Architecture · In the Press · Heritage · Pop Culture · Humour
Russian Vogue writes rapturously about the Dolce&Gabbana Alta Moda show in Sicily. Only the authors, it seems, see no difference between the Pantheon and the Parthenon, which did not prevent them from titling one of their themed pieces "A Lesson in Art History"! Alas, it is
Architecture · Paris · People
This strange and slightly daft creature, flying along the stone balustrade of a Neo-Renaissance mansion in the centre of Paris, is the banker Émile Gaillard. As you may have guessed, he came from a wealthy but provincial family. The banker assembled an enormous collection of medieval and Renaissance antiques,
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Aristocracy · Architecture · Faith · Observations · People
Monsignor Vincenzo Giustiniani, a Genoese patrician turned diplomat, in his 64 years gave Apulia, the region where he served as bishop, several churches and public buildings. Among them is the unique church of Madonna della Grazia in Gravina. Have you ever seen so majestic an eagle on the façade of
Architecture · Faith · Observations
Everything you need to know about this church in the Italian town of Gravina is written on its face. Madonna della Grazia above the entrance is the name of the church. The eagle spreading its wings over a castle with three towers comes from the family coat of arms of
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The third floor of the house is the summit of Victor Hugo's architectural creativity. This is the fully glazed attic with a panoramic view, which, as he put it, took in all of France: from here one can see the island itself and the distant line of the
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The second floor is arranged in the Renaissance spirit. There is an enormous, solemn study with an adjoining tiny library, where Hugo housed the library he had rescued in exile, and a bedroom with carpets and tapestries of every conceivable colour. And a symbolic corridor leading upwards, ending in a
Architecture · Museums · Mores · Paris
On the ground floor are two spacious drawing rooms, the red and the blue, richly furnished with Chinese curiosities, hung with costly fabrics and adorned with unique pieces of furniture. Here the Hugo family received guests. True, not everyone within these walls was as happy as its creator, enchanted by
Architecture · Books · Museums
The house itself recalls one of Hugo's novels. Even in the layout of its rooms and floors: once inside, you find yourself among dark wooden interiors with a great deal of carving and, as you climb, pass gradually into ever more appealing and lighter surroundings, until at last
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One of Hugo's descendants said of this house that it is an autograph spread over three floors and a poem in several rooms. Resembling a fairy-tale labyrinth, the house presents Hugo as writer, poet, dramatist, draughtsman and decorator, and truly reflects his creative genius. Symbolism pervades Hauteville