An Art Blog is Born!

The Art of Loving Italy is a website about art,
but it is also a mentality. It is a way of
seeing the world and all the beauty in it.

Are you curious about art?

Did you study Art in school — loved it — 
but now can’t remember the difference between
Renaissance and Baroque? Do you want to know more about so many arty things?

Hi! I’m Melissa… an artist, Italian language blogger, author, and an art historian. In fact, I love art history so much, I studied it in college and went on to grad school to earn a Master’s degree in the subject. This site came into being after I published my first book Dreaming Sophia published in 2016, a novel set in Italy, focusing on Italy’s colorful pageant of artists, musicians, and actors. It seems I love to learn and discover more about art, and have gone on to write three more novels set in Italy. Waking Isabella published in 2017, takes place in Arezzo and tells the story of Isabella de’ Medici and a portrait of her painted by Bronzino that goes missing during the Second World War. My third book, Eternally Artemisia was published in 2018, tells Artemisia Gentileschi’s story in a creative way weaving a contemporary storyline with hers. My fourth novel, published in December 2020, is called The Secret Life of Sofonisba Anguissola—the most famous woman you’ve never heard of and follows the adventures of a woman who Michelangelo instructed and Vasari praised, from Cremona to Rome, to Spain, and to Sicilia!

Did you know art will actually
TALK to you if you are open and stop to listen?

My posts on the Art of Loving Italy site are meant to be informative, but also fun and entertaining. I like discovering oddities and absurdities, in the art world. It is my belief that art doesn’t have to be boring or stuffy and the more I learn the more I realize that each artist or painting has an incredible story to tell. Being an art historian is a bit like being a detective. All you need to do is scratch the surface of a painting, and you will be surprised by what you will learn! his is why I delight in writing novels that focus on artists whose exploits and accomplishments deserve to be highlighted.

As Picasso once said:
“Art is the lie, that makes us realize the truth.”

I also firmly believe if you take the time to really look around you, you will discover there is beauty everywhere, from the light filtering through the trees to the tattoo of the person sitting next to you on the bus. If you open your eyes and ears you will find that paintings will actually talk to you and you will learn fascinating truths.

Follow me and I’ll take you on an “art-fantastical” journey to dive deeper into the art world!
(and Italian culture).

Let’s open our eyes (and ears) and see
what art has to say to us.
It will be a fascinating conversation!

For more information about my novels
visit my author website

Books available on Amazon

You will also find me blogging in Italian on the
Studentessa Matta Dual language website