissioned Bernini to create a base for the Egyptian obelisk that had just been found in the adjacent convent’s garden [...]
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Villa Valmarana ai Nani
September 21, 2011
(map) Vicenza, Veneto
Down a walking path from Palladio’s famous La Rotonda, just outside the city of Vicenza, is a jewel of a villa that although may not be as impressive as its better-known neighbor is nonetheless a delight. Villa Valmarana ai Nani (Villa of the Dwarfs) built by Antonio Muttoni and his son Francesco is actually three [...]
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Museo del Novecento
July 7, 2011
(map) Milan, Lombardia
Milan’s new Museo del Novecento (Museum of the nine{teen}hundreds, i.e. twentieth century) is an architectural delight, full of contemporary paintings and sculptures from the 1900s. Opened in December of 2010, it is situated in the Palazzo dell’Arengario. It is a modern wonderland of space and design and its large windows command phenomenal views over the [...]
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Casino Ludovisi
June 13, 2011
(map) Rome, Lazio
There is a secret spot in Rome that only aficionados know about. It is the Casino Ludovisi with its ceiling oil by Caravaggio painted in 1597 at the request of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, in the small room where he performed his alchemy experiments. The young Caravaggio painted his self-portrait on Pluto, Neptune, and [...]
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The Fountain of Neptune
April 28, 2011
(map) Bologna, Emilia-Romagna
If you were Bolognese, you’d be used to it, pass it every day on the way to market, lean against the edge of it, never give it a second thought. But the fountain of Neptune in Bologna’s main square does come as a surprise to visitors because of the four lounging ladies around the base [...]
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The Fish Columns
April 8, 2011
(map) Venice, Veneto
Every time I travel to Venice I try to see the beautiful Rialto Fish Market (Campo della Pescheria), but I always arrive either too late or on the wrong day. I have never seen the fish except in the great photos by Patricia Glee Smith in her note for ItalianNotebook! Fortunately, I discovered the fish [...]
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No love harbored…
April 6, 2011
(map) Milan, Lombardia
The Portinari Chapel in the Basilica of Sant’Eustorgio is home to an amazing marble sepulchre containing the remains of San Pietro Martire (da Verona). He was a Dominican friar who became head inquisitor in Italy due to his severe lifestyle and interpretation of doctrine, for his talents as a preacher, and for his zeal for [...]
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Mosaic Inspiration
April 1, 2011
(map) Fiumicino, Lazio
Since time immemorial, artists have drawn on the works from older ages for inspiration. Whether an artist was evolutionary or revolutionary in relation to what came before, the fact remains that the previous generation, style, period, or movement has always had an effect on what followed. One need only look at the eras of Western [...]
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San Satiro
March 21, 2011
(map) Milan, Lombardia
No dice. Even for an architect such as Bramante, sometimes bureaucracy just gets in your way. (Bramante is the Renaissance chap who designed this, this, this, and this, among others things). You’ve been commissioned by Milan’s Duke Sforza to rebuild the church of San Satiro. (Saint Satyrus was the brother and confessor of Saints Marcellina [...]
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Assisi’s Roman Villas
March 15, 2011
Assisi, Umbria
Assisi’s imposing basilica dedicated to Saint Francis tends to outshine the rest of the town with its sheer star-power, but there is more to this lovely hilltown than her most iconic monument. Though a visit to Assisi should certainly include a visit to this breathtaking church, don’t miss out on her splendid–but largely unsung–Roman sites, [...]
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Frilli Gallery
March 4, 2011
(map) Florence, Tuscany
The Frilli family of Florence has been producing sculptures since 1860, soon becoming the world’s most important supplier of high quality replicas. They are still going strong; there is something in their establishment to satisfy every taste, including faithful copies of masterpieces found in museums, as well as contemporary work. Each piece is cast in [...]
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Santuario della Madonna dei Bagni
March 2, 2011
(map) Casalina, Umbria
Ever since the seventeenth century, devotion to the Madonna dei Bagni has been expressed here in a form of art that is very characteristic of the culture of the area. Today, the shrine preserves a collection of about 700 votive molds, all in colorful ceramics on its walls, covering a period of 350 years. Subjects [...]