All About Countries - Italy by allaboutcountries

Italy

Contents General Information

History 8 Nature 26 People 36 Economy & Transportation

Culture 54

Italian Personalities

Leonardo Da Vinci

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Galileo Galilei

Cristoforo Colombo

Antonio Vivaldi

NiccolĂ˛ Macchiavelli

Sandro Botticelli

Dante Alighieri

Giuseppe Verdi

Italian Cuisine

101

Pizza (Quatro Stagioni)

102

Pasta (Spaghetti Bolognese)

103

Lasagna 104 Frog Legs (Cosce Di Rana Piccata)

105

Italy Travel

113

Cannelloni 106

RomA 114

Sicilian Meatballs Al Forno

107

Milano 122

Gnocchi With Parsley, Butter & Basil

108

Torino 126

Pappardelle With Rabbit & Chestnut Ragu

109

Florence 130

Torta Della Nonna

110

Venezia 136

Tiramisu 111

Napoli 141

Limoncello 112

Vatican 144 Other Places

147

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General Information Location

Italy (Italia) is a country located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, in southern Europe. It has access to the following subdivisions of the Mediterranean Sea: the Ligurian Sea, the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea. Italy is bordered by France to the west, Switzerland and Austria to the north and Slovenia to the northeast. The country also has 2 enclaves on its territory: the Republic of San Marino and the small state of Vatican. Due to its shape, it is often referred to in Italy as “lo Stivale” (the Boot). Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2, has a density of 201,3 persons per km2 and has its capital in the city of Rome (Roma) which hosts about 2.870.000 people. Italy’s anthem is called “Il canto degli Italiani” which translates to “The Song of the Italians”. The country is organized as a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic and has a total population of 60.674.003 persons. Other important Italian citizens can be found in countries like Brazil (some 22 million), Argentina (about 25 million), United States (17.222.412), France (about 200.000) or Canada (1.488.425). The official currency in Italy is Euro (EUR). Italy’s national day or “Festa della Republica” is celebrated on 2 June every year. Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and the eighth largest economy in the world.

The former Italian Lira

It has a very high level of human development and enjoys the highest life expectancy in the EU. Italy plays a prominent role in regional and global military, cultural and diplomatic affairs and is often defined by analysts as an “intermittent great power” or “the least of the great powers”. Italy is a founding and leading member of the European Union and the member of numerous international institutions, including the UN, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the WTO, the G7/G8, G20, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Council of Europe, Uniting for Consensus, and many more. As a reflection of its vast cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is one of the most visited countries.

Flag

The flag of Italy (“bandiera d’Italia”, often referred to “Il Tricolore” in Italian) is a tricolor with three equal vertical bands, coloured in the following order from the flagpole: green, white and red. In its current form, it was used since 19 June 1946 and was officially adopted on 1 January 1948. The first state entity to have used the Italian tricolor was Repubblica Cispadana in 1797, after Napoleon’s victorious army crossed Italy. During this period, several small Jacobin-inspired republican states have replaced the old absolutist states and almost all of them have used flags with three equal sized bands of different colours inspired by the French model of 1790. The chosen colours by the Republic were red and white, while the flag of Milan was green, the same colour as the 4

Italian Flag

uniforms of the civil guard in Milan. Sometimes, certain values were assigned to the symbolistic of the colours, and a common interpretation is that the green represents the plains and hills of the country, the white represents the snow-capped Alps, and red represents the shed blood in the Italian independence war. A religious interpretation is that the green represents hope, white represents faith, and red represents charity, the three theological virtues.

Coat of Arms

The emblem of the Italian Republic is the iconic symbol identifying the Italian state. Adopted officially on 5 May 1948 with the legislative decree no. 535, it is one of the Italian patriotic symbols. The genesis of the emblem begins on 27 October 1946 when the second government of Alcide De Gasperi, the Republic’s first Republican executive, decided to set up a commission chaired by Ivanoe Bonomi for the creation of a symbol identifying the newly formed Italian Republic to replace the obsolete emblem of the Kingdom of Italy. It was then decided to launch a national competition open to all citizens to create a new emblem.

The theme of the future coat of arms had very few constraints to the proposals: absolute ban on party symbols and the obligation to use the Star of Italy because of its “inspiration from the sense of the earth and the municipalities”. For the five works considered to be the best, a prize of 10.000 Italian liras was foreseen. The emblem that won the competition did not obtain favorable results, being defined as “unsuitable for the purpose”. A second commission was then established this time presided over by Giovanni Conti. In the second contest, 96 people participated. The 197 original drawings of the second competition are kept inside the historical archive of the Chamber of Deputies. Once again Paolo Paschetto was victorious, this time unanimously, whose proposal was however revisited by the commission to correct its heraldic, political and practical connotations. The final result was a white five-pointed star with symmetrical points centered on a toothed wheel, a symbol of work and progress and surrounded by an olive branch and an oak branch. Approved by the Constituent Assembly on 31 January 1948 after a heated debate, the final coat of arms was definitively ratified after its colors were modified. 5

In heraldry, yellow and white usually represent two metals, gold and silver, which are never brought together. A special exception is made in this case because they also represent the keys of Saint Peter. These keys have a cross-shaped mechanism. The papal tiara, also called Triregno (as constituted by an almost conical structure, on which three crowns are fixed, one above the other) is characterized by the presence, as in every bishop’s miter, of the Infule, two strips of cloth which, in use, descend on the shoulders of the pontiff. Inside the Vatican City the flags almost never appear in a square shape, as in the explanatory drawing attached to the fundamental law. In fact, they usually appear in a rectangular shape.

Coat of Arms

Italian Coat of Arms

Vatican Flag

The flag of the Vatican City consists of two vertical bands: the one on the side of the flagpole is yellow, while the other one is white. At the center of the white part there can be seen the keys of Saint Peter and the papal tiara. The banner of the Vatican City is, together with the Swiss flag, one of the only two national flags having a square shape. Pope Pius VII “didn’t want Napoleon to hold the Pontifical State, so he protested vigorously on 13 March 1808. He ordered, among other things, to the bodies that were still faithful to replace the insignia with the Roman colors with a white and yellow flag”. In the diary of a contemporary, Abbot Luca Antonio Benedettalla wrote that on the same date “the Pope, in order not to confuse the Roman soldiers under the French commander with the few who have remained at his service, has ordered the creation of the new yellow and white flag, which was adopted by the nobles and the Swiss guards”. On 16 March 1808, Pius VII communicated in writing such disposition to the Diplomatic Corps and the respective document is considered as the birth certificate of the colors of the current flag of the Vatican City-State. The flag of the Vatican City was raised for the first time on 8 June 1929, the day after the birth of the Vatican City-State. For the Italian legislation, it is considered the flag of a foreign State and is therefore protected by article 299 of the Penal Code. 6

The coat of arms of the Vatican is officially described in Article 20 of the Basic Law of the Vatican City State, in force since 22 February 2001, which incorporates the contents of Article 19 of the original Vatican City Basic Law, adopted on 7 June 1929 with immediate effect. The emblem represents two symbols of the Catholic Church, which is based in this State: the Tiara and the Keys of Saint Peter. The tiara is the Pope’s hat and represents the triple Church (militant, suffering, triumphant), but also the three powers of the Pope: father of kings, rector of the world and Vicar of Christ. The Infule hang from the Pope’s tiara. Under the throne there are represented the keys, symbol of the legacy that Jesus Christ has left to Saint Peter (custody of the keys of Heaven) and therefore to Christianity. The keys also have the Cross of Saint Andrew drawn at their end. Since the 14th century, the keys of Saint Peter have become the official symbol of the Holy See. One key is made of gold while the other one of silver. They are usually placed with the devices (pierced in the shape of a cross, as a religious symbol) placed outside, oriented upwards and facing the sky. Note that the golden key points to the right as it is the opposite of the emblem used to symbolize the papacy and the Holy See. It alludes to the power over the kingdom of heaven. The silver one, which is on the left, indicates instead the spiritual authority of the papacy on earth. The handles, turned downwards, as if they were “in the hands of the Vicar of Christ”, do not have a precise coding and can vary according to the taste of those who represent them, from the Gothic to the Baroque style. They are joined by two cords that end with red or blue beads. These cords allude to the bond of the temporal and spiritual powers of the Pope.

Vatican Flag

Papal Tiara

Vatican Coat of Arms

History Pre-Roman Period

The excavations carried out on the territory of Italy and Sicily have brought to light the evidence of human existence in these regions from the Paleolithic, which started 2.500.000 years ago and ended 200.000 years ago. The archaeological remains found in sites like Monte Poggiolo (near ForlĂŹ) and Grotta dellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Addaura (near Palermo) represent a veritable proof to this. There can be mentioned art objects made 800.000 years ago and various cave drawings. In the Neolithic, small communities of harvesters and hunters became sedentary and settled in agricultural settlements. The appearance of ceramics started to become more evident. Famous are the settlements from the Val Camonica region in northern Italy. This region was inhabited by populations of uncertain origin, which left behind cave drawings and incisions in stone. Due to the large number of discovered remains (over 350.000 petroglyphs), Val Camonica became a true center of European prehistoric art (Camunni civilization). In the following period, the Italian Peninsula was visited by various populations: the Mycenaeans (from Greece) and the Phoenicians (from Lebanon, Syria and nowadays Israel) who came from the Mediterranean. Later, the Latins came from the north. The ancient peoples of pre-Roman Italy, like the Umbers, Latins (which would underpin the Roman civilization) Volsci, Samnites, and Ligures, who lived in the north of Italy, and many others, were Indo-European people. The

Map of Etruria

main people who were not of Indo-European origin were the Etruscans, Elim and Sicani of Sicily, as well as the prehistoric Sardinians. Between the 17th century and the 11th century BC, the Mycenaean Greeks established contacts with Italy, and in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Greek colonies were established along the coasts of Sicily and of southern Italian Peninsula, a territory that has been called as Magna Graecia. The Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily. The Greeks mainly dominated the Adriatic coast and Sicily. Around 800 BC, in the center of the peninsula, the Etruscan civilization started to develop and reached its peak between 650 and 450 BC. The Etruscans were very advanced, they developed their own alphabet, and their kings even dominated Rome.

