Its beautifully preserved Mediterranean architecture, with Moorish and Greek influences, recalls the town’s past. Conca dei Marini’s most arresting sight is Grotta dello Smeraldo (Emerald Grotto), a splendid sea cave famous for its surreal shades of green and underwater ceramic nativity scene, which becomes a pilgrimage site for divers each Christmas.
Painting is an ancient medium and even with the introduction of photography, film and digital technology, it still has remained a persistent mode of expression. So many paintings have been limned over dozens of millennia that only a relatively small percentage of them could be construed as "timeless classics" that have become familiar to the public—and not coincidentally produced by some of the most famous artists of all time. We, of course, have our opinion of what makes the grade and we present them here in our list of the best paintings of all time.