"He tells the story with masterworks by major artists such as Gossaert, Claude Lorrain, Poussin, Corot, Turner and Feuerbach. It starts in the sixteenth century, when artists became interested in studying and documenting the relics of an ancient past. Their seventeenth-century successors were charmed by the beauty of the countryside and the golden glow of the Italian sunlight. The idealized landscapes they produced became the benchmark for many years to conic. In about 1800 a new trend began - open-air painting, which had its birth in Rome. This led to a new way of looking at the landscape. Side by side with this came an interest in the ordinary people with their unquestioning faith. Around 1900, the rearguard of the Italian artistic Grand Tour became filled with a nostalgic longing, as intense as its object was unattainable."--BOOK JACKET.

Be swept away to Italy with this delightfully heartwarming collection, Italian Dreams. Includes four stunning romance novels from T.A. Williams; Dreaming of Venice, Dreaming of Florence, Dreaming of Rome and Dreaming of Verona. Dreaming of Venice: Life is tough for Penny. A dead end job in a London cafe, a boyfriend in Australia (what could go wrong?) and an art career going nowhere. But then Penny is approached with an extraordinary proposition. It isn’t going to be easy but, if she can pull it off, she will turn her life around and at long last see the fulfilment of her dream – to visit Venice. And, just maybe, find true happiness with the handsome man of her dreams. But can dreams really come true? Dreaming of Florence: When Debbie Waterson’s bicycle crashes into handsome doctor Pierluigi, she wonders if her luck has changed. Determinedly single after ending a long relationship, at last, a man worth bumping into! Inspired to visit Florence, she soon runs headlong into that old foe: reality. Is Pierluigi the man of her dreams? Then there’s her booze obsessed boss, his forbidding secretary and her noisy inconsiderate neighbours. But could her luck be about to change? Will she find love after all? Dreaming of Rome: Jo has had enough of handsome men. After a painful break-up, she’s decided she doesn’t believe in love. While on a work trip to the magical city of Rome, she meets Corrado, a scientist and her brother-in-law to be, who doesn’t believe in love either. To him, it’s just a biochemical reaction. So what’s the problem? Well, he’s gorgeous for a start, as well as charming, generous, intelligent and attentive, and she feels herself immediately falling for him, despite her new outlook. The majesty of the Eternal City brings them ever closer together. But is their relationship doomed, or will love conquer all? Dreaming of Verona: When Suzie is hired to accompany spoiled, abrasive Lady Alexandra Tedburn on an all-expenses-paid holiday to Italy, she fears the trip will be a disaster. But she soon discovers there’s more to Alex than shopping and tantrums, and she’s determined to help her realise her potential – against Alex’s authoritarian father’s wishes. As they settle in Verona, Suzie can’t stop thinking about local artist Michael, who is still mourning the tragic death of his wife. With Suzie’s future uncertain, and Michael’s past holding him back, it seems there’s no hope for romance in the city of star-crossed lovers... or is there? Gorgeously uplifting and moving, the Italian Dreams collection is perfect for fans of Jenny Oliver, Holly Martin and Tilly Tennant. Praise for T. A. Williams ‘The characters are all brilliantly written, the storyline flows extremely well throughout, and I loved every bit of it.’ Fiona Wilson ‘Wow... contemporary romance at its best! Clever, captivating, and delightful with a little bit of drama, love, loss, and of course romance.’ WhatsBetterThanBooks ‘Such a beautiful read... You could taste the wonderful food, it was so vividly written.’ Blue Yonder ‘An intelligent novel that leaves you guessing almost to the very end!’ Reader review ‘Made me want to jump immediately on a plane and fly to Italy and never come back.’ Reader review

"Published in 2012 by Murdoch Books Pty Limited"--T.p. verso.

Predictive coding (PC) is a neurocognitive concept, according to which the brain does not process the whole qualia of external information, but only residual mismatches occurring between incoming information and an individual, inner model of the world. At the time of issue initiation, I expected an essential focus on mismatch signals in the brain, especially those captured by neurophysiologic oscillations. This was because one most plausible approach to the PC concept is to identify and validate mismatch signals in the brain. Announcing the topic revealed a much deeper consideration of intelligible minds of researchers. It turned out that what was of fundamental interest was which brain mechanisms support the formation, maintenance and consolidation of the inner model determining PC. Is PC a dynamic construct continuously modulated by external environmental or internal mental information? The reader will be delighted to get acquainted with the current views and understanding of eminent scholars in the field. It will be challenging to discover the realm of sleep where both physiological, energy preserving and mental qualia principles build on the inner models to shape and transform the self. And where neurophysiologic oscillations may both transmit external information and translate inner models from state to state to preserve the self-continuity and compactness.

The Italian nation-state has been defined by practices of mobility. Tourists have flowed in from the era of the Grand Tour to the present, and Italians flowed out in massive numbers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Italians made up the largest voluntary emigration in recorded world history. As a bridge from Africa to Europe, Italy has more recently been a destination of choice for immigrants whose tragic stories of shipwreck and confinement are often in the news. This first-of-its-kind edited volume offers a critical accounting of those histories and practices, shedding new light on modern Italy as a flashpoint for mobilities as they relate to nationalism, imperialism, globalization, and consumer, leisure, and labor practices. The book’s eight essays reveal how a country often appreciated for what seems immutable - its classical and Renaissance patrimony - has in fact been shaped by movement and transit.