Context Florence Tour Guides

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.

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.

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. She is fluent in Italian, English, French, and Spanish. 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.

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.

Maurizio Tocchioni studied architecture at the University of Florence. He led itineraries in Florence and Pisa for several years, before joining 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.

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 Accessible Guide to Florence."

Kristin Stasiowski is originally from Wellesley, MA and received her Ph.D. from Yale University in Italian Language and Literature in 2009. 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 teaching for several American university programs including New York University and Kent State University.
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.

Originally 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.

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.

Hector is a Scottish-born artist living in Florence, Italy, who began his training in 1985 under Leonard Pardon in London. In 1995, he specialized in the ancient art of fresco painting, participating in the leading course of its type in the world, at the Laboratorio Per a fresco Tintori in Vainella, Prato, Italy. Upon graduation, he moved to Florence where he further deepened his skills of the old technique of gilding, and in 1997 he returned to Vainella to further his studies of auxiliary tempera painting. His style has developed to include the complete spectrum of fresco and mural techniques from Roman fresco painting to early Renaissance and Baroque, as well as reinterpreting his expertise in a contemporary fashion. He has completed many works for private clients in Italy, Great Britain, Portugal and the U.S., and is a regular participant in International Competitions. In 2002 he was awarded the Silver Medal at the prestigious "Omaggio a Masaccio" in Valdarno.

Monica Shenouda completed her PhD (2009) in the History of Art and Architecture from the University of Virginia, specializing in the Italian Renaissance period. As a writer, she is interested in the literary culture of Florence in addition to the art and architecture. Before coming to Florence, Monica lived in Rome, Venice, New York City and Charlottesville, Virginia.

Elizabeth Ann Butler recently received her Masters degree in Florentine Renaissance Art from Syracuse University in Florence. Her interests include women's history, as well as women artists, particularly by women in convents. In addition to leading walks, she also lectures at various universities and institutions in Florence.

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 has 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.

Filippo Bartolotta, a 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.

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.

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.

In 2002, Sheila completed her Ph. D. in art history at Columbia University, with a specialization in Italian Baroque art. Her post-doctoral awards include fellowships at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Medici Archive Project in Florence. Many of her publications have examined Renaissance and Baroque art in light of such cultural factors as religion, science and medicine. She has also published on early pharmaceutical history, women artists in 18th-century Florence, and Pope Urban VIII Barberini. She is currently undertaking a documentary study of the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the Florentine archives.

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 Niccolo neighborhood, in one of the most ancient constructions in town.

Elizabeth Molina holds a B.A. in Art History and Education and an M.A. from the University of Massachusetts in Art History. She is primarily interested in literary depictions on domestic objects. She is currently involved in family and children programs at Palazzo Strozzi.

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.

After traveling extensively through Europe, Linda arrived in Florence to study Italian at the Institute of Dante Alighieri. Her love for the city led her to remain and continue studies as a certified guide.
She has worked throughout Italy, specializing in active, gourmet excursions and organizing trips in Sicily, Puglia, Umbria, Veneto and Tuscany. She also has completed her second level sommelier certification with the AIS Association of Italian Sommeliers.

Linda is an art historian, specialist of early Renaissance Tuscan painting and sculpture. She received her Ph.d. from Pisa University and has recently been a research fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Alessandro Celani is an archaeologist and art historian. He studied Greek and Roman Archaeology with Mario Torelli and Filippo Coarelli. He has published his undergraduate dissertation on “Greek works of art in the age of Augustus,” as well as a number of articles on Greek and Roman art. An expert in cultures and civilizations of the Mediterranean, Alessandro has travelled from Morocco to Iran, participated in excavations programs in Southern Italy and Greece, and lived in Athens for a long period. He collaborated with travel magazines, published a guide book of the Greek Islands and is now publishing his PhD dissertation on Hellenistic Sculpture of Rome and Central Italy. A booklet of photos and short poems by him was recently published with the title “Diario mediterraneo” (Mediterranean Journal). He gives tours in Umbria, Rome and Italy, lectures for public and private associations, and leads archaeological travels to Greece, Turkey, Libia and North Africa. He teaches archaeology and art history in American and Canadian universities in Rome, Tuscany and Perugia. He has two children, Sofia and Dario, and recently opened a B&B in Umbria.

Patricia Rucidlo has a master’s degree in Italian Renaissance history from Cornell University, and another in Italian Renaissance art history from Syracuse University; both of her theses were on Florentine topics. She also writes about Florence, Tuscany, and Emilia-Romagna for a popular guide book, has led wine tours in Chianti, and has cooked in several Florentine trattorie. She lives in the Tuscan countryside with her husband and six dogs.

Australian born, her love for European history, art and languages was born at seventeen, when on a study abroad program for a year in Belgium. Freya has an undergraduate degree from Sydney University with a double major in History of Art and French, during which she also spent a semester at the Sorbonne University in Paris on university scholarship. A further post-graduate scholarship to study Italian and undertake art history research took her to Florence, where she fell in love with all things Italian and decided to stay. Freya is currently finishing her Master's in Renaissance art history, concentrating on Venice and Florence, through Warwick University, England.

Born and raised under the shade of Brunelleschi’s magnificent dome in Florence, Siro belongs to an important Tuscan family of art nouveau artists. After a diploma in ceramic decoration obtained in 2000, he has worked in a typical Florentine workshop. He received his B.A. degree at the Università di Firenze and in 2008 published his research about the Richard-Ginori porcelain production for the vice-king of Egypt commissioned for the celebrations of the opening of the Suez Canal. In order to share his passion and love for art, culture and the Florentine lifestyle Siro is professionally trained as a tour guide for Florence.

Molly holds a Master’s degree in Italian Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she completed her Ph.D. coursework and exams with a specialization in Renaissance and Early Modern periods. She spent a year in Venice as an undergraduate while at the University of California-Santa Cruz and worked in Siena after for two years for the University of California Education Abroad Program. She later went to graduate school and, after finishing her studies in Madison, found herself back in Venice once again for another year, this time doing archival research for her doctoral dissertation. She has remained in Italy ever since, has taught courses in Renaissance history in Florence and is a licensed tour guide of Florence and its province.