Optional Italian language presentation available on request for an additional fee.

Italy has a long and rich tradition in the visual arts, but what do these images communicate about the country's history? This lesson provides a survey of Italy's artistic heritage by exploring why particular subjects were depicted in sculptures, paintings, and decorative arts. Students learn how factors such as patronage and subject matter convey some of the ideals and events important to residents throughout Italy in the last two thousand years. The objects shown range from decorative arts made by the ancient Etruscans to a print created by Boccioni, a proponent of the Italian Futurist movement in the early 20th century.