The premises of the old Guild of Judges and Notaries in Piazza Della Signoria, Florence were restored in 2005, providing the opportunity not only for archaeological excavations in the basement but also for the creation of a museum on the first floor, and a restaurant on the ground floor. It...
The Veiled Christ statue in the Sansevero chapel in Naples, carved from a single block of marble by the Neopolitan Giuseppe Sanmartino (1720-1793), is considered the great masterpiece of 18th-century European sculpture. However, did you know that there is a theory that this sculpture was created through a process which...
Standing on the steep main road that runs through the hills above Lucca, Tuscany, the town of San Gennaro is not far from Collodi (which provided the writer Carol Lorenzini, author of The Adventures of Pinnocchio, with his penname). Re-built in the 12th century, the church of San Gennaro...
At the transept crossing the Church of I Gesuiti (Santa Maria Assunta), the statues of four archangels sculpted by Giuseppe Torretti (c.1660-1743) are enthroned within specially created niches. Whilst the archangels Gabriel, Raphael and Michael are well-known, the fourth – Sealtiel – is much less so. In the choir...
This piece focuses on two Titian masterpieces both featuring the Farnese Pope, Paul III who was a pope of great vision and power who reasserted and strengthened the role of the papacy at the time of the Protestant Reformation. Much has been written about him and it does make fascinating...
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is recognised as the greatest master of Roman Catholic church music. His name was originally Giovanni Pierluigi – Palestrina, the name by which he became known, is a small town near Rome where he was born. He began his musical training ay the age of...
In Via Manzoni in the Fashion District of Milan you will find an outstanding private museum, established by nobleman Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli, which was opened to the public in 1881. The museum, a singular example of a late 19th-century aristocratic Milanese residence, contains Poldi Pzzoli’s fine collection of...
Cézanne’s work is inextricably linked with the landscape of his native Provence, and above all the countryside around Aix-en-Provence. While still at school, the young Paul had drawing lessons, which helped him decide upon a career as an artist. In the 1860s and 70s he moved between Paris, L’Estaque...
Gioachino Rossini was born in 1792, just a few months after Mozart’s death, in Pesaro. HIs father was the town’s horn player and his mother was a singer. He entered Bologna Conservatory in 1806 and by 1813, when he was 21, he had written 10 operas, all of which...
Correggio (c.1489 Correggio, near Modena – 1534 Correggio), born Antonio Allegri, was one of the most important painters of the High Renaissance in Italy. He worked in Rome, Parma and in his native city. He was probably the pupil of Francesco Bianchi Ferrari, but was deeply influenced by the...
Welcome to my love affair with the food, wine, history and culture of the Mediterranean, past and present. Here you will find not only recipes, drinks and fabulous products, but the history of the food and culture of the Mediterranean.
My purpose is to get you to explore and experience new tastes and along the way to immerse yourself in the wonderful history of this diverse and wonderful region – from Venice to Istanbul, Rome to Dubrovnik, Athens to Crete and all places in between and in the surrounds. Be prepared to be surprised, delighted and enthralled as you take this trip with me.
