Brought up in London by artistic parents (mother a painter and father an orchestral conductor), Charlotte’s thirst for cultural enrichment bought her to Paris at 19 to study French and Art History at the Sorbonne. For 10 years she ran her own company here before accompanying her journalist husband to Jerusalem in 1999 (where she guided small groups through the Old City) and to Washington D.C. in 2002,(where she worked for four years at the Kreeger Museum). She very much enjoys sharing her love and in-depth knowledge of the artistic heritage of her adopted city.

Tim earned his undergraduate degree in Studio Art at DePauw University and his Masters of Fine Art in Painting at Indiana University. Having lived in Rome since 1998, he presently paints in his studio near Campo de' Fiori and teaches courses in drawing and art history at the American University of Rome. His work has been shown in group exhibitions at several Rome galleries, including Gallerie Benucci and the La Porta Blu Gallery.

A native of Canada, Tamara has lived in Venice for 14 years and coordinates the Canadian Pavillion at the Biennale. In 2000 she became a certified sommelier through AIS and has coordinated wine walks for prestigious organizations such as the Culinary Institute of America.

Darius Arya is a Roman archaeologist (PhD UT Austin) who lives and resides in Rome, Italy. He is the co-founder and executive director of the American Institute for Roman Culture (www.romanculture.org), a 501c3 non profit organization which promotes and defends Rome's heritage through projects and unique teaching experiences for university-level students. He leads the archaeological projects, currently including the Villa delle Vignacce dig, and directs the Program in Archaeology and Roman civilization.

Christina Atkinson is a completing her dissertation at Columbia University, New York. Born in the U.S. to Italian parents, she seems to spend more time here in Rome than in New York.She specialized in nineteenth-century European visual culture and American art from the colonial era to 1945 before finally succumbing to the allure of eighteenth-century Italian art-- which simply gave her another excuse to come live in Rome.

Jason Atkinson is a composer and performer. He completed graduate degrees at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the City University of New York. He has designed extensively for theater in the US and is currently working with a theater company here in Rome. At the moment, he's finishing an opera. For more info please visit: www.atkinsonmusic.com

Niall Atkinson is completing his PhD at Cornell University in the social history of Florentine urban space in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. From 2004-2006 he was the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Fellow at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, during which he delivered papers on the reception of urban space, social insurrection, and the soundscape of Renaissance Florence.

Andrew Ayers read history of architecture in London before coming to Paris for a three-month study period. Ten years later he has still not finished those studies or left Paris, but has gotten to know the French capital inside out while writing an in-depth guide to the city's architecture. He has recently branched out to the provinces, publishing a monograph on a Tours-based architect. More writing projects are in the pipeline...

Imogen is a south Londoner born and bred, who loves exploring her home city and is amazed that despite 33 years of running around town, it can still offer up unexpected surprises and unknown spots. A graduate in Italian literature from Oxford University, she lived in Rome for a few years where she met the Context Team. She now works in magazine publishing as an editor on a variety of projects, including the London tourist boards Official Visit London Guide to London which makes her well-qualified to recommend great places to visit, be it the latest hot restaurant or a long-standing hidden gem.

Orginally from the U.S., Anne Barbetti came to Florence many years ago to study art history at the University of Florence. She became enmeshed in a long-term project researching Renaissance and Baroque embroidered fabrics, during which she has personally uncovered many hitherto unknown collections of antique fabrics. She is currently working on a catalog and book based on this work.

Caroline is back at Kings College London finishing an MA in Classics. The main focus of her work is on two modules that combine to make a very interesting project. They are Mystery Cults in the Graeco-Roman Worlds and The Late Roman City. Her choice to take both modules was massively influenced by her time with Context Rome in 2006; she reports that it's absolutely down to her experiences over the last year that she has developed such an interest in the cityscape. Caroline is combining the two modules in her thesis, which is going to be something along the lines of how religious buildings are used as Roman propaganda in the provinces.

Filippo Bartolotta, wine journalist, holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of Florence and a Diploma from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust of London. Bartolotta teaches various aspects of wine at the University of Siena, writes for major European and American wine publications, and serves as one of Decanter Magazine's and IWCC's wine tasters. He is the editor of the English version of L'Espresso Italian Wine Guide and also owns his own company, Le Baccanti, which does various wine excursions and tastings in Tuscany.

Paul Bennett is the Rome correspondent for Architectural Record and Architecture magazines and a freelancer for National Geographic. He has written several books on architecture and landscape for Princeton Architectural Press. He is keenly interested in the history of gardens and urbanism. With his wife, Lani Bevacqua, he started Context Rome in 2003. Paul holds a masters degree in intellectual history. His article on the subterranean spaces of Rome appeared in the July 2006 issue of National Geographic and his article about sailing a small boat across the Atlantica was selected for the 2006 Best American Travel Writing (Houghton Mifflin).

Meredith received a BA in art history from Rutgers University. After graduating, she worked for several years in the Education Department of the Frick Collection. She is currently completing a master’s degree at the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU. Although her focus is the Venetian Quattrocento, she is also interested in ancient art and spent a summer working at the American Excavations of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace.

Originally from Pisa, Erika Bianchi holds a degree in Classics and a doctorate in Ancient History from the University of Florence. She is particularly interested in the history and politics of classical Athens and imperial Rome and Greek and Roman historiography. Currently, Bianchi teaches Roman History for various American Universities in Florence and Rome. Besides publishing several articles in national and international reviews, she has also become a novel-translator for an important Italian publishing company.

A former art teacher, Hilary Bockham has spent the last ten years designing major European art exhibitions of both contemporary and historical art. She has been a visiting lecturer at several UK design colleges and designed costumes for international theater troops.

With an undergraduate degree in architectural studies from Connecticut College in tow, Emma Bowen moved to New York City in 2001. A lover of all things aesthetically-inspiring, Emma continues to marvel at the built representations of urban (and not so urban) life from her neighborhood in Brooklyn, as well as through her Master’s program in the history of decorative arts and design at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in partnership with Parsons The New School for Design. A former educator for New York’s Lower East Side Tenement Museum and research fellow in Cooper-Hewitt’s Department of Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design, Emma is currently conducting her Master’s thesis research on the domestic architecture and spaces of nomadic Roma communities in Eastern Europe.

Originally from England, Richard Bowen has lived in Rome for the last fourteen years. He holds a Master's degree in medieval and twentieth century history from London University and, as this might suggest, has a broad-minded and synthetic approach to understanding Rome. Richard works quite frequently with institutional travel organizations, such as museums and church organizations, and as a result spends much of his time traveling all over Europe. He brings this cosmopolitan and pan-European experience to bear on his work with us in Rome, constantly making connections to other cities and countries in the course of his lectures and seminars.

Liz Brewster is an American architect with degrees in architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Rome specializing in restoration and urban design and has lived in Rome since 1988 working on design and research.

Helen Burnham, Ph.D. is a scholar of nineteenth-century French art. She received her doctorate from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts where she wrote her dissertation on Edouard Manet. While completing her graduate work in Paris, Helen led walks of the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, and Haussmannian Paris for Context. Now in New York, she continues to enjoy introducing visitors to the best of New York's artistic and cultural life.

Chandler Burr is The New York Times' perfume critic. His new book, "The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris & New York" (published January 22 2008 by Henry Holt, Inc.) tells two parallel stories, the first about a year Burr spent for The New Yorker magazine in Paris behind the scenes at Hermès watching legendary perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena create the Hermès scent "Un Jardin sur le Nil"; and the second about a year (beginning with an article for The New York Times) inside Coty with Sarah Jessica Parker as she directed the making of her perfume "Lovely."

He speaks around the world on scent and perfume and hosts interactive masterclasses in gourmand scents; this series explains perfume for the lay person and shows fragrance's structure and artistry, with food-based scent raw materials (absolutes of cinnamon, clove, pepper) and gourmand perfumes like "Angel" (which uses the scent of cotton candy) and "Shalimar" (the scent of vanilla) reflected in a 7-course gourmet meal.

