#italy

Caravaggio, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula, 1610, Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, Naples, Italy. Baroque

Caravaggio’s Last Painting: The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula

In May 1610, Caravaggio completed The Martyrdom of St Ursula. Two months later, he was dead. We investigate the story behind his last commission,...

Catriona Miller 17 March 2024

Sculpture

Donatello’s Mary Magdalene: Penitence and Salvation

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, better known as Donatello, was a sculptor born around 1386 in Florence, which is also the city in which he died in...

Soledad Castillo Jara 17 March 2024

WTF Art History

The Dark Age of Rome – The Cadaver Synod

In a career that spanned over two decades, Jean-Paul Laurens painted some of French art’s most plaintive historical moments: two young princes...

Guest Profile 15 March 2024

Woman with Stylus, 55-79 CE Ancient Rome

Woman with Stylus: What a Portrait Can Tell Us About Women in Ancient Rome

Woman with Stylus is an ancient Roman fresco unearthed in Pompeii nearly two millennia after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. Various details...

Natalia Iacobelli 15 March 2024

Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire, Destruction, 1836, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA. Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Ancient Rome

Painting the Fall of the Roman Empire

After many centuries, we are still wondering why the Roman Empire disappeared. Many theories try to explain it: wars, ideological problems, a chaotic...

Celia Leiva Otto 15 March 2024

Henri Matisse, The gulf of Sint-Tropez, 1904, Kunstsammlung Nordhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany Art Travels

Top 5 Artsy Travel Destinations in 2024 Through Paintings

We suggest you a selection of the best tourist destinations and festivals by the hand of great artists!

Andra Patricia Ritisan 11 March 2024

Artemisia Gentileschi, Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–c. 1656) was “one of the best Italian Baroque painters.” Despite this, you won’t find any of her works in...

Chris Dobson 10 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Portrait of Sofonisba Anguissola by Anthony van Dyck

Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish painter born in Antwerp (then Spanish Netherlands, now Belgium) in 1599 and passed away in London in 1641. From 1621...

Soledad Castillo Jara 10 March 2024

Photography

The True Star of Early Photography: Virginia Oldoini

Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoini – in short, Countess of Castiglione – was a real celebrity of her times. I imagine that...

Zuzanna Stańska 8 March 2024

Michelangelo Renaissance

Did You Know That Michelangelo Was an Art Forger?

Michelangelo Buonarroti is undoubtedly one of the most acclaimed artists in history. Some of his creations, such as David or the ceiling of the...

Javier Abel Miguel 6 March 2024

Michelangelo's secret room News

Discover Michelangelo’s Secret Room

Visitors of the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy have a unique chance to visit a secret room under the Medici Chapel until March 30, 2024,...

Natalia Iacobelli 6 March 2024

Sculpture

Everything You Must Know about All Michelangelo’s Pietàs

I guess everyone knows Michelangelo’s Pietà from St. Peter Basilica in the Vatican. But did you know, it is not the only sculpture of this subject...

Zuzanna Stańska 6 March 2024