#italy

Erotica

Erotic Art in Pompeii and Herculaneum (NSFW!)

Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum is a phenomenon often omitted from textbooks about ancient history. These famous Roman cities destroyed by the...

Zuzanna Stańska 10 February 2025

Piero della Francesca Artist Stories

Piero della Francesca: Artist, Mathematician, Humanist

Piero della Francesca was not only an accomplished artist of the Early Renaissance, but also one of the greatest mathematicians of his day. His works...

Natalia Iacobelli 27 January 2025

Academic Art

Six of the World’s Most Famous Art Academies

Have you ever wondered where the world’s most famous artists went to school? Many studied at one (or more) of these six art academies. The schools...

Alexandra Kiely 24 January 2025

Women Artists

The Colorful World of Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden

Inspired by Antoni Gaudí’s Park Güell in Barcelona, Parco dei Mostri in Bomarzo, as well as Palais Idéal by Ferdinand Cheval, the...

Caroline Galambosova 22 January 2025

Sculpture

Masterpiece Story: Perseus with the Head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini

Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa is a sculpture that is commonly overlooked. In fact, it could be the most regularly overlooked...

James Wray 17 January 2025

michelangelo Bacchus: Michelangelo Buonarroti, Bacchus, ca. 1496-1497, Bargello National Museum, Florence, Italy. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Bacchus by Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known as Michelangelo, is undoubtedly among the world’s most treasured artists. His connection to...

Maya M. Tola 17 January 2025

Sculpture

4 Pietàs by Michelangelo You Need to See

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 17 January 2025

Sculpture

Masterpiece Story: Penitent Mary Magdalene by Donatello

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 January 2025

Ancient Rome

How to Identify a Roman Emperor by His Beard

How many times have you walked into a museum full of statues or busts and not been able to tell one ancient sculpture from another? It can be...

Lauren Dorsey 10 January 2025

Cristiano Banti, Portrait of Alaide. European Art

Rediscovering the Macchiaioli: Italy’s Revolutionary Impressionists

You’ve heard of the larger-than-life Impressionists who captivated Europe and the world at large with their dazzling light and color. But what...

Natalia Iacobelli 18 December 2024

Painting

Giovanni Boldini’s Beautiful Belles

Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) was a popular society portrait painter in turn-of-the-century France and England. His elegant portraits are still much...

Alexandra Kiely 9 December 2024

Baroque

The Veiled Christ: Art or Alchemy?

In the nave of the Sansevero Chapel in Naples there is a unique sculpture depicting Jesus after the crucifixion. His body is covered with a thin...

Rachel Istvan 5 December 2024