After finishing his Ph.D. at Princeton University in the spring of 2007, Nick took on a new adventure: teaching the history of medieval art and architecture at LSU in Baton Rouge. After a life-time of being a student he finds it refreshing to be the teacher. Although his years as a Context docent in Rome definitely prepared him for the task of teaching, he can't say it's helped him with the humidity of the bayou... Oh to be spoiled again by the "ponentino" breezes of Rome. All in all, however, he finds comfort in knowing that he will be returning regularly to Rome during the summer months. If you're ever in the bayou give him a holler and you can share some good food!

The daughter of two expatriate Americans, Rebecca Cavanaugh was born and raised in London. She fell in love with Paris as a teenager, later cultivating her passion for French culture through a study abroad program as an undergraduate art student at Skidmore College. Rebecca fulfilled her dream of moving back to the City of Light in 2007, where she has been conducting research for her Master’s thesis in inter-war French decorative arts and design. A freelance writer, budding design educator, and amateur jazz singer, Rebecca is expected to graduate from her Master’s program at New York’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in partnership with Parsons the New School for Design, in spring 2008.

Marialaura holds a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Naples and a master's of museumology from the Ecole de Louvre in Paris. She is a native of Naples and speaks four languages fluently (Italian, English, French, and German). Her specialty is 17th and 18th century art; but she is also expert in the excavations (19th century) of Pompeii and the archaeological museum of Naples. She divides her time between Paris and Naples.

Louisa Chu is a chef and writer. Recipient of a James Beard Foundation Scholarship and graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Louisa worked at the Paris Michelin three-star restaurant Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athenee and Les Ambassadeurs at the Hotel de Crillon. She’s currently a columnist for CHOW magazine and has appeared on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel. She will soon be seen on Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie on PBS in the US and Chic Eats on Discovery International. Louisa also publishes the food blog Movable Feast.

Sarah Ciacci has lived and worked in London all her life, but pops over to Rome fairly often. After completing her MA in History of Art at University College London, specialising in late 19th Century French Painting and mid 20th Century Art, she has worked in the contemporary art world in both London and Rome. Sarah is passionate about London, a fabulously rich, diverse and multi-layered city and for the past three years has been learning the skill of guiding London and telling its 2,000 year old story - spanning its history, culture, and the famous personalities who have lived here.

Roberto Cobianchi holds a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Warwick (UK) where he wrote his dissertation on 15th century Franciscan church planning in Bologna. He is currently a fellow at the British School at Rome where he continues his research and lecturing. Originally from Italy, Roberto has extensive knowledge and experience of Italian Renaissance art and has held several significant fellowships and lectureships.

A native of Murano, Andrea is an accomplished musician and composer with a master's degree in the humanities from Venice's Ca' Foscari University. In 1992 he founded the Joy Singers, a well-known Venetian gospel choir, which has won international acclaim, and is the artistic director of the Venice Gospel Festival. For years he has collaborated with schools in Venice and the Veneto in order to promote gospel music to Italian youths.

Originally from London, Jane graduated in zoology in 1988 from Oxford University. After a brief spell in the City she began her postgraduate studies at Imperial College Centre for Environmental Technology (London) and subsequently won a research scholarship to the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei in Milan. Her research has broadened from methods for valuing non-market goods, which is crucial to the development of environmental policies, to improving the connections between the scientific and policy making spheres, including the public understanding of science. She worked on a number of projects supported by the European Commission and for the Italian National Research Council, to survey research efforts on climate change. Since marrying a Venetian Jane’s interest in sustainable development has concentrated on unravelling the key issues central to the safeguarding of Venice, from the physical, ecological and socio-economic standpoints. Since 2001, her work has been supported by the Venice in Peril Fund as the Venice research fellow of a Cambridge University project which aims to crystallise our knowledge of the main issues, processes and trends in Venice which affect the long term survival of the city and its unique heritage. She is co-author of The Science of Saving Venice (Umberto Allemandi, 2004).

Art historian Frank Dabell studied at Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, and is a former Fellow of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; he lectures for the museum throughout Europe. After many years in New York, he has returned to Rome, where he was raised, and is now on the Art History Faculty of Temple University Rome.

Cornelia Danielson has a Ph.d. in art history from Columbia University and wrote her dissertation on Renaissance city planning. She is especially knowledgeable about Medici patronage. In addition to her research and teaching, Cornelia--a mother of a disabled child--runs an association dedicated to barrier-free travel in Florence and is author of the recently published "The Accessible Guide to Florence."

Charlotte Lacaze fell in love with Paris when she was a high school student, and made it her home in 1978 after having earned a Ph.D. at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. She has taught art history in New York City, Florence and for many years in Paris where she has just become professor emerita of The American University in Paris. A medievalist by training, she has also taught ancient art, introduced a course on the urban history of Paris and led many study trips for students and adults in France and elsewhere in Europe. Her enthusiasm for Paris and its treasures has never flagged.

Lucy (MA, Ph.D., Courtauld Institute of Art, London) is an art historian whose expertise lies in the art and culture of the Renaissance/ Baroque period. Her doctoral dissertation focused on Peter Paul Rubens and his role in bringing classical iconography to the North, specifically in relation to his depictions of the wine god Bacchus. Since completing her Ph.D., she has worked in the curatorial department of the National Gallery, London, and contributed to a major research project on the Roman artists' academy at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Lucy has received awards from the British Academy in London and the Dutch Institute in Florence, and is the author of several articles, most recently ‘Renaissance Inventions: Van Eyck’s workshop as a site of discovery and transformation’ for the Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek. Her current research focuses on artistic exchange between Italy and the North, and the impact of Netherlandish pictorial traditions in Italy from the Renaissance onwards. She is currently a fellow at the British School at Rome, where she is writing a book on the influential community of Dutch, German and Flemish artists in Rome, c. 1600.

Having grown up in the Middle East and traveled extensively around the region, Tara’s interest in classical Islamic art was spurred at a young age, yet developed into a more concentrated, formal study while already in high school. Tara holds an art history degree from Skidmore College (B.A.) with a minor in Middle Eastern studies, and an M.A. degree from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London. In both degrees, Tara concentrated on Islamic art; however, the nature of the master’s degree allowed her to also concentrate on the business aspects related to this sector. Tara has also worked with the chief curators of Islamic art at both the British Museum (London) and the Freer Gallery, Smithsonian Institute of Art (Washington DC). Since moving back to Paris, Tara has explored the local, traditional Islamic art market and also Paris’s contemporary Arabic art developments.

The daughter of a sculptor, Marie has been surrounded by art ever since she was born. A native Parisienne, she holds an undergraduate degree in history and art history, with a specialty in iconography and French paintings from the 16C to the 18C. She is now working on a Master's degree in Museology at the Ecole du Louvre, writing her thesis on the renovation of the Petit Palais Museum in Paris. Since she loves literature, ballets, theatre plays, operas, jazz clubs and classical concerts - she has been playing the piano for thirteen years - Paris and it’s artistic life is a perfect fit.

Gregory DiPippo, a native of Providence R.I., studied classics in high school and as an undergraduate at McGill University. He has completed coursework for a master's degree in theology at the Pontifical Institute for Patristic Studies, or "Augustinianum," in Rome and is currently waiting to take his comprehensives and defend his thesis on the church fathers. Gregory lead walks of the Vatican and other religious sites in Rome; but he is also a superb classicist and one of the few Context:Rome docents who can hold a conversation in Latin.

Claire Downey is an architectural historian who has lived in Paris for many years. She covers contemporary architecture for Architectural Record. For several years she published her own magazine about Paris called This City Paris. She lives with her French husband and two children in a suburb east of Paris.

A native Parisienne, Marie is currently pursuing a Master's in museology from the Ecole du Louvre. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Art History from the Ecole du Louvre and one in History from the Sorbonne. Marie has lived extensively in both the US and Austria. Before coming to Context, she has worked in various art and photography galleries in Paris and Vienna.

