Gerriann Brower
St. Catherine of Siena's Stigmata and Relics
St. Catherine of Siena, was a gutsy fourteenth century history making woman. She was determined to make a difference, even with doubters and
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Italian Art for Travelers
Your passport to culture, history, and art
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Gerriann Brower
Jan 239 min read
Renaissance Hair
Renaissance hair served dual functions. Hair beautified the individual and indicated well-being and character. The length and style of hair
Gerriann Brower
Aug 18, 202017 min read
Painting Italian Style
If you visit Italy you can’t miss the frescoes. Fresco paintings decorate castles, Roman villas, public buildings, and of course,...
Gerriann Brower
Oct 25, 20189 min read
Art Misappropriated: Fascism Then and Now
Fascists cherry picked iconic images as the perfect foil for disseminating concepts of cultural purity and superiority. The role of Fascism
Gerriann Brower
Aug 28, 20188 min read
Good Government, Bad Government
Suffering Madonna overload in museums and churches? Are paintings of Annunciations starting to look the same? Now for something...
Gerriann Brower
Jul 31, 20187 min read
Relics and Incorruptible Saints
It was a gruesome site: a woman’s partially decomposed head eerily lit behind a metal screen. Her name is Caterina Benincasa, better...
Gerriann Brower
Jun 27, 20186 min read
Blue
Nothing brings on analysis paralysis like trying to decide on a paint color. Which shade of blue should I paint the bathroom? The sheer...
Gerriann Brower
Jun 2, 20189 min read
To All the Artists I've Loved Before
How Vincent van Gogh and a Roman Missal led me to study art history. From the graceful ornate elegance of the 1400s, to the classic figural
Gerriann Brower
May 18, 20178 min read
Four Tuscan Towns
Don’t like big museums? Overwhelmed by tourists in Florence? Here are four delightful small towns in Tuscany, perfect for those who don’t li
Gerriann Brower
Apr 27, 20179 min read
A Franciscan Journey
Three sites tell the story of St. Francis of Assisi as he began a radical new way of preaching and serving people and in the process challen
Gerriann Brower
Mar 9, 20176 min read
“A Plague o’ Both Your Houses”
The plague had a profound psychological, economic, artistic, and spiritual impact. There were many bouts of plague, usually peaking in the h
Gerriann Brower
Feb 12, 20177 min read
Big Tom
There were a few artists that stretched the limits of tradition and broke boundaries. Their innovations were not immediately taken up by oth
Gerriann Brower
Jan 12, 20173 min read
St. Sebastian and the Plague
St. Sebastian holds an important place in the Middle Ages and Renaissance as he was the patron saint of the plague, which devastated the pop
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