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Engineer and painter François Albanis Beaumont (1753-1811) travels on the most famous routes of the Grand Tour. Albanis Beaumont writes and draws. His approach to the region was different. In fact, the great Italian cities, their buildings and famous antiquities, seem relegated to second place, nevertheless he is a critical observer. The descriptions of the trips of Albanis Beaumont across the Alps are rich of topographical, economic, geological, anthropological and historical information. The traveller, however,...

It is here, in Oriental Hotel Bangkok (now Mandarin Oriental) in Thailand, that one gathers, around the Regio Parco Dusit Park, the stupendous fruit of the meeting between Italy and the Orient. An important story but not very famous story. An eclectic artistic-architectural treasure, in some ways fabulous, which developed in a few decades in the independent Kingdom of Siam. In fact, at the end of XIX century the rivalry between Britain and France in South West Asia ensures the survival of the Kingdom of Siam. The ...

The agronomist Arthur Young wasnВ’t a traditional Grand Tourtraveler. The report of his journey in France and Italy is published inTravels during the years 1787, 1788 and 1789. Undertaken more particularly with a View of ascertaining the cultivation, wealth, resources, and national prosperity of the Kingdom of France. The pages written by Young about the Piedmont are very interesting. His approach to the region was different.Infact, the great Italian cities, their buildings and famous antiquities, seem relegated t...

In the middle of XVIII century the Italian architect Giovanni Battista Borra travelled to Ottoman Empire with the scientific expedition in Levant organized by James Dawkins, John Bouverie and Robert Wood. Progress, knowledge and communication were the goal of the expedition. BorraВ’s task was drawing archaeological sites. The report of his scientific journey is published by Robert Wood in: The ruins of Palmyra otherwise Tedmor in the Desert (London, 1753) and The ruins of Balbec otherwise Heliopolis in Coelosyria ...