Extending from the sea to the mountains sprinkled with the white marble dust of Carrara, Versilia nourishes the legendary status of Michelangelo and the many other artists who found inspiration in this part of Tuscany. Michelangelo often visited the quarries here to hand pick the marble blocks for his most celebrated works, such as the Prisoners made […]

Bestselling author Sarah Dunant has written 12 novels and worked for the BBC, presenting The Late Show as well as the historical podcast When Greeks Flew Kites. Set in the Italian Renaissance and combining cutting-edge historical academia with fast-paced fiction, Dunant’s most recent novels have been translated into 30 different languages.         […]

It is early morning and the cleaning lady is singing in a serious soprano as she sweeps the terrazzo alla veneziana floors. The rooms are flooded with riverbero, the reflection of the light from the Grand Canal, dancing on the walls. For the moment, I lose myself in the spell of Pollock’s Alchemy. Then I […]

There are few artifacts as fascinating as the Renaissance portrait medal, an intimate object meant to be held in the hand and studied up close.     Portrait medals appeared in Italy in the 1430s as a result of a revived interest in classical antiquity and the Renaissance philosophy of man. Increased awareness of individual […]

As soon as the 1966 flood is mentioned, most Florentines recall the mud-covered streets, the tired smiles of the young Mud Angels and the wounded works of art carried away from the churches and museums. Then there is Cimabue’s Crucifix. Two days after the flood (by then it was November 6) the volunteers finally gained […]

The most important man in Florence walked into a shop on the corner of via del Proconsolo and via de’ Pandolfini. The shopkeeper was keen to show him his wares, but the man’s request was not an ordinary one: “I would like your recommendation on how to establish a library.” The book dealer was at […]

They say that each of us dies three deaths: the moment when your heart stops, when you are buried and the last time someone says your name. The name of Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona probably means nothing even to most Florentine and Tuscan history experts.     

On May 3, at 10am, the inauguration of the new itinerary and exhibition spaces in the Basilica of Santa Croce will take, coinciding with the 720th anniversary of the foundation of the current church of Santa Croce.   Seven hundred and twenty years ago, on May 3, 1294, the first

How many people have set foot in the church of Santa Croce in Florence in the 700 years of its existence? We can realistically estimate that the number is close to at least several million. For most of these visitors, we will never know what memories remained with them following