Five hundred years ago, Sandro Botticelli, a painter of humble origin, created works of unearthly beauty. A star of Florence’s art world, he was commissioned by a member of the city’s powerful Medici family to execute a near-impossible project: to illustrate all one hundred cantos of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, the ultimate visual homage to that “divine” poet.
Yet after a lifetime of creating masterpieces like Primavera and The Birth of Venus, Botticelli declined into poverty and obscurity. His Dante project remained unfinished.
Then the drawings vanished for more than 400 years. The once-famous Botticelli himself was forgotten. The 19th-century rediscovery of Botticelli’s Dante drawings brought scholars and art lovers to their knees: this work embodied everything the Renaissance had come to mean. A combination of artistic detective story and rich intellectual history, Joseph Luzzi shows how the Renaissance came to life and how Botticelli’s art helped bring it about — and why he believes we need the Renaissance and what it stands for today.
By the Way Berkshires is a digital magazine exploring creative life and community — art and performance, food and the outdoors — and I’m writing it for you, with local voices, because I’ve gotten to know this rich part of the world as a writer and journalist, and I want to share it with you.
If you’d like to see the website grow, you can join me for a few dollars a month, enough for a cup of coffee and a cider doughnut. Members get access to extra stories and multimedia, itineraries a bookmark tool. Let me know what you're looking for, and we’ll explore together.
Stella Levi tells Michael Frank stories of the Juderia, the neighborhood on the Greek island of Rhodes where she’d grown up in a Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium.
Stella Levi tells Michael Frank stories of the Juderia, the neighborhood on the Greek island of Rhodes where she’d grown up in a Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium.
Bud Wobus, professor emeritus of Geology at Williams College, leads a geology presentation and walk looking at thje history of the granite slabs of the Manton Research Center and Tadao Ando-designed Clark Center.
Adapted from Kent Haruf’s novel, 'Our Souls at Night,' this World Premiere musical tells the joyful story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together in a search for happiness and family.
Along with the Clark’s major summer exhibition, Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth, Manton Curator Anne Leonard presents the Clark’s full set of Munch's works on paper.
Adapted from Kent Haruf’s novel, 'Our Souls at Night,' this World Premiere musical tells the joyful story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together in a search for happiness and family.
The Clark offers free watercolor painting — walk through Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth and pick up a miniature watercolor kit and try plein air painting outdoors.
The West Stockbridge Farmers Market offers fresh produce — fruits and vegetables in season, eggs, meats and cheeses, breads and baked goods, fudge and jams and more.
The museum serves local brews in artist Dean Baldwin’s-sculpture-turned-river-side-beer-garden, one night each week, with live local music outdoors under the stars.
Mass MoCA Senior Curator Susan Cross holds a conversation with American photographer Holly Lynton on Lynton’s first book, Bare Handed, a portrait of rural life throughout 21st-century America.
Murder and madness will haunt the Tina Packer Playhouse as Shakespeare & Company presents a three-performance reading of William Shakespeare’s tragedy.
The Sheffield Farmers Market returns outdoors with some 20 vendors — from pickles, seasonings and garlic, to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine, baked fresh wheat-free breads, local meats, honey and maple syrup and more.
Naumkeag will lead a Mindfulness in Nature series each Friday in summer, July 7 through September 8, with Sandrine Harris, meeting in the Afternoon Garden.
The Knights return to the Clark to celebrate the Edvard Munch with a selection of music from fellow Norwegian Edvard Grieg, Antonín Dvořák, Frederick Delius (a friend of Munch's) and more.
Anima, an immersive multidisciplinary installation by French visual artist/photographer Noémie Goudal, theater director Maëlle Poésy, circus artist Chloé Moglia, and composer Chloé Thévenin, reflects on the history of the earth’s climate.
Interweaving the classic songs and jams of The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band and The Band, Dead Man’s Waltz celebrates the crossover between The Dead, The Allmans and The Band.
Murder and madness will haunt the Tina Packer Playhouse as Shakespeare & Company presents a three-performance reading of William Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Explore author Edith Wharton's estate, including the woods, wetlands, and meadows that may have inspired her writing, and learn to know birds by sight and sound.
The West Stockbridge Farmers Market offers fresh produce — fruits and vegetables in season, eggs, meats and cheeses, breads and baked goods, fudge and jams and more.
The Sheffield Farmers Market returns outdoors with some 20 vendors — from pickles, seasonings and garlic, to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine, baked fresh wheat-free breads, local meats, honey and maple syrup and more.
Naumkeag will lead a Mindfulness in Nature series each Friday in summer, July 7 through September 8, with Sandrine Harris, meeting in the Afternoon Garden.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
Housatonic Heritage explores the past, present and future in the Berkshires, in open spaces and downtowns, historic sites and trails. Walks set out from many places between Pittsfield and Northwest Connecticut, and all of them are free.
Housatonic Heritage explores the past, present and future in the Berkshires, in open spaces and downtowns, historic sites and trails. Walks set out from many places between Pittsfield and Northwest Connecticut, and all of them are free.
Hershey Felder’s Beethoven takes audiences on a journey through Beethoven's life and work as a composer in 19th century Vienna, from his boyhood to his last years.
Naumkeag's horticulturist will lead a after-hours tour of the gardens while sipping on a glass of wine. Each month will offer a different topic for the garden.
