My Art Story

My art story - Lee Cooper

‘Art washes away from the soul the dust of every day life.’ Picasso  

Introduction

The experience of seeing an original masterpiece painting, sculpture or building is almost indescribable. Probably because it evokes a feeling and feelings are not always easy to express. The moment in your life, if it ever comes at all, when you realize this fact standing before the the Sistine Chapel, the Venus de Milo, or the Parthenon, is pretty amazing and is repeated every time you are confronted with this beauty, whether for the first time or hundredth time. 

I have the great fortune to work in a city, Florence, which has 72 museums, but actually you don’t even need to go inside as there are buildings, sculptures and even paintings (well, frescoes actually) outside to admire, but that part of my story comes later. 

After (almost) a lifetime of visiting various museums, art galleries, archaeological sites and historic buildings, admiring the works of great artists, past and present, I have decided to write an account of my experiences so as to have a personal record and revisit some of the world’s most famous (and less famous) masterpieces I have seen in the flesh. 

Although my first experience of a museum was as a nine-month-old baby, my memories of visiting and seeing art really began after I left school at 16 and then took on new impetus at around 29 years of age. So let’s go back to the beginning... 

Part 1 - 1968-1984

(0-16 years old)

Pompeii 1,2,3

Regia di Caserta

Worthing museum and art gallery

London, National Gallery 

Royal Pavilion, Brighton

Arundel Castle and Cathedral

Chichester Cathedral

Fishbourne and Bignor Roman Palaces

Hampton Court Palace

Lincoln Cathedral

My earliest memories of an artistic nature were both life-inspiring and nondescript. 

I was born in the English Georgian seaside town of Worthing in West Sussex, not exactly well-known for its contribution to the world of art. Although it does have an art-deco pier and one of the oldest cinemas in Britain, the 1911 Edwardian Dome. There are 213 listed buildings in Worthing, although only 3 are grade 1. Jane Austin, Oscar Wilde and Harold Pinter all lived and worked in Worthing. Apart from the pier and Dome and several other buildings, there is one other notable artwork, the uninspiring Desert Quartet  (four bronze heads) by Elisabeth Fink which were installed in Liverpool Gardens in 1990 and provides somewhere for pigeons to unload their lunch! My parents, brothers and sisters I’m not sure had an artistic bone in their respective bodies! Or at least that’s how I remember it. 

My grandmother on my mother’s side came from an equally nondescript seaside town in Italy, Castellammare di Stabia, that just happened to be five miles from one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in modern history, the Roman city of Pompeii, which was famously buried under ash from the 79 A.D. eruption of nearby volcano, Vesuvious and uncovered 1,669 years later in 1748. While visiting family I was taken along several times to Pompeii and I would say these visits had a profound effect on my love of old ruins. I have photos of me as a toddler crawling around the amphitheater and the treks we made along the ancient cobblestones are etched on my mind forever. We visited in 1969 when I was nine months old, again in 1972 when I was three and in 1975 when I was six. So these early memories are more subconscious than concrete. 

I also have a vague memory of being traipsed round a huge park, which I believe was the Regia di Casserta, somewhere I would definitely like to return to one day. This 18th century royal palace is the largest in the world and modeled after Versailles. 

My uncle Raffaele and cousin Franco, who was an architect, did a little painting and my grandmother had some of their weird and wonderful oil paintings hanging in her house. My grandparents also worked for Dr Giddings, who lived in one of Worthing’s grandest houses, Blacknest Hall. In the garden they had a bronze copy of the Poseidon/Zeus sculpture, which I thought was really cool! 

In Worthing I remember visiting the local museum and art gallery on more than one occasion. In actual fact it is the largest museum in Sussex. It houses collections of women’s clothes and toys, (mostly dolls) which for a young boy, wasn’t that exciting. My memories are more of playing in there rather than admiring the exhibits. Near to Worthing I went Arundel and Brighton many times and visited the Castle and Cathedral and Royal Pavillion. 

As a child my parents took me and my two brothers and sister on various holidays and day trips. We did visit Madam Tussauds in London, but I’m not sure wax model reproductions really count as art? Obviously in London itself I would have seen some great architecture, such as Buckingham Palace, the houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I think we visited the National Gallery as I have some vague memories of Titian’s voluptuous ladies. I would of course visit London many times in the future too as an adult. 

After having a child myself, I realize dragging children round art galleries against their will is not the easiest thing in the world to do or even advisable if one wants to encourage in them a life-long love of the arts! As a family amongst other holidays we also visited Fishbourne and Bignor Roman Palaces near Chichester, Hampton Court Palace and Lincoln Cathedral. 

For some unbeknown reason I developed an interest in producing my own art. As a young boy I would enjoy drawing and coloring birds. I then moved on to cartoons, poster art, graffiti art, lettering, cars and basketball caricatures. I won a poster competition at school and took art GCSE. I was quite good and probably should have taken my moderate talents further. After doing a year of classical studies at high school I became fascinated with Greek mythology and my upbringing in the Catholic faith gave me a basis for knowledge and appreciation of Bible characters. These Greek and Catholic themes would become a common thread in my future art experiences. 

Part 2 - 1985-1997

(16-27 years old)

The British Museum

Knossos, Giza, Ephesus, Jerusalem, the Acropolis -Athens

Pompeii 4

Rome

Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Munich and Vienna. 

Florence, Rome 2, Venice, Milan 

Pompeii 5

Paris. 

The Metropolitan museum of art, New York

Pompeii 6

Rome 3

National Gallery, London

Paris 2

After leaving school at 16 I went on several trips to the British museum in London, one of the largest and most important museums in the world and was inadvertently exposed to the famous Elgin marbles and other treasures ‘stolen’ from Greece, the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities outside of Cairo, as well as Assyrian, Middle Eastern and British artifacts. 

I then embarked on various foreign holidays with friends starting with an Eastern Mediterranean cruise. I would visit  the ancient site of Knossos in Crete, where I marveled at one of the oldest theatres, the throne room and the dolphin and bull frescoes, even though I believe now that they were only copies (the originals are in the Archaeological museum in Heraklion). I loved Knossos, despite learning years later that many people are disappointed with the crude restoration work. I visited the only surviving wonder of the world, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Giza, Egypt and was bothered by street hawkers trying to sell cheap souvenirs, was left open-mouthed in the Cairo museum at the beautiful death mask of Tutankhamen, strolled through the old city of Jerusalem and the ancient ruins of Ephesus, where I wondered at the library, theatre, was disappointed at another former wonder of the ancient world, the temple of Diana, which was now only rubble and dropped my camera down the communal toilets! Our last stop was at the Acropolis in Athens, where I was blown away by the Parthenon, Propylea, Erection and Herod Atticus theatre. 

At twenty, I was old enough to appreciate these incredible places and should be grateful to the family that took me along. 

I also returned to Naples and visited Pompei again and visited Rome for the first time as an adult, here I remember seeing the Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the huge white Vittoriano tomb of the unknown soldier and Vatican. 

In 1990 I went on a trip round Europe with a friend who wasn’t into art. I didn’t really do any research about what to see and missed a golden opportunity to visit some museums and art galleries to see some famous paintings and sculptures, but as we travelled through some amazing cities I did see a lot of cool architecture, like the very grand, Grand Place in Brussels and Cologne’s twin-peaked Gothic Cathedral the most visited site in Germany, both now World Heritage Sites. St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, which I climbed. The impressive Marienplatz in Munich, where I watched the Coopers dance on the Glockenspiel. I spent a few hours in Amsterdam and Venice of which I remember nothing. I saw the Gothic Cathedral, Scala opera house and Galleria Umberto in Milan, walked through the Circus Maximus in Rome, saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris and went back to Pompeii for the fifth time. I even visited Florence for the day. I don’t remember much about that visit, except being impressed by the copy of Michelangelo’s David in Piazza Signoria. 

On another holiday to New York, I did actually get to visit the famous Metropolitan museum of art, but I still had no idea about paintings or sculpture or famous artists to look out for. I remember wandering round for an hour or so feeling completely overwhelmed! I recall seeing the huge Temple of Dendur, the 15 B.C. Temple that was removed from Egypt in 1960 and given to the Met in 1978. 

did 

admire the architecture there, the Chrysler building, Flat Iron building, the Guggenheim and of course the Statue of Liberty. 

After my trip round Europe I bought a second hand copy E.H. Gombrich’s ‘The Story of Art’ and read up about the Renaissance and started to look at pictures of Michelangelo’s sculptures and the Sistine chapel. The novel by Irving Stone about the life of Michelangelo quickly became a favorite. I also looked at pictures of Caravaggio’s paintings and read ‘M’, a novel about his life. Also I read some articles about impressionist painting and an old white bearded guy called Monet and saw photos of his poppies, water Lillie’s and Impression Sunrise. My interest in actually seeing these paintings and sculptures was finally aroused.  

In ‘95/‘96 I went up to the National Gallery in London. They had a couple of paintings attributed to Michelangelo which I wanted to see. 

Michelangelo was essentially a sculptor and one time painter of ceilings! He only executed a few panel paintings. Four have been attributed to him, two of which are here at the National Gallery in London. The Entombment of Christ and the Manchester Madonna. 

The Entombment, was a commission in 1500, when Michelangelo was 26 years old, as an altarpiece in Rome. The subject is undocumented, but likely that this was the painting. There is some disagreement in the identity of the figures around Jesus and some figures are completely finished, while others like Mary not painted in, missing the expensive ultramarine blue oil paint. This style was different from other artists of the time and shows Michelangelo’s sculptural style and technique. 

