This page lists gelato places around the globe, so you can seek out excellent gelato wherever you are. Many of these were sent in by readers, so I can’t vouch for their quality first-hand. The ones I have tried personally are indicated in bold, and have notes about their particular strengths. Otherwise, the place is […]
Friends traveling with me are often perplexed to see me stick my head in a gelateria’s door and instantly proclaim it good or bad, despite not having approached close enough to smell, let alone taste, the contents of the brilliant, alluring bins of swirling color. It can be done. There are visible signs of good […]
Two quick announcements, then something fun to share. First, comments were disabled for a little while. Now they are enabled again. Apologies to everyone who wanted to discuss Beccaria – I hope you still want to discuss him, and now you can. Second, people have been reporting trouble subscribing by RSS. I have investigated, and […]
“Make everyone read Beccaria!” is one of many sentiments I share with François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire. This post was prompted by two things. The first was this comment responding my post about the two recent Borgia TV series, which mentioned TV depictions of horrific pre-modern executions. Jen: “I am watching the final episode of […]
The new Mayor of the city of Rome, Ignazio Marino, just announced his intention to destroy one of the city’s central roads, the Via dei Fori Imperiali, and turn the area around the old Roman Forum into the world’s largest archaeological park. Reactions have ranged from commuters’ groans to declarations from classicists that this single act proves […]
There was a Borgia boom in 2011 when, aiming to capitalize on the commercial success of The Tudors, the television world realized there was one obvious way to up the ante. Not one but two completely unrelated Borgia TV series were made in 2011. Many have run across the American Showtime series The Borgias, but […]
Saint Jerome Common attributes: Book, lion, skull, cardinal’s hat, withered old man Occasional attributes: Cardinal’s robes, crucifix, rock Patron saint of: Translators, archivists, librarians, libraries, students and school children Patron of places: Saint-Jérôme (Quebec) Feast day: Sept 30 (June 15) Most often depicted: In the wilderness contemplating death or Christ, writing in a book, hitting himself in […]
I am going to spend the next 5,000 words complaining about library architecture. Let’s see if I can keep you excited. (NOTE: This post contains many images, so you may want to read it on a large screen. It also includes Renaissance paintings with nudity, so be prepared. Also, I am happy to report that […]
Note: this is a guest post. I am on another research jaunt, speaking in Rome and Oxford and visiting an intriguing book in Paris. While I’m travel-swamped, a good friend, Rush-That-Speaks, has agreed to write a guest post, describing a little Roman adventure we shared. Rush-That-Speaks writes: The last time “Ex Urbe” and I were […]
We still have plenty of saints to cover, now that the Machiavelli series is done. In the last edition of Spot the Saint I discussed John the Evangelist, common in crucifixion scenes and in paintings that want an excuse to show a comely young man. But another common reason to depict him is when one, for aesthetic symmetry purposes, […]
"Warm, generous, and inviting," Inventing the Renaissance provides a witty and irreverent journey through the fantasies historians have constructed about the supposed Dark Ages and golden Renaissance, and exposes the terrible yet often tender reality beneath.
