Last Supper in Florence
The Florentine Cenacoli In 1482 a young Florentine painter, Leonardo da Vinci, left Florence for Milan and offered his services to an ambitious Italian Duke, Ludovico Sforza, called il Moro. At that time Ludovico, who wanted to make of the Milanese court one of the most illustrious courts of Italy, aimed at the reinforcement his […]
Sant’Ambrogio church
a hidden gem in Florence One thing is certain: in Florence we cannot complain about scarce access to the cultural sights. Here we breathe history literally at every corner. Despite this incredible richness, it is still very difficult to convince many travellers that it is worth abandoning the beaten path. Many hidden gems wait for […]
Between Florence and Milan
how the relationship between Florence and Milan influenced art history Italy united as a country only in 1861. Before that, during the Middle Ages and the Modern period, Italian peninsula was split between different states, which often fought against each other. The Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Papal State or the Kingdom […]
The Tornabuoni Chapel in Santa Maria Novella
family, religion and religious spectacle in Renaissance Florence Do you know what is the most frequent question my guests ask during our tours in Florence? Everybody want to know more about my PhD. What was my research about? What did I study? The truth is that I dedicated four years of my PhD studies to […]
The Mystery of Botticelli’s “Spring”!
Sandro Botticelli’s Spring is one of the most popular masterpieces of Italian Renaissance art. The painting is preserved in the Uffizi Gallery and you can admire it during your visit to this museum. Every day thousands of people look at this picture, take photos and share them on Instagram. But do they know what […]
Leonardo’s “Adoration of the Magi” at the Uffizi Gallery
Revealing the artist’s secrets Imagine for a moment that you had a chance to visit Florence in 1481. Because you are a friend of Giovanni di Amerigo de’ Benci, you stayed with his family at their magnificent palace in Santa Croce. One day, Giovanni brought you to one of the rooms where you saw a […]
Textiles and wealth in fourteenth-century Florence at the Accademia Gallery
exhibition review Florence is undoubtedly the city of fashion. It’s a hometown to Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo and every year it hosts the famous fashion show “Pitti”. Many students from all over the world come to Florence to study fashion at one of the prestigious schools located in the city, such as the famous Polimoda. […]
Florence and the invention of linear perspective in painting
Do you remember your drawing lessons at school when your teacher explained you how to draw a correct one-point perspective scheme? What is linear perspective? First, you had to draw a horizon line, choose your vanishing point and then you sketched the construction lines. Within this scheme you then located all the objects you wanted […]
Myths, Saints, Pagan Gods and Holy Stories – “The Cinquecento in Florence” Exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi
From 21 September 2017 to 21 January 2018 Palazzo Strozzi hosts the exhibition “The Cinquecento in Florence. From Michelangelo and Pontormo to Giambologna”curated by Carlo Falciani and Antonio Natali. We were all rather impatient to see the show and I have to say that my own expectations towards this exhibition were really high. Nothing strange in it, if […]