Choose Your European Travel Itinerary by Choosing the Art You Want to See

Major European capitals are packed with tourists, but instead of following generic travel advice—like skipping Florence for Lucca—here is a different approach: let the art you want to see decide your itinerary.

If you are in Rome this summer, consider visiting the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi to stand before Caravaggio's painting, Il Martirio di San Matteo (The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew).

In his novel Il Tribunale Delle Anime, Donato Carrisi writes about this breathtaking painting:

Italian:

"Per una volta si concesse di guardarlo con gli occhi di un uomo normale. Nella penombra di quella cappella laterale, notò che la luce che illuminava la scena era già dentro al quadro. Invidiò il talento di Caravaggio; scorgere la luce dove gli altri vedevano le tenebre."

English:

"For once he allowed himself to look at it with the eyes of an ordinary man. In the dim light of that side chapel, he noticed that the light illuminating the scene was already inside the painting itself. He envied Caravaggio's talent—to see light where others saw only darkness."

Il Martirio di San Matteo by Caravaggio. San Luigi dei Francesi. Roma

Tired of the overwhelming crowds in Rome while on vacation? Skip the Vatican and head to the Doria Pamphilj Gallery inside Palazzo Doria Pamphilj to see Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X.

This is the very painting that inspired Francis Bacon's famous Screaming Popes series. Interestingly, Bacon later called those works "silly" and admitted he wished he had never painted them. Although he collected endless book reproductions of Velázquez's work, he never actually went to see the original painting in person, even while spending two months in Rome in late 1954.

I personally love Bacon’s Screaming Popes, so seeing the original work that inspired them was an absolute highlight.

Pope Innocent X by Velázquez. The Doria Pamphilj Gallery. Roma

I am heading to Glasgow this summer to see Salvador Dalí's painting, Christ of Saint John of the Cross.

My desire to see the painting was sparked after reading this evocative passage from Alex Gray's novel Pitch Black:

"It was easy to lose oneself inside the painting; the shores of the Sea of Galilee looked so cool and inviting, with Christ's eyes on the land below, arms stretched out to encompass his little world. You didn't feel the pain, Maggie thought. It wasn't like those paintings designed to horrify with an emaciated figure hanging like a bloodless corpse, with ashen-faced women mooning around. No, this was different. It spoke of a triumph over death, the cross almost floating away to heaven as you gazed and gazed."

St. John of the Cross by Salvador Dalí at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Glasgow

In fact, the painting is discussed across several pages of the novel. I found this passage particularly fascinating for how it weaves in the real-life history of the painting:

"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum had undergone a transformation in recent years with a new educational facility and basement restaurant, not to mention the revamped exhibition areas. Maggie . . . made her way along the corridor towards the Dalí. It was good to have it back home, she thought. St. Mungo's Museum of Religious Life and Art had given it a glorious place of honor for a few years, but Christ of Saint John of the Cross belonged here, within the sanctuary of the city's famous old galleries."

Incidentally, the painting was vandalized and slashed by a fanatic back in 1961, but was subsequently restored to its original splendor.

Feel you need a different kind of inspiration? How about visiting artworks stolen by the Nazis and subsequently returned? You won't be fighting the crowds—you'll be fighting tears.

You could start with Michelangelo’s Madonna of Bruges. The sculpture was looted from Belgium in 1944 during World War II. Retreating German forces smuggled the sculpture, wrapped in mattresses, across the border in a Red Cross truck. A year later, it was discovered by the Monuments Men deep inside the Altaussee salt mine in Austria. Today, it rests safely back in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium.

Madonna di Bruges by Michelangelo. Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium

Can’t stand the overwhelming daily crowds in Venice, especially during the summer? Consider taking a day trip to Bassano del Grappa to visit the magnificent Antonio Canova collection at the Museo Civico di Bassano.

You can easily return to Venice by late afternoon—just as the day-trippers and tour groups begin to leave—allowing you to peacefully enjoy strolling along the canals in the evening.

Going to the Louvre? Skip the Mona Lisa—unless you enjoy standing in a long line just to snap a quick selfie—and head straight toward Caravaggio’s Death of the Virgin.

In Il Tribunale Delle Anime, writer Donato Carrisi notes:

"It has been suggested that the artist was inspired by the cadaver of a prostitute fished out of a river, which is why the commission originally rejected the painting. Caravaggio took a scene from the horror of daily life and elevated it to a sacred realm. By recasting ordinary figures, he transformed them into saints and dying virgins."

Detail of Death of a Virgin by Caravaggio

These are just a few ideas to get you started—the beauty of this approach is that you get to choose which cities to visit based on the art you most want to see.