Uffizi Gallery – Florence

Uffizi by Night - Florence

Uffizi has the Unusual Problem of Having too Many Masterpieces: There are plenty of world-class art galleries in Italy but the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (Galleria degli Uffizi) has one of the finest treasure troves of art anywhere in the world. For art lovers, the Uffizi alone is a good enough reason to visit Florence. [...]

Tintoretto Art at the Scuola Grande Di San Rocco – Venice

Scuola di San Rocco and Chiesa di San Rocco..

Scuola Grande Di San Rocco – The Best Place to See Tintoretto Paintings in Venice: Next door to the San Rocco Church in Campo San Rocco, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a highlight of the Venetian Renaissance. It was founded in honour of San Rocco (the protector against plague) and funded by wealthy [...]

Gallerie dell'Accademia – Venice Fine Art Gallery

Canaletto's Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo

The Gallery of Fine Arts has some of Venice’s Finest Artistic Treasures: One of Venice’s foremost institutions of art, L’Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia was founded in 1750 by the Venetian Senate. It contains some of the city’s finest artistic treasures and out of it evolved the gallery established by Napoleon in 1807 during [...]

Teatro La Fenice – The Rise and Rise of the Phoenix

Teatro La Fenice in 1837

Teatro La Fenice – Venice’s World Famous Opera House: First constructed in the late 18th century, the Teatro La Fenice (“The Phoenix”) was so named because for the opera company responsible for its construction there was a sense of having “risen from the ashes” . Fire had destroyed the original Venice opera house and legal [...]

Orsanmichele – A Chapel for Florence's Powerful Guilds

Orsanmichele - Four Crowned Saints..

Orsanmichele – A Chapel for Florence’s Powerful Craft and Trade Guilds: In its former life, Orsanmichele was a grain market (Loggia de Mercato del Grano) on the main road that linked Piazza del Duomo and Piazza della Signoria. Commissioned by the Signoria, the building was converted into a church and used as the chapel for [...]