Art Tour to Italy – The Genius of da Vinci, Michelangelo, & Raphael

More chic than traditionally beautiful, the bustling city of Milan is a center of fashion, business, and finance. For centuries, it has been an important trading center and a prize for powerful dynasties. Today, it is the best place to experience cosmopolitan Italy.

Outside of Milan we will see the new Cultural Park. Here we pass by Leonardo's Horse, designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

Spend time in Milan's Piazza del Duomo and visit the unique and beautiful Gothic Duomo. The cathedral is easily recognizable because of its unusual roof line, consisting of 135 spires and numerous statues and gargoyles. We will view the cathedral's beautifully crafted stained glass windows, the treasury, and the remains of the original 4th century baptistery.

Enjoy an evening meal with your group.

Explore the Pinacoteca di Brera, which houses one of Italy's finest collections of Medieval and Renaissance art and probably the world's finest collection of northern Italian painting. The concentration of so many masterpieces here is the work of Napoleon, who used the palazzo as the repository for the art he confiscated from public and private holdings throughout northern Italy. Our tour includes three of Italy’s greatest masterpieces: Andrea Mantegna's Dead Christ; Raphael's Betrothal of the Virgin; and Piero della Francesca's Madonna with Saints.

Visiting Castello Sforzesco continues to evoke Milan's two most powerful medieval and Renaissance families; the Visconti and the Sforza. Built in the 14th century, it houses small, city-administered museums known collectively as the Civici Musei Castello Sforzesco. They include a Pinacoteca with works by Bellini, Correggio, and Magenta; the extensive holdings of the Museo d’Arte Antica, filled with Egyptian funerary objects; prehistoric finds from Lombardy; and the last work of 89-year-old Michelangelo, his unfinished Rondanini Pietà.

Located in a former Benedictine monastery, this appealing museum contains working-scale models of Leonard’s submarines, airplanes, and other engineering feats that, for the most part, the master only ever invented on paper. Of special note is that each exhibit includes a reproduction of the master's drawings and a model of his creations. Overall, the collected works comprise one of the world's leading compilations of mechanical and scientific wizardry.

Enjoy an evening meal with your group.

LEAP Activity | Great Renaissance Debate

Greet six renaissance giants including Giotto, Galileo, and Isabella d’Este, and debate who made the greatest impact on civilization.

Visit this exquisite collection housed in newly restored galleries. The collection focuses on treasures from the 15th through 17th centuries, including an Adoration by Titian, Raphael's cartoon for his School of Athens in the Vatican, Botticelli's Madonna and Angels, Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit, and the Portrait of a Musician, attributed to Leonardo.

Visit Santa Maria delle Grazie to view, among other works, da Vinci's The Last Supper.

Today we will travel from Milan to the Florence area. En route, we will visit Bologna.

Enjoy a Walking Tour of the Old Town that will include the Piazza del Nettuno and the Piazza Maggiore, where we will visit the Basilica of San Petronio. We will also view the two leaning towers in the Piazza di Porta Ravenna, the symbols of Bologna.

See the main church of Bologna. It dominates the Piazza Maggiore and is the fifteenth largest church in the world. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius, who was the Bishop of Bologna in the fifth century.

Deeply connected to the Renaissance movement in art and literature, this city is often called the “Cradle of the Renaissance.” A walk through the peaceful piazzas reveals the architecture and sculpture that have made this beautiful city one of the world’s greatest artistic capitals.

Here, we will view Michelangelo's statuary masterpiece, David, and Boticelli’s Madonna and Child.

Founded in the 4th century, this is the city's second most important church. At one point in it's long history, San Lorenzo became the church of the Medicis. Our visit will include the Medici Chapels. Michelangelo built the New Sacristy between 1520 and 1533 as a monument to Lorenzo the Magnificent and his generation of peaceful Medicis. We will also visit the Biblioteca Laurenziana, one of the world’s most important collections of Italian manuscripts.

Enjoy the Piazza del Duomo, where the cathedral, tower, and baptistery exhibit the traditions of Florentine art from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. We will observe the massive and detailed facade of the Duomo before viewing the baptistery’s bronze doors, designed by Ghiberti and about which Michelangelo commented were worthy of being the “Gates of Paradise.”

