Bel Paese: the Ligurian Coast, Tuscany, the Veneto & the Italian
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Bel Paese: The Ligurian Coast, Tuscany, the Veneto & the Italian Lakes 31 AUG – 20 SEP 2016 Code: 21617 Tour Leaders David Henderson Physical Ratings Join David Henderson, a visual artist who has led over 30 tours to Italy and France, exploring the landscapes of the Ligurian Coast, Tuscany, the Veneto & the Italian Lakes. Overview Tour Highlights Join David Henderson, a visual artist who has led over 30 tours to Italy and France, exploring the landscapes of the Ligurian Coast, Tuscany, the Veneto & the Italian Lakes. Study the fine artistic traditions of Genoa, Siena, Florence, and Venice. Take a ferry excursion to study the fascinating terraced mountainsides and picturesque fishing villages of the rugged Cinque Terre. Visit the Abbey of San Gerolamo della Cervara, overlooking the Tigullio Gulf and containing the only surviving monumental Italian garden in Liguria. Visit the Etruscan city of Volterra, and Lucca with its 16th-century city walls and Romanesque churches. Attend a concert in the Church of San Giovanni, Lucca, which celebrates the work of Italian composer, Giacomo Puccini. Dine at two beautiful Tuscan villas and taste Tuscan specialties accompanied by Chianti Classico. Enjoy the genius of Andrea Palladio’s palaces and villas in the Veneto including Villa Barbaro, Maser and the Villa Capra ‘La Rotonda’ in Vicenza. Explore Ravenna, visiting San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and other richly decorated Byzantine churches. View Verona’s amphitheatre and sites associated with the protagonists of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Attend an evening drinks reception and private concert at the home of opera singer Rosemary Forbes-Butler in Venice. Visit some of the most beautiful villas and gardens of Northern Italy, especially in the Lake District around Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. 21 days in Italy Overnight Genoa (4 nights) • Lucca (2 nights) • Siena (2 nights) • Florence (3 nights) • Venice (3 nights) • Mantua (2 nights) • Como (2 nights) • Stresa (2 nights). Overview Led by visual artist David Henderson, we begin in the great trading city of Genoa and visit the fascinating terraced mountainsides and picturesque fishing villages of the UNESCO heritage-listed Cinque Terre. We explore Liguria, Tuscany, the Veneto, Lombardy, and the splendid villas and gardens of Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, to understand how Italians have moulded their countryside through agriculture and gardening, and their genius for designing cities, palaces and villas. Genoa comprises a lower medieval port city with Gothic palaces and churches as well as one of the world’s greatest ensembles of Baroque palaces, lining grand streets with richly decorated façades, lustrous frescoed interiors and brilliant art collections. In Lucca, whose 16th-century city walls surround precious Romanesque churches, we attend a concert celebrating the work of native son Giacomo Puccini. Nearby we view Pisa’s magnificent complex of Romanesque Cathedral, bell-tower and Gothic baptistery, while in Siena and Volterra we explore the organic growth of Tuscan medieval cities across steep hilltops. We lunch at Villa di Geggiano, producer of some of the world’s best Chianti Classico, and visit the 17th-century Villa Gamberaia admired by novelist and garden designer Edith Wharton. In Florence’s monuments and museums we chart how the Renaissance changed world culture forever, while in Ravenna we examine the brilliantly lustrous Byzantine mosaics that influenced the glowing light of Venetian painting. The great lagoon city’s cathedral, Saint Mark’s, and Grand Canal palaces are bathed in Venice’s sparkling, water-reflected light. In the Veneto we witness a Bel Paese: The Ligurian Coast, Tuscany, the Veneto & the Italian Lakes February 2016 Page 2 harmony of architecture and nature at Andrea Palladio's fine villas including Villa Capra ‘La Rotonda’ (Vicenza) and Villa Barbaro (Maser). In Mantua we visit the Ducal Palace of the Gonzaga, setting of great art and courtly rituals, before finishing our tour with the visual delights of the Northern Lakes. At Stresa, Lake Maggiore and Lake Como we explore magnificent 17th- and 18th-century gardens, whose brilliant colours are reflected in deep blue lakes against a sublime backdrop of the snow-capped Alps. Bel Paese: The Ligurian Coast, Tuscany, the Veneto & the Italian Lakes February 2016 Page 3 Leaders David Henderson Award winning artist & Royal Academy graduate who paints half the year in Italy, David brings an artist’s eye & profound knowledge of European art to ASA tours. Since joining ASA in 1995, David has lectured on or led over 30 tours to a variety of destinations in Europe. After initial studies in architecture in Brisbane, David's interest in the visual arts and their history was given new impetus when he made his first trip to Italy at the age of 20. Soon after, he enrolled in a course in painting at London's Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 