 A traditional
hotel, situated just off the famous Corso at the heart of Perugia, is
our first base. We start with an overview of Umbrian painting in the National
Gallery and a visit to the Collegio del Cambio, decorated by Perugino.
The Archaeological Museum, the Cathedral and the churches of San Bernardino
and San Pietro will also be included, while lunch will be in the gardens
of a 17th-century country villa. There will be an excursion to the hallowed
town of Assisi where we will study the wonderful frescoes
in the Basilica of St Francis, by Giotto and his contemporaries. Another
day will feature Montefalco, where the beauty of the
Umbrian countryside is reflected in Benozzo Gozzoli’s frescoes;
the Romanesque churches of Bevagna and Spello
where we can admire Pinturicchio’s Baglioni Chapel in the church
of Santa Maria Maggiore.
We head north to the walled city of Urbino, court of
the dukes of Montefeltro. In the Palazzo Ducale we will see paintings
by Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca and Raphael, as well as Duke Federico
da Montefeltro’s Renaissance studiolo. At nearby Pesaro,
birthplace of Rossini, we shall visit the picture gallery, with Giovanni
Bellini’s ‘Pesaro Altarpiece’.
Our next hotel is a converted Napoleonic fortress on the seafront at
Portonovo, south of the ancient port of Ancona. Here
we will visit the Romanesque cathedral and the art gallery, with paintings
by Crivelli, Lorenzo Lotto and Titian, before continuing to a family-run
wine estate for lunch. Further south we will find masterpieces by Lorenzo
Lotto in the attractive walled town of Iesi; the holy
city of Loreto; the town of Recanati,
with its memories of the romantic poet Giacomo Leopardi and the remote
hamlet of Monte San Giusto. We will also visit the exquisite
Romanesque church of Santa Maria a Piè di Chienti.
In Ascoli Piceno, we will stay in a 16th-century
palazzo, which has become an elegant small hotel. Ascoli is a delight
to explore, with its spacious travertine-paved Piazza del Popolo, its
loggia, palace, churches and towers. We shall see Crivelli’s masterpiece
in the Duomo and paintings by Titian, Van Dyck, Bellotto and Guardi in
the picture gallery, where the precious cope of Nicholas IV, made in England
in the 13th century, is also displayed.
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PRICE
l £2,480
The cost includes accommodation in a comfortable hotel in Perugia (4 nights)
and in first-class hotels in Portonovo (3 nights) and Ascoli Piceno (2
nights); economy class air travel London (Heathrow) / Rome / London (Heathrow)
by scheduled services; ground transport by private coach; all meals except
one lunch and one dinner; guides; taxes; entrance fees and the services
of a lecturer and a tour organiser.
Price without flights £2,305
l Single room supplement
£320
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