For Italy's Futurists, ahead lay energy, speed, light, machines... and war.

Pauline Bonaparte, the boss's favorite sister, was an early if troubled sex kitten.

The Sacco and Vanzetti case divided the United States and redefined radicalism.

"Cleopatra" ended up being more about its torrid leads than an Egyptian queen.

The English Brownings took Italy to heart, and the new country never broke it.

Forget about Mark Twain and Nat Hawthorne, Edith Wharton had Italy covered.

If the Getty gets its way, a Turner painting of Rome may be headed to Malibu.

For the young Picasso, Rome of World War I was much about a girl.

The call of the Sistine Chapel often lets modern gems slip away. Don't let it happen.

What did Mark Twain think of Rome? "One charm of travel," he wrote, "dies here."