Art in Le Marche - A wealth of lesser-known fine art & architecture

Fly at c. 10.45am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Rome. Drive to Ascoli Piceno, an exceedingly attractive little city, ringed by rivers and wooded hills, where the first three nights are spent.

Explore the centre of Ascoli, an unspoilt agglomeration of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque buildings around arcaded squares and narrow streets. One of Crivelli’s finest altarpieces is in the cathedral. In the afternoon, visit Offida: on a spur and ringed by walls, this little town has 13th-century church at its apex and a delightful 18th-century theatre in the main square.

Drive through the foothills of the Monti Sibillini, among the most dramatic ranges in the Apennines, to the village of Monte San Martino. Here, there is a little church with excellent 15th-century polyptychs, by Carlo Crivelli, his brother Vittore and two ‘Crivelleschi’. Return to Ascoli Piceno to visit the diocesan and municipal museums, housing paintings by Crivelli and others in his circle. 

Drive through the hills and along the coast, first stopping in Montefiore dell’Aso, where a Crivelli is preserved in the museum of San Francesco. At Monte San Giusto see the great Crucifixion by Lorenzo Lotto, described by Berenson as the finest of the 16th century. Continue to our hotel in Montecassiano, just outside Macerata, where the next three nights are spent.

A charming town, Recanati spreads along the ridge of a neighbouring hill; four of Lotto’s paintings are in the museum, including the famous Annunciation. Then spend the afternoon in Loreto, another great pilgrimage centre, where some of the finest artists and architects of Renaissance Italy worked, including Bramante, Signorelli, Melozzo da Forli and Lotto, several of whose last works are here.

From the perimeter of the hilltop town of Cingoli there are magnificent views over vast tracts of rolling landscape. The town hall contains a masterpiece by Lotto, the Rosary Madonna. Continue on to Jesi, a handsome little city with a Renaissance town hall and a superb Rococo palace, now an art gallery. 

The ancient port of Ancona clings to the cliffs around a busy harbour with the beautiful pre-Romanesque cathedral of S. Ciriaco at the summit. Other churches contain an Assumption by Lotto and a Crucifixion by Titian. From here drive along the coast to Pesaro to visit the civic museum containing works by Bellini and Guido Reni. Continue to Urbino, Duke Federico da Montefeltro’s principal residence and one of Italy’s loveliest towns. Overnight Urbino.

Unravel the building history and examine the interior of the finest Renaissance palace in Italy, built over half a century from the 1450s for the dukes of Urbino, with the loveliest of all arcaded courtyards, serene halls of state, beautifully carved ornament and exquisite study. The art collection includes paintings by Piero della Francesca, Raphael and Titian. See also the outstanding International Gothic frescoes by the Salimbeni brothers. Fly from Bologna, arriving at London Heathrow at c. 9.15pm.

There is a possibility that not all of the works mentioned above will be seen; sometimes galleries and churches loan them at short notice.