This unprecedented volume presents one of the most significant and least-investigated aspects of Pablo Picasso's work: its roots in Italian art. Published in conjunction with the major spring exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi, Venice, it reveals the fascinating ties between the work of the modern master and his visits to Italy between 1917 and 1924.<p>Traveling to Rome, Naples, and Florence with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes during those years, the young, impressionable artist absorbed the powerful spirit of Renaissance, classical, and mannerist art and the magnetic force of the Italian culture. Here, international scholars address such aspects of Picasso's Italian experience as his little-explored set designs for the Ballets Russes and his collaborations with composer Erik Satie; the early stirrings of his Rose Period; his Italian notebooks; and the photographic sources of his Italian work. Copiously illustrated with personal notes, sketches, drawings, and paintings, this groundbreaking survey isan essential part of every scholar's library -- and a welcome addition to the collection of any admirer of Picasso.