When it comes to locations in which to stay in a design hotel, Rome is considered one of the best an art-loving traveller can aim for. This is because, at its heart, an establishment like this is intimately linked to the art world, and the Italian capital offers enough of a cultural and artistic scene to justify choosing it as a destination to visit.
In fact, the city has, since time immemorial, been linked to a wealth of art and culture that makes it one of the first names to spring to mind when listing the world’s main hubs for these two fields. As such, for those wanting to experience the merits of a design hotel, Rome is a very worthwhile destination.
The Ancient Influence
Art history in the Italian capital started literally millennia ago, with the famous ancient Roman society. Known for their enlightened and culture-centric approach (rivalled only, in those days, by ancient Greece), the inhabitants of the city in the B.C. and early A.D. periods laid the groundwork for a lot of what the present-day metropolis has to offer in terms of art and culture.
In fact, any tourist who takes even the most cursory tour of the city will no doubt come across several examples of the type of art that made it famous. Remnants of ancient civilisation remain scattered a bit all over the place, whether inside dedicated museums or in plain sight. One needs look no further than the Coliseum – a well-preserved and well-deserved highlight of the Roman cultural tour – to find an example of the kind of mark the ancient peoples left in the modern-day city and its art panorama.
The Enlightened Period
The other big period of the city’s art history is, of course, the Renaissance, when Italy as a whole became a hub for some of the greatest painters, sculptors and architects of the period. While not as central or active in this regard as somewhere like Venice, it nonetheless contributed significantly to the Italian art movement of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, and much like with the ancient Roman influence, its contributions to that time period are still very much visible.
Again, one needs look no further than one of the city’s major monuments to find examples of this influence. Vatican City’s Sistine Chapel, with its famous ceiling by Michelangelo and frescoes from artists such as Botticelli, is a perfect encapsulation of Renaissance-period Italian art, and showcases all that period had to offer in terms of painting and architecture. Anyone seeking to make a connection between the traditional art and the city’s modern scene will find this world-famous chapel to be an excellent starting point.
It is clear, then, that for those wanting to explore art and culture and stay in a design hotel, Rome is the best possible hub in which to be. The Italian capital offers so much by way of art history that no traveller could ever be starved for inspiration.