Roman Republic

According to the legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus, who defeated his brother Remus. In mythology, Rhea Silvia and Mars had two sons, Romulus and Remus, who were breastfed by a wolf and raised by a shepherd. Romulus was considered the ancestor of the kings who succeeded in the rule of the Roman Kingdom. In 509 BC, the Etruscan king Tarquin was expelled and the Romans organized a republic. In 8

Petroglyph at Val Camonica

the period between 494 BC and 287 BC there was a class conflict between the plebeian (inferior class) and the patrician aristocracy (the dominant class). In 450 BC, a legal code was drawn up, the Law of the Twelve Tables, printed in bronze and publicly exposed in the Forum. Rome entered into a military conflict with neighboring Latin cities and the Latin League War took place. After the victory of Rome in 496 BC, alliances with these Latin cities were made. Since the 4th century AD, Rome has been waging wars with various other ethnic groups. The Romans defeated the Veii Etruscan Fortress then defeated the Gaelic. The Latin tribes started to revolt during the Samnite wars and again Rome was victorious. Also, the great Latin city took control of the Greek cities around 200 BC. By 260 BC, the Romans already controlled almost the entire peninsula and the generous treaties concluded with the defeated parties brought prosperity and military alliances. Administration and governance were provided by magistrates elected by popular assemblies. Consuls, the most important magistrates, were elected to the head of the state. However, the true political power was in the hands of the Senate, an oligarchy that governed Rome. They held their function for life. With the continuation of Romeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s military conquests, there started an era of economic expansion and strong social change. Buildings, public roads and aqueducts were built, while taxes have been decreased. The middle class has developed and coins were printed.

Tarquinius Superbus, the last Etruscan leader of the Roman Empire

The Empire

The Punic wars, also known as the Phoenician Wars, were the three battles fought between Rome and Carthage, a fortress located in northern Africa in

Romulus and Remus depicted as suckling from a she-wolf

nowadays Tunisia. The first war broke out in 246 BC in Sicily when Carthage struggled to protect itself against the Roman expansion. The decisive struggle was the naval battle of 241 BC won by the Romans who took control not only over Sicily but also over Sardinia. Carthage returned and invaded Spain. Carthaginian General Hannibal penetrated Italy with troops and elephants and inflicted significant damage to the Roman army. Rome counterattacked and in 204 BC, the Roman general Scipio the African invaded northern Africa and gained a decisive victory at Zama. Carthage was subject to severe peace conditions. The Third and Last Punic War began in 149 BC. Again, the Romans gained victory and Carthage was completely destroyed in 146 BC. After three more years, Macedonia became a province. Spain was subjugated and the Romans took control of northern Africa and Syria. The Empire also conquered Gaul in 118 BC and Egypt in 31 BC. This was the greatest expansion of an empire in the history of the world. The middle class (especially traders and bankers) continued to develop. Economic, social and cultural changes have been rapid, while the tensions between reforming and conservative forces generated a civil war. In 133 BC, Tiberius Gracchus was chosen as a tribune and pursued a policy of promoting reforms. In the same year, however, he was attacked during a revolt and eventually assassinated. Ten years later, the fight was taken over by his brother, Gaius Gracchus, but in 121 BC he was killed along with 3.000 supporters. Slave riots were triggered and in 72 BC, the Roman army succeeded in defeating the largest such rebellion, led by Spartacus. He was killed alongside the 6.000 rebels. Social wars that occurred between 91 BC and 88 BC were due to Rome’s refusal to share power and political rights with its allies in the peninsula. Citizenship was granted to all the inhabitants of the southern Po River.

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar, was a Roman politician, general, and notable author of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed a political alliance that dominated Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power as Populares were opposed by the Optimates within the Roman Senate, among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. Caesar’s victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome’s territory to the English Channel 10

Gaius Julius Caesar

and the Rhine. Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both when he built a bridge across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of Britain. These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse the standing of Pompey, who had realigned himself with the Senate after the death of Crassus in 53 BC. With the Gallic Wars concluded, the Senate ordered Caesar to step down from his military command and return to Rome. Caesar refused the order and instead marked his defiance in 49 BC by crossing the Rubicon with a legion, leaving his province and illegally entering Roman Italy under arms. Civil war resulted and Caesar’s victory in the war put him in an unrivaled position of power and influence. After assuming control of the government, Caesar began a program of social and governmental reforms, including the creation of the Julian calendar. He centralized the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed “dictator in perpetuity”, giving him additional authority. But the underlying political conflicts had not been resolved, and on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC, Caesar was assassinated by a group of rebellious senators led by Marcus Junius

Brutus. A new series of civil wars broke out, and the constitutional government of the Republic was never fully restored. Caesar’s adopted heir Octavian, later known as Augustus, rose to sole power after defeating his opponents in the civil war. Octavian set about solidifying his power, and the era of the Roman Empire began.

Map of the First Punic War

Augustus

Marcus Antonius, Caesar’s friend and comrade, claimed to be his successor. However, the nephew and adoptive son of Caesar, Octavian, who at that time was 18 years old, rejected this claim and took with him 3.000 soldiers from Caesar’s troops. Cicero, the former consul and one of Rome’s most famous orators, opposed Marcus Antonius. After losing one of the civil war battles, Antonius left Italy. In 43 BC, Octavian, Marcus Antonius and Lepidus, one of Caesar’s commanders formed the third triumvirate and concluded a five-year treaty that brought stability to Roman political life. Three hundred potential opponents, including Cicero, were assassinated. Caesar’s assassins were traced and Cassias and Brutus committed suicide in 42 BC during the Battle of Phillipi. Marcus Antonius traveled to Egypt where he met Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt. Cleopatra had been Caesar’s mistress and had accompanied him to Rome. Octavian Augustus

Julius Caesar’s assassination by Brutus

Tensions between Antonius and Octavian began to emerge. In 36 BC, Marcus Antonius married Cleopatra, although he was already married to Octavian’s sister. In 32 BC, Octavian put an end to the triumvirate and complained before the Senate against Antonius. Octavian declared war against Cleopatra and triumphed in 31 BC in the Battle of Actium on the Adriatic Sea. Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, but the following year, when Octavian invaded Egypt and turned it into a Roman province, they both committed suicide. Octavian or Augustus as he was known strengthened his power and ended the civil war. He rebuilt the Empire, but still maintained its republican character. He had a strong hand and reformed the administration as he expanded his alliances. He built and repaired temples, theaters, roads, aqueducts, drainage systems and generally modernized the fortress. He even said that “he found a Rome from the bricks and left it a marble town.” He created a professional army. It was a long period of peace, known as Pax Romana. He died in 14 AD, being 76 years old. Octavian was succeeded by his adoptive son, Tiberius. At the time of his death in 37 AD, Caligula came to power, who in turn was assassinated in 41. Claudius followed, whose death, in 54 AD, was succeeded by Nero, who at 30 years old committed suicide. Some of the following emperors were: Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Pius, 12

Marcus, Aurelius and Commodus. The construction of the Colosseum was completed in 80 AD. Progress has been made in the construction style via the use of cast concrete and arcades.

The Fall of Rome

Rome, a city-state built around a ford on the Tiber, founded according to tradition in 753 BC,

Marcus Antonius

The Roman Empire at its maximum expansion

evolved over the centuries into a great empire, which stretched from Britain to the borders of Persia, and encompassed the entire Mediterranean basin, where the Greek and Roman culture merged into a single civilization. The cultural heritage of the Roman Empire greatly influenced the Western civilization and largely shaped the modern world. A slow decline began in the 3rd century AD and the Empire was divided into two parts in 395. The Western Roman Empire, under the pressure of barbarian invasions, finally dissolved in 476, when its last emperor was deposed by Germanic captain, Odoacer, while the Eastern Roman Empire has outlived almost a thousand years.

