#italy

Artist Stories

Everything You Need to Know About Giorgione

Giorgione was an Italian painter from Venice whose career was cut off by his death at a little over 30. And that is a problem – everyone knows his...

Zuzanna Stańska 5 March 2024

Rosalba Carriera, The Allegory of Music, 1712 Bavarian National Museum, Munich, Germany. Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Rococo

Rosalba Carriera: The Accomplished Pastellist

Do you know the great Rococo portraitist Rosalba Carriera? She was one of the most famous painters of the early 18th century. Carriera became known...

Maia Heguiaphal 5 March 2024

Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait Painting the Madonna, 1556, 66 x 57 cm, Lancut Museum, Poland. ArtStor digital library. Women Artists

Sofonisba Anguissola: The Life of a Rule-Breaker Painter

During the Italian Renaissance, women artists did not have the same access to artistic education as men. Sofonisba Anguissola, however, was very...

Nina Relf 29 February 2024

Bizarre

The Curious Lure and Strange Beauty of Ancient Anatomical Votives

Eerie, mysterious, and fascinating, ancient anatomical votives represent literal parts of people’s past. When most people think of a votive object,...

Marga Patterson 29 February 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Solar Eclipse in Venice by Ippolito Caffi

Ippolito Caffi was a gifted vedutista – painter of highly detailed cityscapes – renowned for his meticulous depictions of Venice‘s...

Maya M. Tola 27 February 2024

History

How Galileo Galilei Changed the Moon Forever

While our old pal, the Moon, was always shining above us; it wasn’t always obvious how does it really look like. For a long time, this astronomical...

Marta Wiktoria Bryll 27 February 2024

Renaissance

Carlo Crivelli – Enigmatic Renaissance Trickster

We know very little about the life of Carlo Crivelli. The basics of life and death, and little else. We do have a collection of awe-inspiring works,...

Candy Bedworth 26 February 2024

Still from The White Lotus, Fabio Lovino/HBO. Theater & Cinema

Discover Sicilian Art with The White Lotus Season 2

Season two of The White Lotus on HBO Max has gained much press recently about its filming location in Sicily, Italy. Through interviews with the cast...

Anna Ingram 23 February 2024

Art History 101

Arte Povera: Aesthetics of the Ordinary

In memory of the world-famous Italian art critic Germano Celant, who himself in 1967 invented the term Arte Povera, translated as “Poor Art”, we...

Caroline Galambosova 12 February 2024

Renaissance

Visit Astonishing Halls of Maps and Globes

Cartography is the production of geographical maps and globes. It has evolved both as a science and as an art. This is why powerful people love...

Camilla de Laurentis 12 February 2024

Ramesses II, New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, 1279–1254 BCE, granodiorite, Temple of Amun, Karnak Temple Complex, Thebes (Luxor), Egypt, Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Ramesses II

The statue of Ramesses II is a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian sculpture that proclaims the royal majesty and prowess of Ramesses the...

James W Singer 11 February 2024

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 11 February 2024