italy

An adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy about Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, two young people from noble Veronese houses whose love for one another is doomed by the long-standing feud between their families.

While two women argue over a pasta recipe they relate the story of the composer Rossini and his struggle to produce the Barber of Seville. One remembers the opera's disastrous premiere.

Two contemporary children meet Marco Polo as he describes his perilous adventures to the east and back. Learn of his relationship with Kublai Khan and how he wrote his account from a jail cell in Italy.

"A young woman arrives at a beautiful villa in the countryside outside Milan. Bianca, a gifted young watercolourist, has been commissioned to illustrate the plants in the magnificent grounds. Bianca settles into her grand new home, invited into the heart of the family by the eccentric poet Don Titta, his five children, his elegant and delicate wife and powerful, controlling mother. As the seasons pass, the young watercolourist develops her art - inspired by the landscape around her - and attracts many admirers. And while most of the household's servants view her with envy, she soon develops a special affection for one housemaid, who, she is intrigued to learn, has mysterious origins ... But as Bianca's determination to unlock the secrets of the villa grows, she little notices the dangers that lie all around her"--Back cover.

Marietta, the daughter of a Venetian artist, lives in disguise as a boy in order to wander the city and learn to paint like her father, and she comes to realize the real value of her freedom when she meets an equally talented young boy who is the slave of a sea captain.

Describes the life and work of Galileo who changed the way people saw the galaxy, by offering objective evidence that the earth was not the fixed center of the universe.

Because Befana's household chores kept her from finding the Baby King, she searches to this day, leaving gifts for children on the Feast of the Three Kings.

In 1327, finding his sensitive mission at an Italian abbey further complicated by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William of Baskerville turns detective.

Profiles the life and work of Michelangelo, discussing both his popular and lesser-known artistic creations, his impact on the art world, and his inspirations. Includes full-color reproductions of his paintings and sculptures.