Robin Emlein is currently pursuing her Masters degree in museum studies at the Ecole du Louvre, writing her thesis on the sculptures in the gardens of Versailles and their restoration throughout the 20th century. She also holds undergraduate degrees in French and art history from the Ecole du Louvre and Wellesley College.

Native Parisian Philippe Engammare’s love affair with food and cooking began when he was six years old. By the time he was eight, he was preparing entire meals for his family (8 people) on Wednesdays (when there is no school). Impressing everyone with his knowledge and creativity, he recently cooked a meal for 50 people to celebrate a birthday! His invaluable historical background stems from his degrees in modern French history (ABD) at Sciences Po. Philippe does all of his food shopping exclusively on bicycle, at his neighbourhood stores and markets.Philippe also plays the clarinet, but not on his bicycle!

Rachel Erdman has been living in the Veneto since 1994, and is originally from Ohio. While working for the Boston University study abroad program in Padova and Venice for many years, she especially enjoyed sharing her love of all things Italian with students and visiting faculty. She now works as a travel consultant specializing in personalized travel throughout Italy. As a lover of food and wine, she is fulfilling a dream to become an Italian Sommelier. She has also coordinated private cooking courses in the Colli Euganei for the Abano Ritz Grand Hotel with an emphasis on Mediterranean and Veneto cuisine. Rachel holds a B.A. from Boston University in International Relations, and it was during her studies that she first developed a passion for foreign language and culture. She lives in Padova with husband Mario and two children.

Sander is a lecturer in ancient and early Medieval history at the Augustinianum of the Pontifical University and at the J. Felice Rome Center of Loyola University of Chicago. He obtained his doctorate at Oxford University, working on the Church and cities of Roman Africa during late antiquity. Before finally settling in Rome in 2005, he worked at Utrecht University, in The Netherlands. Since 1997 Sander has spent considerable amounts of time in Rome for his research, which mainly concerns the city of Rome and its empire in the third, fourth, and fifth centuries, but also Rome in the Republican period. Apart from occupying himself with ancient Roman bits and pieces, texts and stones, he also works as a delegate in Rome for the Dutch Bishops’ Conference. And if nobody knows his whereabouts, he can often be found on the organ loft inside one of Rome’s many churches, making an enormous amount of noise, or singing in a choir in St. Peter's.

Francesca was born in Rome to an Italian father and British mother. She started as a classicist, worked in Architecture, and then studied graphic design and art direction before following her passion for food, and setting off for the Cordon Bleu School. After completing her courses, Francesca returned to Rome to start a catering company. In addition to catering for the past 8 years, she also teaches cooking classes. Passionate about fresh produce—which is fortunately always available in Rome—she only uses ingredients sourced from local providers according to the season.

Slow Food Florence is the local convivium of Slow Food - a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

Meredith received her B.A. from the University of Chicago and her Masters from Columbia University, both with a specialization in Medieval Italian architecture. She is currently working towards a Ph.D in Art History and Archaeology, with a project on the relationship between Romanesque architecture and liturgy in Verona. She has lived in New York for several years, where she has worked and lectured at one of her favorite museums: The Cloisters. Her long affair with the Italian Middle Ages has led her to live in Italy several times, though has the greatest affinity for Rome, as Roman art, and especially architecture, is her second love. Her knowledge of building techniques, as well as the history of Rome and the Christian church allows her to discuss how the Classical and Early Christian monuments of Rome looked in relationship to how they were used.

Sean Forester is a painter, poet, and lecturer based in Florence. Originally from San Francisco, he has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College. The St. John’s ‘Great Books Program’, a study of the Western classics using Socratic inquiry, provides an ideal background for understanding Dante, Leonardo, and other Florentine masters. A Rotary Scholar, Sean received his M.A. in English Literature from Cambridge University before coming to Florence five years ago. He is Director of Art History and Humanities at the Florence Academy of Art where he studies old master techniques of oil painting. Sean draws upon his experience as an artist and writer when leading walking seminars for Context.

Elisabeth Fuhrmann-Schembri has multiple advanced degrees in archaeology and classical studies. She has done studies in classical philology, specifically Latin, and ancient art history. A frequent lecturer and adjunct faculty at John Cabot University, Elisabeth is currently researching Etruscan cultures. She wrote her dissertation on Etruscan musical instruments and is an active member of Gruppo Archeologico del Territorio Cerite, a conservation organization in northern Lazio.

Dr. Andrea Gáldy completed her PhD “Con bellissimo ordine” on the Antiquities in the Collection of Cosimo I de’ Medici at the University of Manchester (forthcoming with Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2008). Andrea is one of the three founders of the working group Collecting & Display (100BC to AD1700) based at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, and has been teaching at Florence University of the Arts since June 2006.

Leslie Geddes is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Art & Archaeology department at Princeton University. Originally from San Francisco, CA, she received her B.A. in art history at Columbia University. Before beginning her graduate studies, she worked for some years in contemporary art, running art galleries in San Francisco, CA and Washington, DC. Trained as a classicist, her scholarly areas of interest are in Italian Renaissance and Baroque architecture, with an emphasis on urbanism and cartography. Her research involves locating changes in landscape, including investigations of mapping practices, urban planning, and hydraulics. Her projects frequently explore how art intersects with scientific developments, from fortifications to fountains to print culture.

Joan Geller was introduced to yoga in the early sixties. Her interest has continued over these 40 years. She has studied personally with BKS Iyengar both in Europe and India, was a student of Vanda Scaravelli until her death in 1992, and continues her studies including hatha yoga, Sanskrit, Vedic chanting and in the tradition of the great 20th century yogi, Krishnamaryacharya. Her practice in Rome includes small groups and private lessons with a particular interest in prenatal yoga.

Ann Giletti received her Ph.d. in intellectual history from the Warburg Institute at the University of London. Her dissertation topic, a study of 12th century scholasticism, lead her to Rome. When she's not spending her time in one of the centuries-old libraries in town, Ann works on several projects related to the city's topography.

Caroline Goodson received her Ph.d. in art history and archaeology from Columbia and wrote her dissertation on 9th century architecture in Rome. She is currently working on interdisciplinary studies of archaeology, art history, and history. She is lecturer of medieval history at Birbeck College, University of London, but spends as much time as she can researching in Italy.

An architect and architectural historian, Gianmario’s fields are Italian Medieval architecture and Renaissance Venetian architecture. Since earning his Phd in architectural and urban history at the School of Advanced Studies in Venice, he has worked as a teaching assistant in Duke University (NC) and in the universities of Venice and Bergamo. After a collaboration with the Ecole Francaise de Rome, he’s currently teaching the seminar “Church and City” for the graduate course Theories and History of Art in Venice at the School for Advanced Studies. Gianmario has also published two books on the architecture of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice and some articles about the urban history of Venice and the Cathedral of Naples, which was the topic of his PhD dissertation.

During her junior year at UC Santa Cruz, Heather left to do a three-month Italian language course in Siena. She has lived in Italy ever since. After finishing her studies in Italian history at the Universita' degli Studi di Padova, she became a certified sommelier through FISAR, one of the leading international wine organizations in Italy. In addition to her work with Context, Heather is currently teaching the Wines of Central Italy course for Lorenzo de Medici University. In her seven years here, she has traveled extensively in Italy and Europe, tasting wine along the way.

A native of Chicago, Jessica studied Fine Arts and Art History at Boston University. In 2004 she completed a three-year fashion design program at Accademia Koefia in Rome. The institute prides itself on instructing haute couture techniques and Jessica has found herself interning and freelance designing for numerous Italian designers. Jessica has been a two-time design participant in the runway show Concours Jeunes Créateurs Méditerrané in Nice, France. Her designs can be found in numerous boutiques in Rome, as well as her self-named boutique in Trastevere, which was recently featured in Elle magazine Italy.

