Italian Art for Travelers
The only blog devoted to Italain Art Through the Ages, and always ad free.

How did the son of a tanner and a son of a notary change the art world? Sandro Botticelli and Filippo Brunelleschi are perfect examples of artists from humble origins. It started with being born male in Florence around 1400. Their success rested on social mobility, a capitalistic economy, and freedom to choose.

In addition to painting, Perugino, Raphael, and Tintoretto managed their businesses, money, patrons, and careers. They were creators, as well as marketers, human resource managers, chief executive and chief financial officer. Their management skills built their careers —or hindered their growth.

Imperial Rome was adept at utilizing public-facing art to define its values and exploit achievements. Their language of power included triumphal arches, portraits, and coins to create and reinforce their message. Politicians continue to do what the Romans did,. There is a history going back to the Romans that informs how public-facing images are used today. Looking back at that history sheds some light on proposed commemorative art for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration

Even great artists, Michelangelo and Leonardo included, had flops and failures. Renaissance art was not a sequence of flawless masterpieces. There were countless unfinished, abandoned, and rejected artworks. Markets and patrons changed, or sometimes the design or materials were flawed. Not every commission became a Mona Lisa. Early Modern Italy was neither peaceful nor politically stable. Conflicts, changing rulers, and uncertainty were a way of life. Famine, death, and econo

Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo are culturally and linguistically dissimilar. Both are proud homes to Leonardo da Vinci and Titian. One painted a sex worker, the other his patron’s mistress. Both occasionally used their fingers to paint and were exacting in their precision.

Glass was to the Romans what plastic is to modern cultures. Romans were adept at large-scale enterprise, be it conquering the Eastern Mediterranean to Britain, or, with glass, taking manufacturing to new levels of production and design. Glass was remarkably versatile, allowing Romans to recycle it, form it into brilliant colors, inventive shapes, and intricate patterns.

Claude Monet painted over 500 pictures in the last twenty-eight years of his life. Thirty-seven of those were Venetian views inspired by his 1908 stay. Monet became smitten with the city and regretted not having visited and painted it earlier in his career. He called Venice “too beautiful to paint,” unsure initially if he could capture the city’s light and atmosphere.

Two friars became renowned early Renaissance Florentine painters. Fra Angelico was a pious friar whose faith was mirrored in his art and was later beatified. Fra Filippo Lippi, the rogue friar, fathered two children with a nun. Each was renowned for their innovation and style. Born Guido di Pietro, Fra Angelico worked as a Dominican artist in Fiesole then Florence. “Fra” means “brother,” short for Fratello in a religious order. A prolific painter, his most famous frescoes are

Saints Carlo Acutis, Margaret of Cortona, and Stephen are three of the approximately 10,000 saints recognized by the Roman Catholic church. Each saint has their own story reflecting culture, society, and the church. Carlo is the millennial saint, Margaret a medieval penitent, and Stephen an early Christian martyr.

Veronese was a celebrated sixteenth century Venetian artist and the only painter summoned by the Inquisition. We have the transcript of his interrogation before the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition, and his stunning response to their charges. The role of images and art became a focus for inquisitors as they searched to counter the Protestant and Lutheran reformation. Religious and government officials comprised the tribunal who sought to keep artists in line with Catholic tea

For the fourteenth time, the name Leo has been chosen by a pope. What made Leo a popular papal name? Some reasons point to lions, St. Mark, and St. Augustine. A look at three past Pope Leos reveals the adversities they faced and their political dilemmas. One stood up to Attila the Hun, another avoided being poisoned, and a third focused on worker’s rights.

Caravaggio’s Calling of St. Matthew was Pope Francis’ favorite painting. As a cardinal, he would often contemplate in situ, in the Contarelli Chapel of San Luigi dei Francesi, near Piazza Navona. What drew Francis to this painting? Was it mercy for the artist’s sins and bad boy reputation, well-earned with a murder conviction? Or perhaps Caravaggio’s incarceration resonated with the pope’s ministry for those in prison.

The Middle Ages hold the answer to the history and mystery of papal conclaves and their rituals. The origins of voting under lock and key in the Sistine Chapel, burning ballots, and cardinals clad in red date back over five hundred years. How did a two-thirds majority come to be the standard to elect a pope? How did the Sistine Chapel become the place to elect popes?

Drawings let us see the artist at work, thinking through problems. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael’s drawings are like fingerprints or handwriting. Each had unique styles and methods of drawing. Raphael frequently drew hands. Michelangelo concentrated on the muscular torso or twisting body. Leonardo brainstormed on paper, keenly interested in nature and how the world around him worked.

Mercenary armies played a pivotal role in conflicts. John Hawkwood was an English mercenary commander who earned fame and fortune in Italy.

What is a doge? A canine meme, a crypto currency, or an attempt to create a department of government efficiency? None of the above. The firs

The Renaissance bedroom was the room where it happened, serving many purposes, including sleep, sex, childbirth, illness, recovery, death, a

Three consequential sixteenth century conclaves illustrate the power wrangling and coalitions in electing a pope: the conclaves for Julius I

Why are so many places and people named after Paul? Paul’s life story from persecutor to preacher inspired his namesake and art from convers

Clothes made the man, from his velvet doublet, brocaded codpiece to his armor.