Let’s be honest, in the eyes of most people, art history is a rather trivial subject. There is little need for it in our everyday lives and modern culture. The traditional method of teaching art history (dark room with an …
The traditional foundation date of Venice is March 25, 421CE, 11 years after the sack of Rome by Alaric the Visigoth, and 55 years before the last western Roman emperor, ironically named Romulus Augustus, was deposed. In 452CE, a second …
From a historical perspective, Florence is a city that is relatively easy to digest. As opposed to a city like Rome whose history spans more than two millennia, Florence’s critical history can be approximated to the two centuries that fall …
When you get off the train in Milano Centrale train station and find yourself covered by the massive cast iron and glass canopy, you wonder if you are still in Italy. Your doubts are further inflated by the hectic pace …
In Canto I of the Inferno, Virgil, the ancient Roman author of the epic poem the Aeneid presents himself to Dante with the following words, “Mantua me genuit” – “Mantua made me”. Well, not only did Mantua, or “Mantova” as …
When most people think of Parma, they think of prosciutto and Parmigiano cheese. But there is much, much more to this city. Parma is located in the north-central region of Emilia-Romagna, which is best known for its culinary traditions. Bologna …
Nearly all trains heading to Venice pass through the city of Padua. Yet, in comparison to the throngs of tourists who invade Venice each year, relatively few explore the historic and artistic treasures that lie in the Veneto region’s second …
Our upcoming fall program “The Age of Genius” will take place in Florence from October 2-6, 2017, and will explore those extraordinary artists and patrons who virtually invented the Renaissance. Beginning with Masaccio, who was the first painter to apply …
In 2016, more than fifty million people visited Italy. Why? Maybe because if you love art, architecture and history, there is no other place in the world with as much as Italy. According to an UNESCO report, more than half of the world’s artistic patrimony is located in Italy, which is home to 51 “UNESCO World Heritage Sites” (more than any other country in the world).