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English and Americans flocked to Florence at the close of the nineteenth century and many stayed and bought properties there. They shared a passionate interest in Renaissance Italy - a fascination that was expressed through the extensive collections of Renaissance objects with which they decorated their Italian homes. In this lecture we will step inside some of their villas and gardens in Florence and the surrounding countryside to see how these Italophiles reimagined the Renaissance for a new age

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Dr Lydia Goodson is an art historian and lecturer specialising in the art and material culture of Renaissance Italy. After a career in television production and raising a family Lydia returned to academia and now holds a BA in Renaissance History, an MA in History of Art and was awarded her PhD in 2020 from the Warburg Institute of the University of London, for her thesis on painting and patronage in Renaissance Perugia. This return to study as a mature student has given Lydia a passion for the benefits of life-long learning and she hugely enjoys writing and delivering lectures for audiences of all ages. She is an art history tutor for City Lit and regularly speaks to other adult learning groups. Lydia’s research interests centre on painting production in Central Italy in the Renaissance. Lydia lives in Kent and the Umbrian region of Italy.