A native of Washington, D.C., Lindsay Harris is currently working on her doctoral dissertation in the History of Modern Art and Architecture at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Her research focuses on ways in which photography has contributed to major transformations in architectural culture in Italy in the twentieth century. She has worked as a research assistant and docent at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci in Prato, and the 52nd Venice Biennale. Since 2007 she has lived in Rome where, in addition to her dissertation research, Lindsay has been working on an exhibition of contemporary Italian photography. Her love for art and exploring new places has led her to travel extensively throughout Europe and East Africa, where her family has lived since 1997.

Ursula Hawlitschka has recently finished her Ph.D. in art history at Temple University, writing her dissertation on 20th century Italian artist Enzo Cucchi. Originally from Germany, Ursula has extensive experience as a curator of art and lecturer. She worked as a docent, giving on-site lectures, for Context Rome in its earlier incarnation as Scala Reale.

A native of Canada, Lily studied art in Italy and then in Paris as part of her Fine Arts Degree. Her love of art and culture brought her back to Europe after graduation, and she has made the city of light her home for the last six years. Her professional experience includes working in museums and art galleries in Canada and France as well as leading cultural visits in Paris and the countryside. When she is not visiting the latest art exhibitions, she is out discovering unique places and events in Paris.

Elizabeth Helman Minchilli was born in St. Louis, Missouri and lived in Rome with her parents when she was twelve years old. She majored in Art History at Boston University; she obtained a masters degree at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts where she concentrated on Renaissance Gardens. This lead her to Florence, where she lived for two years while researching her doctoral dissertation on the sixteenth-century Boboli Gardens. She has lived full-time in Italy since 1987, dividing her time between Rome and Todi, in Umbria, with her family. She contributes to a wide range of magazines, writing about the joys of Italian life, including food, travel, art, architecture, design and shopping. Some of the publications she writes for include The International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, Town & Country, Architectural Digest and House & Garden. She just finished her latest book, Villa on the Lakes.

Michael Herrman is a practicing architect with undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture from Cornell and Princeton Universities. Michael is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and the Rome Prize in Architecture. He has lived and worked in Japan and Europe during the past ten years, most recently in the office of Jean Nouvel in Paris where he worked extensively on the Museé du Quai Branly (opened in the summer of 2006). He currently divides his time between Paris and Rome.

Michael Herrman is a practicing architect with undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture from Cornell and Princeton Universities. Michael is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and the Rome Prize in Architecture. He has lived and worked in Japan and Europe during the past ten years, most recently in the office of Jean Nouvel in Paris where he worked extensively on the Museé du Quai Branly (opened in the summer of 2006). He currently divides his time between Paris and Rome.

Eric studied historical linguistics and ancient Indo-European languages -- Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, and Latin -- at Rice and the University of Pennsylvania. He then left the United States in order to spend his twenties traveling around Europe, seeing historical, beautiful and interesting places and things, and learning modern languages. After many years moving across Europe, he came to Rome in November 2004 to settle down. After a year learning Italian, exploring the city, and studying Latin with the great Vatican Latinist Reginald Foster, he enrolled in the Licenza (M.A.) program at the Augustinianum, a pontifical institute dedicated to the study of the writings of the Church Fathers. He is now unusually well-informed on theological controversies of the first six centuries and really ought to be working on his thesis as you read this.

Mary Hewlett was born and educated in the United Kingdom before obtaining her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. She taught at universities in the United States and Canada as a professor of European History with a special interest in the social and sexual history of the Italian Renaissance, before moving to Lucca where she continues her historical research. Her most recent publication deals with a brave but unfortunate hero of Lucca. She is currently working on a semi-autobiographical work about her research experiences in Italy and on a children’s book about a stray dog.

Alvaro is an Italo-peruvian archaeologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh (1996). He learned archaeology in Peru and had a 15-year period of excavations in Peru and Bolivia before moving to the Old World. He has been an archaeology professor in India and Eritrea, and then a cultural manager in Kosovo and Bosnia. In Bosnia he has also conducted forensic excavations, as well as studies in provincial Roman villages and cemeteries. He resides in Rome where he continues working as a consultant in cultural management, focusing mainly in the "museum" potential of open spaces (parks and areas with architectural remains of Roman times).

Jennifer Huxta is a photographer and field poet. Originally from Pennsylvania, Jennifer has lived in Paris for 5 years, teaching photography with Oxbridge Academic Programs, organizing several Maine Photographic Workshops overseas programs, and working as a translator for journalists on reportage in France. She currently divides her time between Paris and Philadelphia.

Rosa’s love affair with French food began at age four, when her family spent a year in Paris. In 1995 she moved to Paris from Canada and spent nine months as an interpreter at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. She now makes her living writing about restaurants for magazines and guidebooks, designing custom food itineraries for visitors to Paris, and teaching cooking in Nice. Rosa has published two cookbooks in French, Petites recettes pour grandir and La cuisine des paresseuses (both with Marabout). She also has a food blog, www.rosajackson.blogspot.com.

Enthused by Italian history and culture, Adam first came to Italy as an exchange student in 2003 while studying for his BA degree in Modern History at the University of Oxford, St. John's College. Since the completion of his degree, Adam has specialized in the intellectual history of Renaissance art and philosophy, obtaining an MA degree from the Warburg Institute in London. He has also worked as an English teacher in Rome and presently works as a content editor.

Originally from New Mexico, Eowyn Kerr holds an MA in Art Conservation from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is specialized in the conservation and restoration of Renaissance Italian panel paintings, and her experience includes the treatment of works by Andrea del Sarto at the North Carolina Museum of Art, restoration of Baroque ceiling paintings in Rome, and teaching and lecturing on international conservation practices and ethics. She was recently awarded a Kress Fellowship to conserve Florentine cassoni (15th century wedding chests) for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Her expertise in art history, artistic materials, and painting techniques allows her to discuss the creation of artwork within the Vatican Museums, Villa Borghese, and on our other art history walks.

After having worked as a teacher in Switzerland for several years, Martin moved to Paris to study Art History at the Sorbonne. With a specialty in 19th century Art, he has worked as a curator assistant for a number of major exhibitions, including the Louvre's show on Delacroix. Since 2006 Martin is responsible for the exhibitions in the Louvre and is working on several projects for the French and Italian Masters as well as contemporary art.

James King is a British artist who has lived in Paris for nearly 20 years. He has taught and lectured extensively on modern and contemporary art but is first and foremost a practicing artist himself. He leads a number of hands-on painting and drawing workshops for Context Paris in Giverny, Auvers sur Oise (the last home of Van Gogh), and other places.

Camille Labro is a Franco-American who has spent her life between France and the United States. She was born in Berkeley, California, where she became part of the Chez Panisse family. She was raised in Provence, then spent ten years in New York (working as a correspondent for French Vogue) before returning to Paris. In addition to her career in the French media (magazines as well as TV and radio), she has contributed to the Slow Food Guidebook and the Insight Guide's Food Guide to Paris, and is currently the food editor of the Paris Times. She's also the author of the guidebook New York Confidential (Assouline, 1999) and is currently working on a cookbook, about her mum's Provencal cuisine. A gourmet and home cook as well, she's dedicated to making the best and purest food with local, seasonal products.

A native Parisian, Philippe has worked as a curator in many of Paris' top museums, including the Louvre, the Petit Palais, the National Gallery "Jeu de Paume", and in the French Academy at the Villa Médici in Rome. Fluent in Italian, Philippe spent many years dividing his time between Rome and Paris, developing a love for both cities. He is thus well positioned to discuss the history of Paris and French art within the context of the Italian Renaissance. Philippe has a Masters degree in art history and museum studies from the Ecole du Louvre and now works as a collection manager in the Louvre's decorative arts section.

David Lebovitz worked for many years as a pastry chef at Chez Panisse in San Francisco before moving to Paris in order to write and lecture. He is the author of several books about pastries and deserts, including the Great Book of Chocolate (Ten Speed Press). David has studied chocolate at Callebaut College in Belgium and done advanced coursework in baking and the art of confectionery at the renowned Ecole Lenotre in Paris.

