Jul 26, 2023
From the original location and patron of Donatello’s “Mary Magdalene,” to the influence of Giotto on Taddeo Gaddi, to the original meeting hall of the Florentine government, to the dome of St. Peter’s, to the authenticity of the recently discovered “Flaget Madonna” attributed by some to Raphael, and much,...
Jul 19, 2023
Stretching 120m in length with its walls covered entirely in 16th century maps of various Italian city states, principalities, and islands, the Gallery of the Maps is one of the most spectacular spaces in the Vatican Museums.
Jul 12, 2023
Still located in the Loggia dei Lanzi where it was installed in 1583, the “Rape of the Sabine” was produced for Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici. While the group of three figures may seem like a fitting representation of the mythological event where Roman men took Sabine women as their wives, the statue...
Jul 5, 2023
The dome frescoes of Florence Cathedral cover nearly an acre of dome surface, making it the world’s largest fresco. Begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1572 and completed by Federico Zuccari in 1579, the main subject of the fresco is the Last Judgment and incudes some strikingly graphic imagery in the Hell sections.