Though renowned enough to earn France's Legion of Honor award in 1802, French animal painter Rosa Bonheur was under constant threat of arrest because of her preference for wearing trousers while sketching in public. Eighteenth-century Swiss painter Angelica Kauffmann could ask virtually any price for her works and was wealthy enough to purchase a Titian for herself. Thomas Jefferson's letter, now called the ‘Dialogue between the Heart and the Head,' was written to Maria Hadfield Cosway, the Florence-born painter who began copying at the Uffizi at age 13 (she was nearly murdered by a nursemaid who managed, instead, to kill four of her seven siblings). These and many other remarkable artists are at the center of Women Artists in the Vasari Corridor, an exclusive new tour organized by The Florentine Press and the Advancing Women Artists Foundation, scheduled for Friday, October 19, 2012.

The Vasari Corridor collection includes 400 works by 23 women, making it one of the most significant venues in the world to hold and display art by women. Part of an awareness-raising campaign aimed at seeing, studying and promoting art by women in Florence, the tour is based on the new book, Art by Women in Florence: A Guide Through Five Hundred Years by Jane Fortune and Linda Falcone. The first guidebook of its kind to Florence, this pocket-sized volume is designed for art lovers who have always wondered where to find artworks by women in the Renaissance city.

The focused tour through the Vasari Corridor will be led by art historians from the Medici Archives Project, specialists in women artists in the age of the Medici, and the authors. (See page 8 this issue and TF 169.)

The fee of 60 euro includes admission, a signed copy of the book and a post-tour aperitivo. Space is limited. For more information and to reserve a spot, e-mail [email protected]