Whether you're a start history in college or just slept through all those lectures on the

Renaissance, the following hour might just change the way you look at our world by changing

the way you look at art.

I'm Rick Steeves. One of the reasons Italy stands out as a favorite

destination for so many people is its sheer volume of incredible artistic

masterpieces. It's like Michelangelo took the Renaissance and made it global and sent it to Rome to Venice and across Europe with his personal popularity.

You'll see remnants of once dominant empires and wonders done for the glory of God.

And in the art you can see the heroics of individual artists as they lead their culture into a more humanistic age.

They're all in Italy. Today on Travel with

Rick Steeves we've invited three art experts to help guide us through the

must-see art wonders of Italy. Looking at art has a lot to do with happiness and joy.

The art of Italy comes alive in the hour ahead on travel with Rick Steve's.

Stay with us.

Italy contains more of the world's art masterpieces than any place on earth.

For sightseers there, it can be overwhelming to sort through all those paintings and sculptures

from the Etrusans, the Etrus Renaissance, the Baroque age, and on and on.

And it can also be fun.

I'm Rick Steeves, and today on Travel with Rick Steeves,

we're starting out the hour with two of my favorite art experts who join us to breathe life into Italy's great paintings, mosaics, and statues.

Jean Openshaw is the co-author of my Europe 101 book about the history and art of Europe, and Francesca Caruso is an art historian and guide based in Rome.

Through their guiding, they found that art is best enjoyed when you understand it and the context in which it was made.

Thank you for joining me.

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