Art: The New-Found Island

The violent throes of political unification came late to Italy: only a century ago, musketry crackled across the gentle countryside depicted in Renaissance landscapes, and pictures of red-shirted Risorgimento Leader Garibaldi hung beside Crucifixion scenes on many an Italian's wall. During this era of foment, a group of Tuscan artists banded together at the Cafe Michelangelo in Florence to protest the Florentine Academy's insistence upon slick studio painting that absented itself from what was going on. These artists became known as the macchiaioli, who painted with splashes, macchie, of color.

Fra Angelica's Bequest....

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