Italy
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Romeo, Juliet, and… Rosaline?
Autumn to me always says period drama season: it seems to usher in the Sunday night drama, even though they are available all year round, but I think it has something to do with the nights drawing in and the temperatures dropping. I’ve started my last couple of posts with this cosy fantasy… apparently I read more
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Mini-Post | The Getty Villa
“One could say, ‘Go to Pompeii and Herculaneum and see Roman villas the way they are now – then go to Malibu and see the way they were in ancient times.’” J. Paul Getty, Los Angeles Times, 1974 The Getty Villa was the brainchild of J. Paul Getty (1892-1976), who made his fortune in oil read more
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Six things to know about the extra sparkling history of Prosecco
As it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d write a post today about something I truly love, and that thing is prosecco. read more
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Review: “The Woman in the Painting”, by Kerry Postle
Kerry Postle’s latest historical novel follows the final twelve years of the life of Raphael the painter and explores his relationship with La Fornarina, Margarita Luti. read more
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Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757)
A Muse, Rosalba Carriera, mid-1720s, pastel on laid blue paper (Getty Museum, 2003.17) Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program. On Monday 12th June 1741, Henrietta Fermor, Countess of Pomfret, was exploring Venice with her travel companions. She had been on a Grand Tour with her husband and two of her daughters since read more
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Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing
2019 marks five hundred years since the death of Leonardo da Vinci, and the Royal Collection are commemorating this with the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing. I say “the” exhibition but actually, it consists of twelve simultaneous exhibitions in art galleries across the UK, containing 144 drawings from the Royal Collection. It’ll read more
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A Wander round Eighteenth-Century Rome with a Georgian Lady
Ever wondered what Rome was like in the eighteenth century, in the age of Grand Tourists, endless art shopping and constant archaeological excavation? Well here are the adventures of Henrietta Femor, the Countess of Pomfret, who took to the continent with her husband and two eldest daughters from 1738 to 1741. Henrietta detailed all of read more
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Titian and the Alabaster Room
Bacchus and Ariadne, by Titian. 1520-3, oil on canvas (National Gallery, London, NG35) I haven’t written a blog in a while and inspiration struck recently when I was flicking through some art books (even though I don’t technically do History of Art anymore, I can’t let it go!) and rediscovered my favourite painting, Bacchus and read more
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Laura Bassi (1711-1778): First Female Professor
Portrait of Laura Bassi: Carlo Vandi, eighteenth century. Wikimedia Commons: find the original here. The last couple of weeks I’ve been doing some reading about women travelling in Europe during the eighteenth century, and I came across a reference in letters sent between the Countesses of Pomfret and Hertford detailing the Countess of Pomfret, Henrietta read more
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Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646 – 1684): First woman to gain a PhD
Portrait of Elena Cornaro Piscopia: unknown artist, possibly 18th century. Wikimedia Commons: find the original here. Today marks 340 years since the first woman gained her PhD. In wake of the wonderful #ImmodestWomen explosion on Twitter, which has encouraged women to own their achievements and celebrate their PhDs and research following a stand made by read more
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Dr. Lizzie Rogers 