In 1786, when he was already the acknowledged leader of the Sturm und Drang lite
rary movement, Goethe set out on a journey to Italy to fulfil a personal and art
istic quest and to find relief from his responsibilities and the agonies of unre
quited love. As he travelled to Venice, Rome, Naples and Sicily he wrote many le
tters, which he later used as the basis for the Italian Journey. A journal full
of fascinating observations on art and history, and the plants, landscape and th
e character of the local people he encountered, this is also a moving account of
the psychological crisis from which Goethe emerged newly inspired to write the
great works of his mature years.