Elizabeth Lev has a degree in art history from the University of Chicago and is currently finishing her graduate work at the University of Bologna with a thesis on Baroque architecture. She is presently teaching Renaissance Art at John Cabot University, and Baroque Art & Architecture at the University of Duqusne, Rome Campus. Not only is she a licensed tour guide, but she is on the committee that licenses all tourist escorts.

David Lewis moved to Paris to research a Ph.D. thesis on Francis Picabia and the origins of postmodern aesthetics. He is a frequent contributor to Artforum.com and an active participant in the Parisian contemporary art scene. Recently, he curated the exhibition ‘Tender is the Night’ at Gavin Brown’s Passerby in New York and presented research on Henri Matisse at the Frick Collection and Pablo Picasso at the College Art Association conference in Dallas. David firmly believes that all aspects of contemporary culture are best understood by way of their historical background, and relishes the opportunity to initiate people into the splendors of avant-garde and contemporary art.

Silvia Loreti has since spent five years in London where she did her BA and MA in art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She first came to Paris hunting for Picasso archives, and ended up living here, a confirmed convert to the Paris lifestyle. She currently divides her time between Paris, London and Rome (her place of origin) whilst working towards her Ph.D. in art history with a specialization in Picasso, de Chirico, and the interaction between classicism and prehistory in their work.

Originally from Brazil, Carlos Machado is currently working on his dissertation at Oxford University on the political use of architectural space in ancient Rome. He has lived in Rome for several years, where he writes, lectures, and researches. He has recently been awarded a fellowship from the British School in Rome.

Sara Magister has a master's in art history and a doctorate (PhD) in archaeology from the University of Rome. A native Roman, Sara has worked as the archaeological editor for the Italian national Encyclopedia. She also works as a consultant for the Vatican Museums and the former minister of culture, designing museum exhibitions and supporting the restoration of monuments with archive research. She is also currently working as a professor in an American University in Rome, teaching Baroque Art and Subjects and Symbols in Art. One of Sara's interests is the political use of ancient art during the Renaissance and Baroque and Pope Julius II's collection of ancient art, which forms the core of the Vatican's collection of ancient statuary.

A native Parisian and certified sommelier, Olivier was born with his love of wine: Though he was raised in Paris, his family owns a small vineyard in the Beajoulais region. After finishing his MBA and his oenological studies, Olivier established his own wine loft, where he organizes tastings and courses. A member of the Union de la Sommellerie Française and the La Confrérie des Chevaliers de Saint-Paul, Olivier works as a wine consultant for Inside Wine Publications when he's not leading walks and tastings.

Jessica Maier, originally from Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a docent for Context Rome from 2005 to 2007. Her focus was Renaissance and Baroque Rome, primarily the Vatican, St. Peter's, and the Borghese Gallery. She first came to Rome in 2003 with a fellowship from the American Academy to research and write her dissertation on sixteenth-century maps of Rome, which she completed for Columbia University's Department of Art History and Archaeology in 2006. In Spring of 2007, along with giving walks, she taught a class on Renaissance and Baroque architecture in Rome for Dartmouth College's foreign study program. Jessica is now back in the United States, specifically New Orleans, where she is a visiting assistant professor of Italian Renaissance Art and Architecture at Tulane University. She has brought her Roman experiences back to the States with her and into the classroom, teaching a seminar on the Vatican and St. Peter's from Constantine to Bernini. It is her plan to resume giving walks for Context whenever her research brings her back to Rome (which, she hopes, will happen frequently…).

Australian native Flavia Marcello holds a Ph.D in architecture and teaches architectural history and sketching at Temple University in Rome. She wrote her PhD dissertation on Italian architecture of the Fascist period and the planned city EUR. As a scholar of Rome's most recent layer she has had to studied all those that came before so she is extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of Roman art history, its architecture and its urban development.

Alessandra Marchetti is a native Florentine. She received her Masters degree from the University of East Anglia in the UK, and has been lecturing and guiding in Florence for nearly ten years. She lived many years in the United States before returning to Florence and her little house in Settignano that was once owned by Michelangelo.

Riccardo Margheri, wine sommelier since 2002, has written for top wine publications as well as participated in tastings for the Espresso Wine Guide and the De Agostini Guida ai Vini Buoni d'Italia. Riccardo has also traveled extensively, tasting wines of many lands and adding to his already prestigious reputation.

Lia is a recipient of a Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship to finish her PhD in art history at the University of Chicago. She is currently living in NYC where she is writing her dissertation on the collection and representation of the Americas at the Medici court in the sixteenth century.

Cecilia Martini has a master's degree in Medieval and Renaissance art from the University of Rome, "La Sapienza." Although her specialty is painting and decorative arts, she has a broad knowledge of the history of Rome, and leads many antiquity-themed itineraries. Cecilia works actively as a curator of exhibitions and lecturer and is a frequent consultant with the Galleria Borghese, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, and the Galleria Colonna. She also has a specialized teaching degree, and works as a visiting professor in several art institutes.

Yumna Masarwa received her Ph.D. in Art & Archaeology from Princeton University and wrote her dissertation on 8th-century military architecture in Palestine. She is currently an associate member at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) working on interdisciplinary studies of archaeology, architecture, religion and history. She teaches "the Architecture of Paris from Roman Times until Nowadays" at Oxbridge Summer Academic Program in Paris, where she has been living since 2005.

Sarah Vandenhende, an American from New York, couldn't find a better place than Paris to combine her passions in life: Fashion, Art and Food. This "touche-a-tout", has lived in the Marais section of Paris for over twenty years, where she capitalized on her fashion experience at Vogue Magazine to develop and market a leather glove Collection for Fendi and Adriste while launching the Galerie Orem, which specializes in Chinese Contemporary Art. If that wasn't enough, Sarah indulged in her love for food and recently completed the Intermerdiate cooking classes at the famous "Le Cordon Bleu".

After studying Law at the University of East Anglia in the UK, Petulia Melideo decided to return to her native Rome. She writes Rome and Naples guides for airlines, and leads a variety of orientation walks and chats in those cities. She's knowledgeable about shopping and "Made in Italy" culture and she just completed a course as Art Curator. Petulia manages the Rome and Naples offices of Context.

Following a two-year stint at the British Museum, Susanne has returned for a post-doctoral fellowship to the Warburg Institute, where she also completed her PhD in art history in 2005. She specializes in 16th and 17th century art, focusing on the links between Italy and the North. Although based in London, she has spent every minute of her free time in Rome since meeting her partner, a Roman, in 2001.

Carlo Micio is a licensed guide for the city of Rome with a strong background in the city's political history. He oversees many of our activities. He also plays (drummer) in a number of Rome bands.

An art historian and curator, Peter holds advanced degrees in art history from Williams College (M.A.) and New York University's Institute of Fine Arts (Ph.D.). A specialist in French nineteenth-century art, he has published widely about artist-travelers in the Orient. Before moving to Paris in 2000 to complete his dissertation on Théodore Chassériau, Peter worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Clark Art Institute. Recently, he has contributed to exhibitions appearing at the Louvre, the Grand Palais and the Institut du Monde Arabe. A fan of Balzac and contemporary photography, he is as fascinated by the changing urban geography of Paris as he is by its artistic heritage.

Emily is a Ph.D. candidate in archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MPhil from Cambridge, both in classical archaeology, and has spent summers working at excavations in Italy for the past ten years, most recently in Sicily and Sardinia. Emily is writing her dissertation on the Greek and Phoenician colonies of western Sicily—when not at a desk in one of Rome’s excellent libraries, Emily has on occasion been found napping in the Forum.

Emma Molignoni earned her master's degree in art history from the Warburg Postgraduate Institute of the University of London, with a special interest in early Renaissance art. In addition to leading walks for Context Florence, she is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Florence.

Elizabeth Molina holds a BA in the history of art and education, and an MA from the University of Massachusetts in the history of art. Her primary area of research has focused on Florentine fifteenth century cassoni depicting Petrarch’s Triumphs and Boccaccio’s Decameron. After teaching at the University of Massachusetts and working in the Smith College Imaging Center she is most interested in merging the history of art and the public sector.

