The most majestically sited Greek temple and theatre in Italy is one of the world's most perfectly preserved survivors from the days of antiquity. The Segesta temple and theatre—impressively overlooking the Sicilian landscape and complete with mythical power, lies only one hour from Palermo.
If you think that the only place to see special effects is in The Matrix, then think again. The Eternal City, Rome, is filled with jaw-dropping stunts—bodies whirling through space at light speed, saints experiencing out-of-body rapture of the “red pill” kind, and architecture designed for another world. This is not just decoration, this is not just religious zeal, and it’s not...
Great art centers usually mean great cities. The centres of cultural and political power change over centuries and some are left outside the modern urban environment. One has only to think of the Aztec and Inca civilizations as an example. As far as France is concerned there is much to see outside of Paris, Versailles or Chartres. Some of the best is found in the most isolated places. The...
As a Parisian dweller, I would like to share with you my vision of Impressionism, and maybe give you some hints as how best to explore it if you happen to visit our capital.
Impressionism was born in Paris. Art history books report that the technique has been first embodied in Manet’s painting Lunch on the grass, exhibited in 1863. In this work, the lines are...
It goes without saying that Madrid and Barcelona steal the limelight with regards to Art Centres in Spain. However many of Spain’s provinces also play host to some of Spain’s finest art treasures. Even those that would not be considered “modern day” Art Centres but centuries old humble beginnings and the foundation stones of Spain art world as we know it today.
First time visitors to Florence are often amazed to find themselves entirely immersed in a world of art: streets lined with elegant palaces, statues and fountains adorning the public spaces, innumerable museums and churches filled with masterpieces of painting and sculpture.
When you finally pause to catch your breath, one of the questions that...
Hear the words “Last Supper”, and for most of us, what first comes to mind is Leonardo da Vinci’s version in Milan – the most famous example of the genre. Florence, however, is actually the place where the tradition of painting the Last Supper was born.
Just as the nobility of certain Italian towns aimed to have the most beautiful front door, or the highest...
Enhance your art by exploring its roots. There is a direct connection between pre-historic Greece and the popular Greek isle of Paros.
The history of the Cyclades predates that of Athens and the rest of Greece. In the early Bronze Age about 3,000 BC, the same time as the early Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, the islanders created the first European...
Tinos is one of the Cyclades group of islands in the middle of the Aegean Sea. Those hurrying to its fashionable neighbors of Mykonos or Santorini or even to the classical “must stop” of Delos will overlook it, and in the process miss not only one of the most beautiful of Greek isles, but one that has commanded a central a role in the history of...
Tinos is one of the Cyclades group of islands in the middle of the Aegean Sea. Those hurrying to its fashionable neighbors of Mykonos or Santorini or even to the classical “must stop” of Delos will overlook it, and in the process miss not only one of the most beautiful of Greek isles, but one that has commanded a central a role in the history of modern...
In 2006 it will have been four hundred years ago that Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) was born. The spectacular Rembrandt 400 programme pays homage to Holland’s greatest 17th-century painter. Like no other artist, Rembrandt managed to capture light and shadows in paint. In addition, his drawings and etchings are unequalled.
For centuries, household silver has indicated the wealth of a family. It is only since about 1850, when the electroplating process was developed, that flatware for the table and hollow-ware pieces have been priced within the budget of the average family. But nineteenth-century plated silver as well as pieces of early American and Federal silver are as good as money in...
It goes without saying that Madrid and Barcelona steal the limelight with regards to Art Centres in Spain. However many of Spain’s provinces also play host to some of Spain’s finest art treasures. Even those that would not be considered “modern day” Art Centres but centuries old humble beginnings and the foundation stones of Spain art world as we know it today.