Trajan’s Markets: 7 artworks from the Museum of the Imperial Fora
The artworks of the Museum of the Imperial Fora at Trajan’s Markets: the bull-slaying cupids, the clipeus with Jupiter’s head and the amphora collection.
Musei 12 min
Archive
Museums & masterpieces
The Museum of Rescued Art in the Octagonal Hall: the artworks coming home
The Museum of Rescued Art in Rome displays, in the Octagonal Hall of the Baths of Diocletian, works recovered from illicit trafficking, on rotation.
Musei 9 min
Baths of Diocletian: 4 spaces to see, from the cloister attributed to Michelangelo to the Hall of Gold
What to see at the Baths of Diocletian in Rome: the cloister attributed to Michelangelo, the inscription and sculpture halls, and the Hall of Gold.
Musei 12 min
Palazzo Altemps: 6 artworks to see, from the Ludovisi Gaul to the Ludovisi Juno
The artworks to see at Palazzo Altemps: the Ludovisi Gaul, the Ludovisi Great Sarcophagus, the Ares restored by Bernini, the Juno and the Egyptian collection.
Musei 14 min
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme: 8 artworks to see, from the Boxer to Livia’s frescoes
The artworks to see at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme: the Boxer at Rest, Livia’s painted garden, the Lancellotti Discobolus and the Grottarossa mummy.
Musei 14 min
Orsanmichele: the granary that became a church, and the fourteen guild statues
Orsanmichele in Florence: why the statues outside are copies, where the originals are, the Orcagna tabernacle, hours, tickets and the floor that can close.
Musei Rinascimento 11 min
The Battle of San Romano: the three panels split between Florence, London and Paris
The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello: which of the three panels is at the Uffizi, where the other two are, and how to read the lances in perspective.
Musei Rinascimento 11 min
The Madre in Naples: twelve rooms commissioned from artists, inside a former pawnshop
The Madre in Naples, a contemporary art museum in Palazzo Donnaregina: the site specific rooms, the collection and the exhibitions, with hours and prices.
Musei 11 min
Titian’s Venus of Urbino: what that painting really is
The Venus of Urbino at the Uffizi: not a goddess but a bride, the objects that prove it, the Medici dowry, the loans, current hours and tickets.
Musei Rinascimento 10 min
Leonardo’s Annunciation and Verrocchio’s Baptism: the master and the pupil in the same room
Leonardo’s Annunciation and Verrocchio’s Baptism of Christ hang in the same Uffizi room: how to read them, who painted what, hours and tickets.
Musei Rinascimento 11 min
The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula: the last Caravaggio, credited to another painter for two centuries
The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula at Gallerie d’Italia in Naples: the last Caravaggio, the 1980 letter that reattributed it, the new room, hours and tickets.
Musei 11 min
The Doni Tondo: Michelangelo’s only finished painting, and the frame nobody looks at
The Doni Tondo at the Uffizi: which room it’s really in, why it’s Michelangelo’s only finished painting, and how to read the spiral and the frame.
Musei Rinascimento 10 min
Museo di San Marco: a friary where every cell has its own fresco
The Museo di San Marco in Florence: Fra Angelico’s Annunciation, the friars’ frescoed cells and Savonarola’s rooms, with hours and tickets.
Musei 10 min
The Seven Works of Mercy: the Caravaggio that was declared unsellable in 1613
Caravaggio’s Seven Works of Mercy at the Pio Monte della Misericordia in Naples: how to read the painting, hours, tickets and the short Sunday window.
Musei 11 min
Certosa e Museo di San Martino: the most famous nativity scene in the world sits in the old kitchens
The Certosa di San Martino in Naples: the Cuciniello nativity scene, the Tavola Strozzi, the cloisters and the view over the bay, with hours and tickets.
Musei 11 min
MAXXI L’Aquila at Palazzo Ardinghelli: the palace born of one earthquake and restored after another
The MAXXI L’Aquila at Palazzo Ardinghelli: the baroque palace restored after 2009, the Thursday to Sunday hours, tickets and the 2026 exhibitions.
Musei 12 min
Spanish fort and MuNDA in L’Aquila: the museum is back in the castle, with an Antonello da Messina
The Spanish fort in L’Aquila and the MuNDA reopened in the castle in 2025: the mammoth, the Beffi Triptych, Antonello’s Ecce Homo, hours and tickets.
Musei 14 min
The megalithic area of Saint-Martin-de-Corléans: a six-thousand-year-old sanctuary found while digging the foundations of a block of flats
The megalithic area of Saint-Martin-de-Corléans in Aosta: the anthropomorphic stelae, the ritual ploughed field and the dolmen tombs, with times and tickets.