Empire in the late 8th century. The Franks have contributed to the formation of the Papal States in central Italy. Until the 13th century, Italian politics have been dominated by the relations between the Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy, most Italian city-states being involved in the conflict, either on the first oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (Ghibellines) or the second oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s side (Guelphs) as it seemed suited for the moment. In 951, Otto I the Great invaded Italy and strengthened his claim to suzerainty over all the German kings and

Dark Ages and late Middle Ages

After the fall of the Western Empire Roman, Italy was conquered by the Ostrogoths, followed by a brief re-conquest of Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the late 6th century. The invasion of another Germanic tribe, the Longobards, at the end of the same century, reduced the Byzantine presence to a few isolated territorial fragments (like the Exarchate of Ravenna) and led to the beginning of the end of the political unity of the peninsula for the next 1.300 years. The Lombard Kingdom was later absorbed by Charlemagneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Franc Neptune, one of the many Roman Gods

Italian States around 1000 AD

German princes in Italy, crowning himself as king of Italy and the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In this chaotic era, in Italy it has appeared a characteristic institution for the country, the medieval commune. Given the power vacuum produced by the extreme territorial fragmentation and the battle between the Empire and the Holy See, local communities have sought to assert their autonomy in order to restore the law and order. In 1176, the Lombard League, an association of city-states, defeated German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa at the Battle of Legnano, ensuring in this manner the independence of most of the citystates in northern and central Italy. In the southern and coastal areas, the city-states ports were established as maritime republics, the most famous being Venice, Genova, Pisa and Amalfi. They were heavily involved in the Crusades and have come to dominate and monopolize the Mediterranean trade routes to the East. In the south, Sicily had become a flourishing Islamic emirate in the early 9th century, until it was conquered by the Italo-Normans in the late 11th century, with the help of the Lombard and Byzantine 14

principalities of southern Italy. Through a complex string of events, southern Italy developed as a unitary kingdom, first under the Hohenstaufen dynasty, and then under the Capetian House of Anjou and starting from the 15th century, under the dynasty of Aragon. In Sardinia, the former Byzantine provinces became independent states called Giudicati, although some parts of the island were under Genoese or Pisan control until their overthrow by the Aragon dynasty in the 15th century. The Pandemic Black Death of 1348 has left its mark on Italy by killing maybe a third of the population. The recovery from the ravages made by the plague led to a resurgence of cities, of trade and economy, which enabled the flowering of humanism and of the Renaissance currents, which then spread throughout Europe. In the 14th and 15th centuries, central and northern Italy were divided into several warring citystates, the rest of the peninsula being occupied by the Papal States and the Kingdom of Sicily, later called the Kingdom of Naples. The strongest of these citystates were absorbing the surrounding territories giving rise to regional states, which were often run by powerful families of merchants that were set up by the local dynasties. Wars between the city-states were very common, and were held mainly with the help of armed mercenaries called Condottieri, bands of soldiers brought in from all over Europe, especially

The Italian city-states in 1494

Germany and Switzerland, having Italian commanders in charge. Decades of fighting have led eventually to the emergence of Florence, Milan and Venice as dominant actors and signers of the Peace of Lodi in 1454, which has established a relative calm situation in the region for the first time in many centuries. The peace would last about forty years.

Renaissance

Renaissance, a period of vigorous revival of arts and culture, had originated from Italy due to several factors, such as the great wealth accumulated by the big fairs, the patronage of the dominating families such as “de Medici” family of Florence, as well as because of the migration of Greek scholars, who brought ancient texts in Italy after the fall of Constantinople in the hands of Ottoman Turks. The Italian Renaissance had its peak around the middle of the 16th century. Foreign invasions threw the region into the tumultuous Italian Wars. The ideas and ideals of the Renaissance spread rapidly in Northern Europe, France, England and in much of Europe. Meanwhile, the discovery of America by Columbus and new routes to Asia discovered by Portuguese sailors, in conjunction with the rise of the Ottoman Empire, have eroded the dominance of the Italian merchants and Maritime Republics on trade with the East, which produced an emphasized economic downturn of the peninsula. The Renaissance was marked by a revolution in art, architecture, science, philosophy, society. It is worth mentioning the contribution of the poet Dante Alighieri in the formation of a literary unitary Italian language through his famous masterpiece Divina Comedia, written in 1320. The German influence on the cities of central and northern Italy was becoming increasingly low, so they became completely autonomous. The only influence was the papal one. One of the most famous families was Medici, which gave Florence brilliance, grandeur and prosperity, all of which were manifested in a strong banking system (with international influences), trade, and Renaissance culture. The most famous exponent of this family was Lorenzo the Magnificent, who led Florence between 1469 and 1492. Another famous name of this period was Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), who, through his famous writing Il Principe, became known as the Father of political science. Two other famous names were Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) and Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Fillipo Brunelleschi designed and built the renowned Dom of Florence.

Early Modern History

After the Italian Wars (1494-1559), triggered by the rivalry between France and Spain, the city-states gradually lost their independence and fell under foreign domination, first under Spanish domination, between 1559 and 1713, and then under the Austrian one, between 1713 and 1796. In 1629-1631, a new plague killed about 14% of the Italian population. In addition, the Spanish Empire began to decline in the 18th century, and so its possessions in Naples, Sicily, Sardinia and Milan. In particular, southern Italy was depleted and has been disconnected from the important events in Europe. In the 18th century, following the War of the Spanish Succession, Austria has replaced Spain as a foreign dominating power and the House of Savoy became a regional power, extending its power in Piemonte and Sardinia. In the same century, the 200 years decline was interrupted by economic and administrative reforms made in several states by the dominant elites. During the Napoleonic Wars, Northern and Central Italy were invaded and reorganized as a new Kingdom of Italy, a customary state of the French Empire, while the southern half of the Peninsula came under the administration of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother and then to Joachim Murat, Napoleon’s brother-inlaw, who was crowned King of Naples. The Congress of Vienna held in 1814-1815 restored the situation at

Lorenzo de Medici

Leonardo Da Vinci is considered to be the most important artist of the Renaissance Period

Italian States in 1796

Italian States (1815-1859)

the end of the 18th century, but the ideals of the French Revolution could not be eradicated, and have resurfaced during the political unrest that characterized the first part of the 19th century.

would later be moved to Florence. Meanwhile, Venice was won and Rome was captured, becoming the capital of the state. The official constitution of the Italian state became that of 1848 in Piemonte. This constitution offered King Vittorio Emmanuelle an important position in the state. He could appoint and revoke ministers, sign peace and trade treaties, convene and dissolve the parliament. The government, along with the king, held the executive power. In March 1861, after Camillo Benso, Count Cavour became the Prime Minister of Italy, the political power was held by the followers of Count Cavour, a “historical right” that ruled until 1876. Camillo Benso died ill after only three months of his mandate. Most of the people from Piemonte were the followers of strict economic governance to achieve an economic and budgetary balance. Italy had been extremely indebted to the union. Liquidation of debts was done with risks and political costs. In 1866, Victor Emmanuel II has allied with Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War. Italy’s participation in this conflict is considered to be the Third War of Italian Independence. Italy managed to attach Veneto this time. Finally, after France abandoned its garrisons in Rome after the disastrous Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the Italians rushed to fill the empty power vacuum by occupying the Papal state. After on 20 September

Risorgimento

The birth of the modern Kingdom of Italy was the result of the efforts of Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Italian peninsula. In the context of the 1848 liberal revolutions that spread across Europe, to Austria it has been declared war. The First War of Italian Independence was lost by the Kingdom of Sardinia, but it was clear that it couldn’t succeed alone in obtaining the unification and independence of Italian territories. In 1859, Sardinia attacked once again the Austrian Empire, this time allied with France in the Second War of Italian Independence, this time managing to liberate Lombardy, with Giuseppe Garibaldi removing the Bourbon monarchy from the south. In 1860-1861, General Giuseppe Garibaldi was in the head of the unification movement in Naples and Sicily, allowing the government led by Count Cavour to proclaim the Kingdom of Italy on 17 March 1861. In 1861, the Kingdom of Italy had its capital in Turin. It

1870, the Italians captured Rome, the Pope declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican. The Italian states became international law actors, and the Italian state proposed a package of laws: the Law of Guarantees, voted in May 1871, which recognized the Popeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s state. The Italian state had committed to pay a sum of money and did not interfere with papal matters. The Pope rejected this law and practically did not have a legalized status, being tolerated for 60 years until the Papal State was officially created. The Papal State was recognized by many European countries. The Albertine statute of Piemonte from 1848, extended to the whole Kingdom of Italy in 1861 and gave its citizens basic freedoms, but the electoral laws excluded from voting the uneducated classes. The governing of the new kingdom was done in the context of a constitutional monarchy, dominated by liberal forces.

Liberal Italy

In 1876, the right-wing government imposed new elections that it had lost in favor of the left. Social and economic reforms were booming. The Italian Socialist Party was formed in 1892, but was dissolved

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, one of the architects of the Italian Unification

by Prime Minister Crispi, who feared Marxism and anarchism. As far as foreign policy is concerned, in 1882 Italy joined the Triple Alliance alongside Germany and Austria (though the latter had been an enemy). This was the period of the formation of global spheres of influence and Italy, wanting to be a superpower, was trying to annex Ethiopia, who defended itself with heroism, causing Italy a loss of 5.000 soldiers, a true national humiliation. Thus, Crispi renounced at the expansionist ideals. In 1900, an Italian anarchist in New York murdered King Umberto. Vittorio Emmanuelle III, his son, thus inherited the throne. Prime Minister Giolitti adopted a progressive reform agenda. The Italian industry was growing at a rapid pace. The main industrial cities were: Milan, Turin and Genoa. FIAT appeared and the Bank of Italy had been created. The standard of living in northern Italy approached the European standard, but the contrast to the southern area was amplified. The working conditions were regulated, while extremely right-wing extremist movements were counterbalanced by socialism, so stability remained only on the political stage. Arts and science were progressing. The Roman Catholic Church continued to be dominant but the conscience of national identity was not yet fully formed. In September 1911, the government of Giollitti declared war on the 18

Giuseppe Garibaldi, the leader of the Italian Unification

Italians during Il Risorgimento19

launched a massive offensive, culminating in victory at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. The Italian victory marked the end of the war on the Italian front, contributing to the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The war ended two weeks later. During the war, more than 650.000 Italian soldiers and as many civilians died, and the Kingdom has reached the brink of bankruptcy. In the peace treaties of Saint-Germain, Rapallo and Rome, Italy obtained much of the promised territories, except for Dalmatia (they received only the Zara territory), which allowed the nationalists to describe the victory as a “mutilated” one. Italy annexed the Fiume port from Hungary, which wasn’t part of the promised territories at London, but it was occupied after the end of the war by Gabriele D’Annunzio.

