LIGHT MODE
DARK MODE
Most popular
The Florentine
Art and culture from Florence, Italy, focusing on exhibitions, museums, artisans and more.
One Tunisian cow Six straw hats Seven pounds of sausages One illustrated book on the excellence of women One short harquebus to go with the longer, more common models A ...
Most people who head to Florence do so to see its Renaissance art treasures. But did you know that Florence boasts one of the world’s finest photography museums? Florence is the home of Alinari, the world’s oldest firm working in the field of documentation of
The study of history would suggest that while human nature remains fairly constant, attitudes, customs, and institutions change continuously. This certainly rings true in the case of ‘Signora Saltarella’, a leading courtesan in mid-sixteenth-century Florence and Rome. Marco Bracci, reporting in the Medici Files
Those looking for the work of women sculptors living or working in the Florence area will have better luck finding pieces from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Felicie de Fauveau (Florence 1802–1866) was very political in her youth, which caused her to flee to Brussels at a
‘Sculpture is the art of producing, in three dimensions, representations of natural or imagined forms. It includes sculpture in the round, which can be viewed from any direction, as well ...
Fifty years ago, on 27 March 1957, Italy, West Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg signed one of the most important treaties in modern European history. The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community, now known as the European Union. The EU numbers over half a billion citizens,
Piera da Menabbio, testifies under oath concerning her employment as a servant for a Jewish banker in Pescia Fourth Day of August Piera daughter of Giuliano di Andrea da Menabbio presented herself freely in person. She was asked under oath if she had worked in the house of
In June, 1007, Tedaldo, a German marquis, donated money to build a monastery on the island of San Benedetto in the Po River, in memory of his wife, Guilia. To the monks who would live in the monastery, Tedaldo gave ‘half of the island, including the houses, woods, fields
The white turban covering her jet-black beehive hairstyle, the heavy black eyeliner, long false eyelashes and bright red lips all went out with the 1960s. Yet such outdated and eccentric attributes are what make Moira Orfei instantly recognisable to Italians when they see her face on billboards, announcing the
Letter sent by Onofrio Camaini, the Sienese Chief of Justice to Duke Cosimo I de Medici on April 6, 1559: [] The trial of Terenzio Usinini of Siena, who was arrested for the attempted rape of the Widow of Belforte, is almost over [] The result of the trial is that
There are many important, and splendid, frescoes in Florence, among them the cenacoli (Last Supper paintings), all of which are frescoes. To get you started, here is a list of frescoes I believe should not be missed: The Brancacci Chapel: Masolinos and Masaccios famous frescoes. The Palazzo Medici-Riccardi: Benozzo
Frescoes reached their splendor in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and Florence abounds with incredibly beautiful frescoes that the decorate walls and ceilings of churches and cloisters, public buildings and private homes. Understand the work that went into creating these paintings and you will find their beauty even more powerful.
One of the most emblematic photographs of the socio-political events that occurred in twentieth-century Italy is that of the crumpled body of statesman Aldo Moro lying dead in the back of a battered, dark red Renault abandoned on via Caetani in Rome, halfway between the headquarters of the
A letter written from Rome on 5 June 1540 by Rosso di Filippo de Medici (also kown as 'The Best') to his distant relative Cosimo I You should know that Pavoncino has finally returned and has marvellous stories from France, Flanders and Spain about the manner with which he
A chapel is a place for prayer, meditation, or private worship. A recess or small room within a church or cathedral; space in the private quarters of a state building (such as the chapel of Eleonora of Toledo’s chapel in the Palazzo Vecchio); a room in a private
Consumed by passion for his beautiful 16-year-old cousin, Angela, the languid, droopy-eyed Sicilian nobleman, Baron Ferdinand ‘Fefè’ Cefalù decides he must have her at any cost. His big problem is that he is married to a woman with a moustache, Rosalia, with whom
Bartolomeo Concini is reporting to his master, Cosimo I de Medici, from the Florentine military camp outside the besieged city of Siena on April 6, 1554: Messer Giulio de’ Ricasoli has written to tell me that last night he received information from an old Florentine woman who
Donatello’s David (1440), in the National Museum of the Bargello, is undergoing an 18-month restoration. This fifteenth-century bronze statue, the first free-standing nude statue by a Western artist since antiquity, will be cleaned while visitors to the Bargello watch. All the restoration equipment will be
I have enjoyed many, many books set in Italy or about its people, history, and art. Here are some that I have enjoyed recently and think you might, too: April Blood, by Lauro Martines, is about Florence and the plot against the Medici by the Pazzi family; in Scourge
The huge brown stone cube that presides over the Piazza della Signoria and whose tower figures so prominently in Florence’s skyline is equally imposing in the history of Florence. For nearly 700 years, the Palazzo Vecchio (‘Old Palace’) has been the place where civic affairs have
Historians have a tendency to dismiss military specialists as mere chroniclers of conflict. Proper historians concern themselves with the causes of war and the long-term effects of defeat or victory—they are excited by peace treaties, not casualty lists and are interested in grand strategy, not tactical details. &
In my research, I have found it puzzling that only one annunciation was cited as done by a woman’s hand. This reference is in Germaine Greer’s book, The Obstacle Race. She mentions an Artemisia Gentileschi Annunciation (1630) in the Capodimonte Museum, Naples, which portrays an interchange
