Pictures From Italy
My name is David Lown and I am an art historian, writer and guide from Cambridge, England. I am an art historian, writer and guide from Cambridge, England.
Since 2001 I have been living in Italy, where I run personalised tours of Rome. Since 2001 I have been living in Italy, where I run private tours of Florence, Rome and Venice.
04/07/2024
In towns and cities, the length and breadth of Italy, streets and squares are named after him, numerous statues have been raised to him; and in England a biscuit is named in honour of him!
Giuseppe Garibaldi, one of the great heroes of Italian unification, was born on July 4th 1807 in Nizza, which since 1860 has been the French city of Nice.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
02/07/2024
This evening, Siena will hold the first of its two annual horse races, the world-famous palio.
The race, which is almost 400 years old, will take place in the Piazza del Campo, in the heart of the small Tuscan hilltown.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
29/06/2024
June 29th is the feast day of St Peter and St Paul, the patron saints of Rome.
Since 1481, the Eternal City has celebrated the day in style with a grand display of fireworks at the Castel Sant' Angelo.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
13/06/2024
Ever since it was unveiled on June 12th 1651, the Fountain of the Four Rivers has been the crowning glory of Piazza Navona.
However, visitors hoping to see Bernini's masterpiece in full flow will be disappointed, as restoration work has just begun. It is expected to be completed by the end of March 2025.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
05/06/2024
Standing in the heart of Rome, it is one of the most photographed monuments in the city; and, at just over a century old, one of the youngest.
The colossal monument to Victor Emmanuel II, Italy's first king, was inaugurated on June 4th 1911. It incorporates a wonderful statue of the Goddess Roma, who sports a very stylish headdress.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
04/06/2024
The Liberation of Rome....
Exactly eighty years ago, on June 4th 1944, just two days before D-Day, Rome was liberated by the Allied Forces, ending the eight-month-long occupation of the Eternal City by the German Army.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
22/05/2024
Nicola Salvi (1697-1751), the Roman architect who designed the world's most famous fountain, described it as his 'unicogenita' ('only child').
By the time the Fontana di Trevi was inaugurated, on May 22nd 1762, Signore Salvi was, sadly, long dead.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
13/05/2024
The Pantheon is the world's most perfectly preserved ancient Roman temple and it owes its position as such to the fact that for the last 1600 years it has been a church.
On May 13th 609, the Pantheon was consecrated by Pope Boniface IV (r. 608-615) as Santa Maria ad Martyres, the first ancient Roman temple to become a Christian church.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
07/05/2024
Exactly 200 years ago, on May 7th 1824, the first performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was given in Vienna.
On a summer evening, many years ago, I saw an unforgettable performance of the work in the magical setting of the Piazza del Campidoglio.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
25/04/2024
Today is the feast day of St Mark the Evangelist, Venice's patron saint.
It is also the day that Venice becomes the first city in the world to charge an entry fee.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
21/04/2024
Happy birthday, Roma!
According to legend, Rome was founded on April 21st 753 BCE, which means that today is the Eternal City's 2,777th birthday!
April 21st was sacred to Pales, the goddess of shepherds, and it was a shepherd called Faustulus who discovered the twins Romulus and Remus being suckled by a she-wolf.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
19/04/2024
‘Oh Rome! My Country! City of the Soul’.
Exactly 200 years ago, on April 19th 1824, Lord Byron died in the Greek city of Missolonghi. He was thirty-six years old.
Since 1959, a statue of the poet, a copy of the work by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen in Trinity College Cambridge (Byron’s alma mater), has stood in the Villa Borghese.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
16/04/2024
Of the hundreds of churches in Rome, the Madonna dell'Archetto has the honour of being the smallest.
The diminutive church, which was built in 1851, is tucked away at the end of a short alley, not far from the Fontana di Trevi.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
02/04/2024
On April 2nd 1725, Giacomo Casanova, the world's most famous Latin lover, was born in Venice.
The first of six children, Giacomo was baptised in San Samuele, one of only a handful of Venetian churches dedicated to an Old Testament figure. Its 12th century bell tower is one of the oldest in the city.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
27/03/2024
The Pope's Elephant...
There is a fountain In the gardens of Villa Madama that immortalises Annone, the pet elephant of Pope Leo X (r. 1513-21). In 1514, the recently-elected pontiff received an Indian elephant as a gift from the King of Portugal.