Lucia Montuschi is a University of Florence Ph.D art historian, who completed her thesis on Eastern art. She's worked in the many State Museums of Florence, with a particular focus on art therapy. She’s also taught for Pepperdine University and the International Art University. Currently, Lucia teaches Venetian art at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Florence. Lucia's a charming, extremely knowledgeable docent and a lover of ideas.

Sarah holds a Masters degree in Italian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD in History from the University of Sydney. She did her doctoral thesis on sport and gender in Fascist Italy. She has spent over four years living in Italy and has studied in Rome, Pisa, Bologna and Macerata. She has broad interests in history, contemporary Italian culture and politics, and art. Sarah is currently a fellow at the British School at Rome.

Frank Nero is a Ph.D. candidate and teaching fellow in renaissance art history at the Florida State University's campus in Florence. He is currently researching his dissertation which deals primarily with the function, symbolism, and patronage of glazed terracotta sculpture in the charitable institutions of renaissance Tuscany. Frank's general field of research centers upon how the disenfranchised classes of the Italian Renaissance were depicted in the visual culture of the period. His minor area of study is the art of the Italian avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century. Frank is also an instructor and chair of faculty at the Center for Academic Programs Abroad, a consortium of American universities in Florence. He has been married to a Florentine since 2003 and has lived off-and-on in Florence since 1998.

Scott Nethersole is completing his doctoral research through the Courtauld Institute of Art on the subject of ‘The Representation of Violence in Florence: from Uccello’s Battles of San Romano to the Fall of the Republic (1512)’. Although a Renaissance specialist, his research interests are far wider and extend to include eighteenth-century decorative arts, and particularly furniture. Originally from South Africa, he lives between Florence and London.

Valerie Romana Niemeyer received her B.A. degree with highest honors in art history and museology at the University of Florence, focusing on the Renaissance art market. Although German, Valerie was born and brought up in Rome, making her eager to build bridges across different cultures. Niemeyer also works for the educational department of the State museums in Florence. Her mission is to communicate art and culture as a means of understanding the visual signs that surround us.

Linda Ann Nolan’s primary specialization is 16th and 17th century Italian sculpture and secondary specialization is classical Roman sculpture. Her research interests include the history of art restoration, the history of art collections, and early modern Italian prints and guidebooks. Linda received a B.A. in Fine Arts and Art history from Lake Forest College, and M.A. in Art History from the University of Southern California, where she is also completing a PhD. Linda participated in the American Academy in Rome’s summer archaeology program excavating in the Roman Forum, and prior to that excavated at Pompeii with the University of Rome. Linda held positions for several years in the Getty Research Institute’s Scholars Program and in the Museum Education Department at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has received fellowships and grants from the Borchard Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, and Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Linda is currently in residence in Rome conducting research for her PhD dissertation, "Tactile Reception of Sculpture in Early Modern Rome."

Jane Nyhan first came to Florence as an undergraduate art student at the Maryland Insitute of Art. She fell in love with the city, the region, and an Italian man; and returned soon after to continue her graduate studies at the University of Florence and settle. Jane spends a lot of her time outside of the city, leading groups on trekking holidays through Tuscany; and therefore has gained a broad knowledge not only of the art and artistic traditions of Tuscany but the entire cultural context of the region. She lives with her husband and their two children in the Mugello area north of Florence.

Italo Ongaro is native of the island of Murano and, for the last decade, has been working for the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice as the head scientific glassblower. In addition, he works closely with the department of environmental science and the department of chemistry as the captain of a 25-foot research vessel. This vessel is partially owned by the Veneto Region’s Meteorological headquarters, with which he participates. His knowledge of the Venetian lagoon is extensive, as he frequently traverses the lagoon on research projects. He currently lives in Mestre.

Dr. Alan Pascuzzi is professor of Art History and Art at New York University. He leads Context:Florence's Fresco Workshop in his studio in Palazzo Rucellai. He is intensely interested in the materials and technique of Renaissance art, and received his Ph.D in Renaissance Art History and Greek and Roman art from Washington University

Lisa Pasold is a freelance writer originally from Montreal. She has been thrown off a train in Belarus, eaten the world's best pigeon pie in Marrakech, and mushed huskies in the Yukon. But her favorite place to explore is still Paris, where she has lived for ten years. Along with two books of poetry, her writing has appeared in newspapers like the Toronto Globe and Mail and the Chicago Tribune, and in such guidebooks as Fodor's and Time Out.

Anne Patsch hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she earned a BA in Art and Art History from Carlow University. Her interests include Renaissance and Baroque painting as well as Contemporary Italian art. During a semester studying at the American University of Rome she had her first glimpse of life in Italy. She has been splitting her time between Rome and the United States since and now leads orientation walks for Context.

Caspar Pearson earned his Ph.d. in art history from the University of Essex and wrote his dissertation on the Renaissance architect Alberti's vision of the city. He currently teaches at the American University of Rome, is a fellow of the British School of Rome, is writing a major work on Alberti.

Mario is a certified Italian Sommelier (AIS) and Master Cheese Taster (ONAF). His background also includes a degree in the Science of Food Production from the University of Bologna. Mario, a native of Milan, has lived in the Veneto for 35 years, and his grandmother was from the Cannaregio sestiere of Venice. He is an experienced wine educator, and particularly enjoys the wine tasting seminars he regularly organizes for the U.S. diplomatic corps in Italy. In the past Mario led a seminar on Italian wine and food for the undergraduate students of Boston University studying in Padova. He also works as a travel consultant, specializing the wine and food of the Veneto, Friuli and Trentino Alto-Adige. Mario lives in Padova with his wife, Rachel, a native of Ohio, and their two children. He can often be heard to say “A glass of wine is not merely something to drink, but a true reminder of our history, traditions and culture.”

Costanza Piccolomini d’Aragona, a native Sienese, is part of the noble Piccolomini family, who can trace their lineage to Pope Pio II. She has always lived in her family’s elegant Palazzo del Mille in the historic center of Siena, where she teaches the culinary traditions passed down for generations among the women of her family. Costanza has also studied Art History at the University of Siena and published a book of poetry.

Cristina Pinton, a studio artist and teacher, has received a BFA in Photography/Printmaking, an MSAE in Art Education, and an MA in Printmaking/Book Arts from the Scuola di Grafica in Venice, Italy. Originally from Connecticut, she moved to Florence in 2004 to create a renewed familial, emotional, and artistic relationship with the Italian culture that her father, originally from the Veneto, first shared with her. Cristina currently teaches photography, sculpture and drawing courses at a private study abroad program in Florence. She has exhibited her art work in Venice, Rome and Florence and is both inspired and challenged by her experiences abroad, especially with the idea of identity in relationship to travel, personal history, memory, childhood, and culture.

In 2006 Daniele finished his PhD in the History of Architecture at the University Iuav of Venice, where he now has a research fellowship and works as a teaching assistant. His main areas of interests are Italian Renaissance architecture, aesthetics, and contemporary architecture.

Ariel Plotek was born in Montreal, where he studied fine art before taking a degree in art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Ariel holds a Masters degree from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and is currently finishing his Ph.D. there on nineteenth-century French sculpture. Before moving to Paris, Ariel worked in the department of European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He has been a visiting scholar at the Centre André-Chastel, Paris IV-Sorbonne, since 2005.

For Canadian-born Elaine Polley, Paris was a case of love at first sight. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in Medieval Studies at Zurich University, where she is writing her dissertation on Arthurian legends. She also holds two Masters degrees (in French Literature and Medieval Studies), and spent years as a graduate student at the Sorbonne. As a result, Paris—and its Middle Ages—runs through Elaine's blood. When she's not holed up in a research library, one can find her exploring the Cluny, St. Germain des Pres, or any variety of other Medieval site in the city.

