The Isle of the Dead (Die Toteninsel) is one of the eighteenth century symbolism’s most discussed painting; it is a work with lugubrious and dark tones that inspired intellectuals, artists, and musicians alike. Its author is Arnold Böcklin, the Swiss painter who was an exponent of the art of symbolism. For years art historians tried…
This is the second part of the article in which we continue to reveal the hidden, enigmatic, and unconventional side of the city of Florence through a series of short stories based on historical accounts and sometimes on simple anecdotes. Here you will find the first part of the guide on Secrets and legends of…
The undisputed charm of the city of Florence comes from the fact that it has the highest concentration of works of art per square kilometers in any city and from the imperceptible hidden details, elements that can escape the eye at first glance, and even upon close inspection. Often based on historical accounts, and sometimes…
The south doors of the Florence Baptistry hides messages that have been discovered only recently. In particular, the decoration of the frame contains a warning against the use of certain hallucinogenic plants, those used today to make certain drugs. To make the discovery, the Italian scholar Mauro Di Vito of the University of Pisa analyzed…
The ‘’Madonna of the UFO’’ or ‘’Madonna of the flying saucer’’ is a painting located in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in the Hall of Hercules. Also called “Madonna and Child with the Infant St John”, the painting has been the topic of much debate between art experts and ufologists. While the painting depicts the Nativity with the…
The English Cemetery is located just outside the historic center of Florence, in the Donatello square, where was once one of the gateways to the city, the Porta Pinti. In 1827 the area was sold by the grand-ducal government to the Reformed Church of Switzerland and enlarged in 1860 after the purchase of an additional…
The clock of the Duomo in Florence is one of the oldest functional mechanical clocks. The dial is a fresco painted by one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, Paolo Uccello. The clock is one of only a few examples in the world that marks the Italic hour, measuring time from sunset to sunset. Thus, “Paolo Uccello’s clock” is both a timepiece and a work of art.
A nineteenth-century villa surrounded by an enchanted garden teeming with fountains, statues, and temples in the romantic style and sprinkled with esoteric references.
We are talking about Florence’s Stibbert Museum, where you will find a vast collection of ancient weapons and disparate art objects. Although Robert Langdon didn’t visit this place in Dan Brown’s Inferno, we are sure that the Harvard professor would have loved it very much.
The Mona Lisa, also known as the Gioconda, is definitely the most famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It is perhaps even the most famous painting in the world. Today it is kept in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the setting for Dan Brown’s first novel The Da Vinci Code. According to tradition, the…
The Battle of Anghiari is one of the world’s most controversial and mysterious masterpieces. Leonardo da Vinci began painting it on a wall in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio in 1503, leaving it unfinished. We only have copies of the fresco. One of these is La Tavola Doria, an anonymous sketch dating to the sixteenth century and representing the…
