Giuseppe Gigli, 1955 | Hyperrealist painter

Giuseppe Gigli was born in Arcevia (Ancona) in 1955, where he still lives and works.

In the mid 70's, after the first paintings and exhibits, he attended various schools and workshops in Florence where he specialized in the restoration of works of art.

Giuseppe spent the following 30 years as an art restorer, consulter, and dealer, proving himself on an international level and collaborating with art historians, superintendence, auction houses, galleries and museums.

Carlo Wostry | Belle Époque painter

A painter of historical and genre subjects, Carlo Wostry (1865-1943) was also a sculptor and engraver. He studied in Vienna and also at the Baviere School in Munich, so gaining a varied and comprehensive training as a young man.

His first exhibition was in his hometown of Trieste, Italy and he painted a number of fine portraits there and soon produced a good living from his vocation as an artist.

Greatly influenced by Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) the great portrait and genre painter from Ferare, Italy.

Giovanni Boldini | Ballerine Spagnole al Moulin Rouge, 1900

No artist captured the glamour, energy and optimism of the Parisian Belle Époque better than the Italian master Giovanni Boldini.

After leaving his native Italy for the French capital in 1871, Boldini enjoyed meteoric success, attracting the support of the city's influential dealer Adolphe Goupil as well as its most esteemed members of high society.

Among those who sat for the celebrated painter were Marchesa Luisa Casati, Consuelo Vanderbilt the Duchess of Marlborough, Count Robert de Montesquieu, Giuseppe Verdi and many other cultural and societal luminaries.

Giovanni Boldini | Ballerine Spagnole al Moulin Rouge, 1905 | Christie's

Gigino Falconi, 1933 | Metaphysical painter

Gigino Falconi was born in Giulianova (Teramo) in 1933.

He began painting at the age of sixteen, and in 1954 he obtained a Liceo Artistico of Pescara.

During the early years of his career, Falconi began teaching and drawing at the middle school in his city, refining his technique by copying a thousand paintings and drawings, bringing himself to an understanding of the secrets of technique and color behind the Great Masters of every century.

Angelo Vadalà (1940-2024) | Figurative painter / Sculptor

Angelo Vadalà was born in Messina, Italy.

He started painting five decades ago, when he was only 12.

At the age of 18, Vadalà left Sicily to live and study in Florence, officially to attend university and study architecture.

But after two years of study at the Florence University of Architecture, Vadalà found he was distracted by what the many museums of that beautiful city contained, and not by the stone and wood that housed the art.

From his study of architecture, Vadalà had received a foundation in the art and technique of draftsmanship.

Lionello Balestrieri | Beethoven, 1900

In 1899, Lionello Balestrieri (12 September 1872 - October 24, 1958) painted a canvas depicting Beethoven -Kreutzer Sonata-, which after winning an award at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris and in 1901 in Venice, brought him fame.

The painting depicts a dimly lit garret-like apartment with a strand of listeners along the left wall, each in their own mood, while a violinist plays between them and a furnace.

Ippolito Caffi | Romantic vedutista

Italian painter Ippolito Caffi (1809-1866) was the most modern and original architectural subjects, seascapes and urban vedute artist of his time, and his paintings are so special in immortalising the soul of the places and peoples he encountered during his many trips.

He was born at Belluno.

His first works were produced at the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice.

By 1830, he had won awards for his vedute at the Academy.

Why the Michelangelo's David statue is so famous?

David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501-1504 by Michelangelo.

It is a 5.17-metre (17.0 ft)[a] marble statue of a standing male.

The statue represents the Biblical hero David, a favoured subject in the art of Florence.

Originally commissioned as one of a series of statues of prophets to be positioned along the roofline of the east end of Florence Cathedral, the statue was placed instead in a public square, outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence, where it was unveiled on 8 September 1504.

What did the Medici family do for the Renaissance?

The Medici family's extraordinary patronage of art in Florence, it's a story that fundamentally shaped the Renaissance and left a massive legacy.

Here's a breakdown, covering their history, motivations, key figures, notable artists and the impact of their support.

Michelangelo Buonarroti | Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici, 1524-1527

Donatello | The bronze David, 1440

David is the title of two statues of the biblical hero by the Italian early Renaissance sculptor Donatello, an early work in marble of a clothed figure (1408-09), and a far more famous bronze figure and dates to the 1430s or later. Both are now in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence.