The West Stockbridge Farmers Market offers fresh produce — fruits and vegetables in season, eggs, meats and cheeses, breads and baked goods, fudge and jams and more.
Alyssa Sakina Mumtaz speaks on Verse of Light: Resonances Between Islamic Art and the Shakers, along with the Stillness and Light Photography Exhibition.
Mass MoCA's artists-in-residence show their work at The Studios — where you may wander into surreal worlds, find kindship in nature and multimeda performance, follow an artist's journey from Delhi to Lahore ...
The Sheffield Farmers Market returns outdoors with some 20 vendors — from pickles, seasonings and garlic, to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine, baked fresh wheat-free breads, local meats, honey and maple syrup and more.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
Funk, rock and reggae group the Feathers are back after seven years with Berkshire musicians Jordan Weller, Rob Sanzone, Joe Rose, Miles Lally and Tom Parker.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
Dewey Hall and Michael Lesko are partnering to revive a monthly open-mic-meets-variety show with an open creative soirée and a talented headlining act.
The West Stockbridge Farmers Market offers fresh produce — fruits and vegetables in season, eggs, meats and cheeses, breads and baked goods, fudge and jams and more.
Justin Adkins and Arianna Alexsandra Collins of HooRWA will lead a walk along the Hoosic River, identifying wild edible and medicinal plants and fungi.
Botanist Ted Elliman will lead a workshop and field trip to look closely at kinds of goldenrods and asters, striking and vivid blooms in late summer and fall landscapes.
Dream Away invites you to start your weekend jumping early with dance grooves all night long. Come to the deep woods disco and let it all hang out with DJ BFG.
FreshGrass returns with a lineup of classic bluegrass, folk, world and international musicians — Grammy-winning vocalist and banjoist Rhiannon Giddens, the Dropkick Murphys and many more.
The Sheffield Farmers Market returns outdoors with some 20 vendors — from pickles, seasonings and garlic, to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine, baked fresh wheat-free breads, local meats, honey and maple syrup and more.
Sonoro performs a blend of jazz, latin, and classical music, bringing a jazz-like freedom and Latin emotion to classical works to make them new and unexpected.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
The Black Legacy Projct band kicks off their first tour with an album release show on Fridayat the Guthrie Center - literally where the Black LP journey began.
FreshGrass returns with a lineup of classic bluegrass, folk, world and international musicians — Grammy-winning vocalist and banjoist Rhiannon Giddens, the Dropkick Murphys and many more.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
Housatonic Heritage explores the past, present and future in the Berkshires, in open spaces and downtowns, historic sites and trails. Walks set out from many places between Pittsfield and Northwest Connecticut, and all of them are free.
FreshGrass returns with a lineup of classic bluegrass, folk, world and international musicians — Grammy-winning vocalist and banjoist Rhiannon Giddens, the Dropkick Murphys and many more.
Hancock Shaker Village will celebrate the beauty of Autumn in the Berkshires at their annual Country Fair with family entertainment, live music and dance performances, workshops and more.
Berkshire potters will open their studios, welcoming all comers to meet the makers and learn about the craft in a free weekend with demonstrations and guest artists.
Housatonic Heritage explores the past, present and future in the Berkshires, in open spaces and downtowns, historic sites and trails. Walks set out from many places between Pittsfield and Northwest Connecticut, and all of them are free.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
A collective of formerly incarcerated women and theater artists are co-creating an original theater piece, working with theater makers through the 2nd Street organization in Pittsfield.
A collective of formerly incarcerated women and theater artists are co-creating an original theater piece, working with theater makers through the 2nd Street organization in Pittsfield.
A collective of formerly incarcerated women and theater artists are co-creating an original theater piece, working with theater makers through the 2nd Street organization in Pittsfield.
In Sanaz Toossi's 2023 Pulitzer prizewinning play, four students meet regularly in a classroom in Iran, preparing to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language proficiency exam.
The West Stockbridge Farmers Market offers fresh produce — fruits and vegetables in season, eggs, meats and cheeses, breads and baked goods, fudge and jams and more.
Before her appearance at the 2023 Brooklyn Book Festival, Finnish illustrator, writer and visual artist Marika Maijala joins Mass MoCA for an artist talk on Rosie Runsand hands-on silkscreen with Gary Lichtenstein.
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, Copenhagen, explores the events surrounding a fateful meeting between two of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century: Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg.
In Sanaz Toossi's 2023 Pulitzer prizewinning play, four students meet regularly in a classroom in Iran, preparing to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language proficiency exam.
The Sheffield Farmers Market returns outdoors with some 20 vendors — from pickles, seasonings and garlic, to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine, baked fresh wheat-free breads, local meats, honey and maple syrup and more.
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, Copenhagen, explores the events surrounding a fateful meeting between two of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century: Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
In Sanaz Toossi's 2023 Pulitzer prizewinning play, four students meet regularly in a classroom in Iran, preparing to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language proficiency exam.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
In Sanaz Toossi's 2023 Pulitzer prizewinning play, four students meet regularly in a classroom in Iran, preparing to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language proficiency exam.
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, Copenhagen, explores the events surrounding a fateful meeting between two of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century: Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
Band leader Isaac Stanford brings fellow Philadelphia musicians, including David Streim and Freddie Berman from the Amos Lee band, to learn a selection of old steel guitar instrumentals.
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