Tuscany - Florence - Elba

„If Italy is the garden of Europe, then Tuscany is the flower-bed of Italy, and Florence the lovely lily of Tuscany.”


In Tuscany nature and culture live alongside each other in harmonious co-existence. The rural landscape, with its romantic towns, villages, and elegant villas framed by vineyards, olive groves, cypress trees and centuries-old laurels, seems like a perfectly composed artwork. It was here that the era of modernity began with Niccolò Machiavelli, and the native Tuscans Galileo Galilei and Leonardo da Vinci heralded the age of science. And Michelangelo was, of course, also a child of Tuscany. Sixty percent of Europe’s art treasures are to be found in Italy. Tuscany alone – with its beautiful towns such as Florence, Pisa, Siena, Lucca or Volterra – is home to a greater number of masterpieces than the whole of France and Spain combined.


Raimund Kutter is a professional photographer with a particular interest in travel photography. With family ties going back many generations, Italy has become his second home. Previous publications with terra magica include his photo books Bavarian Spectrum, Rome and Franconia.
The text is by Antonio Pellegrino. He grew up in Italy and Germany, studying in both countries, and now works for the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation as presenter of the literary magazine Lesezeichen amongst other programmes.