Here's a listing of exhibits to enjoy in Italy's major art cities over the holiday period:
ROME - Scuderie del Quirinale: Giovanni Bellini, biggest show in 50 years on artist Durer called 'the best of them all'.
- Chiostro del Bramante: The Myth of Julius Caesar, first-ever show focusing on him alone; 200 items from ancient times until the 20th century.
- Palazzo delle Esposizioni: Etruscans, The Ancient Metropoli of Latium.
- Colosseum: Ruins and Rebirths, 80 works charting development of heritage protection.
FLORENCE - Palazzo Medici-Ricciardi: Raphael's Madonna del Cardellino (Madonna of the Goldfinch) on show after eight-year restoration.
- Palazzo Strozzi: Caterina and Maria de' Medici, Women in Power.
VENICE - Guggenheim Museum: A New Vision Of Art, unseen pieces from Cardazzo Collection including de Chirico, Sironi, Campigli, Scipione, Marini and the architect Carlo Scarpa.
- Palazzo Grassi: Italics, Italian contemporary art 1968-2008.
VICENZA - Palazzo Barbaran: 'Palladio 500', 200 works including 30 models of Palladian architecture plus art by Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian celebrate Andrea Palladio on the 500th anniversary of his birth.
NAPLES - Archaeological Museum: The Gladiator, weapons and armour found at Pompeii.
- same venue: Herculaneum: Three Centuries of Discoveries.
PERUGIA - Palazzo Baldeschi al Corso; From Corot to Picasso and Fattori to De Pisis, modern Italian and European art from two private collections including Monet, Van Gogh and Modigliani.
PARMA - National Gallery: Correggio, biggest exhibit on once-neglected artist in years; around 80 works flanked by 40 contemporaries, plus chance to see three most important frescos up close in city churches.
MILAN - Palazzo Reale: Rene' Magritte and the Mystery of Nature; one of Italy's largest-ever Magritte events; around 100 paintings featuring Magritte's signature apples, blue skies and birds.
- same venue: Tiepolos and Canalettos from the Terruzzi Collection.
