Archive for Category: Insights

When talking about Italian design, it’s hard not to immediately think of Achille Castiglioni and his brother Pier Giacomo. Both were award-winning architects and designers who, starting in the 1940s, created some of the most original projects on the Italian and international scene, producing objects still found in our homes and in museums around the world. To understand how much we owe to the Castiglioni brothers, and especially to Achille, let’s review his life and works with a focus on his industrial products.

The human body has always captivated artists, and depictions of nudity can be found as far back as antiquity. Yet their meaning shifts with evolving tastes, sensibilities, and social values. To better understand this progression, we have chosen five artworks where the nude plays a leading role – sometimes even boldly so – revealing the aesthetic and cultural standards of their time.

Ironic, exaggerated, sharp: caricature is, by definition, a controversial art form. The artist strikes where it hurts the most, the subjects portrayed are often offended, and the audience laughs. The history of caricature blends personal, social, and political aspects. In this article, we’ll explore its origins and development in Europe, focusing on some of its most significant figures.

World-renowned architect and designer Vico Magistretti (1920–2006) reinterpreted tradition with innovative materials and technologies, leaving an indelible mark on the history of Italian design – and beyond.
From the 1950s to today, his furniture designs have continuously adorned international homes and museums, defining new ways of living and understanding design.

A newfound interest in nature and the legacy of medieval symbolism are the keys to interpreting Renaissance paintings in which animals appear. The figurative art

Symbolic, realistic, evocative: over the centuries, landscapes have taken on different meanings depending on the historical period, artistic movement, and each artist’s interpretation. Here, we will retrace its evolution by looking at some of the most significant milestones, from its early days right up to the threshold of Impressionism.

When, on November 3, 1861, a journalist from the Gazzetta del Popolo used the term “Macchiaioli” for the first time, he could hardly have imagined that this derogatory epithet would become the official name of the movement that had emerged in Florence only a few years earlier and later became famous throughout Italy.
The experience of the Macchiaioli unfolded in a short time, but it was enough to make it one of the most interesting and revolutionary movements in the European panorama.
Let’s relive that golden era together with some of the works and figures that made it famous.

Isabella d’Este, Elizabeth I of England, Isabella I of Castile… Retracing the history of the 16th century, we encounter many powerful and strong-willed women known for their decisive roles in the political and strategic events of Europe at the time.
This is not the case for the women artists of the Renaissance: figures who, with rare exceptions, remained excluded from the main stage, victims of the conventions of the time or unfortunate personal circumstances.
Fortunately, thanks to their character and great talent, some female artists defied prejudices and difficulties to emerge in a predominantly male society.

If there is a period in the history of Western art characterized by a profound and widespread revitalization of the arts, it is certainly the 15th century. During this century, we witnessed an intense succession of both technical and formal innovations, based on a new ideological framework, then uniquely interpreted in different European areas. One of the most prolific is Flanders, which from the 15th century onwards became the cradle of a defined and recognizable style: what is today known as Flemish painting. Let’s explore its salient features and main protagonists.