Like other Irving milieus, the town is more a playhouse than a believable place.

NEWYORKER: Both Ways

Both facts on their own represent intellectual and ideological milieus which are decidedly unconducive to creating appreciation for the virtues of the market system.

FORBES: Is Jorge Bergoglio, The New Pope Francis, A Capitalist?

They also contracted a touch of the Impressionism that had drifted down from France. (A good many Americans who went to Florence also made their way to Claude Monet's Giverny, where they acquired the dappling method at its source.) From the Yanks, the Italians picked up some tips on technique coming out of the newly robust art milieus of Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

WSJ: Americans in Florence | Palazzo Strozzi | The Florentine Mix | By Peter Plagens