"Everyone knows the difficulty of things that are exquisite and well done," the Renaissance philosopher Baldassare Castiglione once remarked. "So to have facility in such things gives rise to the greatest wonder." Italians call that artful facility sprezzatura, a term, Peter d'Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish maintain, that well describes the nation's genius. They have reason to celebrate: Italy, after all, has exerted an influence in world affairs and culture all out of proportion to its size and population, and has done so for hundreds of years.

Though short on interpretation (d'Epiro and Pinkowish offer little insight into why Italy should have produced such an abundance of inventive, often daring men--and women, though only a few figure in their pages), this anecdotal collection of biographical sketches is a pleasing entertainment for admirers of all things Italian.

Reviewer: Philippe Vandenbroeck. As a successful, professional lawyer, as a member of a respected family, patron of a vast network of clients, as an accomplished writer, a more or less efficient administrator and prosperous land owner, Pliny embodies the quintessence of the political and cultural elite in the imperial capital. His carefully groomed letters reveal a fascinating picture of the mature Empire. What emerges from this book is a panoramic picture of a world that is not even very different from our own.

Much the same as today's professional elite, and undeterred by vastly more primitive means of transportation and communication, Pliny shuttles back and forth between his estates, hundreds of kilometers apart. I take this as anecdotal evidence of the fact that, irrespective of historical epoch, elites have always transcended geographical distance in exercising their professional and social obligations. And many other aspects of Pliny's professional and social life remind us of our life world today. In sum, I find the texture and 'feel' of this collection of letters decidedly modern.

Millions of people - both famous and uncelebrated - played parts in the astonishing resonance of Rome. But above them all was Caesar Augustus. Raised amid civil war, Augustus came to personify the people he led. He was contradictory: at once capable of brutal violence and tender compassion. He was influential: Augustus forged the image of Roman grandeur that endures to this day. And he was enormously popular.

In the year 14 AD, Augustus died and the Empire stood at a crossroads. A reluctant new emperor quickly inhabited the imperial palace, and quickly confronted mutiny and intrigue. At first, Tiberius struggled to live up to his predecessor. But he soon abandoned the effort. Tiberius' ultimate decline from ascetic ruler to reclusive despot ushered in one of the most notorious rulers of the ancient world - Caligula. As fear and conspiracy descended on Rome, crisis roiled the provinces. In Judaea, a charismatic leader named Jesus challenged the religious and political establishment. The local furor barely touched Rome, but the legacy of Jesus would one day engulf the Empire itself. Claudius, the most unlikely member of the imperial family, becomes one of the greatest emperors of the Roman Empire - only to fall victim to a brutally ambitious wife.

With the gift in 1950 by philanthropists Joe and Emily Lowe, a free-standing museum facility opened to the public in 1952, the first art museum in South Florida. It's 10,000 object collection is one of the most important in the southeast, with strengths in Renaissance and Baroque, American, Native American, pre-Columbian, and Asian art. In 1954, the Lowe was designated the only Florida recipient in a national distribution of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation collection, and, in 1961, constructed a 2,100 square foot gallery to house the 41 Renaissance and Baroque paintings and sculptures that are the backbone of its Western collection. The Lowe achieved AAM accreditation in 1972, the first university art museum in Florida to do so, and was re-accredited in 1987. Also in 1987, the Lowe was designated a ÒMajor Cultural InstitutionÓ by the State of Florida.

The Samuel H. Kress Collection of Renaissance and Baroque Art contains 40 paintings and sculpture that is nationally recognized and is the most comprehensive of its type in South Florida. It includes works by such masters as Cranach the Elder, Guardi, Isenbrandt, Jordaens, Sano di Pietro, Andrea della Robbia, Tintoretto and Lippo Vanni.

Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance tells the story of a violent, dramatic and compelling age; a critical turning point in Western history. Travel back in time to see the real human stories behind the European Renaissance, and the family that bankrolled it. This is a family who inspired some of the greatest moments in the birth of the modern world and challenged some of the greatest thinkers and pioneers of the age. Filmed on 16mm film entirely on location in Italy, the story of the Medici is an epic drama that weaves the descendants of one Tuscan family with momentous cultural and political turning points. Played out in the courts, cathedrals and palaces of Renaisssance Europe, this is the cradle of modern civilization.

