Poggio Bracciolini Poggio Bracciolini You should place this name foremost in your memory regarding Italian history. Why might we need to remember this name? An epic poem and one of the most important texts of Western civilization. Poggio's discovery, De Rerum Natura, quite literally changed the world. Historians know little about Poggio’s early [...]
A Celestial Discovery Imagine a bitter Tuscan night in the winter of 1610. A certain man directs his rudimentary telescope to the heavens. As he focuses his attention to Jupiter, he sees something astounding which brings him much joy. Moons circle the great Giant. A tale of incredible scientific discovery follows. Likewise, this discovery also [...]
Convent of Sant’Agata Once, I walked along the Via San Gallo in Florence, a street I have come to know well. For more times than I can count, I have passed the façade of what appears to be a church and, until that moment, paid little attention. A small metal marker on a [...]
In the annals of the Catholic Church, few contain a story like Caterina (called “Lucrezia”) de’ Pazzi. She was born into a wealthy Florentine family. At an incredibly early age, some writings suggest perhaps nine years of age, Caterina began to mortify her flesh (self-flagellation, belt of nails, and others) in keeping with meditations she [...]
Poggio a Caiano A mere eleven miles from the city center of Florence lies one of the most beautiful of the many Medici villas which dot the Tuscan countryside. Lorenzo de Medici, known as “The Magnificent” oversaw the construction one such location: the villa Poggio a Caiano. The approach to the villa offers [...]
Piazza San Marco Florence continues to surprise those of us fortunate enough to have spent years exploring the private and hidden corners in one of the world’s most sought after travel destinations. Such is the case of San Marco Monastery, located an easy ten minute walk north of the city’s Duomo and Baptistery. [...]
In 1993, a car bomb exploded in Via dei Georgofili and damaged parts of the palace, killing five people. The most severe damage was to the Niobe room, (this room was relevant because it had many works of art that displayed those that are handicapped) and classical sculptures and neoclassical interior of which have been [...]
Tourists hurry through the corridors of the Pitti Palace museums every day. Often, in their rush to see the Palatine Galleries, the Museum of Costume and others, they miss one of the true treasures of Florence - the Silver Museum. The assumption, incorrectly made, is that the museum houses only silver. Such is not the [...]
Marina Calamai Logo On a recent visit to Florence, I had a the good fortune to meet and spend some time with Marina Calamai, an artist in the truest sense of the Renaissance artist. She is a creator, a dreamer, someone who places follows her inspiration in numerous directions, always creating art in as many [...]