Italy

One highlight of a February 20 sale held in Italy was the handsome, armorially bound 1694 first edition of the Swiss born architect Carlo Fontana’s Templum Vaticanum.

Italy has approved new laws relaxing the country’s art export regulations.

While Paris has changed its 'Biennale' to run every year, the equally venerable Florence 'Biennale', (the 'Biennale Internationale dell Antiquariato di Firenze – BIAF') retains a traditional format running in alternate years.

Among the London art dealers who are off to Florence for the 30th edition of the city’s Biennale this month is Colnaghi. ATG canvassed the opinion of the firm’s CEO, Jorge Coll.

The ancient Tuscan city of Arezzo, with its Roman ruins, medieval walls, Renaissance architecture and murals by Piero della Francesca, has long been a magnet for art lovers.

Milan’s Navigli district dates to the 12th century and nine centuries later it is full of vintage shops, restaurants and bars, with its canals a great backdrop for the city’s biggest antiques and vintage market.

A 1610 first of Galileo’s Sidereus nuncius, a foundation work in modern astronomy, sold for €320,000 (£278,400) on June 15 at Minerva Auctions (25/18% buyer’s premium) of Rome.

The ancient Romans believed that no matter what happened in the world or how many empires came and collapsed, Rome would live forever. Hence its description by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC as the Eternal City.

The jewellery sale at Il Ponte in Milan on May 17-18 will include items with provenance to a number of Italian aristocratic families.

Included in the April 10 sale of Old Masters, antique furniture, ceramics and works of art that is part of Babuino’s sale series in Rome this month is this small painting by the early 17th century Flemish artist Roelant Savery.