Annone quickly became a great favourite, both with the pope and the people of Rome, who flocked to see it. He was taught by his keeper to do a variety of tricks, one of which was to kneel in the presence of the Holy Father. Sadly, Rome's climate did not suit the poor beast and he died three years later, much to the distress of the pope.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
25/03/2024
March 25th is the Feast Day of the Annunciation, which once marked the beginning of the new year in many countries.
One of my favourite images of the Annunciation (at least in Rome) places Gabriel and Mary on either side of the corner of a building!
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
20/03/2024
The Lovers' Fountain...
The Fontana di Trevi is the most famous fountain in the world and everyone knows that you have to cast a coin into its waters to ensure your return to Rome. However, few people are aware that within its shadow lies another fountain; one which has a much more romantic custom attached to it.
Known as the Fontana degli Innamorati, the Lovers' Fountain is made up of nothing more than a small basin and two spouts. It was once the practice for a young couple who were about to be separated* for a long period of time, to go to the fountain on the evening before they were due to part. There they would both drink water from a new glass, which they would then smash. This ritual was believed to guarantee that the lovers would eventually be reunited.
*The most common cause of separation was compulsory military service, which lasted for two years.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
15/03/2024
‘Beware the Ides of March.’
In the centre of Rome a solitary pine marks the remains of the Curia Pompeia, where Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15th 44 BCE.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
06/03/2024
One of the glories of many Roman churches are the beautiful painted and gilded wooden ceilings.
The Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome's cathedral, is a case in point. Its magnificent ceiling was created in the second half of the 16th century.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
04/03/2024
On March 4th 1678, the composer Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice.
The Red Priest (Il Prete Rosso), as Vivaldi came to be called, was baptised in the church of San Giovanni in Bragora, as a plaque on the facade records.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
29/02/2024
The Bath of Venus (Bagno di Venere) is my candidate for the most extravagantly ornate fountain in Rome.
The 17th century fountain, the work of Leonardo Reti, is one of three to adorn the garden of Palazzo Borghese.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
23/02/2024
'Here lies one whose name was writ in water.'
The poet John Keats died in Rome on February 23rd 1821. Keats, who was only twenty-five years old, was buried in the ‘English’ Cemetery. By his own request, there is no name on his tombstone.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
21/02/2024
Dusting Michelangelo’s David.
The art restorer Eleonora Pucci is the only person to be entrusted with the task of cleaning Michelangelo’s 17-foot-high masterpiece, which she does every two months.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
20/02/2024
On February 20th 1816, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, one of the most popular operas in the repertoire, was given its premiere in Rome, at the Teatro Argentina.
Unfortunately, for the twenty-three-year-old composer, who was also the conductor, the first night was an absolute fiasco!
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
19/02/2024
The composer and cellist Luigi Boccherini was born in the Tuscan town of Lucca on February 19th 1743.
To mark the 200th anniversary of his death (1805), the good citizens of Lucca commissioned the Dutch sculptor Daphné du Barry to create a monument to Boccherini.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
18/02/2024
On February 18th 1564, just short of his 89th birthday, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni – sculptor, painter, poet, & architect – died in Rome.
A 19th century bust of Michelangelo, adorns the facade of a palazzo in Via Margutta, not far from the Spanish Steps.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
14/02/2024
'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?'
Today of all days, star-crossed lovers the world over will be making a beeline for Verona to see 'Juliet's Balcony'.
Alas, Shakespeare's tragic heroine never actually set foot on the balcony, which was only inserted in the 'Casa di Giulietta' (in truth, the Casa di Cappello) in the 1920s!
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
13/02/2024
It is one of the finest statues in Florence and its home-grown creator, Benvenuto Cellini, died in the city of his birth on February 13th 1571.
The beautiful, if gory, statue of Perseus and Medusa has stood in the centre of the city for almost 500 years.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
08/02/2024
On February 8th 1751, Nicola Salvi, the architect who designed the Fontana di Trevi, died.
I recently came across this postcard of the fountain from 1966. How times have changed!
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
07/02/2024
A thirteen-metre-high copy of a fourth century statue of the emperor Constantine the Great is now on display in the garden of Villa Caffarelli, which is part of the Capitoline Museums.
The original marble and bronze statue once stood in the Basilica of Maxentius, in the Forum. Alas, only a few fragments of it have survived.
Walking Tours of Rome: www.walksinrome.com
My Story
Walking Tours of Rome, Florence & Venice.
I am an art historian, writer and guide from Cambridge, England. Since 2001 I have been living in Italy, where I run walking tours of Rome, Florence and Venice.
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