Editing Italian art (section)

{{Short description|Overview of the visual arts in Italy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

[[File:Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|thumb|[[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' is an Italian masterpiece renowned worldwide. Considered an archetypal work of the [[Italian Renaissance]],<ref>{{cite episode |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/30/138800110/the-theft-that-made-the-mona-lisa-a-masterpiece |title=The Theft That Made Mona Lisa a Masterpiece |date=30 July 2011 |access-date=15 February 2019 |series=All Things Considered |network=NPR}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/why-i-think-mona-lisa-became-an-icon/164983.article |last=Sassoon |first=Donald |title=Why I think Mona Lisa became an icon |url-access=subscription |website=Times Higher Education |date=21 September 2001}}</ref> it has been on display at the [[Louvre]] in [[Paris]] since 1797.<ref name=carrier>{{cite book |last=Carrier |first=David |date=2006 |title=Museum Skepticism: A History of the Display of Art in Public Galleries |publisher=Duke University Press |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VIBoW6dDZgIC&q=Museum+Skepticism:+A+History+of+the+Display+of+Art+in+Public+Galleries |isbn=978-0-8223-3694-5}}</ref>]]

Since ancient times, the Italian peninsula has been home to diverse civilizations: the [[Greeks]] in the south, the [[Etruscans]] in the centre, and the [[Celts]] in the north. The numerous [[Rock Drawings in Valcamonica]] date back as far as 8,000 BC. Rich artistic remains survive from the Etruscan civilization, including thousands of tombs, as well as from the Greek colonies at [[Paestum]], [[Valle dei Templi|Agrigento]], and other sites. With the rise of [[Ancient Rome]], Italy became the cultural and political centre of a vast empire. Roman ruins across the country are extraordinarily rich, from the grand imperial monuments of [[Rome]] to the remarkably preserved everyday architecture of [[Pompeii]] and neighbouring sites.

Following the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], Italy remained an important artistic centre throughout the [[Middle Ages]]. The country saw significant contributions to [[Carolingian art]], [[Ottonian art]], and [[Norman architecture|Norman art]], as well as the flourishing of [[Byzantine art]] in cities such as [[Ravenna]].

Italy was the main centre of artistic innovation during the [[Italian Renaissance]] (c. 1300–1600), beginning with the [[Proto-Renaissance]] of [[Giotto]] and culminating in the [[High Renaissance]] with artists such as [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Michelangelo]], [[Raphael]], and [[Antonello da Messina]]. These artists influenced the development of [[Mannerism]], the next phase of Renaissance art. Italy retained its artistic prominence into the 17th century during the [[Baroque]] period (c. 1600–1750) and into the 18th century with the emergence of [[Neoclassicism]] (c. 1750–1850). Both movements originated in Rome<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=anecAQAAQBAJ&dq=neoclassicism+originated+in.Rome&pg=PA1189|title=Oxford Dictionary of English|isbn=978-0-19-957112-3|last1=Stevenson|first1=Angus|date=19 August 2010|publisher=OUP Oxford}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/volltexte/2010/978 |title=The road from Rome to Paris. The birth of a modern Neoclassicism |access-date=5 January 2016 |archive-date=14 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714224112/http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/978/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and spread throughout [[Western art]].

From the mid-19th century onward, Italy maintained a presence in the international art scene through movements such as the [[Macchiaioli]], [[Futurism]], [[Metaphysical art]], [[Novecento Italiano]], [[Spatialism]], [[Arte Povera]], and [[Transavantgarde]].

Italian art has profoundly influenced many major artistic movements across the centuries and has produced numerous renowned painters, sculptors, and architects. Today, Italy continues to play a vital role in the global art scene, with major galleries, museums, and exhibitions. Key artistic centres include [[Rome]], [[Florence]], [[Venice]], [[Milan]], [[Turin]], [[Genoa]], [[Naples]], [[Palermo]], [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] and other cities. Italy is [[List of World Heritage Sites in Italy|home to 60]] [[World Heritage Sites]], the highest number of any country in the world.