The Manchester Madonna, as it has been called since it was exhibited at the great Manchester art exhibition of 1857, is possibly on of the earliest panel paintings by Michelangelo executed in egg tempura, when he was only 22. There is a record of him withdrawing money in 1497 to pay for a wooden panel, possibly to be used for this painting. The sculptural style of this unfinished work and the transfer of the drawing, the experts say, suggests Michelangelo’s hand. 

While I was here I saw a few other paintings, such as Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks and Pollaiuolo’s poor San Sebastián  being pierced with lots of arrows, but it was a drawing or ‘cartoon’ I was particularly struck with. In a tiny, darkly lit room was a life size charcoal drawing of the Virgin and child with St Anne and John the Baptist, also dated to 1500, by Leonardo Da Vinci. It was mesmerizing and I stood opened mouthed. Years later it is still one of my favorite artworks. 

In 1996 my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and retook their vows in Castellamare. Some of the family travelled with them and I got to visit Pompeii and Rome yet again. 

On my last trip as a single guy I visited Paris again with two friends and climbed the Eiffel Tower. 

Part 3 - 1998-2001

(28-32 years old)

Michelangelo and his influence @ the Queen’s Gallery, London 1998

Chiswick House 1998

Monet’s gardens @ Giverny and Paris 

Monet in the 20th century @ the Royal Academy, London

Archaeological museum @ Olympia, Greece 1999

Mantegna @ Hampton Court Palace 

Florence 2000 The Uffizi, Galleria Accademia, the Bargello

Caravaggio - the genius of Rome @ the Royal Academy, London 2001

And so my art gallery experience didn’t really begin in earnest until I started dating my future wife Annette in 1998 at the tender age of 29. In the days before the internet I must have seen some advert for an exhibition of drawings by Michelangelo up in London. I quickly arranged the trip to the Queen’s gallery at Buckingham Palace where We saw some amazing drawings owned by queen Elizabeth, by Michelangelo and some of his contemporaries usually housed at Windsor Castle. Many of the old masters kept preparatory drawings, or cartoons that would eventually become paintings or frescoes. Queen Elizabeth II very sensibly invested some of her great wealth in acquiring many of these drawings and kept them in her Windsor Castle. At this exhibition 23 of Michelangelo’s drawings were selected and 50 by other artists from the same period, such as Raphael, Sebastiano del Piombo, Annibale  Carracci and others.

This was followed by a visit to the Palladian inspired Chiswick house where my then girlfriend Annette bought me a book on the architect, Andrea Palladio. I had known about Palladio when I saw a picture of his Villa Rotonda in a book several years earlier and had shown Annette a print in the North Star pub in Worthing. Unfortunately when I visited Vicenza with a friend, we spent the time looking at model railways rather than any of Palladio’s famous buildings! 

In September 1998 I had the brainwave of proposing to my wife on the Japanese bridge in Monet’s Gardens in Giverny near Paris. I told her we were going on a trip and to bring her passport. We stayed in Paris overnight and then the following day drove to Giverny. Monet lived for 43 years in this incredible house and created a paradise of flowers and water lilies in his garden and lake. It was a perfect day to visit and enjoy the beauty and fortunately Annette said yes! At our wedding our good friend and poet, John Bryant composed a poem for us, etching the name of this incredible place to our history. 

In 1999, inspired by our visit to Monet’s gardens in Giverny near Paris, we went to one of the Royal Academy in London’s most popular exhibitions ever, Monet in the twentieth century, which brought together 80 of his later paintings from private and public collectors all over the world. Obviously there were a lot of water lilies, but also some of his views of London and Venice and the aforementioned garden at Giverny. 

After our wedding in July we honeymooned in Zante and went on a day trip to Olympia where we visited the Archaeological museum. Amongst other things the marble of Hermes by Praxiteles was outstanding and there were some of the sculptures from the pediment of the temple of Zeus, which again like the temple of Diana in Ephesus was a pile of rubble. 

In 2000 on a visit to Hampton Court Palace we saw the incredible 9 large paintings, the Triumph of the Caesars by Andrea Mantegna. The biggest Renaissance paintings outside of Italy

In June we would embark on a holiday that would forever change our lives and art was a big part of it... 

It was our plan to move abroad after we got married and Italy was the likely destination. The only question was where and how? The answer came when we met a couple from Italy who lived in one of our possible destinations, Florence. They invited us to stay with them and in June 2000 we went for a two week holiday. The rest as they say is history! 

In Florence we visited three museums, the Uffizi,  the Galleria Accademia and the Bargello. 

The Uffizi is one of the most visited, second oldest and largest art galleries in the world. The masterpieces are obvious without prior knowledge or a guide and I have since taken various family members round and acted as an amateur tour guide. I find something new and fresh to admire every time I visit and it just goes to show that the old ‘been there and done that’ adage isn’t always necessarily true! Anyway the first time was special as we saw for the first time Boticelli’s allegorical Primavera and the sublime Birth of Venus. My personal favorite Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation, beautifully detailed in its execution. Caravaggio’s provocative Bacchus, Titian’s sexy Venus of Urbino and Michelangelo’s Holy Family. There were some notable absences undergoing restoration. Caravaggio’s Medusa shield and Raphael’s Madonna with the goldfinch, but this first visit was unforgettable. 

Our visit to the Galleria dell’ Accademia was just as impressive, as I got to see no less than seven Michelangelo sculptures in one hit. Four of the five unfinished slave/prisoners intended for the Pope Julius tomb in Rome (the fifth one is in the Louvre in Paris) St Matthew, the Palestrina Pietà and arguably the greatest sculpture in existence, the seventeen foot/5 meter tall David. We walked round and round it completely mesmerized. I’ve seen it many times since and am always left wondering how it was humanly possible to create such beauty and perfection out of what was essentially a damaged block of marble. 

We also managed to squeeze in the Bargello on our two week holiday. The Bargello houses the largest collection of Gothic and Renaissance sculpture in the world. We marveled at one of Michelangelo’s early works, Bacchus, Giambologna’s Mercury, two other David sculptures by Verrocchio and Donatello, as well as the two original panels for the Bsptistery doors by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi. 

Along with these three major art galleries, we wandered the streets of Florence admiring the Duomo, climbing Giotto’s bell tower, paused and soaked up the atmosphere in Piazza Signoria, tried to walk across the Ponte Vecchio. We also visited nearby Pisa, Lucca and Siena. We knew straight away Tuscany was our future. 

At the beginning of 2001 we were back up to London for a last incredible exhibition before moving to Italy. Fittingly enough Caravaggio would be the main star - ‘the genius of Rome 1592-1623’ at the Royal Academy, which as well as masterpieces by Annibale Caracci and Rubens, brought together no less than 15 canvasses by the master Mannerist/Baroque painter of the low life genre, Michelangelo Merisi di Caravaggio. These included, A young boy peeling fruit, the cardsharps, the gypsy fortune teller, the musicians, the lute player, boy with a basket of fruit, the taking of Christ, the stigmatization of St Francis, John the Baptist, the Entombment, the Madonna di Loretta erc. the list was endless... an incredible privilege to see so many great Caravaggio paintings in one place. 

Part 4 - 2001-2010

(32-41 years old)

2001

St Peters @ Rome 

Santa Maria Novella

Casa Buonarotti

Santa Croce 

San Francesco @ Arezzo

We moved to Florence, Italy in November 2001 and so began an incredible period of my life when I was not only exposed to an incredible amount of art in this ‘cradle of the Renaissance’ but also around Italy interspersed with trips to London, Paris and beyond. 

Funnily enough my first ‘art experience’ was on a day trip to Rome at the end of November. I just managed to squeeze a visit inside St Peter’s. It was my third time to Rome and second time inside St Peter’s, the cupola which was designed by Michelangelo. However it was another Michelangelo piece I was here to see, the Pietà. I managed to see it and was very happy. Created when he was twenty-three/four years old is an absolute masterpiece in depiction and execution, as the youthful Mary cradles her grown son, in her copious drapes, after he is taken down from the crucifix. It’s s shame you can’t get closer, but this is a sublime work of art. 

After moving in to our new house, I decided to have a look inside Santa Maria Novella. It is slightly strange in that from Florence station you only see the rear of this huge edifice. You have to walk round into Piazza Santa Maria Novella to admire the facade. Which is a miracle in itself. The lower Romanesque half was designed by Jacopo Talenti in 1370, but several features were added by Renaissance man, Leon Battista Alberti 100 years later in 1470, still making it one of the oldest façades in Florence, it is truly harmonious and one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture. Inside there are a few things worth seeing. On my first visit I found myself standing before one of the earliest examples of perspective in art history, Massaccio’s holy trinity fresco. This incredible architectural effects gives you the feeling of being inside the painting. It had just been restored too and the pink colors were very vivid. Underneath there is a skeleton in a coffin with the inscription “I am what you will become.” Scary! I can’t remember much about Giotto’s crucifix or Ghirlandiao’s frescoed Tournabuoni chapel... so a definite return is long overdue! 

I didn’t leave it long, in between job interviews, on 29 November, to visit the house of the master, Casa Buonarotti, in Via Ghibelline. There was a special collection of his letters on display, so a good excuse to visit. Michelangelo was actually born in a small village in the province of Arezzo called Caprese. He spent his childhood in the hills of Settignano outside of Florence and then apprenticed to Lorenzo de Medici in Florence. He bought this house, later in life, but never lived here. Still it had been made into a small museum. The rooms are frescoes, but it’s for a couple of his early works I’ve come to see. The Madonna of the steps is a bas-relief sculpture of Mary feeding the baby Jesus. It’s pretty crude, but pretty incredible fir a fifteen-year-old. It was influenced by the work od Donatello, but already you could see the potential of the future master. The other piece I’ve come to see is another bas-relief, the battle of the centaurs, which he carved when only seventeen years old and was one of his favorite pieces. A mass of nude youths, writhing in combat. A fluid composition that went further than previous artists, creating his new and unique style. 

