THE GRAND TOUR by Simona Sacrifizzi
I
n the 1700s upper class young men across Europe would celebrate their coming of age with the Grand Tour. The Grand Tour, a term first used by Richard Lassels in 1670 in his tourist guidebook ante litteram “The Voyage of Italy”, would take place over the course of several months, typically during the summer. Participants of this educational rite of passage traveled around several of the major European cities, often supervised by a cicero-
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ne, a guide well versed in history and art. They were exposed to new artistic, social, political, and cultural ideas. In a time before cameras this was often the only chance these young men would have to see the famous works of art and historical classical landmarks they would have only previously been able to read about. As the birthplace of the Renaissance, Italy featured heavily in the itineraries of these young men. Rome, already a popular destination for
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