Image: The Wallace Collection, London
The Wallace Collection will present ‘Painting Italy’, a two-session evening course examining how artists have represented the landscapes of the Italian Peninsula from the Renaissance through the 19th century. The course will take place online via Zoom on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 October, from 18.00 to 20.00 each evening.
The programme is framed as a journey through the lakes and mountains of Italy, including the Abruzzi mountains north of Rome and the Dolomites. According to the course description, these landscapes attracted painters from across Europe over several centuries, becoming recurring subjects in both religious and secular art.
The first session will consider the appearance of Italian landscape in Renaissance frescoes, alongside work associated with Leonardo da Vinci and Titian. The course material positions these examples within a longer history of artists responding to Italy’s geography, from its mountainous regions and lakes to the idealised settings constructed in Renaissance painting.
The programme will also introduce participants to the Macchiaioli, the group of 19th-century Italian painters identified in the Wallace Collection’s announcement as an important later chapter in the development of Italian landscape painting. The description does not name individual Macchiaioli artists or specify the works that will be discussed.
‘Painting Italy’ forms part of a wider set of online and in-person educational activities promoted in the Wallace Collection’s late-summer programme. A companion course, ‘Painting France’, is scheduled for 22 and 23 September and follows the development of French landscape painting from the 17th century through the Barbizon School, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Fauvism. The Italian course is separately listed as an online event rather than an exhibition or gallery display.
The Wallace Collection’s programme also includes talks connected with displays at its London museum, including ‘The Wallace Collection at War’ and ‘Winston Churchill: The Painter’, as well as practical classes in still-life painting, printmaking and life drawing. Those activities are distinct from ‘Painting Italy’, which is presented solely as a digital evening course. The museum’s permanent collection is described in the announcement as free to enter, but no physical visit is required for the October sessions.
Tickets for ‘Painting Italy’ are listed at £40–£35. The course is scheduled for 13 and 14 October 2026, online through Zoom, with each session running from 18.00 to 20.00.
