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…
Continue reading ➞ A Wander round Eighteenth-Century Rome with a Georgian Lady
The general perception of Michelangelo is of a highly introspective, tortured and cantankerous genius who worked independently to produce some of the most famous works in Western Art. So it may seem slightly incongruous that the National Gallery’s latest exhibition, Michelangelo & Sebastiano, is actually a celebration of the friendship Michelangelo forged with the Venetian…
Continue reading ➞ Michelangelo and Sebastiano: A Renaissance Friendship
I couldn't miss a chance to write a blog post about Michelangelo for his birthday (good luck fitting 542 candles on a cake!) but also because we had the fortune to have two Michelangelo drawings on campus as part of the Lines of Thought British Museum travelling exhibition, which is now on its way to…
The best place to go for Bernini in Rome is the Piazza Navona, where you'll find his beautiful Fountain of the Four Rivers, a sculpture of travertine and marble commissioned by Pope Innocent X.
Bernini is often associated with the magnificence of Baroque Rome - and so he should be. Pope Urban VIII is said to have told him "You are made for Rome and Rome is made for you".
Just like I wrote practically a mini love letter to Paris, I could also write one to Rome. These European cities are so beautiful, and it is helped completely by the way they are enshrined in literature, film and other forms of popular culture.
Rome wasn't built in a day, so the saying goes. The classical sits beside the modern, the Renaissance holds hands with the ancients; and who better to explore from the Renaissance than Michelangelo.