On a bitterly cold December day I sought refuge in Santa Croce, the largest Franciscan church in the world, building started in 1294, but the beautiful façade here was added in the 19th century.  Inside I checked out the  elaborately decorated tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Foscolo and Rossini and the monument to another of Florence’s famous sons, Dante, who was actually buried in Ravenna. I remember the very moving and emotional St Francis of Assisi and John the Baptist frescoes by Giotto too in two adjacent chapels, the Bardi and Peruzzi. I had a look inside the museum and saw Cimabue’s famous crucifix that had been damaged in the flood of 1966. Also I was lucky to see the Pazzi Chapel designed by Brunelleschi. 

Our last port of call before Christmas was Arezzo, a town recently made famous by the film ‘La Vita e Bella’. We visited the church of San Francesco to have a look Piero della Francesca’s largest fresco cycle, executed from 1458/9 and 1466, ‘The history of the true cross.’ Generally considered to be an early Renaissance masterpiece. Piero studied first as a mathematician, so he used this knowledge on his geometric designs and perspective. His paintings are serene and detailed and after the 1991-2000 restoration even brighter and clearer and is definitely worth seeing. Many years later I taught a lady who had written a book about his life. 

2002

Pienza 

Michelangelo museum @ Caprese

Pitti palace

Fiesole museums

Volterra

Uffizi 2 mum

Accademia 2

Uffizi 3 Chas and Mavis

Medici Ricardi 

Brancacci

Villa Medici @ Poggio a Caiano

Medici chapels

San Marco

Archaeological museum

Verona

Venice

Villa Malcontenta - Palladio

In the shadow of Michelangelo @ Palazzo Strozzi

Cambridge 

Sicily

Bologna

Cortona

Massa Marritima 

Rome 4 

Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel

Uffizi 4

Palazzo Te @ Mantova

Massaccio @ San Giovanni Valdarno

And so to my first full year in Florence. We were living in Greve-in-Chianti, but Annette was working in the center of Florence and I was working all over the place. However, as well as starting a new life in a new country, with a new house, job and friends I managed to fit a lot of art in, especially as we had several visitors to play host and tour guide to. 

In January we paid a visit to the south of Tuscany and a little hill-top town called Pienza. We arrived just as the sun was setting, which was beautiful from the city walls, but unfortunately the main church had scaffolding on it, so we weren’t able to fully appreciate it, but no matter as we would return... just a few times! 

We had to go to Ancona for the weekend and stopped in Anghiari, the site of a famous battle (and lost Leonardo Da Vinci painting) for lunch. We drove on to Caprese, the birthplace of Michelangelo. It was a kind of personal pilgrimage for me to visit the actual house he was born in. There was a small, unassuming museum there containing a few copies of his work, as with many of these places, slightly disappointing. 

After a trip back to England for my Nan’s funeral (sadly she would never get the chance to visit us) I visited the Pitti Palace. Built for the banker, Luca Pitti in 1458 and one time residence of Napoleon and the King of Italy and bought by the Medici family. 

It is the largest museum complex in Florence containing four museums and the Novoli gardens. I came here to visit the Palatine gallery. For those intimidated by the Uffizi it’s actually quite a good alternative. I wsnted to see a few pieces, foremost the Italic Venus by Antonio Canova. A very beautiful neo-classical marble created as a replacement for the Medici Venus, which in itself was a marble copy of a possible bronze by Hellenistic master, Praxiteles. It introduced me to a new artist. I also loved Titian’s Isabelle d’Este and portrait of a gentleman and 

Raphael’s Madonna with the chair. 

Caravaggio’s Sleeping Cupid was pretty cool too. 

We also drove up to Fiesole, the town above Florence that actually pre-dated Florence, having both Etruscan and Roman origins. We visited the Archaeological ruins, small Bandini museum and the impressive theatre. Somewhere we would come back to many times and enjoy some outdoor concerts and operas. 

In February I checked out a free exhibition at the Uffizi called ‘I mai visti’. Never seen before, the first of many selected displays of the thousands of paintings kept in storage, including some minor works by Titian, Veronese and Botticelli. 

My first visit to Volterra was rather disappointing. The drive here is very long and we arrived at 4 o’clock just as the sun was going down. We did get a glimpse of the Midicean fortress, a huge structure built in 1342 and enlarged by Lorenzo the Magnificent in 1474, but now a state prison. We would come to Volterra again. 

My mum became our first visitor. I took her to the Galleria dell Accademia to see David (only my second visit) and to the Ufizzi. The Caravaggio room was now open, so I got to see Bacchus and the sacrifice of Isaac for the first time, but still no Medusa shield (still undergoing restoration). Mum particularly liked the Filippo Lippi paintings. 

There were no less than two exhibitions celebrating the 600th anniversary of the death of Masaccio, one of the early pioneers of the Renaissance. ‘Masaccio and the painters of his time’ and  ‘Under the influence of Masaccio - the invention of perspective.’ I had a quick whiz round to see how Masaccio learned the rules of perspective from Brunelleschi and Donatello. There were works by Durer, Leonardo and Van Eyck, as well as some technical instruments, showing how mathematics, geometry and optics were used in creating his masterpieces. 

Annette’s parents, Charlie and Mavis followed hot on my mum’s heels. 

While Annette took her parents to see Michelangelo’s David I took advantage to see an exhibition of Greek marble heads on display at the Palazzo Medici Ricardi. This Renaissance Palace was built for Cosimo de’ Medici by Michelozzo between 1445-1448. Influenced by Roman architecture and Brunelleschi, the building has huge, roughly hewn stones on the ground floor, which gradually became smoother as the levels go up, giving the building the appearance of being lighter and taller. The courtyard with Baccio Bandinelli’s  Orpheus and some Donatello reliefs is impressive. Some of the artwork housed here is now in other galleries, but there are a few others that are worth seeing. There is a nice Madonna and child painting by Filippo Lippi, a ceiling frescoed by Neapolitan artist, Luca Giordano, but the real star is a fresco by Florentine artist and pupil of Fra Angelico, Benozzo Gozzoli, It’s in the tiny Magi chapel on the ‘Piano Nobile’ or first floor and there is a time limit for staying in. Painted in 1459 it is a beautiful three-wall cycle depicting the three wise men visiting Jesus, but here through the Tuscan countryside. The realistic depiction of nature was groundbreaking, the richness of color in the costumes and precious jewelry is simply breathtaking and his vivid portrayal of human portraits, including members of the Medici household and even a self-portrait are quite astounding. 

After Annette’s parents went home I took the opportunity to see another fresco cycle, this time in the more famous  Brancacci chapel, next to the church of Santa Maria del Carmine. The church, like many in Florence has an unfinished façade, but the Brancacci chapel next door is where the action is at. To give you some idea of its importance, it’s sometimes called ‘the Sistine Chapel of the early Renaissance ‘. The patron of the chapel was silk merchant and Ambassador to Cairo, Felice Brancacci. He hired Masolino Panicale and his twenty one year old assstant, Massaccio to fresco the chapel. Painting began in 1425, but half way through Masolino left for Hungary and the young Masaccio took over the commission. Masaccio was then called to Rome (where he tragically died six years later) and Filippo Lippi finished off the job. The results were quite incredible and future artists such as Michelangelo would come here and sketch the figures and gain inspiration. It was a kind of school for future artists. It is particularly Masaccio’s work that stands out and his techniques like those used on the Trinity in Santa Maria Novella of foreshortening, perspective, chiaroscuro and naturalism we’re groundbreaking for that period and he was instrumental in progressing the Renaissance movement. 

The fresco cycle depicts the life of St Peter, but the sheer emotion on the faces of Adam and Eve’s expulsion are memorable. The delicacy of the Tribute Money is remarkable and attention to detail in the Baptism of the Neophytes is astounding, especially from the twenty one year old artist. The work by Masolino and Lippi is competent, but it is Masaccio’s masterpieces that you are blown away by. 

During a visit by some friends from England we enjoyed a visit to our first Medici Villa outside of Florence at Poggio a Caiano. There are 16 major villas and 11 minor ones. In 2013 12 of these villas and 2 gardens were awarded UNESCO world heritage status, Poggio Caiano was one of them. It was commissioned by Lorenzo de’ Medici in 1480 and built by Giuliano da Sangallo. Today it is state owned and there are two museums. The building itself was very innovative with the classical porch on the ground floor and Majolica 

Pediment by Andrea Sansovino. The building is very symmetrical and beautiful to look at. Inside we enjoyed gazing at the colorful frescoes by Pontormo, Andrea del Sarto and Alessandro Allori. 

In April I heard from a friend that entrance to all state museums were free for a week, so I met up with Annette after work. We had intended to visit the Palazzo Vecchio, but it wasn’t on the list, so instead we headed to San Lorenzo and the Medici Chapels. It’s the new sacristy (which is actually the older of the two) that we have come to see. It was designed by Michelangelo when he was 50-55 years old, from 1519-24 and intended to be a mausoleum for members of the Medici family. It was great to see no less than seven Michelangelo sculptures in one place. The unfinished Madonna and child, somewhat reminiscent of his earlier Madonna of the steps. Two of the Medici family, Lorenzo Duke of Urbino and Giuliano Duke of Nemours, sitting, similar to his Moses sculpture in Rome. However it was the four allegorical figures at the base of the two dukes that are the most interesting. His idea was to symbolize how active and contemplative life interact to free the soul after death represented by four reclining, twisting figures, the two males muscular, with veins popping, the two females, smooth and somewhat crude. Night and day and dusk and dawn. The tomb was not how Michelangelo envisioned, but impressive nonetheless. 

