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The Florentine
Art and culture from Florence, Italy, focusing on exhibitions, museums, artisans and more.
Mathematician, philosopher and theologian, Elena Cornaro Piscopia was the first woman ever to be awarded a university degree. It was conferred on her at the University of Padua on June 25, 1678, but her story was rediscovered only a century or so ago. Although famous during her lifetime, not only
Daphne Maugham fell in love with artist Felice Casorati long before the couple met, thanks to a painting he had produced of Cynthia, her dancer sister, while she was a prima ballerina at Turin’s private Teatro Gualino. Recognizing a maestro from afar, Maugham moved to Turin in 1925
Italy’s top museums may be getting plenty of foot traffic, but few of them are doing anything innovative to maximize potential visitors through digital means. Meanwhile, institutions in the rest of Europe and the United States are interacting with half a million Facebook fans, crowdfunding acquisitions and hosting
Following the premature death of his beloved first wife, Anna Fitz Gerald, on December 11, 1883, Giovanni Meyer, a fabulously wealthy banker set about fulfilling her last wish: that Florence should have ‘a hospital, which could house a certain number of sick children, especially those with congenital or acquired
Among the many participants in the 19th Artigianato e Palazzo is a French artisan Georgine Glaenzer who makes very special hats. She calls herself the ‘creator of millinery sculptures’ will present her extravagant hats for the first time in the Corsini Gardens this May. After stylist and
Filmmaker David Battistella moved to Florence from Canada in 2011 to pursue his dream: writing and producing a feature film based on Ross King’s 2000 book Brunelleschi’s Dome, about the life of Filippo Brunelleschi and the building of Florence’s Cupola. This column, which began
Beauty is a concept not immediately associated with visual art in the modern era. Although some artists pioneered the sublime detachment of abstraction, others appeared more concerned with the turmoil, grittiness and uncertainty of existence. Indeed, many practitioners may even have regarded the pursuit of beauty as irrelevant, even irresponsible.
Joyous celebrations were held in Florence for several weeks before and after the wedding on December 18, 1565 of the legitimate heir of Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, Francesco de’ Medici to Johanna of Austria, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna of Bohemia and
When the father of Sofonisba Anguissola (1532?1625), an affluent nobleman from Genoa, sent Michelangelo her drawing entitled Laughing Girl, the Renaissance master openly admired her talent, challenging her to draw an emotional expression that was more difficult to depict: crying. Her Boy Pinched by a Crayfish, created in response
In the early days of May, strains of guitars, violins and accordions accompanied by drumbeats, are heard in the streets of Pistoia’s mountain villages. Joyous voices ring out, announcing the official arrival of spring. When I started writing this column, I was on a four-month journey
What do blistered feet, a hot desert in America and a young Italian winemaker have in common? The answer is a footwear revolution. The man behind it, Mario Moretti Polegato, has often told the story about how he was in Reno, Nevada’s second largest city, in 1992, promoting
Forty years ago this month, I set out from London as a teenager on my ‘grand tour’ that was to take me from art history studies at the British Institute in Florence to an archaeological dig in Herculaneum, via Magic Bus to Marrakesh and the Orient Express to
In the late 1960s, the modern blockbuster art exhibition arrived and changed the museum landscape. Pioneered by such major institutions as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, these ambitious shows combined the art-world equivalents of Cinemascope, Technicolor, surround sound with a touch of Barnum and Bailey promotion.
April 16 is a special day in Florence, and it has become a special day for me, too. It is the anniversary of the death of Filippo Brunelleschi, a day on which I, along with the rest of the city, remember the life of a person who has, in some
A passion for music led German-born artisan Karl Till Riecke to choose an unusual occupation: rebuilding musical instruments from the baroque period in the hills of Tuscany. Till started ...
Official statistics showed that nearly 2 million passengers passed through Amerigo Vespucci Airport at Peretola during 2011, ranking it 42nd out of the 143 in the Airport Council International's classification of main European airports. With all of these people coming and going to Florence, I wonder how many of
In 2013, Tuscany celebrates the birth of one of its native sons, Giovanni Boccaccio. Born sometime in 1313, in Florence or Certaldo, he was among the leading humanist figures of ...
Palazzo Strozzi’s lastest exhibit, Springtime of the Renaissance, takes on a double challenge: explaining the roots of the Renaissance, topic of extensive historiography, and convincing the crowds to go see a show about sculpture. Sculpture is generally less sexy and less of a crowd-pleaser than painting.
By Hannah Barraclough For some, Easter is a day to gorge on chocolate eggs or feast with family, while for others it’s a day of religious observance. Easter ...
The epitaph on her tombstone at the Cimitero degli Allori (Evangelical Cemetery of Laurels), just outside Florence, tells us ‘she was gay, unselfish, brave,’ but Alice Frederica Keppel had one other invaluable quality: she was discrete. This was to make her the last and longest-serving mistress of
Nineteenth-century Florence was home to many well-known writers, artists and political personalities who were women, from Elisabeth Browning to Carolina Bonaparte. Tuscan-born sculptor F?licie de Fauveau (1801?1886; see TF 64 and 165) was embraced by the international intellectual community, gaining commissions from the likes of
Spring is a time to celebrate rebirth, and Florence and Italy are buzzing with energy, hope and the promise of new beginnings. The exhibit The Springtime of the Renaissance at Palazzo Strozzi celebrates the heyday of Florentine artistic creation, a time when art started to blossom throughout the city, when
EXHIBITS IN FLORENCE As winter gives way to spring, the city bursts into bloom with art. From the great masters of the Renaissance to the most daring experimentations of contemporary artists, the season holds something for everyone to discover. CURRENTLY OPEN OR OPENING IN MARCH The striking and bizarre
There is no doubting Salvador Dalí’s popularity. His work continues to please, shock and titillate, generating food for thought and queues at the ticket office. The arrival of The Dalí ...
