Considered the leading painter in the region of Emilia-Romagna, Correggio painted the “Assumption of the Virgin” fresco inside the Romanesque Cathedral of Parma. Peter Heidelberg/Shutterstock By Michelle Plastrik 10/14/2024 Ceilings are often referred to as the “fifth wall” in today’s interior design world, but decorative schemes for ceilings are nothing new. The illusionistic style of ceiling frescoes known in Italian as “di sotto in sù,” meaning “from below to above,” can b

Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350 ,  Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 13, 2024–January 26, 2025: “ Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350  examines an exceptional moment at the dawn of the Italian Renaissance and the pivotal role of Sienese artists—including Duccio, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, and Simone Martini—in defining Western painting.   In the decades leading up to the catastrophic onset of the plague around 1350, Siena was the site of phenomenal artistic i