Michelangelo in one of his poems made reference to his sculpture of night. 

“My sleep is dear to me, and more dear this being of stone,as long as the agony and shame last.Not to see, not to hear, or feel, is for me the best fortune;

So do not wake me! Speak softly.”

We also made good use of the free museum entrance to visit the museum of San Marco, which includes the original living quarters of several famous monks, Beato Angelico, Fra Angelico and the mad monk himself, Savaranola. The museum complex turns out to be enormous. On the ground floor is the cloisters built by Michelozzo. Their are several chapels dedicated to the aforementioned monks, the one to Fra’ Bartolomeo has a stunning preparatory cartoon and there is the famous Savaranola portrait and a great ‘Last Supper’ by Ghirlandaio. Upstairs is the famous Beato Angelico Annunciation, as well as all the monk’s individual cells, each one with its own individual Beato Angelico fresco and Savaranola’s double cell, where he prepared all those crazy fire and brimstone sermons, including the 1497 Bonfire of the Vanities. 

Annette had a lesson to go to, so I carried on round the corner to check out the Archaeological museum and it’s just as huge as San Marco. The museum is spread out on two floors. The first section is the Egyptian collection, which wasn’t wildly exciting, but then after seeing the Cairo and  British museum, probably understandable. They do have the second largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in Italy, after Turin, with 14,000 pieces, so a return visit is definitely due... the Etruscan section I found more appealing, with the star exhibit being the mythical Chimera, which is a lion, with the head of a goat coming out of its back and the tail of a snake. This Etruscan bronze was discovered in Arezzo in 1553 and claimed by the Medici family and brought to Florence. I feel sorry for Arezzo and think it should be returned there. Anyway it is a magnificent example of Etruscan mastery of bronze casting being dated to 400 B.C. and obviously very influenced by the Greek masters. I also liked the ‘L’arringatore’ or Orator, another Etruscan bronze found around Lake Trasimeno, near Perugia in 1566 and thought to date from around 100 B.C. 

The Roman section was next, there was a nice bronze of a youth called ‘iodolino of Pesaro’ from 30 B.C. which apparently was a copy of an earlier Greek bronze, from 440 B.C. similar to the ‘Doryphoros’ by Polyclitus, now in Naples. Very impressive too was the Minerva of Arezzo, another Roman bronze, which in turn was a copy of a Greek bronze, after Praxiteles and again found in the 16th century in 1541. It was discovered in several parts,  reconstructed and restored. 

The last section was the Greek collection. There were some Kouri torsos, a giant Hellenistic horse’s head and various Attic vases, in particular one of the most famous Greek vases ever found, the Françoise vase, discovered in Chiusi in 1844 and thought to be dating from 560/70 B.C. It is s milestone in Greek pottery and signed by the potter, Ergotimos and the master painter Klietias. It depicts 270 figures 121 which have inscriptions from the life of Achilles. In 1900 a museum guard threw a chair at it and smashed it into 638 pieces, poor guy who had to put it back together! 

All in all an incredible museum, generally overlooked by tourists. 

For Easter we arranged a trip up north and spent s day in Verona. We went inside the Arena, which is the second largest amphitheater after the Colosseum, built in the first century A.D. it could hold 30,000 people and is still used today for operas and concerts. We also saw the Castel Vecchio and walked over the Ponte Scaglieri. The Porta Borsari was cool too 

It was my second time in Venice and this time I actually did it some justice. We walked over the Rialto bridge and marveled at Saint Mark’s square, Sansovino’s Loggetta and after buying a guidebook discovered the Contarini del Bovolo staircase which was a personal favorite. we decided to go inside the Doge’s palace which was incredible. The giants staicase with Sansovino’s statues of Mars and Neptune was impressive. Inside their was room after room of huge, dark paintings by such illustrious painters as Tintoretto, Titian, Tiepolo and Veronese. It was a bit overwhelming to be honest. What was really cool was a secret corridor which we had to crouch to get inside, that lead over the bridge of sighs to the old prison. On the first floor terraces we could see over to the isola San Giorgio Maggiore and Palladian church. We finished our few days in Venice by seeing a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition of some of his working models. 

On our drive home we drove down the Adriatic coast and stopped in a small town called Mira. This would prove to be the first of several pilgrimages to see various Palladian villas dotted across the north of Italy. This first one was called the Villa Foscari, nicknamed ‘Malcontenta’ after one of the Foscari wives who was locked up in the villa for not fulfilling her husband’s desires. Anyway the villa was closed, but I’d come to look at the outside, which was very beautiful and is today part of the World Heritage Site of Palladian Villas. Who knows one day I might be able to return for a better look and see the inside. 

Once back in Florence I attended a temporary exhibition, the first of many, at Palazzo Strozzi. We were working at the British Institute, opposite Palazzo Strozzi in the smaller Palazzo Strozzino, so Palazzo Strozzi became a kind of second home to us. Strozzino, which actually predates Palazzo Strozzi by 32 years, was thought to be designed by Brunelleschi, although Benedetto di Maiano and Michelozzo had a hand in its design too. 

The bigger Palazzo Strozzi was bought by Filippo Strozzi, a rival of the Medici, as a kind of one-upmanship. Work on the palazzo  began in 1489 by Benedetto di Maiano, but wasn’t completed until 1538, by which time Ironically Filippo had died. The Medici confiscates it and didn’t return it to the Strozzi family until 30 years later. It is actually more impressive than the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. Interestingly for us it houses the Gabinetto Visseux, a library which, like the British Institute, served as a cross cultural center and was used by many famous writers throughout the twentieth century. 

The exhibition was entitled ‘Michelangelo and the shadow of the genius and Florentine art from 1537-1631’, exploring the effects of Michelangelo on future artists. The interesting Michelangelo unfinished sculpture of Apollo/David usually in the Bargello was here, as well as pieces by Cellini, Giambologna, Pontormo and Bronzino. The strange Mengone Dwarf sitting on a turtle was here too. 

In the Summer we were back in England. We went up to Cambridge, as Annette’s bother lived there. I think it was my first time there. I’m not sure what buildings we saw, but we would return many times. 

We had a brief holiday in Sicily and amongst other things visited the Ancient theatre in Taormina. It was built in Roman times, but probably over a pre-existing Greek theatre and is extraordinarily preserved. The seating area and proscenium almost intact and in fact they hold summer concerts there. We had a nice wander. 

In September on a visit to Bologna I sought out some smaller Michelangelo sculptures that are tucked away in the church of San Domenico. We arrived at closing time and the doorman only let me see two of them! The two saints, Proculus and Petronius. The Angel I’ll have to come back and see. 

We also visited two Etruscan towns that Autumn, Cortona, near the Umbrian border and Massa Marritima on the edge of the Maremma. Cortona was a fleeting visit and we just got to have a picnic outside Giorgio Vasari’s imposing 1550 Santa Maria Nuova church and a quick blast round the main square. In Massa Marritima we admired the 13th century Romanesque Cathedral Saint Cerbonious and went for a walk on the medieval walls. 

In November a friend from England came to visit. Unbelievably the David was being restored so I took him to Santa Croce to se the Giotto frescoes. 

We decided to go to Rome for the weekend and I had something special in mind... 

After three visits to the eternal city I was going to attempt to get into the Sistine Chapel. After making the three-hour drive down we arrive and park up near the Vatican. Unfortunately at 10.00am the queue is already miles long and it’s obvious I’m. It going to get in yet again as the museum closes at 1.30! We agree to try and come back earlier tomorrow. We had a wander round St Peter’s, walked past the Castel Sant’Angelo and to the station. We booked a hotel room for the night at the tourist information center. (The day’s before Airbnb!) in the evening we see a football match at the Stadio Olimpico and the following morning arrive at the Vatican museum at 8.00am. There is already a queue, but we arrive at the entrance at 10.00am. We are in! Entrance is free as it was a special cultural day and I have three and a half hours to get round 8 museums and 54 rooms!!!?!?! After years of reading about it and pouring over pictures I’m finally going to see the Sistine Chapel! There are obviously many other art treasures here, but just to make sure I almost run past all the other rooms to arrive at Michelangelo’s masterpiece, which just happens to be the last room. It’s smaller than I expected and the ceiling and walls are closer to the eye. It is an unbelievable sight, in my opinion the greatest work of art ever created by human hand. Every single figure seems to be alive, living and breathing in colors as fresh as the day Michelangelo frescoed them. I stayed for what seemed like an eternity soaking up all this magic. The Last Judgement behind the alter was cool too and I didn’t forget to have a quick browse at the frescoed walls by

I spent nearly two hours in there and so had an hour and a half to check out some other pieces I had my eye on. Nearby was the Raphael room. It was great to see another of my favourite frescoes, the School of Athens. We made our way to the  Belvedere courtyard to see the Belvedere Torso and stumbled on the sublime Laocoon sculpture group! What an incredible morning, one that would stay in my mind forever... 

