Happy Birthday, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni! Michelangelo, as he is more famously known, was born on the 6th of March, 1475 (died: February 18, 1564) and would have been 544 years old today! When we think of the great Renaissance artists, like Michelangelo, I […]

The Renaissance was a time of enlightenment and advances in art and culture. No city in the world is identified with this period more than Florence. Art, history, culture….Florence is a city that needs no introduction.  Florence, or Firenze as it is known in Italy, […]

  Italy is a country of history, art, and tradition. Skills and family businesses are passed down generation to generation. The members of the Biagiotti family of Pienza are one such family. The family now boasts three generations of blacksmiths. In the early 1900s, Alfredo Biagiotti (the grandfather) […]

The sins of the father shall be visited upon the son. This, I’m sure, is exactly what Enrico Scrovegni was worried about. Maybe that was good, as this was the impetus for him to build The Scrovegni Chapel and to commission Giotto to decorate it. […]

The Vasari Corridor was completed in 5 months by Giorgio Vasari as a surprise for the guests attending the wedding of Johana of Austria to Giovanni, son of Grand Duke Cosimo I. It was used as a passage between the Uffizi (the family offices) and […]

If you are a first-time visitor to Florence, extremely high (probably number one) on your to-see list is Michelangelo’s David. Michelangelo’s 18-foot high masterpiece is almost synonymous with Florence. You can’t turn a Florentine corner without seeing him on a fridge magnet or apron or […]