FMR No. 5

We begin a regular feature by Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk, “Mr. PA Goes to the Museum,” with a leisurely stroll through the museums of the world; in this issue, we go to New York’s Met to contemplate the Views of Rome by Panini. Neo-Andean Baroque buildings by the Bolivian architect Freddy Mamani with text by Marco Paladines. Plant portraits by Lucian Freud with texts by Giovanni Aloi and Stefano Mancuso. Alvar González-Palacios explores lavish tables decorated with marble and semiprecious stones from the late 16th century. Emmy Award-winning documentarian Don Campbell shares his treatment for Icarus, a TV series in development, the story of humankind’s first lighter-than-air flights, with vintage images of aerostatic balloons from the 18th century and hand-painted plates by Casa Fornasetti on the theme of Montgolfiers, described by Barnaba Fornasetti and Stefano Salis. Giovanni Mariotti writes a breathless essay, largely devoid of punctuation, about the Macchiaiolo painter Silvestro Lega.