Renaissance Rivalry: art patronage from Rome to Tuscany
Tour starts 6pm Monday 16 September 2019 in Rome
Tour ends 10am Monday 7 October 2019 in Florence
We will view the Renaissance through the prism of intense rivalry amongst art patrons and artists alike. Our tour begins in Rome, with Michelangelo,
Bramante and Raphael’s overriding interest in antiquity and highly innovative artistic approaches. We will then travel north to visit further commissions for the
papal court: three country villas and their gardens, town-planning in Pienza and a painted chapel in Orvieto Cathedral.
In Siena, Florence and Lucca we will explore art patronage in relation to the competitive policies of the church, Republican governments and ruling families.
A prime example is the Medici family’s rise to prominence from bankers to dukes and popes, as demonstrated by their palaces, villas, monastic endowments
and the art created to decorate them. We will also have time to enjoy the hill towns, landscape, wine and cuisine of central Italy along with optional extra activities.