Take a tour of the Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo, a museum housing sculptures removed from the niches and doors of the Duomo for restoration and preservation out of the elements. Highlights of our visit will include the enclosed courtyard that houses Lorenzo Ghiberti's original gilded bronze panels from the “Gates of Paradise;” Michelangelo's Pietà, his second and penultimate take on the subject; and Donatello's fascinating sculpture of The Magdalene, a late work in polychrome wood veritably dripping with penitence.

Tour the massive Pitti Palace, a primarily Renaissance building that contains several important museums, including one that features reconstructions of period rooms, and the Palatine Gallery with important works by Titian, Rubens and Raphael.

Stroll along the oldest of Florence's six bridges and one of the best-loved sites of Florence. Lined with numerous shops, visitors often do not realize they are on a bridge until they reach the center arches that look out over the Arno.

LEAP Activity | Patron of the Renaissance

Imagine you’re a Medici. Suppose you’re a Sforza. Use this innovative activity to explore the motives of the patrons of the Renaissance.

Explore the Piazzale Michelangelo. Offering a splendid panoramic view of the city's domes and towers, this is a great location to take photos and view some of the local artists at work.

Visit the Casa Buonarotti and view its vast collection of Michelangelo's earliest sculptures. Highlights include the Madonna of the Stairs and the Battle of the Centaurs.

Visit the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence's premier sculpture museum, housing works by Michelangelo and Donatello. Highlights will include Michelangelo’s Bacchus, the Pitti Tondo, the Apollo-David, and the bust of Brutus. Donatello’s Cupid, marble David, and bronze David are also in this museum.

Spend time at the political stage of Renaissance Florence and an open-air museum of sculpture.

Experience one of Italy's finest art museums, containing one of the most famous collections of paintings and sculptures in the world. Exhibitions include works by most of the acclaimed Italian artists, as well as German, Dutch, and Flemish masters. Of particular note are European paintings from the 13th to 18th centuries, which include works by da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Rembrandt, and Rubens.

LEAP Activity | Cucina Fiorentina

Cook up a three-course traditional meal with a local chef using fresh local produce. Get a taste of Tuscan life and zesty flavors! Mangia!

Stop for a brief visit to the Church of Santa Croce, featuring the impressive tombs of many of Florence's most influential figures, including Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Dante, and Galileo.

Visit the exhibition dedicated to the universal genius of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Today we will travel from the Florence area to Rome. En route, visit Caprese and enjoy an olive oil tasting.

Caprese is the birthplace of Michelangelo. His birthplace is now a museum, the Commune Casa Natale Michelangelo, which houses photos and copies of the artist's work.

Learn the secrets, stories and features that make up the heritage of the local tradition. Enjoy an Olive Oil tasting with bruschetta.

Known to many as the "Eternal City", Rome is the capital of Italy, with an uninterrupted history spanning two and a half thousand years. As one of the founding cities of western civilization, Rome is filled with incredible historical sites. It is a city with many faces, encompassing medieval, renaissance, and modern. To define Rome is an impossible task, but to enjoy Rome is a wondrous experience.

This evening we will dine in the Piazza Navona area. Built on the foundations of Domitian's Circus, this magnificent square was designed by Borromini in the 17th century. It is full of life and is highlighted by one of Rome's most spectacular fountains, the Four Rivers, designed by Bernini. The square is often filled with local artists. The surrounding neighborhood is also one of the best places in Rome to get a tasty tartufo or gelato ice cream.

Experience a specialist-guided tour of the Vatican City, including the Museums, home to one of the world's most impressive collections of art. Our tour includes the map tapestry rooms, the magnificent Raphael Rooms, and the spectacular Sistine Chapel, highlighted by Michelangelo's ceiling and his Last Judgment. We will continue into St. Peter's Square to visit St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the western world and the center of Catholicism. Highlights of our visit include Michelangelo's Pieta and Bernini's magnificent Baldacchino over the high altar.

Visit the Rome's best-preserved monument. The Pantheon is a masterpiece of architecture with its huge hemispherical dome. It also contains the tombs of the kings of Italy and that of the artist Raphael.

This evening we will dine near the spectacular Trevi Fountain where it is traditional to toss a coin into the fountain to ensure a safe return to The Eternal City. Spend time at Rome's meeting place, the Piazza di Spagna, home of the famous Spanish Steps. The piazza and steps are both named in reference to a 16th century Spanish ambassador who lived here. English poet John Keats lived and died in the house to the right of the steps, which is now a memorial.