In the afternoon I got to go inside the Colosseum for the first time, again after only ever seeing it from the outside. We had a free guided tour, which was very funny. A few other stops, at the Campidoglio, Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps finished off a memorable weekend

On returning to Florence I got to take my friend round the Uffizi for my fourth visit. There was a special exhibition on dedicated to the Rape of Europa, a Greek mythological story, which meant lots of paintings of big white bulls (representing Zeus) and a fair maiden (Europa) 

We paid the city of Mantova in Lombardy a weekend visit in November. Our first stop was to see the beautiful façade of the church of Sant’ Andrea, designed by Leon Battista Alberti in 1472. Next we checked out the oldest church in Mantova, the 11th century Rotonda of San Lorenzo.  We had come up here because there was a special exhibition at the Palazzo Te, a huge villa designed by Giulio Romano in 1525 it was entitled ‘Gonzaga - Le Galleria Celeste’ dedicated to the Gonzaga family who, along with Isabella d’Este had amassed a collection of 2,000 paintings and 20,000 precious objects, now spread all over the world. This show brought together 1,800 objects including 90 paintings. Some of our favourites as we wandered round were Titian’s ‘Woman with a mirror (normally in the Louvre) Mantegna’s breathtaking ‘Lamentation of the dead Christ’ (usually in the Brera in Milan) with its groundbreaking foreshortening and Coreggio’s beautiful ‘Venus, Mercury and Cupid from the National Gallery in London. 

After the exhibition we took a look at the rest of the Palace, a series of rooms frescoed by Giulio Romano, who was a student of Raphael. In particular we liked the hall of the giants, frescoed from floor to ceiling. 

We couldn’t leave without visiting the Palazzo Ducale, one time royal residence of the Gonzagas, With over 500 rooms in several complexes, obviously there was only time to see a small part. We wanted to see Andrea Mantegna’s frescoes in the ‘Camera degli sposi’ (wedding chapel) there was a time limit in this tiny room, but it was mind blowing. Three of the walls are frescoed, with the Gonzaga family pictured in an idealized Roman countryside setting and the unique ‘Oculus’ round fresco on the ceiling, again with incredible foreshortening figures. 

Afterwards we were treated to a special surprise tour of three private rooms used by the star patron, the person largely responsible for this enormous collection, Isabella d’Este. 

At the beginning of our Christmas holiday we made the short drive to San Giovanni Valdarno to see a small exhibition, ‘Masaccio and the origins of the Renaissance.’ The exhibition brought together no less than 38 pieces by such luminaries as Brunelleschi, Donatello, Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi, all contemporaries and friends of Madsccio. Masaccio was born here, but none of his works are displayed here, so it was quite a treat for the town to have some of them return for a short while. 

Some of the highlights included the Donatello and Brunelleschi crucifixes and part of Masaccio’s Pisa altarpiece. Our tickets also included entrance to the Basilica, where we saw a sublime Fra Angelico Annunciation. 

2003

Laurentian library (vestibule)

Santa Maria dell Fiore

Museo del Opera del Duomo

Villa Vignamaggio

Castello di Poppi

Siena Cathedral

Allinari Brothers Ospedale San Paolo

Nora museum - Chia, Sardinia 

Rome 5 Tempietto Porta Pia

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

David @ Galleria dell Accademia

Piccolomini library, Siena

Badia a Coltibuono

San Biagio, Montepulciano

Castello di Brolio

In January I tried to see the Laurentian library, part of the San Lorenzo complex and designed by the master, Michelangelo in the 1520’s, but opened in 1571 after his death. I got as far as the vestibule. The library itself was only opened when there was a special exhibition. However the flowing, Mannerist style staircase was pretty impressive. 

January is quite a good month to see museums in Florence as there are less tourists around. So I take advantage of this by having a peak inside Santa Maria del Fiore, the enormous main Cathedral in Florence. From the outside, spectacular, but inside, rather disappointing. There is the famous painting of Dante holding his Divine Comedy with the nine circles of hell, Sir John Hawkwood by Paolo Ucello, a horse by Andrea del Castagno and the Vault is frescoed by the mediocre Vasari (and too high up to see) You can climb to the top of the Cupola or descend to an underground museum (for another day).  

The Museo del opere del duomo is where the real action is. Tucked round the back of the Cathedral, originally it was the artist’s workshop, where many masterpieces were created. I thought it was funny that many of the pieces created to adorn churches, have now returned, to be replaced by copies. 

Inside in the courtyards are the original bronze panels of the baptistery doors created by Lorenzo Ghiberti and dubbed by Michelangelo ‘the gates of paradise.’ Outside on the actual baptistery are copies. I marveled at Michelangelo’s Florentine Pietà or Deposition. He began sculpting this at 72 years of age until he was 80, when he tried to destroy it. The face of Nicodemus is said to be a self-portrait. There are many Donatello statues here, as well as the interesting singing gallery balconies by Donatello and Luca della Robbia. I found the museum very interesting and it was subsequently restructured in 2015. 

In February I checked out the second edition of ‘I mai visti’ at the Uffizi, with fruit and flowers as the theme. Unfortunately it was pretty forgettable.

At the end of March we were possible Hotel destinations for Annette’s brother Phil, who was planning a visit. After a few attempts we got to see Villa Vignamaggio, just down the road from us, past Greve-in-Chianti. Once owned by the Geradini family, as in Lisa Gherardini, subject of the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa. It is even thought Leonardo might have painted her here. The villa was also used by Kenneth Brannar for the filming of Much Ado about Nothing. The holiday homes are small converted farmhouses dotted around the villa, but somehow we managed to get a guided tour of the ‘private’ villa! It was incredible, beautiful, original stone floors and filled with antiques. She showed us the very expensive ‘Mona Lisa suite’, (now not available to rent) it was an unforgettable afternoon. 

In April we went on a day trip to the east of Tuscany and while we didn’t visit any museums, we saw some cool buildings, stopping off to see Frescobaldi’s Castle at Nipozzano (cool wine), the Piazza Grande in Arezzo and the very imposing Castle at Poppi. 

At Easter we welcomed Annette’s brother, Phil and his then 5-year-old daughter, Leonie. We didn’t visit any museums, but I did get to have a peak inside the wonderful Cathedral in Siena. Much better than the one in Florence. The black and white marble is striking and the mosaic floor one of a kind. There are also some sculptures by Michelangelo, including a large St Paul and 4 smaller saints. A Donatello bronze relief and some Bernini sculptures too. There is also the Piccolomini library which we don’t have time to visit. This is a Cathedral I definitely recommend. 

At the end of May I just managed to squeeze in my first ever photography exhibition in the Ex Hospital of San Paolo Leopoldine in Santa Maria Novella. The subject was the Allinari Brothers, Leopoldo, Giuseppe, Romualdo and later Leopoldo’s son Vittorio. They are the world’s oldest photographic firm and started their work in 1852, only 10 years after photography was invented. The exhibition was an extraordinary journey through 150 years of images from Italian life. There were a series of 20 rooms, starting with their hometown of Florence and then into other towns and cities in Italy. My favourite section were two rooms on realism, showing everyday life in some of the pooorer provinces. Scenes of fishermen, street vendors and poverty in Naples, really captured the essence of the daily life and soul of the people. 

N.B. in 2006 this building was turned into the MNAF, the national museum of the Allinari Brothers and in 2014 also houses the Museo Novecento, museum of Italian art of the twentieth century. 

For our Summer holiday we spent 9 days on the beautiful island of Sardinia, mostly on the beach. We did pay a visit, however to the ruins at Nora on the Pula peninsula. Originally a Phoenician settlement in 900 B.C. it was occupied by the Carthaginians and then Romans. 

It was an extremely hot day to be walking around ancient ruins. There were some mosaic floors, a few columns and a small theatre. Probably worth a visit if you are in the area. 

We took the overnight ferry from Cagliari to Civitavecchia, arriving at 9.30am and as we were only 50 miles from the eternal city decided to have a quick whiz around Rome. After parking up near the Vatican our first stop is the Piazza Navona, where we admire the Bernini fountain. We had a peak inside the wonderful Pantheon, even though I’d seen it before from the outside it was my first time inside and it was incredible. The huge dome 142 feet/43.3 meters high, dominates with the open oculus at the top. Our third stop was up the Janiculum hill to the church of San Pietro in Montorio to see one of my favourite buildings, Bramante’s Tempietto. Built as a commemorative tomb In 1502, it is considered one of the finest examples of high Renaissance architecture. Donato Bramante came to Rome to study the ancient temples and was inspired to create this, almost sculptural building. Preparing him for his original plans, just down the road, of the largest church in the world, Rome’s St Peter’s Cathedral, where 7 other architects would continue his work. Anyway it was an absolute pleasure to see this often overlooked masterpiece. 

Our last stop was along the Aurelian walls and a certain gate, Porta Pia. Designed by Michelangelo and built between 1561 and completed in 1565, one year after the artist’s death. Michelangelo actually presented three plans for the gate to Pope Pius IV and he chose the cheapest and least extravagant. However Michelangelo’s last architectural design was a pleasure to see. 

In August we welcomed Annette’s niece, Bernice and her friend, Laura who were staying with us for a week. After several visits to Pisa I finally got the chance to ascend the famous Leaning Tower and it was a pretty surreal experience. The tower had been closed for structural restrenghthening between 1990 - 2001 and so was finally opened with a limited number of visitors per day. 

We take them to see David, so I get to see the big fella’ again for the ... time 

My mum and grandma paid us a visit in August and on a visit to Siena I got the chance to see the Piccolomini library that I missed out on an earlier visit. Painted in 1502 by Perugian artist Pinturricchio for Pope Piccolomino, one of the greatest humanist scholars in the library built to hold his precious manuscripts. The frescoes depict an idealized account of Piccolomini’s life in vibrant colors. Pinturricchio excelled in the depiction of decorative patterns, costumes and bright colors. I highly recommend seeing this fresco as an example of 16th century Renaissance art. 

We took my mum and grandma to Arezzo and on the way stopped at Badia a Coltibuono. This is a beautiful 11th century abbey where you can visit, stay and taste their fabulous wine 

In September we visited Montepulciano for the second time. Unfortunately there was scaffolding on the Cathedral, however we did see the temple of San Biagio, a very imposing structure designed in 1518 by Antonio Da Sangallo. We enjoyed a stroll round at sunset admiring the travertine covering. 

