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Italy is threatening to sue the credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's for failing to value its historical and cultural treasures. The country that bequeathed the world Dante, da Vinci and an enviable vision of La Dolce Vita, thinks financial analysts would not have issued a damaging credit downgrade against Italy if they had paid more attention to its cultural wealth than its spiralling budget deficit.

Frida Kahlo's life story and place in art history are the focus of two separate exhibits - and a major joint effort - between museums in Rome and Genoa this year. From March 20 to August 31, Rome's Scuderie del Quirinale will analyze the revered Mexican painter's relationship with artistic movements of her time, from Mexican Modernism to European Surrealism.

The Queen is to meet Pope Francis for the first time on a visit to the Vatican in April, the British embassy in Rome has announced. The meeting – the first between the supreme governor of the Church of England and the leader of the Roman Catholic church since 2010 – will take place as part of a wider visit to Rome.

Three daunting facts confront anyone interested in buying one of Amedeo Modigliani’s distinctive elongated portraits. They tend to have multimillion price tags; they are a favorite of forgers; and despite an abundance of experts, no inventory of his works is considered both trustworthy and complete. Christian Parisot, for instance, the author of one catalog and the president of the Modigliani Institute in Rome, is due in court this week in Rome on charges that he knowingly authenticated fake works.