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The leading 200 art collectors in the world are listed, along with their specific areas of interest. Featured collectors include Graham Kirkham of London, England; Philippe and Marion Lambert of Geneva, Switzerland; Jon and Barbara Landau of Rye, NY; and Tsukasa Shisima of Fukuoka, Japan.

The leading 25 art collectors in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela are listed along with a brief description of the art collecting atmosphere in each of the countries.

International artists who are receiving increasing attention include Montserrat Soto, Siobhan Hapaska, Andreas M. Kaufmann, Gwen Rouvillois, Teresa Maresca, the Fabulous Tosa Brothers Maywadenki, Sandra Ramos, Ugo Rondinone, Tim Hawkinson.

Two hundred of the most influential international art collectors are listed and profiled. The highlighted collectors include Jean-Paul and Monique Barbier-Mueller of Geneva, Switzerland, Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Josef and Anna Froehlich of Stuttgart, Germany.

Italy is, in many ways, a country experiencing uncertain times and its art has become a reflection of this uncertainty and instability. Art exhibitions, with emphasis on various social issues, politics, and sex, have become prevalent throughout the country.

The magnificent ceiling mural of the Sistine Chapel has been restored, after 13 years of painstaking labor. Michelangelo spent a total of nine years on the mural, completing his work in 1541. It was necessary for the restoration team to remove layers of dust, soot and glue from the fresco.

The art world of Boston, Massachusetts, is strong and vibrant in a time when the country's general economy is slumping. Various artists, museums, and galleries in the city are discussed.

A description is presented of the popularity of contemporary art in Milan, Italy. The transformation of unused industrial units into a gallery for the exhibition of contemporary sculpture is discussed.

Issues are presented concerning the rising importance of Nagoya, Japan, as a center for fine art. The collaboration between the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Nagoya Foundation for the Arts to open a museum in Japan is discussed.

The restoration of 'The Last Supper,' which has been called the most difficult restoration in the world, has been in progress for 16 years. The painting was badly disintegrated into small scales of color and it has been necessary to clean each scale under a microscope.

The four-year restoration of Michelangelo's 'Last Judgment' in the Sistine Chapel has been completed, following the 10-year restoration of the chapel ceiling. Most, but not all, experts have praised the work of the restorers.

Amnon Barzel helped plan Italy's first major contemporary art museum in Prato and served as director for four years. He left to become founding director of a yet-to-be-built Museum of Contemporary Art in Florence and to work on similar projects in Turku, Finland and Istanbul, Turkey.

The Uffizi Gallery, the most important museum in Florence, houses most of the city's art treasures. Located in a building designed in 1560, the museum has a collection of influential masterworks that draws approximately one million visitors a year, both tourists and scholars.

Italian collector Carlo Monzino, over a period of nearly 40 years, has accumulated a vast collection of art. Monzino's collection began with Japanese sculpture, then African and pre-Columbian works, then American, British and German avant-garde art.

The building of the Florence Contemporary Art Museum is underway, but as yet there is no consensus as to what type of museum it will be or what purpose it will serve. Many doubt that Florence has the public and municipal support needed to produce a leading museum.

An exhibition of 76 drawings, claimed to be the work of a young Amedeo Modigliani, has caused a great controversy in Italy's art world. The exhibit curators claim to have documentary proof of the drawings' authenticity. Others feel the drawings are forgeries.

Pinin Brambilla Barcilon has been restoring 'The Last Supper,' a wall painting by Leonardo da Vinci. She began work on the painting in 1979, and completes an area approximately the size of a half dollar each day.

Christian Jankowski, a 37-year old German artist exhibited his works at the MIT List Visual Arts Center which captured collaborations in video and photographs. This first broad survey of his work, organized by Jeff Fleming, director of the Des Moines Art Center, featured ten film and video installations and more than 50 photographs made since 1992.

Heide Fasnacht, an artist presented his works of mixed-media installations and drawings at the exhibition held at the Bernard Toale gallery. Down Under (2005), a two-dimensional representation of a modern office tower executed in tape on the gallery floor, induced a momentary vertigo, causing visitors to step with care into the main gallery.

Rhona Bitner, a photographer exhibited her works at the exhibition held at Howard Yezerski which featured works such as ATH1 (2005), MAR1(2004) and NV1 (2004). Surrounding her rich, bright tones with a universe of black, Bitner transforms a stage into a shimmering, weightless veil of light in ATH1 (2005).

Thomas Hirschhorn, an artist exhibited his installation Utopia, Utopia = One World, One War, One Army, One Dress (2005) at the Institute of Contemporary Art. Hirschhorn's overstated explosion showed the way herd mentality could subvert reasoned thought.

Artist Gideon Bok began focusing more attention on his painting in 1990 and has achieved much notice for his works. His paintings depict the passage of time in spaces.

Massachusetts houses some of the country's most elegant museums that are inspired by the English concept of conservatism. The Brandeis University Art Museum, in particular, has virtually been a storage of contemporary collections since it was founded in 1961.

The Orsanmichele church in Italy serves not only as a place of worship, but a center for wheat exchange, granary and advertising promotion, as well. The church is alongside with the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, which houses Florence's most distinguished artworks.

Guatemalan art authorities recently urged Boston museum officials to return Mayan artifacts which were illicitly shipped out from their country. Pres Clinton has also ordered Customs officials to investigate the alleged pilferage of terra-cotta pieces from West Africa.

The theft case at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum where 12 artworks were stolen still remains unsolved. Copied paintings of Vermeer's 'The Concert' and Rembrandt's 'The Storm on the Sea of Galilee' have misled authorities for some time since March 1990.

The Alberto Burri exhibition, which is being held a year after his death, features approximately 120 works that help recreate the artist's 50 years of creative production. Beginning after World War II, Burri made it a practice to explore the esthetic value of a wide range of discarded object.

Comments allegedly made in a private letter by John Shearman, regarding the art restoration attitudes of James Beck, may be the basis for a lawsuit by Beck. Shearman's alleged comments apparently centered on the possible restoration of Giotto frescoes in Padua, Italy.

The Uffizi Gallery was damaged by a car bomb on May 27, 1993, but after a massive repair effort by a team of 150 people, at least part of the museum was able to reopen less than a month later. However, some artworks were destroyed and others seriously damaged.

Andrea del Verrocchio's sculpture 'The Doubt of Saint Thomas' and Benozzo Gozzoli's fresco 'The Journey of the Magi' are being restored in Florence, Italy. The restoration is enhancing the reputations of both Renaissance artists.

The Italian Parliament has passed legislation enabling a modernization of 800 state museums. Suggested by Culture Minister Alberto Ronchey, the law would include such innovations as audio-visual monitors that would keep visitors at a safe viewing distance from the art.