In October we had another drive out to Castello di Brolio in Gaiole. Probably the best Castle in Chianti and home of Bettino Ricasoli, the guy who invented Chianti Classico wine. We enjoyed a tour of the grounds (you can’t go inside the castle) and admired the structure from the outside. The origins of Brolio date back to Lombard times and was in the possession of the Ricasoli family by 1141. The castle was destroyed several times and the current structure is mostly gothic revival from the 2800’s. The Renaissance gardens are pretty and the views spectacular. 

2004

Castello di Montegufoni 

Botticelli @ Palazzo Strozzi

Palazzo Ducale, Urbino

Monte Olivetto Maggiore

Caravaggio @ Rome 

National Gallery, London

Cambridge 

Oxford

Leonardo museum @ Vinci

Villa Petraia

Orvieto

Villa Castello 

Todi

Assisi

Spoleto

Perugia

Palazzo Vecchio

We took a drive out to the west of Florence in March, stopping in Cerbaia and Montespertoli. The Castle at Montegufoni caught our eye and we went to explore. It had a crenellated tower similar to the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. We asked about looking round and for information about the restaurant. Unfortunately the owners weren’t very friendly and we were abruptly sent on our way. 

On Annette’s birthday, 9 April we started our Easter holiday with a visit to the Botticelli and Filippino Lippi exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi. The exhibition, marking the 500th anniversary of Boticelli’s protege, Filippino’s death, was entitled ‘Grace and unrest’ Grace, because of the Platonic ideals that inspired ‘Primavera’ and ‘the Birth if Venus’ and unrest, because of the influence Savonarola was to have on Florentine art at the close of the 15th century. The exhibition brought together 25 of Boticelli’s paintings and 16 of Filippino’s  from galleries and private collections all over the world. Boticelli’s famous Pallas and the Centaur and Calumny from the Ufizzi were here. Other highlights included two panels from the Prado museum in Madrid depicting stories from Bocaccio’s Decameron, two circular paintings and a fresco from Santa Trinita in Florence and some superb portraits, Man with a medal from the Ufizzi and a Woman from a private American collection. Filippino’s Portrait if a musician was here from Dublin. The return of Judith from the Ufizzi and drawings of the Divine comedy from the Vatican museum.

Filippino’s Queen Vashti and Madonna and child with angel musicians medallion, Boticelli’s the angel of the Annunciation. The Mystic nativity from the National Gallery in London. Lamentation over the dead Christ from Milan. Filippino’s St Jerome from the Ufizzi, Pietà from Washington and Mary Magdalen from an American collection filled out this exceptional exhibition. 

Also that April we spent a few days in Le Marche and in particular Urbino, where we found the visually stunning, Palazzo Ducale. This Renaissance Palace was built in the mid 15th century for the Duke of Montefeltro. There was a special show on celebrating the Delle Rovere (another powerful nobile family) collection, but most of the pieces were here anyway. In the National gallery of Le Marche we saw one of the three famous ideal city canvasses (the other two are in America), Piero della Francesca’s moving ‘Flagellation’ and Madonna of Senegalia and Raphael’s portrait of a woman ‘La Muta’. There were also a couple of Titian and Paolo Ucello paintings. We enjoyed the wooden panels of Duke Federico’s study. Also interesting was the underground drainage system opened to the public in 1985. 

In May I visited the magnificent red bricked Benedictine abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore south of Siena. It was built around 1320, but additions and restorations have been made throughout the centuries. Inside there are some beautiful Renaissance frescoes executed by Luca Signorelli and il Sodoma or Giovanni Bazzi to give him his real name. The frescoes depict the life of Saint Benedict. Signorelli started the cycle with 8 frescoes, before being called to Rome to work on the Sistine Chapel and il Sodoma completed the cycle painting 26 scenes including a wonderful self portrait. 

Every year the ADS or Association of historical Italian residences hold an open day where the public can visit for free various locations around the country, usually closed to the public. This year I chose the Castello di Celsa, just south of Siena. Built around 1200 by Baldassarre Peruzzi for the Celsi family and enlarged in 1500, this beautiful ivy covered castle dominates the landscape and has imposing views towards Siena and Mt Amiata. There is also a pretty temple, limonaia, Italian garden and park. 

Later in May I went to Rome for a concert in the evening, so had a free day to wander. I decided to continue my Caravaggio trail and so headed straight for the Capitoline Museum. This incredible museum is housed in the Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo, and Palazzo Senatorio, the three buildings in the magnificent Piazza del Campidoglio all designed by Michelangelo and connected by an underground corridor. Opened in 1734 it’s thought to be the world’s first museum. On the second floor I saw two Caravaggio paintings. The Fortune Teller and Youth with a Ram, representing John the Baptist. 

There are two almost identical versions of the Fortune Teller, the other is in the Louvre. The subject, a familiar one in Caravaggio’s paintings, is his ‘friend’ the artist, Mario Moniti , is having his fortune read by a gypsy, who while she is stroking his hand is also stealing his ring.

The Youth with a Ram, representing John the Baptist, exists also in two versions, the other one in the nearby Galleria Doria Pamphilj. The subject here is another of Caravaggio’s ‘servants/‘friends’ Cecco del Caravaggio. The painting is very suggestive, the lamb supposedly representing Jesus, the whole effect looks pagan, it was no doubt inspired by Michelangelo’s Ignudi in the Sistine Chapel. 

While I was in the Capitoline museum I also checked out some of the other famous works, for example the huge bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius  (the one outside in the square is s copy) the colossal head, hands and feet of Constantine. Some of the other sculptures such as the Wounded Amazon, a marble copy after Phidias, the Dying Gaul, the Capitoline Venus after Praxiteles and Bernini’s head of Medusa. 

It was an overwhelming museum and one that I would return to again. 

In the afternoon I sought out the church of San Luigi dei Francesi to see three huge canvasses by Caravaggio. Inside this unassuming church is the Contarelli Chapel, where you are confronted with these three masterpieces, the calling, inspiration and martyrdom of St Matthew, painted from 1599-1600 for the French cardinal Matthieu Cointerel, Contarelli in Italian. The overall effect of these sudden bursts of light emanating from the shadows of the gloomy chapel are mesmerizing. They caused quite a stir when originally shown and in fact the ‘Inspiration of St Matthew’ painting was rejected and was sadly destroyed during the Second World War. 

I was back in England in August, visiting family and working at a Summer School. I was being paid to escort a group of students up to London and Oxford. In London I got to pay only my second ever visit to the National Gallery. 

I saw some of the works I’d seen before, but could now spend more time looking at some of the other masterpieces on offer. My personal favorites this time were Van Gogh’s eponymous Sunflowers, Turner’s explosive Fighting Temerarie and hypnotic Rain, Steam and Speed. I loved Seurat’s Bathers and obviously had to see Monet’s Japanese bridge and water lilies. 

We also went up to visit Annette’s brother Phil in Cambridge. We walked through Christchurch and Peterhouse colleges, of course admiring the lovely architecture. 

On my visit to Oxford I took a group of Chinese students on the river Ouse punting and the indoor ‘Oxford Story’ I remember seeing the 18th century Radcliffe Camera and being very impressed, but it would have been nice to see more of the city. 

In October we drove up to Vinci 30 miles west of Florence and birthplace of Leonardo. We’d been before, but this time did a guided tour of the Leonardo museum. It was quite small but there were loads of cool interactive reproduction models of some of his inventions. 

The next day we visited another Medici Villa, Villa Petraia to the north of Florence. The building dates back to 1364 and the design is generally attributed to Bernardo Buontalenti, changing ownership until Cosimo I de’ Medici bought it in 1544. It has undergone many changes over the centuries, but the result is a very beautiful building and gardens with sweeping views over Florence. We went on a guided tour of the inside as you can visit the two floors and most of the rooms. Along with the other Medici villas it attained World Heritage status in 2014

Somewhere I had been wanting to visit since living in Italy was Orvieto in Umbria. When I did an Italian course in 1996, the course book was based on Orvieto and its inhabitants, so I was curious to visit. The Etruscan town is perched on a volcanic hill with spectacular views of the Umbrian countryside. On our first visit we saw the outside of the Romanesque/Gothic Cathedral with its striking gold mosaics and rose window. We climbed the 47 meter high 16th century Torre del Moro, with its distinctive clock face for some great 360 degree views. 

At the end of October we visited yet another Medici Villa, Villa Castello. The Villa was closed, so we couldn’t go inside, but the gardens were open. There were several statues in the gardens including Appenino, a shivering man representing the mountains in Tuscany by Ammannati. There was a cool grotto too, decorated with exotic animals. 

For the November holiday weekend we were back in Umbria for a whistle stop tour. 

Our first stop, appropriately enough on All/Saints day, was Assisi. It had just attained World Heritage status in 2000. We climbed what seemed like a thousand steps to reach the city, but we were rewarded with a real gem of a place. Home obviously to Italy’s most important Saint, Francis. After lunch we walked to the large Piazza del Commune, containing the 13th century Palazzo del Capitano, 14th century Torre del Popolo and 15th century Palazzo dei Priori. We particularly like the 1st century B.C. Roman Temple to Minerva complete with Corinthian columns. 

We eventually reached the famous Basilica of Saint Francis, one of the most visited pilgrimage spots in Italy. The earthquake of 1997 damaged some of the vault and frescoes and was closed for two years while it was repaired.The exterior, built into the side of the hill, was quite impressive. There was an upper and lower church. I took a peak inside the upper church. The Cimabue frescoes had faded, but I loved the Giotto frescoes in the upper church depicting the life of St Francis. I went down in the crypt where many people were entering to kiss the burial place of St Francis. 