Fascist Italy and World War II

The Socialist agitations that followed the devastations of the war were inspired by the Russian Ottoman Empire, a military confrontation that would Revolution and caused agitation and anarchy throughout prove costly. Italy invaded and annexed Libya. Through Italy. The liberal political class feared a Soviet-style the newspaper “Avanti”, the Socialist Party attacked revolution and began to rally towards the small national the government. Its young editor was none other than Socialist Benito Mussolini (1883-1945). In 1913, the universal suffrage for men was adopted. Northern Italy has quickly industrialized, but southern Italy and the rural areas of the north remained underdeveloped and overpopulated, forcing millions of people to emigrate abroad, while the Socialist Italian Party Italian was constantly increasing its strength, contesting the traditional liberal and conservative establishment. Since the last two decades of the 19th century, Italy has transformed into a colonial power, taking advantage of the dying Ottoman Empire’s weaknesses and taking control of Somalia, Eritrea and then Libya and the Dodecanese Islands. Italy, nominally allied with the German Empire and Austria-Hungary in the Triple Alliance, refused to enter in the First World War in 1914 on their part, because they believed that the alliance is a defensive one. Finally, in 1915, Italy joined the Entente after it was promised important territories, including the Carniola Interior, the former Austrian littoral, Dalmatia and parts of the Ottoman Empire. Italy’s participation hasn’t brought the desired results at the beginning, the Italian army being bogged down in a prolonged attrition war in the Alps, moving forward very little and suffering heavy losses. Finally, in the context of the total collapse of Austria and Germany in October 1918, the Italians Map of the Italian Empire

Vittorio Emmanuelle III, King of Italy

Italian troops in 1915

fascist party led by Benito Mussolini. In October 1922, the Blackshirts fascist attempted a coup through the March on Rome. The coup itself failed, but at the last moment, King Vittorio Emanuele III refused to proclaim siege state and appointed Mussolini as Prime Minister. In the following years, Mussolini banned all political parties and restricted personal freedoms, establishing thus a dictatorship. These actions have attracted the attention of international public opinion and inspired similar dictatorships in Nazi Germany and in Francoist Spain. In 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, thus isolating the country on the international stage and withdrawing it from the League of Nations. As a result, Italy has allied with Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire and supported Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War. In 1939, Italy annexed Albania, which was de facto an Italian protectorate since its independence. Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940. After Italy

went forward and conquered the British Somaliland and Egypt, the Italians suffered heavy defeats, losing their best divisions in Greece, Russia and North Africa. Sicily was then invaded by the Allies in July 1943, which led to the collapse of the Fascist regime and the fall of Mussolini on 25 July 1943. On 8 September 1943, Italy surrendered. The Germans managed to briefly conquer northern and central Italy. The country remained a battleground field for the rest of the war. In the north, the Germans proclaimed the Italian Socialist Republic (RSI), a Nazi puppet state led by Mussolini. The period after the truce has brought the emergence of the antifascist movement of resistance, named La Resistenza Italiana. The hostilities ceased on 29 April 1945, when German forces in Italy surrendered. Nearly half a million Italians (including civilians) died in the conflict, while the Italian economy had been almost destroyed. Income per capita in 1944 was at the minimum of the 20th century. 21

Benito Mussolini

Italian soldier in 1944

Italy became a republic after a referendum held on 2 June 1946, a day celebrated since as the “Republic Day” or Festa della Repubblica. It was for the first time when Italian women had the right to vote. Vittorio Emanuele III’s son, Umberto II, was forced to abdicate and went into exile. The Republican Constitution was approved on 1 January 1948. Following the peace treaty of 1947, much of Julian Venice was ceded to Yugoslavia and a neutral state structure was set up, called the Free Territory of Trieste, which in 1954 was divided between the two countries. Italy has lost its colonial possessions. Fears of the Italian electorate of a possible takeover of power by the communists proved crucial to the outcome of the elections of 18 April 1948, detachedly won by the Christian Democrats of Alcide De Gasperi. As a result, in 1949, Italy became a founding member of NATO. The Marshall Plan contributed to the restauration of the Italian economy which, until the late 1960’s, enjoyed a period of sustained economic growth called The Economic Miracle. In 1957, Italy

became a founding member of the European Economic Community (EEC), which became in 1993 the European Union (EU). Since the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s, the country went through a so-called Years of Lead, a period characterized by economic crisis (especially after the oil crisis of 1973), widespread social conflicts and terrorist massacres committed by extremist rival groups, with the alleged involvement of American and Soviet intelligence services. The Years of Lead culminated with the assassination of Aldo Moro, the Christian Democrat leader in 1978 and the Massacre of Bologna station in 1980, when 85 people were killed. In 1980, for the first time since 1945, there were two governments which weren’t led by Christian Democrats premiers. It was a liberal one (Giovanni Spadolini) and a socialist one (Bettino Craxi). The Christian Democrats remained, however, the main parliamentary party. During Craxi’s government, the Italian economy recovered and Italy became the 5th largest industrialized economy in the world, being

Italian Republic

The economic crisis was one of the main problems that forced Berlusconi to resign in 2011. The government of the conservative Prime Minister was replaced by Mario Montiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s technocrat office. In April 2013, after general elections, Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta formed a new government at the head of a national unity coalition, but after tensions with the new secretary of the Democratic Party, Matteo Renzi, Letta resigned on 14 February 2014 and was replaced on 22 February with Renzi, who announced that he would promote important constitutional reforms, such as the shift to a unicameral parliament and a new electoral law. Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other country in the world, and has rich collections of art, culture and literature from many different periods. The country has had a broad cultural influence worldwide, also because numerous Italians emigrated to other places during the Italian diaspora. Furthermore, the nation has, overall, an estimated 100.000 monuments of any sort (museums, palaces, buildings, statues, churches, art galleries, villas, fountains, historic houses and archaeological remains).

Umberto II, the last King of Italy

received in the G7. As a result of public spending made then, Italyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public debt exceeded 100% of the GDP.

Modern Italy

In the early 1990â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Italy faced significant challenges. The voters were dissatisfied by the political paralysis, the massive government debt and endemic corruption (a system called Tangentopoli was discovered by the Mani Pulite investigations), demanded radical reforms. The scandals involved all major parties, but especially those in the ruling coalition: the Christian Democrats, who ruled for almost 50 years, went through a serious crisis. The party was abolished and it broke into several factions. The Communists reorganized as a social-democratic force. In the decades of 1990 and 2000, center-right (dominated by media magnate, Silvio Berlusconi) and center-left (headed by Professor Romano Prodi) governments alternated. The country entered into a prolonged period of economic stagnation. In 2008, Italy has been hit by recession, recording from 2008 to 2015 approximately 42 months of GDP contraction. Alcide de Gasperi

Fiat 600, iconic middle-class dream car

Silvio Berlusconi

Matteo Renzi

Streets in Taormina, Sicilly, Italy

Trajanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Market in Rome, Italy

altitude of the area is about 337 m. The mountain ranges are stretching on a good part of the country. To Italy, it belong a large part of the southern side of the Alpine system, for a length of about 1.000 km. The highest peaks are located in the Western Alps, where there are numerous peaks over 4.000 meters including Matterhorn (Monte Cervino) (4.478 m), Monte Rosa Landforms (4.634 m) and Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) (4.810 m), The Italian geographical region is divided into Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highest mountain. The Western Alps run north mainland Italy, peninsular and insular, and it is linked to south from the Aosta Valley to the Cadibona Pass, to the European continent by the Alps. Thanks to its with the highest peaks of Mount Viso (3.841 metres) location, it ideally represents a bridge towards Asia and Gran Paradiso (4.061 metres), which is regarded and Africa. Italy also separates the western basin of as the highest mountain completely within the Italian the Mediterranean Sea from the central one, in fact, borders. The chain of the Apennines runs down the the Tyrrhenian Sea from the Ionian Sea. To the north Peninsula, from Liguria to Sicily, to the Madonie. Gran of Salento, the long and narrow inlet of the Adriatic Sasso (2.912 m), located in the Abruzzo region, is the Sea pushes towards the Italian peninsula. The island of highest peak of the Apennine mountains. Sardinia divides the Tyrrhenian Sea from the Sardinian Only a quarter of the Italian territory consists of Sea. The Italian coasts are stretching on over 7.456 km plains. The Po Plain, an alluvial expanse formed by the and have various shapes (cliffs, sandy, stony and so on). Po River and its tributaries is the largest of all. Following The Italian soil, mostly anthropic, has various in size are the Tavoliere delle Puglie and Salento plains, features (volcanic, limestone and so on). The average two upheaval plains, and the Campidano, another

Nature

Gran Sasso Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Italia

Gran Paradiso

Po River crossing through Torino 27

Lake Garda

Lake Como

alluvial plain. The less elevated point of Italy is situated in the hamlet of Contane, in the province of Ferrara (-3.44 m). The largest islands of Italy are Sicily and Sardinia. There are many smaller islands, mostly gathered in archipelagos, such as: the Tuscan archipelago, which contains the island of Elba, the Archipelago of Maddalena, the archipelago Campano, which includes the islands of Ischia and Capri, the Pontine islands , the Pelagie islands, Aeolian, Egadi and the Tremiti islands. In Italy there are many volcanoes: the most well-known are Etna (3.343 m), the highest volcano in Europe, Mount Vesuvius and Stromboli. Until the 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Italy was the first and only country to exploit in

the Larderello area and then in the Monte Amiata the geothermal energy in order to produce electricity. The high geothermal gradient that characterizes part of the peninsula makes other provinces potentially exploitable: research carried out in the 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and 1970â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spotted potential geothermal fields in Lazio and Tuscany, as well as in most of the volcanic islands. Italy has the benefit of several mountain ranges, with snowfields and glaciers, lakes and springs, and thus, it is rich in waterways. In general, given the layout and the altitude of the mountains, the longer rivers with wider range belong to the Alpine region and the Apennine rivers, with the exception of the Tiber and Arno, run for a short range and are torrential.