Platone | The Arts in education

The Republic (Greek: Πολιτεία, Politeia) is a Socratic dialogue, written by Plato around 380 BC, concerning the definition of justice (δικαιοσύνη), the order and character of the just city-state and the just man ecc..

It is Plato's best-known work, and one of the world's most influential works of philosophy and political theory, both intellectually and historically.

In the dialogue, Socrates discusses with various Athenians and foreigners the meaning of justice and whether the just man is happier than the unjust man.

Raffaello | Scuola di Atene - Platone / Raphael - The School of Athens (1509-1511)

The Belle Époque: A Dream of Times Gone by Vittorio Corcos

Italian painter Vittorio Matteo Corcos (1859-1933) was known for genre works depict winsome and finely dressed young men and women, in moments of repose and recreation.

Born in Livorno, Italy, he studied drawing and painting at the Academia di Belle Arti in Florence under Enrico Pollastrini.

He then traveled to Paris where he met Léon Bonnat, and signed a contract with the Goupil and Cie, he was able to supplement his income as a portrait painter with illustrations for magazines.

Lorenzo Lotto | The Recanati Polyptych, 1506-1508

The Recanati Polyptych is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto, executed in 1506-1508 and housed in the Civic Museum of Villa Colloredo Mels, Recanati, Italy.

The work is dated and signed Laurent[ius] Lotus MDVIII.

Lotto began to work on the piece in 1506 as a devotional for the church of San Domenico in Recanati.

Eugene de Blaas | Academic /Genre painter

Eugene de Blaas also known as Eugenio De Blaas or Eugen von Blaas, was born on July 24th in the Italian village of Albano, near Rome in 1843, to Austrian parents.

His career was enriched by a talented and artistic family.

His father, Carl von Blaas (1815-1894), was one of the most notable portrait painters of Roman society, a successful history portrait and fresco painter of the late Biedermeier period.

Modigliani, the Secret of empty eyes in his portraits

"When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes" - Amedeo Modigliani (Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris, 1884-1920) once said.

Of all the striking characteristics seen in Modigliani’s portraits, be they the elongated visages or the disfigured features, the mysterious, hazy eyes of the sitters capture the true essence of the painter’s style.

In fact, while he would outline the eyes, he'd rarely paint the pupils, except when he had a close, nurturing relationship with them - enabling a basis for emotional intelligence.

Torna a Surriento!

"Torna a Surriento" is a Neapolitan song composed in 1894 by Italian musician Ernesto De Curtis to words by his brother, the poet and painter Giambattista De Curtis.

The song was copyrighted officially in 1905, and has become one of the most popular of this traditional genre.

Others include:

╰┈➤ "O sole mio",

╰┈➤ "Funiculì funiculà",

╰┈➤ "Santa Lucia".

La Bocca della Verità / The Mouth of Truth, Roma 1485

The Mouth of Truth / Bocca della Verità is an ancient Roman marble disc with a relief carving of a man's face.

According to legend the face's mouth closes if a liar sticks his hand in it.

The massive marble mask weighs about 1300 kg and probably depicts the face of the sea god Oceanus. The eyes, nostrils and mouth are open.

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Vacanze Romane, 1953

Giotto | The allegories of Vices, 1303-1305

In the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, between 1303-1305, Italian painter and architect from Florence Giotto di Bondone (1266/7-1337), painted 14 allegories, in monochrome - seven allegorical representations of virtues and seven allegorical representations of vices.

Danilo Martinis, 1976 | Abstract painter

Born in Milan, Danilo Martinis currently lives and works in Como.

He started drawing by pencil at the age of 5, and never stopped since then.

In September 2009 he started his career as professional artist.

Danilo Martinis has an important background of research and stylistic evolution behind him with an initial interest in Action Painting.

Giotto (1267-1337) | Gothic painter

Giotto di Bondone, better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages.

He is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance.

Giotto's contemporary Giovanni Villani wrote that Giotto was:

"the most sovereign master of painting in his time, who drew all his figures and their postures according to nature.

And he was given a salary by the Comune of Florence in virtue of his talent and excellence".