San Martino a Mensola is a lovely parish church in the Renaissance style. Although modest in size, its architecture is grand and it contains a number of quattrocento altarpieces. As there is absolutely no information …

Today we were privileged to have the best kind of guide to the city of Lucca: a local. Or, failing that, try this: Authentic Tuscany (Touring Club Guide). On a cold winter’s day, we managed to …

Legend has it that the cathedral was built to house a relic that commemorates a miracle that did not happen here. The miracle of the Mass at Bolsena happened, you guessed it… at Bolsena, a …

Annexed to the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence is a large frescoed chapter house that is one of the most impressive surviving testimonies of the 1360s in Florence. Erroneously named the “Spanish Chapel” …

History of the franciscan order and description of the major early renaissance acheivements in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence (begun in the 1290s).

Baptistry defined: locus for baptism. This is usually done inside churches in a baptismal font and does not require a separate building, but Florence (like Pisa) has separated out the parts of its Cathedral complex. …

The association of “Friends of the Elettrice Palatina” and the Comune of Florence have opened up a public debate by proposing that the facade of San Lorenzo be finished according to Michelangelo’s project.

Rome is a great place to learn about the Baroque, as it is not only a prominent style, but a great number of churches were entirely executed during the Baroque era. These are particularly beautiful, …

A very incomplete hint at some of the treasures of Medieval Rome.
The Mausoleum of Santa Costantia
Built by Costantia, the daughter of Constantine, in 337-54. Her big porphyry sarcophagus, now in the Vatican museums, was located …

Intro: this period was (not surprisingly) my primary interest during my month in Rome in 2004. Here is only a selection of the original arttrav material on Churches in Rome built or decorated primarily during …