Mount Vesuvius seen from Napoli

Tiber crossing through Roma

to the Köppen classification, Italy is divided into three types of climate (temperate, cold and cool temperate), which in turn are divided into micro-climates: it goes from the mild subtropical climate (present in coastal areas of Sicily, Southern Sardinia and central and southern Calabria) to the glacial climate (typical for the highest peaks of the Alps covered with perpetual snow, at altitudes generally above 3.500 meters). The Italian climatology, generally has a continental character (in the north central area), Mediterranean and subtropical, but presents notable regional variations. For instance, due to its considerable extension in latitude, there are annual averages in Milan from 25°C in July to 1.4°C in January, while in Palermo there are annual averages from 29.3°C and to 13°C, respectively. The place with the most rainfall Climate The Italian region is located almost in the center in the country is the province of Udine, located in of the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. The the northeast, with 1530 mm, and on the contrary, climate is strongly influenced by the seas that surround the place with the lowest rainfall is in the south of it almost from each side and which constitutes a the Apulia region, in the province of Foggia and in beneficial reservoir of heat and humidity. According the southern part of Sicily, where arid regions receive 29 The most important river is the Po, which runs across Italy on a distance of 652 km, has an average flow of about 1.460 m³ / s, and the basin of about 70.000 km (although the longest river that rises in the country is the Drava). The river runs through the Po Valley and flows into the Adriatic Sea, forming a delta that has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The most extensive Italian lakes are Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore and Lake Como, which is also the deepest (410 m). They are located at the foothills of the Alps. Other important lakes are located in the peninsular area and these are: Lake Bolsena, Lake Bracciano and Lake Albano, which is of volcanic origin, Lake Trasimeno, the largest of the Italian peninsula and the coastal lakes, such as: Lake Lesina and lake Varano.

Italy’s type of climates

approximately 460 mm of rain per year. The country can be differentiated into three climatic regions: the Mediterranean climate in southern Italy (under Rome), with hot summers exceeding 30°C, the plains of the Po River, where winter is very cold as in the regions of the north and the Alps, and the Apennines (Liguria), where there is a mild climate during winters and summers are hot and receive strong rainfall. Thanks to the great longitudinal extension of the peninsula and the mostly mountainous internal conformation, the climate of Italy is highly diverse. In most of the inland northern and central regions, the climate ranges from humid subtropical to humid continental and oceanic. In particular, the climate of the Po valley geographical region is mostly continental, with harsh winters and hot summers. The coastal areas of Liguria, Tuscany and most of the South generally fit the Mediterranean climate stereotype. Conditions on peninsular coastal areas can be very different from the interior’s higher ground and valleys, particularly during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer. Average winter temperatures vary from 0°C on the Alps to 12°C in Sicily, like so the average summer temperatures range from 20°C to over 30

30°C. The east coast of the Italian peninsula is not as wet as the west coast, but is usually colder in the winter. The east coast north of Pescara is occasionally affected by the cold bora winds in winter and spring, but the wind is less strong here than around Trieste. During these frosty spells from eastern and northeastern cities like Rimini, Ancona, Pescara and the entire eastern hillside of the Apennines can be affected by true “blizzards”. The town of Fabriano, located just around 300 m in elevation, can often see 0,5-0,6 m of fresh snow fall in 24 hours during these episodes. On the coast from Ravenna to Venice and Trieste, snow falls more rarely: during cold spells from the east, the cold can be harsh but with bright skies, while during the snowfalls that affect Northern Italy, the Adriatic coast can see a milder Sirocco wind which makes snow turn to rain. The mild effects of this wind often disappear just a few kilometers inside the plain, and sometimes the coast from Venice to Grado sees snow while it is raining in Trieste, the Po River mouths and Ravenna. Rarely, the city of Trieste may see snow blizzards with north-eastern winds. In the colder winters, the Venice Lagoon may freeze, and in the coldest ones even enough to walk on the ice sheet.

Map of GHI in Italy

Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc) seen from Italy

The Stylized Lily is the national flower of Italy

Flora

The natural vegetation of the Italian territory consists of the forest that spreads throughout the country except on the highest peaks of the snow line, and in the arid areas of the Sicilian islands, as well as in areas closest to the sea. The Italian forests are heavily exploited for forestry which takes the form of coppicing for the oak wood (mainly producing firewood) and chestnut (for the production of poles) while beech and conifers are considered as high forest. Geobotanically, the Italian flora is shared between the Circumboreal Region and Mediterranean Region. According to the index compiled by the Italian Ministry for the Environment in 2001, 274 vascular plant species are protected. Because of the long settlement period in the Italian peninsula and the evolved civilization of the Ancient Romans, natural vegetation as well as forests in Italy were soon destroyed. Useful plants, pasture lands and vineyards replaced the original vegetation, which became the symbol of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Italy. Who could imagine a Tuscany for example without olive groves, cypresses, pines and vineyards? An idyllic landscape, as described in books, but created by man. Apart from the three 32

Cork Oak in Sardinia

species of plants that can be found in almost all of Italy (the holly, the pine and the cork oak), there is still the original flora that has been preserved above all in the peripheral territories and in Sardinia. The species of plants present in Italy belong to the flora of the continental Europe or to the Mediterranean flora. We can distinguish in some cases Western species (hornbeam, limited to Western Europe) and eastern species (the oriental hornbeam, present in Eastern Europe). Broadly there are three different vegetational zones of forests or bushes in Italy. First, there is the evergreen vegetation (of maquis shrubland with densely growing plants and shrubs that always have leaves on. This flora is typical of the dry mediterranean climate, especially along the coast and in the islands.) The most common plants are olives, agrumes, maritime pines, cork oaks, holm oak, carrubo, myrtles, strawberry tree, sage, junipers, tree heath and bay laurel. Then, there is the broad-leaved vegetation (oaks, beeches, chestnuts) which is typical to the mountain region with a humid climate (Apennines and Prealps). The most common plants are Castanea sativa or Fagus sylvatica. There are also a high number of

Umbrella Pine Tree in Tuscany

endemic species increasing at higher elevations. Alpine species include Gentiana nivalis, Androsace alpina, Polygala chamaebuxus, Saxifraga oppositifolia and Carlina acaulis. There are also plant associations almost treeless: grasslands, pastures, deserts. In the mountains, gradually, the forest turns in mountain pastures, scattered in various shrubs and dotted with small

colorful flowers. Higher up, you reach the montane grasslands and even areas similar to a desert because they have no or almost no vegetation (rocks, Glaciers). The coniferous vegetation (larches, pines, firs) is an evergreen vegetation typical of the Alps and of a few high Apennines areas. The most common plants present in this phytoclimatic area are Picea abies, Abies alba, Larix decidua and Pinus sylvestris. The diversity of climate existing between mainland Italy and peninsular Italy gives rise to different vegetation in both areas. The altitude above sea level also is of great importance. Researchers talk about phytoclimatic zones, which, for Italy are mainly Lauretum, Castanetum, Fagetum, Picetum and Alpinetum. In a more simplified way, there can be recognized three basic types of vegetations: â&#x20AC;˘ Evergreen vegetation of Mediterranean type consisting of shrubs and trees with persistent leaves, especially in areas with a Mediterranean and almost arid climate. This characteristic flora is made up of umbrella or Mediterranean pines, olive trees, citrus, cork oaks, prickly pears, agaves, laurels, myrtles, junipers and many other shrubs that dominate the coast of the peninsula and the islands. â&#x20AC;˘ Broad-leaved vegetation - mainly chestnut, oak

Vineyard in the Piemonte region

Golden Eagles are often seen in Lazio region

and beech, with different characteristics in the plains (in the few places where it has not been destroyed by human activity) in the hills and in the mountains. â&#x20AC;˘ Vegetation with conifers, larches, pines, firs, mostly evergreens, limited to the alpine areas and to a few elevated places of the Apennines.

