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Rendering of the image of the dome of Sant'Ivo alla Spienza to reveal the geometric configuration embedded in the design.

Pope Sixtus V’s work on reshaping Rome extended beyond its city walls. Sixtus V drained the Pontine Marshes, malarial wetlands, located south of Rome along the Appian way and connecting to the Terracina [1]. The Pontine Marshes are low-lying plains…

Botticelli's "Primavera" painting depicts nine mythological figures most notably the nymph Chloris who is portrayed before and after her transformation into the spring goddess Flora.

Sofonisba Anguissola, the artist of the portrait, was born into a financially struggling noble family with six siblings. She was known to utilize her family members as subjects of her early paintings (Murphy 2007). Indeed, the pictured individual is…

Lavinia Fontana was born and educated in Bologna towards the end of the 16th century. During this time, Bologna was remarkably progressive, compared to other Italian cities, regarding its opportunities for women – both educationally and economically.…

When Pope Sixtus V was elected to the papacy in 1585, he immediately set out to rebuild the Lateran Palace [1]. Pope Sixtus V consulted with his personal architect, Domenico Fontana, who deemed the Patriarchium Lateranense to be "old buildings” with…

"Plate of Figs" is painted with bodycolor (gouache) on vellum on a 25 x 32.5 cm board. The miniature was created as a part of Garzoni's series "Twenty Small Paintings on Vellum" for Ferdinando II, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Each painting in the series…

According to Christian tradition, after meeting Christ, Mary Magdalene regretted her former sinful ways. The claims that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute leading a promiscuous way of life before meeting Jesus and repenting of her sinful ways, are…

Ceiling fresco by Giovanni Battista Gaulli in the Chiesa del Gesù