November 6, 2006

The following is a city-by-city calendar of some of Italy's top art exhibitions.

Bologna - Museo Civico Archeologico: Annibale Carracci: this major exhibition spans the artist's development from his youth in Bologna to his later years in Rome. The show features 160 works by Carracci (1560-1609), including 70 of his best-known paintings; the show wraps up with a specially produced documentary about his famous frescoes in Rome's Palazzo Farnese and Bologna's Fava, Magnani and Sampieri palazzos; until January 7.

Brescia - Santa Giulia Museum: Mondrian; the exhibition is the first-ever Italian retrospective of the Dutch artist's work. It features some 80 masterpieces; until March 25.

Santa Giulia Museum: Turner and the Impressionists; this major show traces the development of the movement over 140 years, from the end of the 1700s to the start of the 20th century. It features 285 masterpieces from 95 museums, including London's Tate Gallery and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam; until March 25.

Castiglioncello (Livorno) - Castello Pasquini: Boldini, Helleu, Sem - The Protagonists And Myths Of The Belle Epoque. Paris's glittering high society at the turn of the last century is the focus of a new exhibit, exploring the work of three artists who came to exemplify the Belle Epoque; until November 12.

Ferrara - Palazzo dei Diamanti: Andre Derain; the exhibition features 90 works covering the entire career of French artist Andre Derain (1880-1954); until January 7.

Florence - Uffizi Gallery: The Mind of Leonardo, The Universal Genius at Work; the show features numerous paintings and drawings as well as a series of faithful models of the most innovative machines conceived by the Renaissance master; until January 7 .

The Dutch Institute for Art History: Botticelli, Verrocchio and Beyond. Italian Drawings of the 15th Century from the Royal Collections of Dresden; drawings by Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Filippino Lippi are on show alongside a host of other names from 15th-century Italy. The 47 designs on show are part of a collection built up by Saxony princes in the 1700s and 1800s; until November 5.

Mantua - Mantua, Padua and Verona celebrate Andrea Mantegna: shows are being staged in the three northern Italian cities where the Renaissance artist produced most of his work. They have been timed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the artist's death. The shows explore his life and work, documenting the development of his career and the circles he moved in. Each of the parallel events, which run until the start of 2007, will focus on a different aspect of Mantegna's achievements, with an emphasis on the masterpieces he produced in the respective cities.

Andrea Mantegna's House: Leon Battista Alberti; more than 100 designs, manuscripts, models and original architectural decorative components have been brought together for this show, which focuses on Alberti's theories on architecture; until January 14.

Milan - Ambrosiana: Titian's Supper at Emmaus; one of the most famous paintings by Titian is back in Italy for the first time in nearly four centuries. Supper At Emmaus, usually on display at the Louvre, is on loan to the Ambrosiana as part of a three-painting exhibit focusing on the Resurrection of Christ. The two other works on display are Noli Me Tangere by Bernardini Luini and Marco Basaiti's Risen Christ; until November 30.

Rome - Scuderie del Quirinale: China, The Birth of an Empire; terracotta warriors and burial garments are among the star attractions of this major exhibition on Chinese art. The show features 350 artefacts, some of which have never left China and covering more than ten centuries of Chinese imperial history; the terracotta statues are from the 'army' of life-sized warriors, horses and carts found near the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of a united China. The show lasts until January 28.

Complesso Vittoriano: Matisse, Bonnard: this new show focuses on the personal and artistic friendship between great French painters. It features 130 paintings and 100 sketches from the world's top museums; until February 4.

Palazzo Ruspoli: Paul Klee; the exhibit features an impressive selection of paintings by the Swiss artist, who has been associated with expressionism, cubism and surrealism. The pieces on display belong to, or belonged to, German art collector Heinz Berggruen; the exhibition covers the whole of Klee's (1879-1940) career. It runs until January 7.

Colosseum: The Iliad; the Trojan war is the focus of a this show on Homer's legendary account of the conflict. Achilles, Ulysses, Hector, Paris, Agamemnon and Priam are just some of the figures depicted in mosaics, frescos, sculptures and vases showing scenes from the Iliad, brought to the ancient Roman amphitheatre from Italy's leading museums. The show runs till February 18.

Rovereto - Mart Museum of Modern Art: Schiele, Klimt, Kokoschka And Their Viennese Friends; the show charts the development of the great Austrian expressionist painter Egon Schiele. Schiele is spotlighted amid a collection of works by his precursors and contemporaries - some of them never before seen in Italy. The show runs until January 8.