Fauna

The Checklist of the Species of the Italian Fauna includes 4777 endemic animal species. Unique Mammals include the Corsican hare, the Sardinian long-eared bat, the Apennine shrew, the Udine shrew the Calabria pine vole and the Sardinian deer. Endemic amphibians and reptiles include the spectacled salamander, the Sardinian cave salamander, the Italian cave salamander, the Monte Albo cave salamander, the Sardinian brook newt, the Italian newt, the Italian frog, the Apennine yellow-bellied toad, the Sicilian green toad, the Aeolian wall lizard, the Sicilian wall lizard, the Italian Aesculapian snake, and the Sicilian pond turtle. Comparable to the world of plants, even the wild species of animals were exterminated almost entirely in Italy. Only in remote far-off territories and protected natural parks one can see animals originating from the peninsula such as: the eagle, the ibex, the chamois, the bear, the wolf and the marmot. Nowadays there can also be found a limited number of bears and wolves outside protected national parks, many of them coming from neighboring Slovenia. The continuity of these animals, however, develops very slowly and is not 34

always well seen. Near the coasts there are swordfish, tuna and dolphins. In Italy, rare species of birds and seals can also be found. Thanks to the various measures to protect animal species, positive effects are expected on the fauna and, as in many other European countries, even in Italy the original animals of the peninsula have the opportunity to preserve their species. Endemic fish include the Bergatino loach, the Italian barbel, the brook chub, the Arno goby, the Garda carp, the carpione del Fibreno, and the Timavo sculpin. A notable species is the European owl moth found only in Southern Italy. There are 102 mammal species in Italy. Some of the species are Alpine Marmot, forest dormouse, Etruscan shrew (the smallest mammal in the world), European snow vole, and Schreiberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-fingered bat. Notable large mammals are the Eurasian lynx, Italian wolf, Marsican brown bear, Pyrenean chamois, Alpine ibex, common genet, axis deer, mouflon, rough-toothed dolphin and Mediterranean monk seal. Italy is an important migration route to the Saharan regions as it is a natural bridge between continental Europe and Africa across the Mediterranean. The migratory birds with low wings load such as the stork, the hawk, the black kite, the marsh harrier, the kestrel and the Eurasian hobby depend on the thermals and the updrafts to cross the Mediterranean during spring. Although most of these birds enter Europe through the Bosphorus or the Strait of Gibraltar, many depart from Cape Bon in Tunisia and enter Europe via the Aeolian Islands and the Strait of Messina to Calabria. Many of these birds nest in central and northern Europe.

Swordfish

In autumn, the birds return to Africa by passing on the same route. Italy has recorded 516 bird species. Notable birds are the hoopoe, roller, white-backed woodpecker, black woodpecker, European green woodpecker, Alpine chough, snow finch, rock partridge, Bonelliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eagle, goshawk, eagle owl, lammergeier, Egyptian vulture, griffon vulture, collared pratincole, glossy ibis, spoonbill, Allenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gallinule, great bustard, trumpeter finch, rosy starling, great spotted cuckoo, woodchat shrike, bluethroat and Eurasian nightjar. Characteristic habitat types of the Italian Mediterranean coastal zone, are the Cystoseira biocenosis and the Posidonia oceanica seagrass beds, Lithophyllum lichenoides communities form coralligenous reefs which are a spectacular sight the coralline alga is covered with large gorgonian fans, coral, and a diverse array of often colourful invertebrate organisms and hundreds of species of fish. These communities host sponges (Porifera), sea anemones, jellyfishes (Cnidaria), sea mats and hornwrack (Bryozoa) segmented worms (Annelida) snails, bivalves, squids and octopuses (Mollusca), starfishes and sea urchins (Echinodermata), crabs, lobsters and shrimps (Arthropoda) and little known groups such as, Echiura, Priapulida, Sipuncula, Brachiopoda, Pogonophora, Phoronida and Hemichordata.

Lupo Appenninico is the national animal of Italy

Mediterranean Dolphin

People Language

Italian the official language of Italy and it is a Romance language. It is the second-closest to Latin in terms of vocabulary after Sardinian. Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City and Istria (in Slovenia and Croatia). It used to have official status in Albania, Malta and Monaco, where it is still widely spoken, as well as in former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa regions where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and by small minorities in places such as Crimea, France (especially in Corsica), Montenegro and Tunisia. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages. The standard Italian language has a poetic and literary origin in the writings of Tuscan writers of the 12th century, and, even though the grammar and core lexicon are basically unchanged from those used in Florence in the 13th century, the modern standard of the language was largely shaped by relatively recent events. However, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. In fact the earliest surviving texts that can definitely be called Italian (or more accurately, vernacular, as distinct from its predecessor Vulgar Latin) are legal formulae known as the “Placiti Cassinesi” from the Province of Benevento

that date from 960-963, although the Veronese Riddle contains a late form of Vulgar Latin that can be seen as a very early Italian dialect. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante’s epic poems, known collectively as the “Commedia”, to which another Tuscan poet, Giovanni Boccaccio later affixed the title “Divina”, were read throughout Italy and his written dialect became the “canonical standard” that all educated Italians could understand. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the official language of Italy. Starting with the Renaissance, Italian became the language used in the courts of every state in the peninsula. The rediscovery of Dante’s “De vulgari eloquentia” and a renewed interest in linguistics in the 16th century, sparked a debate that raged throughout Italy concerning the criteria that should govern the establishment of a modern Italian literary and spoken language. An important event that helped the diffusion of Italian was the conquest and occupation of Italy by Napoleon in the early 19th century (who was himself of Italian-Corsican descent). This conquest propelled the unification of Italy some decades after, and pushed the Italian language into a lingua franca used not only among clerks, nobility and functionaries in the Italian courts but also in the bourgeoisie. In Italy there are quite a few recognized minority languages: Albanian, Catalan, German, Greek, Slovenian, Croatian, French, Provencal, Friulian, Ladin, Occitan and Sardinian (according to law number 482

Map of Italian speaking countries across the world

Italian dialects spoken across the country

A more detailed map of the Italian dialects

Italian dialects separated on regions

of 15 December 1999). French is a co-official language in the Aosta Valley, although there is talked Provencal. German has the same status in South Tyrol, as Ladin in parts of that province and in neighboring Trentino. Slovenian is officially recognized in the provinces of Trieste, Gorizia and Udine. Because of significant recent immigration, Italy has other large population whose mother tongue is not Italian. According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics, Romanian is the most common mother tongue of the inhabitants residing in Italy: about 1.000.000 people have Romanian as their mother tongue (25% of foreign residents aged 6 years and above). Other native languages in immigrant communities are Arabic (spoken by 475.000 people, 13,1% of foreign residents), Albanian (380.000 people) and Spanish (255.000 people). With lower numbers, there are speakers of Ukrainian, Russian, Hindi, Polish and Tamil.

Landscape survey, 83.3% of Italy’s residents are Christians, 12,4% are irreligious, atheist or agnostic, 3,7% are Muslims and 0,6% adhere to other religions. According to a 2006 survey by an Italian research centre, Catholics made up 87,8% of the population, with 36,8% describing themselves as observants. According to the same poll in 2010, those percentages fell to 76,5% and 24,4%, respectively. Other sources give different accounts of Italy’s Islamic population, usually around 2%. In 2016, it was found that 71,1% of Italians were Catholic, 5 percent down from 2010, but their religious practice was on the rise at 25,4%. The headquarters of the 1,2 billion strong Catholic Church, the State of Vatican City (Holy See), is an enclave within the city of Rome and, thus, the Italian territory. The Church’s world leader, the Pope, is the Bishop of Rome, hence the special relationship between Italians and the Church, and the latter’s entanglement with Italian politics (through the Lateran Treaty). The current Pope is Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who, before his election in 2013, had been Archbishop of Buenos Aires since 1998. Francis is the third nonItalian Pope in a row, after John Paul II (1978-2005) and Benedict XVI (2005-2013). The Holy See, the episcopal jurisdiction of Rome, contains the entire central government of the Roman Catholic Church, including various agencies essential for the administration. Diplomatically, it is recognized by other subjects of international law as a sovereign entity headed by the Pope, who is also bishop of Rome, and it can maintain diplomatic relations. Often incorrectly named “Vatican”, the Holy See is not the same entity, the Vatican City being only the present

Religion

Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religion in the country, although Catholicism is no longer the official state religion. In 2010, the percentage of Italians who identified themselves as Roman Catholics was 81.2%. According to the 2012 Global Religious Italy is quite a religious country and one of the most religious from Western Europe

Brunelleschi’s Dome, the nave, and Giotto’s Campanile of the Florence Cathedral as seen from Michelangelo Hill at night

territory administered by the Holy See as a state existing since 1929. The Holy See dates back to the early days of Christianity, and before being reduced to within the actual Vatican borders, it included the Papal States as well. Ambassadors are officially accredited besides the “Holy See” and not the Vatican and papal representatives abroad are recognized as the representatives of the Holy See, not of the Vatican. Most of the leading Catholic religious orders, including the Jesuits, the Salesians, the Franciscans, the Capuchin Franciscans, the Benedictines, the Dominicans, the Divine Word Missionaries, the Redemptorists, the Conventual Franciscans and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, have their headquarters in Rome too. The Italian territory is divided in 225 Catholic dioceses (whose bishops have been organised, since 1952, in the politically influential Italian Episcopal Conference, CEI) and, according to Church statistics, 96% of the country’s population is baptized. Among Christian minorities in Italy, there are 40

included the Orthodox minority in Italy, the Waldensians and the Protestants. In 2011 in Italy there were about 1,5 million Orthodox Christians, representing 2,5% of the population. Half a million Pentecostals and Evangelicals (of which 400.000 are members of God’s Army, 235.685 are Jehovah’s witnesses, 30.000 are Waldensians, 25.000 are seventh-day Adventists, 22.000 are Mormons, 20.000 are Baptists, 7.000 are Lutherans and 4.000 are Methodists. One of the oldest religious communities in Italy is the Hebrew one. Jews were present in Ancient Rome before our era. Italy took Hebrews expelled from other countries, especially from Spain. Following the Holocaust, about 20% Italian Jews lost their lives. In conjunction with the emigration that preceded and succeeded the Second World War, this made in Italy to remain a community of only about 28.400 Hebrews. Rising immigration at the beginning of the 21st century has been accompanied by an increase in nonChristian religions. In 2010 in Italy were 1,6 million

the country, 70,000 Hindu and 50.000 Buddhists. It is estimated that there were 4.900 Bahá’ís in Italy in 2005. As a protection of religious freedom, the Italian state transfers a part of the income tax to the recognized religious communities, under a scheme called “8-1000” (Otto per mille). Donations are allowed to the Christian, Hebrew, Buddhist and Hindu communities. Islam remains excluded because no Muslim community has yet signed a concordat with the Italian state. Taxpayers who do not want to fund any religion contribute their part to the social security system.

