In order to visit the Galleria Borghese in Rome, you must buy timed tickets online in advance.
Italy
Posted inOpinion
Patrimony Acrimony: Italy Turns to Private Funding for Restoration
Here in the United States, our cultural heritage is something we care about, but funding it is another story. In Italy, it’s long been the case idea that the government mostly pays to maintain cultural heritage, but as the state continues to struggle financially, officials are turning more and more to private funding — “to some dismay,” the New York Times reports.
Posted inOpinion
Man Breaks Statue in Quest for Selfie
It’s one thing for people to take selfies with works of art; it’s another to climb on the art in order to get a photo and break it in the process.
Posted inNews
Authorities Uncover Stolen Ancient Roman Sarcophagus Lid in New York
The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Loretta E. Lynch, has filed a complaint for the forfeiture of an ancient Roman marble sarcophagus lid featuring a sculpture of a sleeping woman on a couch. The lid was found in a storage facility in Queens and is believed to have been stolen from Italy by convicted antiquities dealer Gianfranco Becchina.
Posted inNews
Italy Crowdsources Art Conservation Decision
Stories of Italy struggling to save its cultural heritage amid governmental dysfunction and a lack of funds are commonplace these days. But tales of the Italians getting creative with their efforts have been springing up too, and a piece from NPR yesterday points to another example: a program called L’Arte Aiuta L’Arte, or “Art Helps Art.”
Posted inNews
Italy to Offer Tax Deduction for Book Buyers
The Italian government has unveiled a master plan for attracting foreign investment, and for some reason, it includes a tax rebate for people who buy books!
Posted inNews
Italian Library Ransacked by Its Own Director
Another day, another depressing story about the deterioration of cultural patrimony in Italy. The subject this time? The Biblioteca dei Girolamini, a 16th-century library in Naples that was systematically looted by its director.
Posted inArt
An Italian Duke Visits the Met
The Met has dedicated an entire room to a prized portrait painted by Diego Velázquez titled “Duke Francesco I d’Este” (1638), on loan from the Galleria Estense in Modena, Italy.
Posted inNews
Museum Plans to Burn 1,000 Art Works to Protest Cuts
Various news services are reporting that a museum in Italy is waging an “art war” in protest of funding cuts and they’ve started burning 1,000 artworks.
Posted inNews
Devilish Giotto Discovery Ups His Art Historical Cred
In today’s dose of art history geek news, we turn to the Daily Mail, which reports that “art restorers have discovered the figure of a devil hidden in the clouds of one of the most famous [13th C.] frescos by Giotto in the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.”
Posted inArt
Seeing Through the Crowds Part III at the 2011 Venice Biennale: The Unofficial Exhibitions
During the Biennale, innumerable numbers of events take place outside of the official Biennale grounds of the Giardini and Arsenale, especially from countries that couldn’t afford pavilions inside the Arsenale. They either rented out abandoned spaces near it, like the Iraqi pavilion did, or, if they couldn’t afford that, asked friends who own a little art gallery in between gift shops if they could use their space. Here are some oddities of note.
Posted inArt
Seeing Through the Crowds at the 2011 Venice Biennale Part II: The Arsenale
The Arsenale and its Corderie (Rope Walk) compose the remainder of the curatorial effort of the Biennale’s director. It is the sprawling nasty sibling of the Padiglione Centrale, and is somewhat of a chore to tackle. The entire layout of the Arsenale this year feels disjointed. On a whole, I felt like there was a dearth of strong work. I believe Curiger had aspirations to move beyond the trends of participatory art and ostentatious work seen everywhere else in Venice and other art fairs.