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.

The great conflagration, with Nero playing his lyre, as reimagined by Rob Murray.

Paul Lay reflects on a recent trip to Naples, the closest thing Europe has to a living, breathing medieval city.

As Cyprus attempts to solve its debt problem by targeting private assets, Alexander Lee finds some ominous lessons in 15th-century Florence.

Following the surprisingly quick election of the first non-European pope in a millennium, Alexander Lee recalls some of the more controversial papal conclaves

Alexander Lee considers new evidence which suggests that Machiavelli may not have been the archetypal proponent of power politics he is remembered as.

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 inseparable 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.