World Heritage

On UNESCO’s list there can be found 47 cultural objectives and 4 natural objectives in Italy: Cultural Objectives: • 18th Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex In Italy lies the head of the Catholic Church, the Pope (now Pope Francis) • Sacri Monti of Piemonte and Lombardy Muslims, or 2,6% of the population. In addition, there • Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches are over 200.000 believers from the Indian subcontinent, of Cefalú and Monreale from which 70.000 Sikhs with 22 gurdwaras throughout • Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal Basilica of

Little Italy in New York, USA

Aquileia • Archaeological Area of Agrigento • Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata • Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites • Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padova • Castel del Monte • Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena • Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci • Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula • City of Verona • City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto • Costiera Amalfitana • Crespi d’Adda • Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna • Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia • Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta • Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli • Historic Centre of Florence • Historic Centre of Napoli • Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura • Historic Centre of San Gimignano • Historic Centre of Siena

• Historic Centre of the City of Pienza • Historic Centre of Urbino • Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (SouthEastern Sicily) • Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power (568-774 A.D.) • Mantova and Sabbioneta • Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany • Piazza del Duomo, Pisa • Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto) • Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps • Residences of the Royal House of Savoy • Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes • Rock Drawings in Valcamonica • Su Nuraxi di Barumini • Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica • The Trulli of Alberobello • The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera • Val d’Orcia • Venice and its Lagoon • Villa Adriana (Tivoli) • Villa d’Este, Tivoli • Villa Romana del Casale • Vineyard Landscape of Piemonte: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato Natural Objectives: • Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands) • Monte San Giorgio • Mount Etna • The Dolomites

Population Pyramid of Italy

Demographics

The population of Italy almost doubled during the 20th century, but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven due to large-scale internal migration from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North, a phenomenon which happened as a consequence of the Italian economic miracle of the 1950-1960’s. In addition, after centuries of net emigration, from the 1980’s, Italy has experienced large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history. According to the Italian government, there were an estimated 5.000.073 foreign nationals resident in Italy. High fertility and birth rates persisted until the 1970’s, after which they started to dramatically decline, leading to rapid population aging. At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, one in five Italians was over 65 years old. However, as a result of the massive immigration of the last two decades, in recent years

Italy experienced a significant growth in birth rates. The total fertility rate has also climbed from an all-time low of 1,18 children per woman in 1995 to 1,41 in 2008. At the beginning of 2013, Italy had about 60 million inhabitants. The population density of 202,7 inhabitants / km², is higher than in most Western European countries. The population distribution is very uneven, however. The most densely populated areas are the Valley of Po (where nearly half of the population lives) and the metropolitan areas of Rome and Napoli, while some vast regions such as the Alps and the Apennines, the plateaus of Basilicata and Sardinia, are very thinly populated. Since the late 19th century until the 1960’s, Italy was a great source of emigration. Between 1898 and 1914, the peak years of the italian diaspora, about 750.000 Italians emigrated each year. Diaspora contained over 25 million Italians and is considered to be the largest 43

mass migration in modern times. As a result, today municipalities”. more than 4,1 million Italians living abroad, while at Italy is divided into 20 regions as it can be seen least 60 million people of Italian ancestry are living in the following table: abroad, predominantly in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Capital Venezuela, United States of America, Canada, Australia Region and France. About 68% of Italian population is classified Abruzzo L’Aquila as urban, a relatively low figure among developed countries. During the last two decades, Italy underwent Aosta Valley Aosta a devolution process, that eventually led to the creation of administrative metropolitan areas, in order to give Apulia Bari major cities and their metropolitan areas a provincial status (somehow similar to PRC’s direct-controlled Basilicata Potenza municipality). However, none of these new local authorities has yet become fully operative. Calabria Catanzaro Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and more recently, the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the Campania Napoli European Union, the main waves of migration came from the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe Emilia-Romagna Bologna (especially Romania, Albania, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Poland). The second most important area Friuli-Venezia-Giulia Trieste of immigration to Italy has always been neighbouring North Africa (in particular, Morocco, Egypt and Roma Tunisia), with soaring arrivals as a consequence of the Lazio Arab Spring. Furthermore, in recent years, growing Genova migration fluxes from the Far East (notably, China and Liguria the Philippines) and Latin America (Ecuador, Peru) Lombardy Milano have been recorded. According to the latest ISTAT surveys as of 1 January 2016, young people up to 14 years of age were Marche Ancona over 100.000 fewer than in 2015 and represented 13.7% Campobasso of the total. People over 65 years of age were increasing Molise by 150.000 and now represent 22% of the population. Torino Foreign citizens were also constantly increasing and Piemonte constituted as of 1 January 2016, 8.3% of the total population. From a demographic point of view, Italy Sardinia Cagliari is one of the countries with the lowest birth rate in the world. In 2016, the average number of births per Sicilia Palermo woman was estimated at 1.34, down from the 1.46 of 2010, which represented the highest value since 1984. Tuscany Florence Fertility, after a period of recovery, began to decrease again. It remains higher than in the mid-1990’s when Trentino-Alto Adige / Trento the historical lows were reached, but still has not Südtirol reached the level considered optimal for a population or the level of replacement of couples, equal to about Umbria Perugia 2.1 children per woman. The population is very concentrated in some specific areas. In 2015, only 741 Veneto Venezia Italian municipalities exceeded 15.000 inhabitants and counted a total of 36.000.000 inhabitants, the remaining 7.299 municipalities being therefore considered “small 44

The top 20 largest cities from Italy can be seen in the following table: Rank City

Region

Population

Roma

Lazio

3.000.000

Milano

Lombardy

1.500.000

Napoli

Campania

1.000.000

Torino

Piemonte

900.000

Palermo

Sicilia

680.000

Genova

Liguria

600.000

Bologna

Emilia-Romagna

400.000

Florence

Tuscany

385.000

Bari

Apulia

330.000

Catania

Sicily

315.000

Venice

Veneto

265.000

Verona

Veneto

260.000

Messina

Sicily

240.000

Padova

Veneto

215.000

Trieste

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

205.000

Taranto

Apulia

203.000

Brescia

Lombardy

200.000

Prato

Tuscany

191.000

Parma

Emilia-Romagna

190.000

Modena

Emilia-Romagna

185.000

Immigration in Italy

Regions of Italy

Economy & Transportation Economy

Italy has a capitalist mixed economy, the 3rd largest in the Eurozone and 8th in the world. The country is a founding member of the G7, G8, OECD and Euro zone. Italy is considered to be one of the most industrialized countries in the world and a leader in world trade and exports. It is a very developed country, ranked 8th in the world in quality of life and 25th after the Human Development Index. Despite the recent global crisis, the GDP per capita of Italy remains roughly equal to the EU average, and the unemployment rate (12,6%) is slightly higher than the Euro area average. The country is known for its creative and innovative business, for a large agricultural and competitive sector (Italy is the largest producer of wines), and for its influence and high quality of the automotive industry, machine building, food and fashion design. Italy is the 6th country in the world regarding

Italyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s labour productivity is better than average compared to the other European countries

industrial production, characterized by the presence of a smaller number of multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size and a large number of small and medium companies, crowded in some industrial districts which represent the backbone of the Italian industry. Together they form a sector of the manufacturing industry, often focused on exports in niche markets and luxury goods, meaning on the one hand that Italy is less able regarding the competitiveness

Tuscany wine is one of the most appreciated in the world

the bulk of the public debt of Italy belongs to private entities, a major difference from the situation of Greece, and the level of personal debt is much lower than the OECD average. The main factor of socio-economic weakness is a great division between the north and the south. It can be seen through the huge difference between the statistical revenues recorded in the northern and southern municipalities. Since the unification of Italy in 1861, a wide and increasing economic divide has been noticeably growing between the northern provinces and the southern half of the Italian state. In the early decades of the new kingdom, the lack of an effective land reform, heavy taxes and other economic measures imposed on the South, together with the removal of the protectionist tariffs on agricultural goods, made the situation virtually impossible for many tenant farmers and land owners. Multitudes chose to emigrate rather than try to eke out a meager living, especially from 1892 to 1921. In addition, the surge of brigandage and the mafia provoked widespread violence, corruption This map shows the great gap between southern Italy and northern Italy and illegality. After the rise of Benito Mussolini, the “Iron Prefect” Cesare Mori tried to defeat the already of quantity, but on the other hand more able to cope powerful criminal organizations flourishing in the with higher quality products competition coming from South with some degree of success. Fascist policy aimed China and emerging Asian economies which are based at the creation of an Italian empire and Southern Italian ports were strategic for all commerce towards the on the low cost of labor. In 2009 the country was the 7th largest exporter colonies. With the invasion of Southern Italy, the Allies in the world. The closest trade ties of Italy are with restored the authority of the mafia families, lost during the other countries of the European Union, which the Fascist period, and used their influence to maintain carry about 59% of trade. Within the EU the largest public order. In the 1950’s the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno was trading partners of Italy are: Germany (12,9%), France set up as a huge public master plan to help industrialize (11,4%) and Spain (7,4%). Tourism is also one of the most profitable and rapidly increasing sectors of the the South, aiming to do this in two ways: through economy: with 47,7 million tourist arriving worldwide, and an estimated 43,9 billion $ in 2013, Italy was the 5th most visited country in the world and was ranked 6th in income from tourism. Italy has been hardly hit by the recession at the end of the first decade of the 21st century and by the ensuing sovereign debt crisis, which has exacerbated its structural problems. After a strong growth of 5-6% per year from the 1950’s until the 1970’s, and a gradual slowdown from the 1980’s to the 1990’s, the country has practically stagnated in the 2000’s. Political efforts to revitalize the country’s growth with massive state investment have produced a serious increase of public debt, which in 2014 amounted to over 135% of GDP, second in the EU after that of Greece (174%). However, Italian Export Tree Map

