OUR ADVENTURES

Tuesday / il martedì – In Search of Truth and Beauty

Curiosità – An insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.

The desire to know is natural to good men. – Leonardo

Art historian Kenneth Clark called him “undoubtedly the most curious man who ever lived.” Leonardo’s quest for truth and beauty was revealed in the thousands of pages in his notebooks – his observations, illustrations, plans and inventions, doodles, jokes and puns ...

We stay home and meet Julio Monteiro Martins, Honorary Fellow in Writing, University of Iowa, professor at the University of Pisa, and founder of the creative writing school Scuola Sagrana in Lucca. Julio speaks five languages and has written 16 books, screenplays, short stories, plays and poetry - all in differrent languages.

Today, we experience how writing opens our mind to create space for reflection and imagination (Leonardo was the father of brainstorming - a way to create new ideas).

We dive into our own depths as we experience Bohemian banter, only to surface like the flying Icarus! We are not in a seventh grade composition class! We learn the art of creating a character - always central to any story. This is truly a magical moment!

Il Teatro dei Differenti

Early evening, we depart for Barga, one of Leonardo’s favorite villages located in the rugged Garfagnana region. On our own, we explore this artist colony – the Duomo, art galleries, and the amazing Teatro dei Differenti.

Swietland (“Nick”) Kraczyna

We have a private invitation into the printmaking studio of Swietland (“Nick”) Kraczyna. Nick developed the multi-plate color etching technique, and is represented in the Uffizi Gallery Prints and Drawing Collection. Students from around the world petition to study with Nick.

On to Wednesday –>