The beauty of Italy has inspired countless artists through the years, including ones who live here in the United States. Today, I am profiling artist William Renzulli, who was moved to paint his ancestral home Castelnuovo della Daunia in Puglia after a family reunion visit in 2008 and who will…
Here’s a great way to bring Italy home – learn how to make Bolognese sauce! There are dozens of instructional videos out there, including this recent one from Epicurious.com. But the best that I have found – that adhere to the original ingredients and techniques from Italy and are…
In the wake of Abruzzo’s devastating earthquake of April 2009, many companies and countries have pulled together to aid the tremor-stricken region. The other day, while visiting the National Gallery in Washington, DC, I learned that this aid has been extended to the art world. Since June 15, 2009, the…
For the first time ever in the U.S. – at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama, no less – Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings and notebooks from the Biblioteca Reale in Turin will be on display. To say this is a huge deal is an understatement. In fact, this is…
If you’re not taking a trip to Rome, the former stomping ground and site of many works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, don’t fret. Approximately 57 of the Baroque artist’s marble sculptures will be on display at the Getty Museum through October 26. The highlight of the show, according to David…
I was browsing a bookstore on the Upper East Side yesterday when I saw that one of the store employees had highlighted Salman Rushdie’s new work The Enchantress of Florence. Yes, the Nobel-prize winning author of Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses is now trying his hand at spinning a…
One of the pleasures of visiting Tuscany is having the chance to drive the fertile hills of wine country, sampling reds and whites along the way. Most travelers really only think of Chianti, a mini-region within Tuscany, when thinking about Tuscan wine. But another vino hotspot is Montalcino. Montalcino is…
As part of Italy’s celebrations of the birth of architect Andrea Palladio, born 500 years ago this year, the Italian Cultural Institute and the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC, are hosting a free screening of “Abitare Palladio,” a documentary about the man and his works. The film will be shown tomorrow…