1985. During his time in London, the Royal Academy awarded him a prize for painting, and he was twice selected for their annual summer exhibition. David has held many solo exhibitions of his work in Brisbane, Melbourne and London. He has exhibited in the Doug Moran Prize, Tattersalls and Rotary art exhibitions, and has been the recipient of several awards and commendations. He has also painted a number of commissioned portraits for private and institutional clients. Until recently, David taught art part-time at various institutions, including the Queensland Art Gallery and the Brisbane Institute of Art. For many years, he lectured and ran courses in the history of art and design at the Queensland University of Technology. David now paints full-time and divides his year between Australia and Italy. He believes Italy to be unique in its concentration of artistic treasures, architectural splendour and beauty of light and landscape. Italy provides him not just with a wealth of subject matter, but also the opportunity to develop his art through first-hand study of the classical, Mediterranean tradition: a synthesis of light, space and harmonious proportion. Since joining ASA in 1995, David has lectured on or led over 30 tours to a variety of destinations for ASA. He is an enthusiastic advocate of ASA's philosophy of travel, and believes that cultural tourism should not mean that cities, landscapes or objects become mere illustrations to a specialized text, but rather themselves be 'read' from a multiplicity of contexts and engaged with all the senses. He brings a trained artist's eye to an analysis of painting, sculpture and architecture and takes great pleasure in sharing his encounters with some of world culture's most exciting moments with others. See YouTube short commentary "Painting in Venice' by David Henderson www.youtube.com See: Grand Tour: Artist Abroad brings home swag of sentimental works, Brisbane News August 26 – September 1 issue. Bel Paese: The Ligurian Coast, Tuscany, the Veneto & the Italian Lakes February 2016 Page 4 Itinerary The following itinerary describes a range of museums, gardens and villas which we plan to visit. Many are accessible to the public, but others require special permission which may only be confirmed closer to the tour's departure in 2016. The daily activities described in this itinerary may change or be rotated and/or modified in order to accommodate alterations in opening hours, flight schedules and confirmation of private visits. Participants will receive a final itinerary together with their tour documents prior to departure. Meals included in the tour price and are indicated in the itinerary where: B=breakfast, L=Lunch and D =evening meal. Genoa - 4 nights Day 1: Wednesday 31 August, Arrive Genoa Arrival Transfer for participants travelling on the ASA ‘designated’ flight Welcome Meeting Orientation Walk On arrival at Milan’s Malpensa airport, those taking the ASA’designated’ flight will transfer by private coach to our hotel. Those making their own flight arrangements should meet the group in the late afternoon at the Best Western Hotel Metropoli Genoa. Following a Welcome Meeting there will be a short orientation walk to locate restaurants in which you may wish to have your evening meal. (Overnight Genoa) Day 2: Thursday 1 September, Genoa San Lorenzo Cathedral & Museo del Tesoro (Cathedral Museum) San Donato San Pietro in Banchi Bel Paese: The Ligurian Coast, Tuscany, the Veneto & the Italian Lakes February 2016 Page 5 Porto Antico area (Old Harbour) Palazzo Spinola Museo Diocesiano Il Gesù San Matteo Welcome Meal at Restaurant Le Rune Genoa’s history has been greatly influenced by two interlocking factors, its location on the northernmost coast of the Tyhrrenian Sea and its topography; it occupies a narrow coastal strip hemmed in by high mountains. The consequent paucity of arable land forced burgeoning medieval Genoa to become a trading power in order to feed its people. Medieval maritime commerce built on a tradition of Greek, Roman and Etruscan commercial interchange that would endure for nearly two millennia. In the 11th century Genoa and Pisa initially cooperated to sweep Muslims from the Tyrrhenian and Corsica, but soon came into conflict over trade and control of the island, Genoa’s first colony. Genoa had eclipsed Pisa by the 13th century and now competed with Venice. Ultimately, Venice’s victory at Chioggia (1380) led to a partial decline in Genoese trade, later hastened by Ottoman control of the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea and the westerly movement of trade when the Portuguese and Spaniards established their far eastern and American colonies. Although Genoa had become less important in maritime world trade by the 17th century, the city’s elite made a transition to banking at this time, especially as bankers to the Spanish monarchy. The Genoese became the major beneficiaries of Spain’s import of tobacco and silver from the Americas. The success of its banking families is amply demonstrated by the sumptuousness of their great palaces and art collections.