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Italy

Canaletto's capriccio of a ruined Renaissance arcade and pavilion by a waterway

Venetian Artist Canaletto Merged Fantasy and Architectural Detail in This Previously Unseen Sketch, Heading to Auction This Month

The 18th-century painter was a key practitioner of “capriccio” artworks, which blended scenes of everyday life with bold, out-of-place structures. This work was not known to exist for centuries and could now fetch up to $80,000

Bolotana is a town on the Italian island of Sardinia with about 2,300 residents.

This Tiny Sardinian Village Might Be a New ‘Blue Zone’—and Could Hold the Secrets to Female Longevity

In Bolotana, a town on the Italian island with about 2,300 residents, women who reach the age of 70 are about three times as likely to live to 100 than women in the United States, according to a new study

Rome, From Mount Aventine, J.M.W. Turner, 1836

J.M.W. Turner Painted This Breathtaking Roman Landscape Nearly 200 Years Ago. If You Look Closely, You Can Still See His Fingerprints

The Romantic painter completed “Rome, From Mount Aventine” in the 1830s. It became his most expensive artwork in 2014, and it’s expected to sell for another record-breaking sum in December

The dishes were packed carefully, and many remained intact.

Cool Finds

A Ship Carrying Stacks of Ancient Dishware Sank Off the Coast of Turkey 2,100 Years Ago. Its Ceramic Cargo Is Still Remarkably Intact

Researchers believe that the vessel’s plates and bowls were made in the ancient city of Rhosus, once praised by Roman statesman Cicero for its “fine pottery”

Twenty coins discovered in Rome may be the first physical evidence of a "Little England" enclave.

Cool Finds

What Are Medieval English Coins Doing in Rome? They Could Be Rare Evidence of a ‘Little England’ Enclave That Received Special Papal Privileges

Researchers argue that the tenth-century coins provide new evidence of a bustling English community located next to the Vatican that was permitted to use its own currency

The exhibition features damaged art from all over the world.

A New Exhibition Spotlights 4,500 Years of Broken, Shot-Up and Degraded Artworks to Explore the ‘Power of the Fragment’

The show, on view in Florence and coming to D.C. next year, examines the history and impact of destroyed sculptures throughout time and across cultures

Built in the mid-16th century, the Villa Silvestri Rivaldi sat abandoned for decades just a short walk from Rome’s Colisseum. A new improvement project is revitalizing the complex and bringing its interior artworks to light. 

In One of Rome’s Most Famed and Neglected Villas, Centuries-Old Risqué Frescoes, Painted Over by Nuns, Have Reappeared

Nearly a year into a $40 million restoration of the Villa Silvestri Rivaldi, conservators are rediscovering and reviving 16th-century art

Focaccia di Recco is a thin flatbread filled with gooey cheese—usually crescenza or stracchino—and baked in a super-hot oven until crispy and golden brown.

A Tiny Town in the Italian Riviera Has Its Own Version of Focaccia, and Let This Be a Warning—It’s Addictive

Unlike the pillowy-soft focaccia that’s more widely known, focaccia di Recco is thin, crispy and filled with gooey cheese

Via Appia is considered the oldest great Roman road.

New Research

Researchers Have Analyzed the Roman Empire’s 190,000-Mile Network of Roads. Turns Out, Not All of Them Led to Rome

For a new study, archaeologists attempted to answer age-old questions about Rome’s roads, including how connected the capital was and whether current motorways trace Roman routes

Researchers have spent the past two years studying the interactions between common octopuses and blue crabs and perfecting breeding techniques.

Blue Crabs Have Taken Over the Adriatic Sea. To Fight Them Off, Italian Researchers Just Released Thousands of Baby Octopuses

Although prized in the United States, the crustaceans have been decimating ecosystems and the fishing industry in Italy. Experts hope that an army of natural predators—common octopuses—can help contain the invasive species’ spread

At its peak, the movement grew to include more than 130 participating restaurants. Today, 111 authentic trattorias still promote regional cuisine in this special way.

In Some Trattorias in Italy, Diners Can Enjoy a Meal and Take the Plate It Was Served on Home as a Souvenir

The Piatti del Buon Ricordo, or “Plates of Good Memories,” tradition dates back to 1964, when a clever marketer came up with it to encourage Italians to travel across the country and taste regional dishes

Italian officials pose with the three recovered artworks: Paul Cézanne’s Still Life With Cherries, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Les Poissons and Henri Matisse’s Odalisque on the Terrace.

Stolen Masterpieces Worth $10 Million Discovered in a Cardboard Box, Months After Thieves Snuck Into a Museum and Whisked Them Away Into the Night

The artworks by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse disappeared in a three-minute heist earlier this year. Now, police have arrested five suspects in connection with the burglary in northern Italy

Thieves stole three panels (one of which is pictured at left) from Antonello da Messina’s Polyptych of San Gregorio. They also took a small devotional painting (seen at right).

As Sicilians Flocked to a Religious Festival, Thieves Broke Into a Nearby Museum and Stole Four Renaissance Paintings

The missing works include three panels from a 15th-century altarpiece by Antonello da Messina, as well as a two-sided devotional painting by the artist

Restorers work inside the Palazzo Pitti. 

One of Italy’s Most Popular Attractions, the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Reveals Plans for a Major Renovation Over the Next Two Years

The collection of treasures, many of them connected to the Medici family, includes Italian Renaissance masterpieces, a palace and a courtly garden

A sculpture of a giant lobster disguised as a column, made by pop artist Philip Colbert, stands in Pompeii

First a Volcanic Eruption, Now a Crustacean Invasion? See the Giant Lobsters Taking Over the Ancient City of Pompeii

A pop art installation featuring more than 30 sculptures from artist Philip Colbert is the first contemporary sculpture exhibition to land in Pompeii in three decades

Excavations in Rome uncovered a building near the Colosseum from the second century C.E. with mosaics and frescoes.

Cool Finds

This Marine-Life Mosaic Discovered Near the Colosseum Offers a Surprising Clue—Its Building May Have Housed Firefighters in Ancient Rome

At the time of the structure’s construction in the second century C.E., firefighting in ancient Rome was a formalized profession

Archaeologists created a curved support structure that mimics the ceiling’s original shape.

Cool Finds

See a Rare Ceiling Fresco From Pompeii That Archaeologists Are Carefully Reassembling, Piece by Piece, Like an Ancient Puzzle

Located in the banquet hall of a home with an adjoining bakery, the fresco shows the mythological romance of Dionysus, the god of revelry and wine, and Ariadne, the Cretan princess

Francesco I de' Medici, left, died suddenly in 1587. His brother Ferdinando I, right, succeeded him as grand duke of Tuscany.

Did This Duke Poison His Brother? A New DNA Analysis May Solve the Centuries-Old Medici Mystery

Researchers found evidence of malaria in Francesco I de’ Medici’s bones, leading them to argue “with scientific certainty” that it was disease, not arsenic, that led to his death in 1587

A Rothko painting beside a mural by Fra Angelico at the Museum of San Marco

Puzzled by Mark Rothko’s Captivating Color Field Paintings? Look to the Renaissance Masters Who Inspired Him

During trips to Europe, the American painter developed a fascination with how 15th- and 16th-century artists and architects had designed their work to evoke specific feelings

Mastarna (Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome) frees Celio Vibenna from chains in this fresco from the Francois Tomb.

See These Ancient Etruscan Frescoes That Italy Bought for Millions and Put on Public Display in Rome

Found in a burial chamber, the artworks depict battles between ancient heroes in the Mediterranean world

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