“Everything about Florence seems to be colored with a mild violet, like diluted wine,” wrote Henry James in a letter of October, 1869. The birthplace of Michelangelo, the setting for E. M. Forster’s classic A Room With A View, Florence’s long relationship with artists and art makes it an ideal setting for a contemporary arts fair. And so the city funds its own Biennale, which has been among the world’s best since its founding in 1997. —C.J.F.