Artful Italy: The Hidden Treasures (Invisible Cities Travel Guide S.) This is my book on artwork from Orta to Rome that other guides do not describe at all or at least not in detail. For example, the cover art comes from the Massimo frescoes, which are not mentioned in any of the guides below. Other works include the Sacred Mountain in Orta, a sanctuary of over 20 chapels with statues and frescoes that depict St. Francis' life from birth to death to canonization. Milan's Sforzesco Castel contains a calendar of tapestries, each month illustrating Lombardian rituals, economics, and politics from the turn of the 16th century. One of these, "December," is now on view at the Metropolitan Museum. For excerpts from "Artful Italy: The Hidden Treasures," please see my website: http://www.sover.net/~cbrandon
Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects (Everyman's Library) Whenever I'm taking a trip to Italy, this is the first book I open to find out what's hidden in Mantua, Verona, and even Florence and Rome. After almost five centuries Vasari's style still entertains and informs me. This is a particularly beautiful edition.
A Thousand Bells at Noon: A Roman's Guide to the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City While not an art guide, this delightful and extremely funny memoir by famous chef and restauranteur Franco Romagnoli is an excellent book to read on the plane on the way to Rome. You will arrive feeling much more like a native than a tourist as he lends you his eyes as a Romano who has lived in the States for decades.
Blue Guide Northern Italy: From the Alps to Bologna, Eleventh Edition (Blue Guides) Southern Italy: South of Rome to Calabria: Blue Guide (Blue Guide Southern Italy) Almost everything in Italian art worth seeing is listed in the Blue Guides. If you are going to Florence, Rome, or Venice, then pick up those cities' Blue Guides, too. But for a grand tour of the North or South, you'll miss very little if you read these two volumes and plan your trip around its star system. Not to say you should stick only with the highly rated ones; the one and two-starred sculptures and paintings often prove to be my favorite, if only in the heart rather than the craft they reveal.
City Secrets: Rome Although it reads more like a guest book than a consistent guide, "City Secrets: Rome" contains some fine descriptions of the city's archeological sites and architecture.
In Search of Piero: Guide to the Tuscany of Piero Della Francesca (Artistic guides Electa) This out of print book describes the kind of trip through Italy that I love to take: Choose the artist first, then plan the itinerary. Piero is an excellent theme to a few weeks in Italy, as good as Michelangelo and even better than Leonardo (if only because France and the Queen of England have so many of his works). Only the Italians refer to their artists by their first names.
