Italy

Art

Music painted on the wall of a Venetian orphanage will be heard again nearly 250 years later

Imagine Lady Gaga or Elton John teaching at an orphanage or homeless shelter, offering daily music lessons. That’s what took place at Venice’s four Ospedali Grandi, which were charitable institutions that took in the needy – including orphaned and foundling…

Art

In a Roman villa at the center of a nasty inheritance dispute, a Caravaggio masterpiece is hidden from the public

I teach Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, so when I was visiting Rome in January 2023, how could I not try to see a notorious villa that was up for sale and involved in a nasty inheritance dispute? The Villa…