Florence: Did you mean...?

In the wake of the downfall of the Western Roman Empire and the intellectual collapse of Athens, Byzantine scholars engaged in preserving the Classical Greek language and its literature. Thus they became the guardians of a vanished culture...

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and natural philosopher. He created a superior telescope with which he made new observations of the night sky, notably that the surface of the Moon has mountains...

Guilds of merchants and craft workers were formed in medieval Europe so that their members could benefit from mutual aid. Guilds ensured production standards were maintained and that competition was reduced. In addition, by members acting...

The majority of great Renaissance works of art were produced in large and busy workshops run by a successful master artist and his team of assistants and apprentices. Here, too, more mundane art was produced in larger quantities to meet the...

Transfiguration of Christ, painting by Fra Angelico, photograph by Sailko, Florence, 22 July, 2009. This fresco painted by Fra Angelico in Cell 6 at the Convent of San Marco in Florence, now the San Marco Museum, shows Christ standing on...

Raphael (1483-1520) was an Italian painter and architect who is regarded as one of the greatest of Renaissance artists alongside Michelangelo (1475-1564) and Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Raphael's works are celebrated for their harmonious...

Gertrude Bell (l. 1868-1926) was an archaeologist, travel writer, explorer, and political administrator responsible for creating the borders of the countries of the Near East after World War I and, especially, for the foundation of the modern...

Pietro Perugino (c. 1450-1523), real name Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance artist who created frescoes for the Vatican's Sistine Chapel and was in demand across Italy to decorate church interiors and produce portraits...

Piero della Francesca (c. 1420-1492 CE) was an Italian Renaissance artist whose paintings and frescoes are characterised by their solid figures, bright colours, and harmonious composition. His masterpieces include the painted panel the Flagellation...

The Renkioi Hospital, was a complex of innovative prefabricated buildings designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for use during the Crimean War (1853-56). Brunel had been moved by the heavy casualties and even higher deaths via disease during...