Federico Poole holds a Ph.D. from the Oriental Institute in Naples. He has studied in Paris, Berlin, and Egypt. He was part of the team that set up the Egyptian section in the Naples Archaeological Museum and has written several articles on Egyptian objects found in Campania and the cult of Isis in Pompeii. He worked full-time for two years investigating Roman archaeological vestiges in the Phlegraean Fields. Today he divides his time between archaeological tours, lecturing, English translation for archaeologists and museums, and research.

Founder and President of Associazione Culturale Scala Reale, Tom Rankin came to Rome on a Fulbright Fellowship in 1991 after completing his architectural studies at Harvard. In addition to his work with Scala Reale, he practices architecture and runs the American Institute for Roman Culture.

A gap year working in the frenetic world of women’s fashion in Milan prepared Prue well for an undergraduate degree in Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge University, where she used linguistic flourish and copious coffees to confront courses in French and Italian art, literature, history and culture. Her final year topics reflected her lifelong love of Dante and Renaissance Italian art and literature. Prue spent her year abroad studying the history of Renaissance Venetian art at Ca’ Foscari University, during which time she wrote a dissertation on the erotic dialogues of Pietro Aretino. She is currently completing a Master’s degree in the History of Renaissance Design and Material Culture taught at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal College of Art in London. Her research has focused on fashion, the domestic interior and the decorative arts in Renaissance Venice. Her dissertation is on doors and door furniture from this period. Prue worked for three summers as a registered tour guide of the mosaics in St Mark’s Basilica in Venice and for the last four years has led cultural tours around Europe for American students.

After working as a graduate student at the Getty Museum and as curator of a private collection in southern California, Christine Rolland arrived in France 22 years ago on a Fulbright Fellowship and then a Metropolitan Museum of Art Theodore Rousseau Fellowship. In the course of completing her PhD dissertation for UCSB on the 18th century French painter Louis Michel Van Loo, she married, started a family, and never left France. She did receive her PhD and today she lives in Normandy, where she is very active in building networks to preserve the local architectural and archaeological heritage. As president of a non-profit association for five years, she salvaged the association itself which was about to be dissolved, as well as a 13th century classified monument which was about to be sold, and a museum of local history whose collections were about to be dispersed. Christine is member of a multidisciplinary research group at the University of Rouen (GRHIS). An independent scholar specializing in forgotten traveling Old Master painters, studio techniques, portraiture, and early modern European networks, she has also worked as a researcher for a painting conservation studio.

Mark Rosen received his Ph.D. in the History of Art from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004 and is currently doing research in Florence. A specialist in the history of Florentine art and its urban development, he is especially passionate about Renaissance maps. He has lived in Florence on and off for the past six years.

Anna Russakoff received her PhD in 2006 from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. A specialist in medieval art, she has published and presented numerous conference papers on illuminated manuscripts. She is preparing a book proposal based on her dissertation about representations of miraculous images of the Virgin Mary. She currently teaches at the American University of Paris. She is also an France Director of the International Medieval Society in Paris.

Originally from Siena, Luca Santiccioli has lived in Florence since college. Luca studied the history and restoration of monuments at the University of Florence and restoration of historical gardens and parks in Siena. Luca was also co-author of the “Guide to Villa Demidoff and the Pratolino Park.” He’s continued to study Florentine traditions, arts and crafts, collaborating with the Agency of Tourism on the initiative “Re-Discovering the craftsmen of the Oltrarno”. Over the past 5 years, Luca has collaborated in several projects focused on the relationship between artisan skill and local traditional tastes in Tuscan food specialties.

Since opening her own restoration workshop in 1986, Bettina Schindler has been able to focus on her specialty of restoring antiques in ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl, horn, wood and other natural materials. She has been featured in museums such as the Bargello and Museo degli Argenti in Pitti Palace, among others. Bettina has studied and taught at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (State Institute for Restoration and Conservation), and teaches conservation and restoration for the Washington University in Saint Louis. Her workshop is situated in the San Niccolò neighborhood, in one of the most ancient constructions in town.

A native Parisian, Laure-Caroline Semmer, completed her PhD at the Sorbonne, with a focus on Paul Cezanne, and other impressionists, on which subjects she has published two books: Lire la peinture de Cézanne (Larousse 2006) and Les ouvres-clés de l'Impressionnisme (Larousse 2007). She currently teaches art history at the Université Versailles Saint Quentin, and also fine arts at the Ecole de Communication Visuelle. Laure-Caroline is extremely passionate about art and art history, and tries to convey this passion in the people she teaches.

Patrizia Sfligiotti has a master's degree (specializzazione) in Medieval archaeology and has studied at the Vatican and at the University of Aix-en-Provence. She was an excavator at the Crypta Balbi in the 1990s, arguably the most significant archaeological excavation in central Rome in the last century. A dual citizen (USA and Italy), Patrizia is currently writing a guidebook about Rome and leading walks for us.

Canadian art historian, Allison Sherman, took to heart the words of Francesco Sansovino, who wrote in his 1581 guidebook to Venice that the name of the city had its origins in the Latin Veni etiam, meaning “to come again and again.” While studying art and architecture in the city for a month in 2000, Allison discovered a passion for this singular city and has returned on an annual basis to explore, learn the language and to do research. After completing her undergraduate degree in the history of art at Queen’s University, Canada, Allison remained there to pursue a Master’s degree on Venetian Renaissance painting. At present she is a doctoral candidate at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and is once again making the city home while she wades through documents in the libraries and archives pertaining to her dissertation. The project will focus on the form and decoration of the church of Santa Maria dei Crociferi, addressing the many important cinquecento monuments produced for this little-known monastic order by artists such as Tintoretto and Veronese, as well as aspects of ducal, patrician and confraternity patronage. As an art historian, Allison is passionate about using visual material as a means of understanding people, places and times lost to us and will apply this same approach to her walks for Context. She looks forward to sharing her knowledge of the rich remains of Venice’s historical past and the sites of its vibrant, captivating present.

Born in Siena, Stella Soldani received her B.A. in humanities from the University of Siena and her MBA in tourism economics from Bocconi University in Milan. At the conclusion of her studies, Stella received an MPS grant to study art and anthropology in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Her interest in culture and art eventually led her back to Europe where she worked for Kult magazine (Milan) as a film critic covering the Berlin and Cannes film festivals. Fluent in Italian, English, French, and Spanish, Stella lives in Siena with her Spanish husband Jaume and their daughter Blanca, and their son, Elias. When she's not exploring the cultural treasures of Siena or leading one of Context:Florence's itineraries in the countryside (she is a truffle hunter par excellent), Stella writes a regular column for the Chianti News. She’s currently researching the use and development of the pilgrimage trail, the Via Francigena.

Fiorella Squillante holds a laurea (Bachelor's degree) in modern languages and is a specialist in art history and Neapolitan culture and art. She works with the main museums of Naples as a member of the Educational section and as a representative of the main painting galleries of Naples for foreign visitors. She is the president of the cultural Association Fine Arts that organizes exhibitions, meetings, cultural events in Naples and Lazio, talks with artists and contemporary art galleries owners, private views and themed routes in Naples and Campania, cocktails and visits to stately homes, accommodation in historical b&b or luxurious villas.

Kristin Stasiowski is originally from Wellesley, MA and is a Ph.D candidate at Yale University in the Department of Italian Language and Literature. Her first taste of Italy came during a semester in Florence with the Georgetown University program at Villa Le Balze, where she developed her love of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. After teaching Italian at Yale University, Kristin returned to Florence, where she is currently researching and writing her dissertation on the Italian poet Clemente Rebora. In addition to leading walks for Context Florence, she regularly takes groups of students to Siena to participate in the Palio from the "inside" with the Contrada dell'Onda, into which she was 'baptized' in June 2006.

Krystina, a native of Canada, has been living in Venice for three years, where she recently finished her PhD in art history from Queens College. Her research focused on Venetian art and the League of Cambrai and she teaches art and architecture courses for several study abroad programs in Venice.

