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ELIZABETH LEV
Art Historian
Elizabeth Lev is a transplanted American art historian with degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Bologna. She has been working as a guide in Rome for over 20 years while teaching at Duquesne University’s Italian campus and the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). She loves Rome, its history, art, cuisine and people and is happiest in its many churches and museums. Liz is the author of 4 books and has commented on art and the papacy for several television networks, including NBC, ABC, and the BBC. She is also a certified wine sommelier, so cheers!
GIULIA GIANGRAVÈ
Executive Administrator & Booking Agent
Giulia is the glue of this whole operation! She manages bookings, logistics, and everything in between. Having lived in Rome for her whole life, minus university studies abroad, she has a breadth of knowledge that is unmatched. Giulia's goal is to ensure that each and every client has the best experience possible while in Italy. Let Giulia help plan your itinerary with innovative ideas of things to do, places to eat, and where to stay! Book a tour and have Giulia plan the rest of your trip in Rome and beyond!
LIVIA GALANTE
Archaeologist
Livia is known around town as the “Queen of Ostia,” having bowled over princes, prelates, politicians, and passersby with her love and knowledge of the ancient site. Livia has her Doctorate in archeology from La Sapienza and is exceptional at making the ancient stones come to life and recount the stories of the ancients who tread on them, the technique of the engineers who laid them and the world that circulated around them. She describes herself as Italian by birth, archaeologist by education, and tour guide by her passion to share beauty!
LUDOVICA SCHMIDT
Art Historian
Ludovica was born in Rome and fell in love with her native town by small steps. That is why she loves to walk around the city focusing on its hidden treasures such as inscriptions, sacred images, and fountains. Often, lesser known aspects of Rome will push her to start a detective search, because what she really likes, in fact, is studying.
Ludovica has another passion, though, and that is music: she received her piano diploma in 1992 and spent several years teaching music. That is why she is particularly attracted by the sound of the Roman waters, the many fountains, and the Tiber river. She invites you to follow her if you want to take a tour off the beaten paths, walking in the Roman streets as well as entering some of the Rome's splendid churches and basilicas, drinking in its beauty and rich history. Roma, non basta una vita! Rome, a lifetime is not enough!
ESTER SCODITTI
Archaeologist
Ester is an archaeologist who has worked on projects in Italy, France, and England. She graduated in Classics and Archaeology from Rome’s Sapienza University, where she did post-graduate studies in medieval archaeology. With academic publications in Italy, Britain, and the U.S.A., she has taught for John Cabot and Torvergata Universities in Rome. Ester has been a tour guide since she was appointed to the task by the Archaeological Superintendence of Rome in 1979 and she has written important guidebooks on the Roman Forum, St Peter’s, and the Vatican’s Extraordinary Jubilee. Ester is beloved by her colleagues for her unfailing kindness and her extraordinary generosity in sharing her otherworldly knowledge of the ins and outs of the Byzantine tour regulations in Rome!
SARA MAGISTER
Art Historian
Sara is an art historian with doctoral degrees in modern art history and classical antiquities. She is an expert on the statue collection of Pope Julius II, the founder of the Vatican Museums, and her book on the subject is a point of reference world wide. Caravaggio, however swept her off her feet, and she has authored a book on his paintings in the Rome church of St. Louis of the French. Sara has a special skill in taking serious historical research and turning it into fun, interesting insights for the general public. She has hosted programs on art for Italian television and is a didactic consultant for the Vatican Museums.
ANTJE WOLF
Art Historian
“I have seen the ruins of Rome, the Vatican, St. Peter’s and all the miracles of ancient and modern art contained in the majestic city. The impression of it exceeds anything I have ever experienced in my travels...” (Shelley)
Antje uses these words to explain her love for the Eternal City and why she has lived here since 1988. She studied history and art history at the La Sapienza University and is an official art guide in the Vatican, Rome, and all Italy.
She specializes in guided tours for children and she loves to share the unique beauty, variety and culture of the “Bel Paese” with visitors! Antje has a special itinerary she has designed of the Appian Way as well.
RICHARD BOWEN
Historian
Richard has lived in Rome for over 20 years. He holds a bachelor's degree in humanities from Middlesex University, and a master's degree in medieval and twentieth-century history from University College London. He has worked on the Smart History guides, and also loves Tivoli and Ostia Antica as well as ancient Roman sites such as Caracalla, Trajan's Market, and the Ara Pacis. Roman quarters such as Trastevere, and parks such as the aqueducts are part of his expertise, and he does a mean tour of the Unification of Italy and the defense of the Roman Republic of 1849! He can even lead a tour about Italian fascism and has no objection if you banish him to Cerveteri, Tarquinia, or Castel Gandolfo for the day.
FRANCESCA BARBERINI
Art Historian
Francesca is a Roman art historian with a degree from La Sapienza University. A member of the illustrious Barberini family that produced Pope Urban VIII, who consecrated and decorated the new St Peter’s Basilica, Francesca spent several years cataloguing art religious buildings in central Italy, after which she began leading tours in Rome and surroundings. Her knowledge of art is, quite literally, encyclopedic! Although she leads tours of all the major sites in Rome, she especially loves leading tours in Roman palaces focusing on the way Roman patricians used to live and the way their collections of art formed a part of daily life, expressing the ideas of the family. Francesca is currently completing a book on the subject! She also loves leading tours in Roman churches, showing the way art has been the best medium to express deep ideas, faith, and concepts of their time.
With Francesca, context is key!
SARA PROCACCIA
Art Historian
Sara Procaccia is a well-known art expert and Italian national guide in art history and in the history of the ancient religions of the Roman Empire in Rome, Pitigliano, Siena, and Parma. She is also specialized in the contribution of Jewish culture in Italy.
Sara’s passion for archeology led her to contribute to several important research projects into the Colosseum, the Baths of Caracalla, and the Jewish Museum of Rome, for which she is a consulting guide. She is credited with the discovery and identification of numerous important marble fragments found under and near the Great Synagogue, which are now housed in the Museum gallery.
In Parma and in many little towns near Parma, she found very important links with the inspiration of the Opera of Giuseppe Verdi and the small Jewish communities that lived close to Busseto, the town where Verdi was born.
In her tour you will discover the “secrets of Rome” above and underground, where she shares with you her expertise in Roman art and archeology.