Their story is a bloodthirsty mix of ambition and triumph, murder and revenge. And it is a tale of inspiring achievement and cultural revolution. Through the eyes of the Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance, uncover the history of the greatest achievements of the early modern era. From the construction of the great dome of Florence, the painting of the Birth of Venus and the sculpting of Michelangelo's David, to Luther's Reformation and Galileo's earth-shattering confrontation with the Church. None of these would have happened without the MediciEi and their friends. Combining extraordinary dramatic sequences with interviews, original archive and special effects this four-hour documentary series is a political suspense thriller and riveting intellectual adventure story, told through the lives of some of history's most exciting characters.

Art historians still directly and frequently cite this book, written over 400 years ago. Since Vasari was a contemporary of the High-Renaissance artists, it is interesting to read his descriptions of artists and their technical development. The book is organized into a series of essays focusing on artists from Cimabue to Titian. In this translation, the editors have included only those artists still believed to have made a significant contribution. This book is not only informative, but it is also quite entertaining. Vasari focuses mostly on the artistic development of each artist, but frequently strays into fascinating stories about their personal lives.

The writing style is surprisingly readable, thanks to both Vasari and the editors. The notes in the back of the book are extremely useful. They point out where Vasari has been proven inaccurate, elaborate on some of Vasari's points, and provide updated locations for some of the works. This book is invaluable during any trip to Tuscany and Umbria. It is thrilling to read Vasari's descriptions of great fresco cycles, paintings, and sculptures while viewing them in person, whether in the Uffizi in Florence or the Duomo in Orvieto. A great resource for art lovers, particularly those who are planning a visit to central Italy.

Wendy Beckett's The Story of Painting: The Renaissance. Globe-trotting nun and art enthusiast Sister Wendy Beckett examines the legacy of the Renaissance masters in this installment of the BBC-produced series.

Sister Wendy does a masterful job of showing you things in art you might not see otherwise. Her passion is alive and real, and she doesn't hesitate to show the viewer exactly what she sees. And the topics aren't muted because she's a nun - whether it is love or hate or sex or suicide - doesn't matter to Sister Wendy. She tackles them all. Not only does she explain various masterpieces of art, she also tells you about the artists that made them, and why.

Nani Moretti directs himself playing himself in this wry look at life. Presented in three chapters, Moretti uses the experiences of travelling on his motor-scooter, cruising with his friend around a set of remote islands in search of peace to finish his new film and consulting doctor after doctor to cure his annoying rash to cast a humourous look at his life and those around him.

Nanni Moretti was born on the 19th of August, 1953. He lives in Rome, where since he was a kid he devotes himself to his two passions: cinema and water-polo. In 1970 he also played in water-polo first division in Italy, and in the junior National team. In those years he was also very committed in politcs, within the extra-parliament left wing. Once finished high school studies, he sold his stamps collection to buy a super8 cinema camera, using which he started shooting home-made short films with his friends in 1973. His professional movie-making career starts with Ecce Bombo (1978). This was also his first nation-wide success, and still a cult-movie for many Italians.

The Wolfsonian FIU is committed to serving South Florida's student and teacher populations through an exciting array of educational offerings. Since 1994, the museum has been an active partner with the Museum Education Program of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Approximately 1,800 students from both public and private schools visit the museum's galleries each year. The Wolfsonian's permanent exhibition, Art and Design in the Modern Age, provides an overview of the museum's holdings of American and European artifacts from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. In visiting this exhibition, students are made aware of the ways in which art and design have both influenced and reflected the modern world.

The Wolfsonian collection contains artifacts primarily of North American and European origin, dating from 1885-1945. It comprises a variety of media: furniture; industrial-design objects; glass, ceramics, and metalwork; rare books; periodicals; ephemera; works on paper; paintings; textiles; and medals. The nations most comprehensively represented are the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Russia/Soviet Union. The objects are interpreted to explore key issues in design history - the way design has both altered and been altered by cultural change, industrial innovation, and strategies of persuasion.