The province of Rimini, on Italy's east coast, commissioned giant replicas of standard beach equipment to decorate the beach for vacationers this August.

Caesar goes online! A cool website at Macquarie University lets you follow the life of Julius Caesar by studying ancient coins that attest to his achievements. I love it when antiquity meets modernity in such a successful way.

Photographer Eugenio Recuenco shows us what happens when life imitates art. He used real models to recreate the Parthenon frieze. Lovely.

Badda Boom, Badda Bing -- Renaissance Style. A Sopranos actor turns Tony & Carmela into the Duke and Duchess of Montefeltro. And the painting sets a price record for Sopranos memorabilia.

Awesome sand sculptures on display this weekend in England.

Ben-Hur Redux! Officials in Rome are planning a chariot racing revival in the Circus Maximus.

Artist Troy Landwehr spent the 4th of July carving the signing of the Declaration of Independence out of a one-ton block of cheddar cheese in Times Square

Great photo of a replica of an ancient ship in the canal of Corinth. A crew with members from all 27 European Union member countries is re-enacting the mythical voyage of Jason & the Argonauts in this 50 oared vessel

Summer solstice at the Pantheon brings totally intense light effects.

Today is World Refugee Day and for the next three evenings, Rome's Colosseum is going to be a billboard for the cause.

Sten, Lex, and Lucamaleonte--stars of Rome's street art scene--take on Dante.

An artist named Tommaso has installed tape sculptures in Rome's Pigneto district. The effort seems to be an outgrowth of Mark Jenkin's famous Storker Project.

Today is World Environment Day. In honor of the occasion, tourists in Venice, Italy are being given empty water bottles and a map of Venice's water fountains. The new initiative aims to cut down on the use of plastic bottles.

Only in Rome would a wall from the 4th century BC run smack-dab into a modernist train station

Great Lamborghini ad campaign suggests that one can feel Italian anywhere

World Pillow Fight Day was in March, but the city of Rome celebrated yesterday with a massive pillow fight organized by the Committee for the Termination of National Apathy.

Can't get enough of the funky fragrances by Etat Libre et Orange - like Bellybutton, Bubblegum and Incense, and Delicious Closet Queen. But the one that really makes me happy is Jasmine & Cigarettes.

A new initiative in Torino, Italy, brings sheep in from the countryside to "mow" the grass in public parks. It's all-natural lawn mowing that's good for the environment (and the sheep).

This cool ad for a Roman restaurant emphasizes the extreme freshness of the ingredients!

Reebok's does the Renaissance in its inspiring new ad campaign.

The Three Graces go Ginsu in an ad for WMF Knives.

The Notre Dame University Architecture Library is scanning all their old black & white lantern slides and uploading them to Flickr. Awesome shots of monuments that are now heavily restored and overrun with tourists.

A creepy and cool ad for an Italian espresso maker.

Those nauseatingly sweet Raphael angels have been put to work by LILA, an Italian AIDS awareness organization

Historical hipsters made of Legos. That's Michelangelo with the David.

Raffo, a graffiti artist in Naples, is protesting the ongoing garbage strike with posters in which the Mona Lisa gets a little trashy.

"What's On Your Mind?" A whimsical ad campaign out of Italy for Durex Condoms.

Dr. Scholl's gets sexy.

Hand-painted Hellenistic High-Tops!

Further editions of Sebach's pretty potties (see #5298)

Photographer Carina Wachsmann studies the buildup of political posters on the streets of Rome. She calls these many layers of contemporary history "Electoral Lasagna"

The Italian jeans company, Meltin' Pot, titles their new ad campaign "I Have a Dream."

Don't worry if you won't make it to Rome in time to seal your love with a lock on the Milvian Bridge (see #5630) the Valentine's Day. Now you can do it on 2nd Life.

The perfect gift for the history or art buff. Adopt-an Ancient Roman fresco and make history sustainable! You can choose your own and there are even Cupid frescoes available!

Stylish ad declares Pantene's sponsorship for Milan Fashion Week.

Another clever global warming alert - this time from Legambiente in Italy

Charmed by the new ad campaign for Renaissance Hotels & Resorts. Using famous Renaissance paintings as their starting point, they've adapted them to boast about hotel amenities and showcase hotel architecture.

The same "futurist vandal" who dyed the Trevi Fountain red (post #6753) today dumped 500,000 colored balls down the Spanish Steps in order to call attention to lies told by the Italian government.

Konica Minolta lets us indulge our obsession with the Venus de Milo at their new Museum of Beauty - it's full of fantastic images of the sculpture made with a non-contact 3D digitizer.

Nice reverse-design move! These fabulous one-liter glass bottles by Seletti were inspired by plastic water bottles.

Past meets present at the University of Oregon, where a team has created an interactive website that allows you to tour 18C Rome by means of an interactive map.

Instructions for building a DIY ark are part of a clever campaign to increase awareness about global warming

Aerosol artist Paco Rosic used 2000 cans of spray paint to recreate the Sistine Chapel ceiling in Waterloo, IA.

Then and now. There's an appeal for funds to restore these public murals in Reggio Calabria. They were painted in 1978 to memorialize the death of a mill owner at the hands of the Calabrian mafia.

On Jan. 6th in Italy, those who have been good get presents and those who have been naughty get lumps of coal. We're hoping for Coal Gum because its chic package makes naughty seem like a very good thing.

In a new advertising campaign, Mini Cooper reminds the public that they're supporters of the Rome Film Festival. Among several clever Mini homages is this one dedicated to Alfred Hitchcock.