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Italy

A collection of 26 posts

Italy

Reflecting on Italy

Like so many people Italy has always been a favourite country of mine and I have been fortunate in being able to visit several times. Today I share a few of my paintings and memories inspiried by the "warmth of Italian buildings".

Printmaking

Perfect prints by Piranesi

Today we marvel at the processes making the fine detail in the prints of Giovanni Piranesi, an 18th century Italian printmaker, as described to us by Dr. Colin Holden. Image: metmuseum.org

Celebration

Amedeo Modigliani

Our last artist to celebrate the Passover period is the Jewish Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani who bridged all worlds and embraced people from vastly different backgrounds to his own.

Exhibition

Eye to Eye with the Ceiling of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel

Tucked away above a large Melbourne shopping centre is a small exhibition space featuring 34 of Michelangelo's magnificent frescos from the Sistine Chapel – displayed at full size and at eye level

Dolls

Commedia dell'arte Part Two

Octogenarian Andrea takes us into her world of her hand crafted "Commedia dell'arte" dolls with the showcasing of Harlequin, Pierrette, Pierrot, Columbine and Puncinella.

Dolls

Commedia dell'arte: Part One

Octogenarian Andrea today presents for you a "little touch of class' in showcasing dolls from the theartical world of "Commedia dell'arte" which originated in Italy and popular in Europe in the C16th - C18th.

Installation Art

A tribute to humanity's quest for flight

Dutch design firm Studio Drift pays tribute to humanity's quest to master flight with a mesmerising kinetic installation made of thin glass bars that move like wings. Image: Studio Drift.com

Women Artists

Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–c1656) was an Italian Baroque painter. In an era when female painters were not easily accepted by the artistic community or patrons, she was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence.

Conservation and Restoration

Plautilla Nelli

The Renaissance convent-painter Plautilla Nelli (1524-1588) was the first known female artist of Florence. She ran a working studio within her convent and produced large scale devotional paintings.

Conservation and Restoration

The Fortune of a Philanthropist

Jane Fortune was an author, editor and philanthropist who spent a lifetime supporting the arts, in particular increasing art accessibility for the disabled. She funded the restoration of Plautilla nelli's Lamentation with Saints.

Fibonacci

An artist's representation of some famous numbers

Italian artist Mario Merz (1925-2003), husband of artist Marisa Merz took the Fibonnaci sequence of numbers (featured previously) to new heights, 52m into the sky to be exact. Mario Merz summed up the content of the mathematical series in one short sentence. Image credit: artnet.com

Mailbag

November Mailbag No 2: Art in Many Forms

Nov Mailbag 2 brings an intro to "Mail Art", memories of Italy, the Van Gogh Alive exh, Michael Palin in Wyeth country, and more on Marian Anderson. Image: Mail art stamp and envelope with official Colt Anniversary postmark – Chuck Welch, aka Cracker Jack Kid, 1984 en.wikipedia.org

Landscapes

Past Post: No 14 August 2018: Canaletto

Our Past Posts from 2018 bring you the wonderful paintings of C18th Venetian painter Canaletto who not only recorded daily life on the Grand Canal but also painted Rome and London where he spent many years. Image: The Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice, c.1730 (canalettogallery.org)

Colour

Chiara Magni: Specialist in Finger Painting Up Close and Inspiring

I have just discovered the inspirational Italian artist "Chiara Magni" and today I am showcasing some of her paintings of views of the world, women, flauna and flora. Chiara Magni's command of colour, line and shape is awe inspiring. Image: Africa by Chiara Magni

Renaissance

Giotto's Arena Chapel

Giotto’s Arena Chapel located in Padua, Italy which is filled with the most wonderful frescos and Giotto’s most celebrated work, completed around 1305. Credits:TrustandTravel

Glass

Glass in All Its Glory

Showcasing some glass Christmas trees made on Murano (near Venice, Italy), images of a paper weight taken by John Pickup. Plus a video on the making of a hand blown glass pitcher.

Drawings

Five Hundred Years On: Leonardo teaches us to understand the Human Figure

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an expert in drawing the human figure. He started his study in the anatomy of the human body under the apprenticeship of Andrea del Verrocchio.

Renaissance

Tintoretto – The Rebel of Venice

Jacopo Robusti 1518-1594 , became known as Tintoretto. Lived in the 16th century renaissance period. He was a rival to Titian. Tintoretto’s paintings likened to a box theatre set. Adoration of the Golden Calf (1546), one of his signature works situated in the Madonna dell’Orta

Architecture

Ibrahim Khudeira sets us thinking

They walked past the limonaia and on Viale Della Meridiana. Henry asked Robert to sit with him at a trattoria in front of Basilica di Santo Spirito. Robert obliged. They both ordered Campari and tonic.

Printmaking

Canaletto: Master Drawer and Etcher

The original marks made by Canaletto have now been seen for the first time in nearly 300 years, and have been hailed as “categorically” proving he did not trace the works using camera tricks. Image: Imaginary View of Padua (canalettogallery.org)

Perception

Canaletto: Capriccio or Fact?

Learn a little more about how Canaletto created capriccio paintings which are a mixture of the imaginary and factual. Canaletto was an expert in moving buildings & inventing builings: what you see in his paintings of Venice might not necessarily be factual. Image: canalettogallery.org

Seascapes

Canaletto’s British Period

Canaletto arrived in London in 1746 and stayed for 10 years. What was London like at this time? I wonder if Canaletto was aware that the Industrial Revolution was about to start? Image: Warwick Castle 2 (canalettogallery.org)

Landscapes

Canaletto: The Painter of Views

Canaletto started his artistic career as an apprentice theatrical scene painter. He went on to become one of Italy's most famous artists. Learn about the role Englishman Joseph Smith played in promoting Canaletto. Image: Detail from "The Grand Canal at the Salute Church". (canalettogallery.org)

Bicycles

Bicycles & a little more from a Subscriber

bicycles wheel art Luca Rafanelli Credit: lucaworkshop.blogspot.com

Gardens

Italian Gardens

Central to Italian Garden Design is the art of Topiary. According to Wikipedia the word derives from the Latin word for an ornamental landscape gardener, topiarius, a creator of topia or 'places', a Greek word that Romans also applied to fictive indoor landscapes executed in fresco