Ippolito Caffi, Venice in the Snow
There is a reason people have flocked to la bel Paese as part of their Grand Tour in the nineteenth century and are still doing it today. Tourists gather en masse in hopes of discovering the romance, history and beauty of Italy. Blame the artists. That's right, the romantic movement in art filled the salons, galleries and the homes of the elite (who could actually afford a "Grand Tour" for a year or more) and in essence promoted the beauty of Italia. Here are a dozen of what I consider the most beautiful and romantic of this type of painting... who wouldn't want to travel to Italy after seeing the grandeur?
Gulf of Naples by moonlight by Ajvazovskij
 Ponte Rotto by Hubert Robert |  River Beggers by Caneletto 1780 |
View of the canal channel from the Ponte San Marco, by Giuseppe Canella - 1834
Ragusa, Sicily by Emil Jakob Schindler
Fireworks in Naples by Oswald Achenbach
 The Shipment, by Segantini Giovanni |  View from the Ponte Vecchio in Florence over the Arno, by Palladini 1862 |
Rome and Castel Sant Angelo by Silvestr Fedosievich Shchedrin
The Bay of Naples by Aivazovsky 1841
Piazza San Marco, Venice by Canaletto
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