Musei 11 min
National Art Gallery of Cagliari: the Sardinian-Catalan retablos explained
The National Art Gallery of Cagliari and its retablos: the Master of Castelsardo, Saint Eligius and the Cavaro workshop of Stampace, with hours and tickets.
Museums 12 min
National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari: the Nuragic bronzes, one by one
The National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari: the Nuragic bronzes, the Nora stone, the Giants now at Cabras, opening hours and the closed floor.
Museums 13 min
The Cycle of the Months in Torre Aquila: the eleven surviving months and what they show
The Cycle of the Months in Torre Aquila, Trento: the snowball fight, the grape harvest, the lost month and how the timed visit actually works.
Museums 11 min
The Civic Art Gallery of Reggio Calabria: two Antonello panels inside a theatre
The Civic Art Gallery of Reggio Calabria: the two panels by Antonello da Messina, the seventeenth century of Mattia Preti and Luca Giordano, hours and visiting.
Museums 10 min
The Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria: the four levels beyond the Bronzes
The National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria level by level: the sanctuaries of Locri, the pinakes, the bronzes from the sea and the works out on loan.
Museums 12 min
The Riace Bronzes: how to look at them, and why they reached us at all
The Riace Bronzes in Reggio Calabria: the 1972 discovery, how to look at the two statues, forty years of restoration and how entry to the room works.
Museums 12 min
The Flagellation by Piero della Francesca and the Ideal City in Urbino: the Enigma of the Three Men, the Contested Attribution and the Twin Panels
Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation and the Ideal City: the identity of the three men, the contested attribution and the twin panels in Baltimore and Berlin.
Artworks Renaissance Art 14 min
The Ducal Palace of Urbino and the National Gallery of the Marche: history, Laurana’s courtyard and how to visit the piano nobile
A guide to the Ducal Palace of Urbino and the National Gallery of the Marche: history, rooms to see, hours and tickets checked in September 2026.
Museums Renaissance Art 13 min
National Gallery of Umbria: the works to see, from Fra Angelico to Perugino
The works to see at the National Gallery of Umbria in Perugia: Fra Angelico, Gentile da Fabriano, Arnolfo di Cambio, Piero della Francesca and Perugino.
perugia umbria 12 min
The works of the Revoltella Museum in Trieste: the house of a baron who has been buying art for a hundred and fifty years
The Revoltella Museum in Trieste: the marble group of the Suez canal, De Nittis’ Lady with a Dog, Veruda and the sixth floor by Carlo Scarpa.
Musei Opere d’arte 12 min
Palazzo Abatellis: the Triumph of Death, the Virgin Annunciate and the museum that teaches you to look
Palazzo Abatellis in Palermo: the Triumph of Death painted for a hospital, Antonello da Messina’s Virgin Annunciate and Carlo Scarpa’s 1954 installation.
Musei Opere d’arte 11 min
Strada Nuova Museums in Genoa: the works to see in Palazzo Rosso, Bianco and Tursi
The works to see in the Strada Nuova Museums in Genoa: Caravaggio’s Ecce Homo, the Van Dyck portraits of the Brignole Sale and Paganini’s violin.
genova liguria 12 min
Pinacoteca of Bari, the works to see: a Bellini on the top floor of a 1935 office block
The works of the Pinacoteca Giaquinto in Bari: Bellini’s San Pietro Martire with the drawings on its back, the Vivarini, Tintoretto, Guercino and Giaquinto.
Musei Pittura 12 min
The Exultet scrolls of Bari: parchments painted upside down for people who could not read
The Exultet scrolls of Bari: eleventh-century parchments with the images painted upside down, the praise of the bees and two Byzantine emperors who date them.
Musei Arte medievale 11 min
Royal Palace and Galleria Sabauda: what to see at the Musei Reali in Turin
What to see at the Musei Reali in Turin: Juvarra’s Scala delle Forbici, the Royal Armoury, the Van Eyck in the Sabauda, and why Leonardo is not on show.
Musei Monumenti 11 min
Museo Egizio, Turin: the works to see, and the story of how they got there
The works to see at the Museo Egizio in Turin: the intact tomb of Kha and Merit, the Turin King List, the temple of Ellesiya and the rebuilt Gallery of Kings.
Musei Archeologia 10 min
Pinacoteca Nazionale of Bologna: the works to look for, room by room
What to see at the Pinacoteca Nazionale of Bologna: Raphael’s Saint Cecilia, Giotto’s polyptych, the Carracci, Guido Reni and Lavinia Fontana.
Musei Pittura 11 min
Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice: 7 works to see (and one that is not there)
The works to see at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice: Giorgione’s Tempest, Veronese’s Feast, Bellini, Tintoretto and Carpaccio, with opening hours.
Musei Pittura veneta 11 min