I am delighted to report that some great women are signing up for Time of Your Life Tour's An Artful Tour of Florence and Venice, and we are receiving many inquiries about the tour from those who hope 
to be able to join us next October.
We are also getting questions about how best to prepare for visiting Italy. This is wonderful! While our tours include nightly talks about the art and history of the places we'll see, talks that are designed to insure that even those who are simply too busy to read much beforehand will get the most from their time in Italy, it can be a real pleasure to prepare for your trip a bit on your own.
Of course, the purpose of all the articles I write for this blog is to feed your passion for Italy and to provide useful and, I hope, entertaining information to make your trip the time of your life. But I also want to start offering some specific suggestions of books and films for those who want to do more before traveling with us next fall.
Perhaps the most common question is: "I don't know much about art and I don't have a lot of time, is
there ONE book I could read about Italian art before I go? Until recently this was also my most dreaded question. One book? I didn't know where to begin. I've been studying art for many years and have read literally hundreds of on art and art history, but couldn't recommend one that wasn't overly scholarly or overly simplified.
I am happy to tell you that there now is such a book. If you want to read ONE book to get some background on Italian art, read The Secret Language of the Renaissance
It's divided into three parts: the first introduces the arts--literature, painting, sculpture, architecture and the decorative arts; the second discusses the various elements of the symbolic "language" of art like color, form, sacred geometry, and hidden meanings in gesture and body language. It also explains how to recognize often depicted saints, allegorical figures, and gods and goddesses. The third section focuses on important themes like the Bible, war and peace, and mythology.
The Secret Language of the Renaissance is gorgeously illustrated, too, with some of the finest examples of the art you will see in Florence, Venice and elsewhere in Italy. However, since the author is British, some of the paintings are from the National Gallery in London, which has a magnificent collection of Renaissance art. (Click on the link when you have time and take a look; it's a great website). While all the works may no longer be in Italy, all the artists discussed have paintings in the museums we will visit, so don't let that put you off.
This is a wonderful book, packed with all sorts of amazing lore and juicy tidbits about history, culture and daily life in the Renaissance. I highly recommend it.
One last thing: please don't delay in contacting us at info@timeofyourlifetours if you are interested in saving $500.00 and joining us in Italy in October.
