DISCOVERING THE HIDDEN GEMS OF
NORTHERN ITALY WITH DR ISABELLE FRANK
13^TH to 21^ST September, 2025

About Our Tour

Friends of Hong Kong Museum of Art are delighted to announce our next tour, Discovering the hidden gems of Northern Italy. From 13^th to 21^st September, starting from Milan to Ravenna and back, Dr. Frank will lead us on a journey of discovery, opening our minds to the spirituality of Byzantine mosaics while also engaging our senses with the power of art in the Renaissance courts and churches of Ferrara, Bologna, Modena, Mantua (or Mantova) and Brescia.

Together we will explore the brilliant artistic innovations of the Renaissance while also admiring achievements of more recent 20th century and Post Modern Italian architecture.

Just as important, we will immerse ourselves in the famous ‘dolce vita’, visiting local wineries, learning about cheese production, and shopping in the beautiful old markets to savour the authentic flavours of Italy.

Our Accompanying Lecturer

We are honoured that Dr Isabelle Frank will be our accompanying lecturer.  Dr Frank is an independent curator in Hong Kong. After six years as the founding director of the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, City University of Hong Kong (2016 to 2022), she continued serving  as consulting curator until 2024. Over this period, she mounted exhibitions combining art and technology and bridging Western and Asian cultures. She has collaborated with such international institutions as the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan and Latvian National Museum of Art.  An art historian by training (with a Ph.D. from Harvard University), she has published on Italian Renaissance art and decorative art (The Theory of Decorative Art 1750-1940, Yale University Press, 2000), and has edited many catalogues for the Banga Gallery, most recently Hunters, Warriors, Spirits. Nomadic Art in North China (2022), Amber: Baltic Gold (2022) and A Passion for Silk: The Road from China to Europe (2024).