In the evening we had dinner in Spoleto, so I saw some of the town in the dark, but would have to return another time for a proper visit. 

Our next stop was Todi an ancient city built on two hills. We had a stroll around and got talking to a friendly local who told us there were 365 castles in Umbria, one for each day of the year. We stood in the Piazza del Popolo and admired the great buildings. The simple Gothic Cathedral and the four main Palazzi; Del popolo, Del Capitano, dei Priori and Vescovile, certainly an impressive square. On the outskirts of the city we admired too the views interestingly shaped Santa Maria della Condolazione, a Renaissance church   dating to 1508 and often attributed to Bramante. 

Our final destination was Perugia, which I have to say was a bit of a disappointment.  We entered the hill-top town through the ancient plumbing system via a series of escalators. I found the main square Poazza 4 November a bit dreary, although we were probably a bit tired. Perugia’s most famous son, the artist Perugino, didn’t really excite me and we didn’t visit the museum. 

Our last outing of the year was my birthday request to visit the Palazzo Vecchio. We had admired it from the outside for three years and now I was getting quite excited about seeing the inside. The building was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, the same architect that created the main structure of the Cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore and Santa Croce. Work began on it in 1299, although various additions were made over the years. The 94 meter tower, known as La Vacca or the cow, was built over an exsisting tower, which is why it is not quite central. 

Inside is the impressive courtyard, designed in 1453 my Michelozzo, which is frescoed by Giorgio Vasari, contains a copy of the bronze Putto and dolphin by Verocchio. 

The largest and most imposing room is the Sala del Cinquecento (hall of the 500) which today is used for many official engagements and featured in the Dan Brown book and film, Inferno. It is famous for the two frescoes carried out by Michelangelo, the battle of Cascina and Leonardo Da Vinci, the battle of Anghiari, that are now lost. The two walls were frescoed on by Giorgio Vasari and still today scientific tests are carried out to see if the anything of the two original frescoes exist. 

There were several statues around the room, but one in particular stood out, Michelangelo’s the genius of Victory. Executed between 1532-1534, when Michelangelo was 57-59 years old, the 2.61 meter marble was originally intended for the Julius tomb. The young man, modeled on Michelangelo’s friend Tomasso dei Cavaliere stands victorious over an old, bearded man, with the features of Michelangelo. It is a very striking sculpture. 

At the end of the Hall we looked at the small study with some nice frescoes by Angelo Bronzino, including portraits of Cosimo I and his wife Eleonora of Toledo.  

In the Sala dei Gigli we saw the cool bronze sculpture by Donatello of Judith

and Holofernes, rounding off a very successful first visit. 

2005

Cerreto Guidi 

Villa Borghese, Rome

Hadrians Villa

Tivoli gardens

Villa Medici  @ Cafaggiolo

Monterchi 

Gubbio

Sansepolcro

Villa Torrigiani, Florence 

Villa Corsini sul Prato, Florence 

Villa Bibbiana, Capraia e Limite 

Palazzo Comunale, Prato

Villa Vittoria, Comeana

Castello dell’Imperatore , Prato 

Stonehenge 

Bodiam Castle

San Gerasimo monastery, Kefalonoa

Argostoli museum 

Spiros museum, Ithaca 

Medici Chapels 2 

Montepulciano 

Certaldo 

Biennial @ Palazzo Corsini

Villa Garzoni

Our first outing of the year was to yet another Medici villa in the tiny hamlet of Cerreto Guidi, about 30 miles west of Florence. The villa, built in 1556, was enormous, taking up nearly the whole town. We ascended by the huge red zig zag staircase, attributed to Bernardo Buontalenti, to the fairly plain villa. Originally designed as a hunting lodge for Cosimo Medici it is now a national museum. We checked out the Medici portraits, Bardini antique collection and the hunting museum complete with weapons and various stuffed animals. 

In March we welcomed Annette’s parents for their second visit. We took them round the Roman ruins in Fiesole and to another villa, this time though not a Medici villa. In the town of Lastra Signa 15 miles west of Florence, lies the Villa Bellosguardo. Built between 1585-95 it was bought in 1906 by the great Tenor singer, Enrico Caruso. He lived there for the last 15 years of his life and left possessions and recordings and now is a museum dedicated to him. The villa is pretty and we enjoyed a pleasant stroll in the beautiful gardens containing many animal sculptures. 

Annette’s parents had never been to Rome before, so we booked a couple of nights at a farmhouse between Rome and Tivoli. We decided a hop on hop off bus would be a good idea and it was. On the first day we stayed mainly in the bus, alighting only to see the Trevi fountain, Spanish Steps. 

On day two we spent time in St Peter’s square, the Colosseum and Arch of Titus, before our 24 hour bus pass expired. 

We left Annette’s parents in the Borghese park while we went for a whistle stop tour of the Villa Borghese, which of course is one of Rome’s most important museums. Cardinal Scipione Borghese amassed a huge collection of sculptures and paintings in the 17th century and either commissioned or bought works by his two favourite artists, Gianlorenzo Bernini and Caravaggio. 

We somehow managed to get in not realizing we needed to buy a ticket and nobody checked. The Bernini sculptures were simply amazing,

Hades and Proserpina is the star of the show here, depicting the moment when the god Hades abducts Proserpina and takes her to the underworld. The indentation of the fingers of Hades where he grabs Proserpina on the leg are so realistic, Bernini’s skill at only 23 years old to create this masterpiece just blows you away. 

The Apollo and Daphne sculpture,  created when he was 24-27, run Hades and Proserpina a close second. Depicting the story from Ovid’s Metamorphosis where Daphne flees the amorous advances of the god Apollo and is turned into a laurel tree. 

The three figure group representing the story from the Aeneid by Virgil, where Aeneas is carrying his aged father Anchises and son Ascanius on his shoulder as they escape from Troy is even more incredible as Bernini was only twenty years old when he sculpted it. 

The David sculpture, executed when Bernini was 25-27, was interesting. Completely different to Michelangelo’s idealized pensive giant. Bernini’s was low and crouching, all about movement and action, as an angry realistic David is biting his lip. Groundbreaking features for its time. 

We also liked Canova’s very evocative Neo-Classical Venus, portraying Napoleon’s sister Paolina. The Caravaggio paintings were sublime, we saw the Madonna of the serpents, St Jerome, the Sick Bacchus (a self Portrait) and the Boy with a basket of fruit that we’d already seen in London 5 years ago. There are also paintings by Titian, Raphael and Rubens here. Noticeable absences were Caravaggio’s St John and David with the head of Goliath, ironically on loan at the National Gallery in London. Still a pretty amazing gallery. 

For our last day we decided on a couple of locations outside of Rome. Our first stop was Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli, 18 miles from the eternal city. It was a beautiful, hot, sunny morning as we arrived at what amounted to a small town. The site is actually 250 acres, larger than Pompeii. The Roman Emperor Hadrian, the one who built that long wall in England, had this summer residence, although he liked to live here all year round, built in 120 A.D. We again left Annette’s aged parents relaxing while we whizzed round trying to see as much as possible. The ruins were extensive and surprisingly well preserved. There were around 30 buildings, 

The most famous and interesting was the Canopus. A large pool surrounded by copies of famous statues, including the Caryatids from Athens. Many other statues were discovered here and are now kept in various museums around the world. We had fun exploring the ruined buildings of what must have been an incredible place in its heyday. 

In the afternoon we carried on to the famous gardens of the Villa d’Este, or as they are more commonly known, Tivoli Gardens. The 16th century villa was built on a hill with a huge terraced gardens and has 51 superate water fountains one more elaborate than the next. Sadly as we arrived the heavens decided to open, there was an electrical thunderstorm and all the fountains and lift down to the gardens were switched off. We waited around for it to clear up, but in vain. 

After Annette’s parents went home we relaxed back home in Florence. We visited our favourite park at Pratolino and then checked out the castle of Cafaggiolo in the Mugello. Actually it was yet another Medici Villa, but it looked more like a castle. The Medici family actually originated from the Mugello area to the north of Florence and built several villas in this area. This particular villa lies on the road between Barberino and Scarperia. The estate was in the possession of the Medici from the 14th century and reconstructed in 1452 by Michelozzo. Its design is more classical and gothic rather than Renaissance looking more like a castle than a villa. After centuries of being used as one of the favourite Medici villas it  was abandoned. In fact it had only reopened to the public in 2002 after many years of neglect. We enjoyed a tour of the inside and relaxed in our rug in the beautiful gardens surrounded by magnificent cedar and sequoia trees. 

For the Festa della Liberazione holiday we booked a couple of nights near Gubbio in Umbria. On our drive we stopped at Monterchi near Arezzo to check out a fresco by Piero della Francesco. The Madonna del Parto, pregnant Madonna, which he frescoed in only 7 days in 1460 is housed in its own small museum and was well worth the detour. 

And so on to Gubbio. We parked up near the Roman theatre, apparently the second largest theatre in the world. I don’t remember much about it. The weather was a bit dreary and we walked through the narrow, medieval streets to the top. The dark grey stone buildings in the rain didn’t make it a pleasant experience. The Palazzo dei Consoli however was impressive. This huge edifice was built from 1332-1349 and dominates the square standing alone and offers spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. We would visit Gubbio again and have a better impression, but I’m still trying and failing to love this town. 

On our drive home we made another stop to see what Aldous Huxley described as ‘the greatest painting in the world’ and it’s that man again, Piero della Francesco. This time in Sansepolcro. The Resurrection is in the Museo Civico and is a great freso depicting Jesus stepping out of the tomb while four guards are sleeping. I found it quite comical, but the composition is filled with much symbolism. 

