I was travelling between London and Copenhagen, when a friend wrote with the latest news from “The Florentine ” in Helen Farrell, the editor in chief’s newsletter, highlighting my article from the January issue and presenting it with yet more paintings from the exhibition. My trip to Copenhagen fired my imagination in many ways, visiting the Louisiana museum and seeing Giacometti juxtaposed with Louise Bourgeois; discovering the Glyptoteket with its beautiful winter garden and artefacts from Ancient Worlds; exceptional paintings by 19th century Danish women artists in the National Gallery of Art…..But for now, let’s stick to Florence and “The Florentine”!

You can follow this link for the article and the paintings as well as an update on what’s going on in Florence, always close to my heart:

The February issue of The Florentine is out NOW!

This month, I’ve fallen head over heels for a couple of staircases. Without taking a tumble, thankfully. In our January issue, Rea Stavropoulos wrote an intriguing review of the women’s art exhibition currently on display at Florence’s branch of the Banca d’Italia in via dell’Oriuolo. In addition to tender paintings about the female condition by artists such as Silvestro Lega and exquisitely executed still lifes by Leonetta Cecchi Pieraccini and Pasquarosa Bertoletti Marcelli, one photograph in particular piqued my curiosity. To the point that I omitted the image from last month’s edition with a view to a dedicated photo shoot for a future cover—and here it is! Antonio Cipolla’s grand elliptical staircase within what was the headquarters of Italy’s first national bank when it was built in 1869 appears to defy gravity, swirling mysteriously upwards to the stained-glass lantern. It’s one of those iconic gems that entices in photographs, yet poses bigger questions in person. How does it stay up? How did the architect design such a dazzling feat of engineering?