Jessica Stewart hails from Massachusetts and earned her BA in Art History from Boston University. She got her first taste of Italian living during a semester exchange in Padova. She holds an MA in Renaissance Studies from University College London, where her dissertation dealt with the development of Giulio Romano’s early painting style in Rome. Her main areas of interest are Renaissance and Baroque painting and sculpture. She shares duties as Rome city manager and squeezes in walks as a docent when she can. In 2007 she also began managing Context: Venice and now divides her time between Rome and Venice.

Heather Stimmler-Hall first came to Paris as a university student in 1995, and has been living and working in France as a journalist and travel writer ever since. She is the author of the "Paris & Ile-de-France Adventure Guide" and has had her articles published in magazines and newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic and China. She is always on the lookout for the city's hidden corners and insider information to put in her monthly Secrets of Paris Newsletter.

Eve Straussman-Pflanzer is a Ph.D. candidate in art history at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. She has worked as a research assistant and docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. She spent 2006 in Florence on a Rousseau fellowship researching the role of women in the Medici court and leading walks for Context Florence.

Carol received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and holds M.A. degrees in Italian Literature from the University of Toronto, where she has taught, and in Art History from Boston University. Her academic career has concentrated in the Italian Renaissance, and her studies have spanned from Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio to the Renaissance pastoral genre and decorative arts. She is currently pursuing post-graduate coursework in art history at Harvard University, and is examining the sacred and secular dimensions of the pastoral and its realizations in written and visual form. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies in Amherst, Mass, where she has given lectures and participated in conferences. Over the past three years she has also studied and worked in Florence, Italy, with the Lorenzo de’Medici School, participating in a variety of laboratory and fieldwork restoration projects throughout Tuscany. Through her affiliation with the Lorenzo de’Medici School’s Restoration Department Carol has treated numerous paintings, frescoes, and gilded objects, and has worked on-site at locations such as Villa il Farneto in Vicchio, and Santa Maria Castagnolo in Florence.

Susan Taylor Leduc received her Phd. in art history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. After working for the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. she moved to Paris and has worked as a professor, free lance curator and tour guide. As an independent scholar she has studied the gardens of Versailles in the eighteenth century and the interconnections between gardens and gastronomy.

Giovanna Terzulli is an art historian and Rome native. She has a master's degree in art history from the University of Rome "La Sapienza," with a specialization in Modern and Medieval art. She works as an editorial consultant for a number of cultural organizations in Rome including the Superintendent of Archaeology of Rome. Giovanna is fluent in Italian (mother tongue), English, and French, and has a unique interest in Mannerism.

Dario is a native Roman and has lived in this city for most of his life. He obtained his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Rome, writing his dissertation on Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno (whose statue you can see in the Campo de' Fiori). He currently divides his time between Rome and the UK where he is a professor in the Italian department of Durham University. When in Rome he enjoys leading Context itineraries focused on the Renaissance and Baroque periods. His favourite spot is San Pietro in Montorio (site of Bramante's "Il Tempietto") and the great views from the Janiculum Hill.

Maurizio Tocchioni studied architecture at the University of Florence. He has been leading itineraries in Florence and Pisa for several years, and just recently joined Context:Florence. He is interested in the social and political realities behind art and architecture, and how one can use these as tool to understand culture.

Andrea Viviani has a doctorate in linguistics from Roma Tre University in Rome. His dissertation deals with the relationship--historical and linguistics--between English and Italian. He conducts Italian Language Workshops for Context:Rome, and is equally able to give a lesson in how to speak/read Italian as he is able to lead a provocative discussion of language history and cultural meaning.

Dr. Waldemar H. de Boer completed his PhD. on a 17th century art guide of Vicenza at the Dutch University Institute for Art History in Florence in 2005. Nowadays, he is conducting post-doctoral research on 19th and early 20th century art auctions in Italy, teaches Florentine Renaissance art and architecture to study abroad students at the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai and also works as a private art history teacher.

Originally from St. Louis, Jill has lived in Venice for 11 years. She holds an undergraduate art history degree from the University of Colorado and an M.A. in arts management from New York University. Upon completion of her MA she spent 5 years working in the Venice office of Save Venice, a non-profit organization that deals with the restoration and preservation of Venetian art and architecture. She is currently the Export Manager for Caffè del Doge, a Venetian coffee roasting company. She also keeps her foot in the art world by managing the Il Capricorno Gallery, a fixture of contemporary art in Venice since 1970.

Wendy Lyn is a former Southerner who lives on the left bank in Paris designing customized culinary itineraries for gastronauts - discerning travelers and media who plan their trips exclusively around food and wine to gain an authentic sense of place – in New York, London, and Paris. She has served as a public relations-media advisor for renowned Chefs Charlie Trotter and the Alain Ducasse Groupe USA, Debauve et Gallais chocolate NYC, the red Michelin Guide New York City 2005, and has written 12 international insiders travel guides. Food Arts Magazine recently referred to her as a “human Rolodex, GPS, and Guide Rouge in one.” Her website and blog can be seen at wendy-lyn.com

Jacob is a painter from London currently living in Rome; a move made in order to be close to the artworks about which he cares most, hoping that this will help develop his own work. Jacob studied Fine Art at Oxford University in The Ruskin School of Drawing, however he also has a background in Art History, having previously studied at The Courtauld Institute, London. He retains an interest in the history of art, and is very much concerned with the reappraisal and maintenance of certain aspects of the painterly tradition, particularly Italian.

Emily Wise Miller is the author of The Food Lover's Guide to Florence (Ten Speed Press, 2003), and the updated 2nd edition, which was published in spring, 2007. She has written on food, travel, and culture for Saveur, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Times London Travel Magazine, and other publications, and has edited cookbooks for Williams-Sonoma. While living in Italy for many years, Miller has developed a passion for and knowledge of Italian food and wine that she is eager to share with others.

Jeremy, originally from Massachusetts, first discovered Paris during a study abroad program. He up and moved to Paris shortly thereafter, to continue his interest in French life and culture. He continues to re-discover Paris each day, enjoying everything that the city has to offer. He holds an undergraduate degree in French Language and Literature from Skidmore College, and currently works in the Paris office.

Ed Wouk is currently a doctoral candidate in the Fine Arts at Harvard University. His area of focus is on the artistic relations between the Low Countries and Italy in the Renaissance, and his dissertation focuses on the oeuvre of one of the foremost of these so-called "Fiamminghi a Roma." Ed has lived extensively in Belgium and the Netherlands and is equally conversant in the art and theory of the Renaissance and Baroque periods in the North and in Italy.

Sarah is a native Californian who holds a B.A. from U.C. San Diego and an M.A. from the University of Sheffield, England. Her research, in collaboration with the C.N.R.S in Aix-en-Provence, was a study of cultural and religious syncretism in the ancient Roman provinces. Her studies brought her to France and England before finally setting her in Rome in 2002. Sarah is a certified archaeological speleologist with the city of Rome, and appears as an interviewed expert on the History Channel’s “Cities of the Underworld” series. She has consulted with National Geographic television and is a contributing writer at Archeology Magazine. When she is not teaching or writing, Sarah can generally be found haunting her favorite art galleries in the city, where she researches the revival of antiquity in the Renaissance and the role of the Church in the development of science.

Carolin C. Young, a lifelong foodie and Francophile, has been researching the history of artful dining since 1997. She holds a Royal Society of Arts Diploma from Christie’s Education, London and is the author of Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver; Stories of Dinner as a Work of Art (2002, Simon & Schuster). A Trustee of the Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery, Young lectures widely and has created several historically inspired banquets and events, most notably for the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York. A native New Yorker transplanted to Paris, she is currently writing an irreverent history of the fork and building a 10-ft. boiled egg inspired by Salvador Dali.

Jane Zaloga is working on her dissertation for a Ph.D. in architectural history from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. She currently teaches art history and architectural history as an adjunct faculty member at Syracuse University and New York University. She has lived in Florence for ten years, and has a young daughter named Olivia.