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Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350 examines an exceptional moment at the dawn of the Italian Renaissance and the pivotal role of Sienese artists—including Duccio, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, and Simone Martini—in defining Western painting. In the decades leading up to the catastrophic onset of the plague around 1350, Siena was the site of p...

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Let’s get straight to the point. Milan is never going to be the first point of call on an art-driven tour of Italy. There are other perceived priorities to address first. First and foremost is the Holy Trinity of Venice, Florence, and Rome respectively for the demi-Gods of Titian, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Plus, the travel route that takes you fro...

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In the life that was Gaetano Pesce. We have witnessed, through his art, a legacy of creativity that goes far beyond the mere surface-of-things. Instead, Pesce fashioned work that exuded radicalness from the very core. He upheld unrestrained design custom. The award-winning Italian architect and designer expresses in his work a rare, wild sensitivit...

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Madonna will fund an artistic project involving youths, she announced during her 66th birthday celebrations in Pompeii. While touring the Pompeii archeological park Friday with its director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the American pop star met a group of teenagers involved in “Sogno di Volare,” or “Dream of Flying."  As part of the project now in its fou...

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Society Invites was invited by Natalie Olivas Sanchez, owner of the Helena Mason Art Gallery, to meet with their newest artist, Luca Barberini (b. 1981, Ravenna, Italy) and view his works before he returned to Italy. His exhibition, titled Inner Landscapes, is on view through October. It was fab to reconnect with Sanchez; its #beenaminute, as we sa...

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In a number of cities around the world, underground stations have become places for artistic experimentation, from Moscow to Taiwan, via London and Stockholm. In Italy, Naples takes the lead in presenting the most captivating and well-developed project related to this theme. The project known as Le Stazioni dell'Arte (The Art Stations) has successf...

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“There is nothing more irresistible to an artist than an invitation to come to Italy, and Rome in particular,” Pepi Marchetti Franchi, founding director of Gagosian Rome, tells me. And she’s right. For centuries, the Eternal City has captivated imaginations with its legendary stories of gladiators; its gorgeous cityscape of travertine temples, baro...

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Before carving “David” or covering the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling in frescoes, Michelangelo Buonarroti painted “The Torment of Saint Anthony.” Created when he was either 12 or 13 years old, it is the Renaissance artist’s first painting — and the piece hangs on a wall at the Kimbell Art Museum of Fort Worth. The prolific artist thought of himself prim...

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When Valeria Cafà describes Teatro Olimpico, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the world’s oldest indoor theater, she calls it a “hidden gem right in the heart of Vicenza.” Cafà, Director of the Museums in Vicenza, is proud of architect Andrea Palladio’s last work of art – a theater finished shortly after his death in 1580 – that is one of Vicenza’s...

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Thanks to the cooperation and coordination of the technical service of Underwater Archaeology of the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for Genoa and La Spezia and the National Superintendence for Underwater Cultural Heritage, the bronze statue of the Christ of the Abyss was cleaned up by carrying out underwater maintenance wor...

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