Visitors to the Alinari National Museum of Photography (MNAF), in Florence’s “delle Leopoldine” in Piazza Santa Maria Novella, are taken on a fascinating journey tracing the history and evolution of photography, from the origins of the media to the present day.

A string of museums, aristocratic villas, churches and castles are included in the “Back to Baroque” exhibition: an ambitious, multi-site project curated by Nicola Spinosa, covering two hundred years of Baroque art in Naples.

Just steps away from Campo de’ Fiori, the heart of the Italian capital’s nightlife, lies the Piazza Capodiferro and Palazzo Spada, an elegant 16th century edifice transformed in to an art gallery, home to the works of baroque arts collected by the Cardinal Bernardino Spada.

The Max Mara group’s historic factory in Reggio Emilia has been converted in stunning exhibition space for Achille Maramotti’s collection of  200 contemporary artworks, produced by Italian and International artists from the late 1940’s to the present day.

In Rome’s Galleria Borghese, from October 1st 2009 to January 24th 2010, a unique occasion to see works by  Caravaggio and Francis Bacon, two “accursed” artists united by their incredible capacity to transfer the tragic nature of life to canvas.

At Montecatini Terme’s Terme Tamerici, an exhibition of  80 art works by the Macchiaioli, artists who, using a revolutionary painting technique, immortalized the rural landscapes and farming communities of late 19th century Tuscany.

The international touring exhibition, “Otium Ludens – Stabiae, heart of the Roman Empire“, currently on show in Ravenna, brings back to life some of the ancient Romans’ most sumptuous coastal villas, with a breathtaking display of detached murals, wall paintings, and artefacts from the 9 residences constructed in the town of Stabiae – arguably the most magnificent of all the summer seats of governance built on the Bay of Naples.

In the heart of greenest Umbria, in Montegiove (Terni) and, more precisely, in the grounds surrounding the ancient Convent of Scarzuola, the great 20th century architect Tomaso Buzzi realized his most extravagant of architectural follies: a maze of bridges, stairways, theatres, pools and miraculous springs dedicated to St Francis.

The lasting relationship between Raphael and his home town of Urbino: the theme of a fascinating exhibition containing a great number of previously unseen documents concerning the Marche’s greatest artist.