“Art owes its origin to Nature herself.” -Vasari, 16th Century The 150-year period of Neo-Classical revival, during which every self-respecting English and European aristocrat would travel through Europe for their Classical education, is perhaps our favourite in modern history. The Grand Tours, which took place from the 17th- to the mid 19th Century, with mandatory stops in Paris, Venice, Rome, Florence, Naples and Sicily, were a time of enlightenment, historical quests and the start of enthusiasm for collecting. Today, historical revisionists view this more as plundering - Grand Tourists would happily help themselves to statues ("marbles"), paintings and all sorts of artefacts, filling their coffers as they travelled along.