In May we attended the ‘Open Courtyards and Gardens’ event. On the first weekend we stayed in Florence along with some friends. Our first destination was at the Torrigiani Gardens, we usually drive along Via Petrarca, the road that joins San Frediano to Porta Romana. The private gardens are hidden by an enormous wall and you can just see the spiral tower peeking over the top. At 17 acres it’s  the largest private gardens inside city walls in Europe. In the 16th century it was a botanical garden, but bought by Pietro Torrigiani and transformed in the 19th century into a romantic English style garden covering 25 acres. We joined a guided tour, but wandered off on our own and kept getting told off. The gardens were beautiful, with some magnificent trees, including cedars, oaks and magnolias. 

Our second port of call was the Palazzo Corsini al Prato, near Porta al Prato again hidden from view to the public by high walls. Built in 1594 by Bernardo Buontalenti the pretty villa is flanked by statues and surrounded by a pretty gardens. We had a nice stroll and enjoyed some baby turtles. 

The following weekend we headed out to the village of Limite e Capraia to the Villa Bibbiani. Built by Cosimo Rodolfi, he decided to experiment with his botany skills by planting two dozen exotic trees. Some of these are now 300 years old. We enjoyed an extensive tour around the villa and then wandered around the 20 acre gardens admiring the palm trees, sequoias, junipers, cedars, pecan, chestnut, pine, magnolias and many cypresses. There was a cool stone arch, called ‘the arch of man’ which was the old entrance and a tree house built high up in the forest. (In 2018 the property was sold to an American magnate for €20 million.) 

At the end of May we experienced our first wedding, Italian style. The ceremony was at the town hall in Prato, which just happened to be the 12th century Palazzo Communale. The main hall was frescoed in 1415 with biblical scenes and portraits of local benefactors. 

The reception was in Comeana at the Villa Vittoria, another minor Medici villa. The gardens were nice with some cool statues. 

At the end of June we went to a concert in the Castello dell’imperatore in Prato. It was built between 1237 and 1247 for the medieval king of Sicily, Fredrick II of the Holy Roman Empire and is a major landmark in Prato. Pretty cool for a concert too. 

We were in England from the middle of July to the middle of August and got to see a few art related places. It was amazing to think that in 30 years of living in England, I’d never seen Stonehenge, even though it is less than a hundred miles from Worthing. My mother had lived in the West Country for about 10 years and my brother was currently living in Devon. We drove him home from Worthing to Devon, so I took the opportunity to stop and finally see Stonehenge. Like many people I wasn’t that impressed. The site was quite small and we couldn’t really get near the 5,000 year old stones. Maybe I need to try another time. 

The other site we visited was Bodiam Castle in Robertsbridge, East Sussex. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge a former knight of Richard II. Square in shape with a cool moat, the exterior is really well preserved, but the inside is mostly ruined. We joined onto a guided tour and enjoyed relaxing in the beautiful grounds. 

For our Summer holiday we visited the Geeek island of Kefalonia, made famous by the book and film Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.  Obviously most of our time was spent on the beautiful beaches, but we did find time to visit the monastery of Saint Gerasimos, the patron saint of the island. It’s a relatively new building as they suffered a massive earthquake in 1953 that destroyed 90% of the buildings. The walls are colorfully frescoed and everybody was going to kiss the Sant’s relics in a silver casket. 

We went on a day trip to the tiny, historic island of Ithaca, home of Odysseus. There was a small archaeological museum in Vathi, the capital, that we visited. There was only one small room containing various vases from the Roman period. 

In September my grandmother made her second visit to Florence, accompanied by my mother, in her third visit. I wanted to take them somewhere where they didn’t have to walk too much and so opted for the Medici chapels. It was my second visit here to see the Michelangelo sculptures, but I’m not sure they shared my enthusiasm. 

We also took them to see Montepulciano, this time there was no scaffolding on the main Cathedral, the plain façaded, Santa Maria Assunta to blight the view. We enjoyed a drink in the square also admiring the Palazzo Communale, remodeled by Michelozzo in the 15th century. 

In October we made only our second ever trip to Certaldo and we got to have a peak inside the Palazzo Pretorio. Dating from 1117-1164, there are some nice frescoes by the school of Benozzo Gozzoli, some Etruscan and Roman artifacts and today a  rather erotic temporary exhibition. 

We attended the Biennial antique fair in the very beautiful 17th/18th century Palazzo Corsini, (the one by the river Arno) it actually faces the British Institute library, where we work, so we were used to seeing the façade, as well as admiring some of the antique paintings on sale, by Canaletto, Poussin, Van Dyck, Canova and Tintoretto, it was great to see the inside of the Palazzo, especially the monumental staircase and grotto. 

In October we visited Collodi, home of Italy’s world famous wooden boy, Pinocchio. There was a lovely villa and gsrdens there, Villa Garzoni. The villa was closed, so we could only see the outside, but the gardens were very impressive, somewhat reminiscent of those in Tivoli. Carved out of the side of the hill, with some cool water features and statues. Very pleasant to stroll around. 

2006

Monte Olivetti Maggiore

Galleria dell Accademia

Arnoldo @ the Museum of the works of the Cathedral 

The Ufizzi 

Santa Croce

History of Science museum 

Giambilogna @ the Bargello

Alberti @ Palazzo Strozzi

Ghirlandaio @ Santa Trinità

Apoxymenos @ the Palazzo Medici Ricardi

2007

Etruscan museum @ Chiusi

Cezanne in Florence @ Palazzo Strozzi

Seville Real Alcazar Casa Pilates

Cordoba Mesquita

Vermeer @ Modena

Villa San Michele

Roman Museum @ Vaison la Romain

Villa Rothschild

Villa Kerylos

Larry Fink @ the Alinari museum

Palazzo Publicco @ Siena

2008

Luca Signorelli @ Cortona

Rome - Forum, house of Livia, Moses @ San Pietro in Vincoli, Galleria della Spada, Caracalla Baths, Museo Nazionale, 

Castel Sant’Angelo

San Luigi Francesco

Capitoline museum

Open courtyards and villas pt 2

Impressionists @ Palazzo Strozzi

Puglia Lecce Alberello 

Salisbury Cathedral 

Bath Royal Crescent, Spa

Verona 

Isola Bella

Luca Signorelli @ Orvieto Cathedral

2009

Correggio @ Parma

Raphael Madonna and Chaffinch @ Palazzo Medici Ricardi

Canova @ Forlì

Uffizi

Vasari Corridor

Paris Louvre, Musee d’Orsay

Versailles

Walking with Palladio

Salisbury Bath

Open villas autumn edition 

Venice

2010

Ferrara

Marc Chagall @ Palazzo Blu

Spoleto 

Cathedral Filippo Lippi Roman house

Open villas 

Giotto @ Scrovegni Chapel, Padova

Surrealism @ Palazzo Strozzi Magritte De Chirico

Part 5 - 2011- 

(41-

2011

Rimini

Cerveteri

Pitti Palace + costume gallery 

Palazzo Pfanner

Picasso Miro Dali @ Palazzo Strozzi

Hever Castle

Salisbury

Folon @ the Rose garden

2012

Money and beauty Botticelli @ Palazzo Strozzi 

Picasso @ Palazzo Blu, Pisa

Americans in Florence, John Singer Sargent @ Palazzo Strozzi

Winchester Cathedral

2013

Kandinsky @ Palazzo Blu, Pisa

Dali @ Palazzo Medici Ricardi

Early Renaissance, Donatello, Di Cambio @ Palazzo Strozzi 

Life and death in Pompei @ the British Museum

Ely Cathedral

Houghton revisited @ Houghton Hall

King’s College @ Cambridge 

Russian Avant Garde @ Palazzo Strozzi

Impressionism @ Palazzo Pitti

2014

Pontormo Fiorentina @ Palazzo Strozzi

Uffizi (mum and Natalie) 

Bury St Edmonds Cathedral

2015

Modigliani @ Palazzo Blu, Pisa

Picasso @ Palazzo Strozzi

Power and Pathos @ Palazzo Strozzi

Villa Badoer

Villa Pisani

Padova Palazzo della Ragione

Villa Poiano Maggiore

Human, Anthony Gormley @ Fortezza Belvedere 

Palazzo Vecchio

Castello di Sammezzano

Michelangelo and the Fitzwilliam museum, Cambridge 

Divine beauty, Van Gogh Chagall @ Palazzo Strozzi

Jeff Koons in Piazza Signoria 

2016

Kandinsky Pollack @ Palazzo Strozzi

Laurentian Library

Baptistery

Opere dal Duomo (refit)

Sardinia stones

Ai Wei Wei @ Palazzo Strozzi

2017

Museo degli Innocenti

Bill Viola @ Strozzi

Pavia

Sicily

Temples

Monreale

Uk ?

Jean Fabre @ Piazza Signoria

Ghirlandaio @ Santa Trinità 

2018

Pisa Baptistery, Cathedral, camposanto

Dawn of a nation @ Palazzo Strozzi

Uk ?

Palazzo Davanzati

Andrea del Sarto Cennacolo

2019

Marina Abramovic @ Palazzo Strozzi

Santo Spirito

Badia Fiesolana

Verrochio @ Palazzo Strozzi

Painshill, Cobham

Van Gogh @ Tate Britain 

Arundel Castle Park

Bucket list

Riace Bronzes, Reggio Calabria

Naples Capodimonte Archaeological museums

Ravenna mosaics

Venice Accademia St Marks

London V&A

Amsterdam Rijksmuseum Van Gogh museum

Bruges

Barcellona

Prado Madrid

Athens Archaeological, Acropolis museum

Paestum