Italy

In the 1800s Rome became a microcosm for great power rivalries. E.L. Devlin describes a case of ambassadorial privilege that caused controversy between the papacy and the king of France.

Soldiers of fortune yet passionate lovers of art—the Gonzagas were a typical product of Renaissance Italy. By F.M. Godfrey.

Elizabeth Wiskemann re-examines a period of transition between the House of Savoy's reign and the dominance of the Pope in Italy.

Da Vinci's scientific observations proved inseperable from his intentions as a painter, Kenneth Clark writes. But as a disciple of experience ahead of his time, the impracticability of Da Vinci's visions would come to haunt him.

A new exhibition at the British Museum on the aftermath of the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79 raises questions about the relationship between past and present, says Daisy Dunn.

L.F. Marks introduces Savonarola, dominant within the turbulence of Florentine politics of the 1490’s.

Stella Mary Pearce uses the example of the Renaissance to reflect on the links between interesting times and their fashions.

F.M. Godfrey sifts through diverse depictions of Italy's Renaissance family.

Elizabeth Wiskemann writes that Bentinck’s achievements as British Minister in Sicily, and inspirer of Italian resistance to Napoleon in the years 1811-1814, suggest interesting parallels with recent conflicts.

Sir Kenneth Clark discovers echoes of both ancient and modern in a true Renaissance man.

The Italian prince who boasted that the Pope was his chaplain, and the Emperor his condottiere, ended his days in 1508, forgotten in a foreign prison

Jane Everson highlights the social networks of the Italian academies, the first of their kind in Renaissance Europe.

Ann Natanson visits an exhibition in Rome that highlights the papacy’s interaction with major figures of European history.