Italy is a well-known exporter of high-luxury cars

land reforms creating 120.000 new smallholdings, and through the “Growth Pole Strategy” whereby 60% of all government investment would go to the South, thus boosting the Southern economy by attracting new capital, stimulating local firms and providing employment. However, the objectives were largely missed, and as a result the South became increasingly subsidized and state dependent, incapable of generating private growth itself. Even at present, huge regional disparities persist. Problems in Southern Italy still include widespread political corruption, pervasive organized crime, and very high unemployment rates. In 2007, it was estimated that about 80% of the businesses in the Sicilian cities of Catania and Palermo paid protection money. Thanks to grassroots movement like Addiopizzo, the mafia racket is slowly but constantly losing its verve. The Italian Ministry of Interior reported that organized crime generated an estimated annual profit of 90 billion €. The country’s major companies by sector are: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, CNH Industrial, Ducati, Piaggio (motor vehicles); Pirelli (tyre manufacturing); Enel, Edison, A2A, Terna (energy); Eni (petrochemicals); Candy, Indesit, De’Longhi (home appliances); Leonardo-Finmeccanica that has absorbed its subsidiary companies Alenia Aermacchi, AgustaWestland and Oto Melara (defence); Avio, Telespazio (space); Beretta, Benelli (firearms); Armani, 48

Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Benetton, Diesel, Prada, Luxottica, YOOX (fashion); Ferrero, Barilla, Autogrill, Perfetti Van Melle, Campari, Parmalat (Food & Beverages); Techint, Lucchini, Gruppo Riva, Danieli (steel); Prysmian, Salini Impregilo, Italcementi, Buzzi Unicem, Astaldi (construction); STMicroelectronics (electronics); Telecom Italia, Mediaset (communications); Assicurazioni Generali, Unipol (insurance); UniCredit, Intesa SanPaolo (banking); Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini (luxury vehicles); Fincantieri, Ferretti, Azimut (shipbuilding). In addition, Italy needs to import about 80% of the energy it needs. Moreover, according to the Economic Freedom Index, the country is ranked at 86th in the world because of its inefficient state bureaucracy, its low protection of property rights, the high level of corruption, the high taxes and the public spending which is half of the country’s GDP. Organized crime would represent revenues of about 90 billion € and 7% of Italy’s GDP.

Transportation

Italy is one of the countries with the most vehicles per capita, with 690 per 1/000 people in 2010. Italy has a total of 487.700 km of paved roads, of which 6.758 km are motorways, generally with a speed limit of 130 km/h. The speed limit in towns is usually 50 km/h and less commonly 30 km/h. As a result, Italy

Italy’s Frecciarossa high speed train

has a fairly large motorway network. Some roads have tolls on them while others are free. On most motorways there are sold Viacards, which makes it cheaper and speeds up the payment and passage of the tolls. Citizens are quite chaotic when driving and don’t respect traffic rules. For this reason, drivers must be very careful to the road. The network of national, provincial and local roads is considered excellent in Italy. The speed limit on these highways is 130 km, 110 km, 90 km and 50 km respectively. They are mostly marked with blue posters and white letters. In case of emergency dial 116 for the emergency service or in case of any problem one can call the telephones that exist every two kilometers on the roads. A major part of the Italian rail network is managed and operated by Ferrovie dello Stato, a state owned company. Other regional agencies, mostly owned by public entities such as regional governments, operate on the Italian network. The Italian railways are subsidized by the government, receiving 8.1 billion € in 2009. Travelers who often make use of the railway

A9 Highway in Italy

Tram in Rome

during their stay in Italy might use Rail Passes, such as the European Inter-Rail or Italy’s national and regional passes. These rail passes allow travelers the freedom to use regional trains during the validity period, but all high-speed and intercity trains require a 10 € reservation fee. Regional passes, such as “Io viaggio ovunque Lombardia”, offer one day, multiple day and monthly period of validity. There are also saver passes for adults, who travel as a group, with savings up to 20%. Foreign travelers should purchase these passes in advance, so that the passes could be delivered by post prior to the trip. When using the rail passes, the date of travel needs to be filled in before boarding the trains. Italy is the world’s first country to establish a High-speed rail network. In 1967, the Bologna-Florence high-speed line, with speeds up to 230 km/h, opened to passenger traffic and reduced the journey time from 1 hour and 34 minutes to 59 minutes. Subsequently, high-speed rail tracks connect Milan to Bologna (1 hour), Florence to Rome (1 hour and 30 minutes) and Rome to Napoli (1 hour and 10 minutes). The Bologna-

Port of Genova

Milano Metro

Florence high-speed line was upgraded to 300 km/h and the current journey time is 35 minutes. A new high-speed line linking Milan and Torino, operating at 300 km/h, opened to passenger traffic in 2009, reducing the journey time from 2 hours to 1 hour. The highspeed line between Napoli and Salerno is still under construction. Construction of the Milan-Venice highspeed line has begun in 2013. In Italy, despite being reduced in size, the tram networks of Milan, Naples, Rome, Turin and Trieste have never been closed. In Italy, despite the presence of established builders and valid projects, the construction of tramways has struggled to establish themselves because of the resistance of many public administrators and of a public opinion in some cases too anchored to

Map of the Metro in Rome

individual transport. Single lines or new tram networks have been designed since the late 1990â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. The first city to reintroduce the tram was Messina in 2003, followed in the following years by Bergamo, Cagliari, Florence, Padova, Sassari, Palermo and Mestre-Venice. Italy has 2.400 km of navigable waterways for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value. In the northern regions of Lombardy and Venice, commuter ferry boats operate on Lake Garda and Lake Como to connect towns and villages at both sides of the lakes. The waterways in Venice, including the Grand Canal, serve as the vital transportation network for local residents and tourists. Frequent shuttle ferries (vaporetta) connect different points on the main island of Venice and other outlying islands of the lagoon. In

Italian bilevel train TSR at Milano Affori railway station

Public Bus in Milano, Italy

Taxis near Colloseum, Rome

Rome Fiumicino Airport

addition, there are direct shuttle boats between Venice and the Venice Marco Polo Airport. Italy is the 5th in Europe by number of passengers by air transport, with about 148 million passengers or about 10% of the European total in 2011. Most of passengers in Italy are on international flights, about 57%. A big share of domestic flights connect the major islands (Sardegna and Sicily) to the mainland. Domestic flights between major Italian cities as Rome and Milano still play a relevant role but are declining since the opening of the Italian high-speed rail network in recent years. Italy has a total as of 130 airports in 2012, of which 99 have paved runways. The most and busiest of them are: Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa, Torino Caselle, Venice Marco Polo, Milan Linate, Napoli Capodichino, Bologna Guglielmo Marconi, Palermo Punta Raisi, Catania Fontanarossa and Bergamo Orio al Serio. There are long-distance intercity buses run by local companies, but the services are infrequent during the week and usually provide a secondary link to railway services. Italy does not have a nationwide bus operator. However, in 2015, the British company Megabus launched daily intercity bus services on several domestic routes. This makes a daily total of 12 services in each direction between Rome and Bologna. Flixbus, a company founded in the course of the opening of the German intercity bus market also serves routes in Italy, both domestic and international. The Metro misses much of the city centre and 52

even when Line C finally arrives in the city centre compared with other major cities like Paris and London it will have limited coverage of the very centre of Rome. Travelling by Metro is not the pleasant fast transit it should be. Stations aren’t very clean often, graffiti is a real problem, so much so that sometimes you can’t see out the windows of the Metro trains particularly hard hit with graffiti. The system is also very crowded. The Rome Metro doesn’t go out to either of Rome’s Airports direct but Line B to Tiburtina or Piramide can be taken where you can catch a cheap stopping train to Fiumicino Airport and from the southern terminus of Line A, Anagnina, there is a local bus to Ciampino Airport. It also helps visitors that Termini Station, hub of the Rome Metro where Lines A & B cross each other is the single largest hotel district in Rome. The Rome Metro struggles to meet the demands, expect overcrowding, even at off-peak times. Taxi is a convenient alternative to move around the city, as long as it overcomes its shortage at night and the excess of illegal taxis that charge others. They are the most expensive in Europe and are usually a point for customer thefts, so make sure they are from the official taxi queue. In cities like Rome and Milan, taxis can be taken from a specific street, when you see them pass or in other cases, from a hotel you can ask at the reception for any company. It is a custom to leave a tip for this service. Some taxi drivers don’t have a meter and it is recommended to take small bills since taxi drivers do not give change.

Alitalia is the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national air carrier

Venice is a beautiful city built on water

Italian Holidays

Culture Italian Proverbs

1. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. (A caval donato non si guarda in bocca.) 2. He who does evil, is never short of an excuse. (A chi fa male, mai mancano scuse.) 3. Help yourself and God will help you. (Aiutati che Dio t’aiuta.) 4. Fine words don’t feed cats. (Belle parole non pascon i gatti.) 5. Those who sleep don’t catch any fish. (Chi dorme non piglia pesci.) 6. When a friend asks, there is no tomorrow. (Cuando l’amico chiede, non v’è domani.) 7. It is sweet doing nothing. (Il dolce far niente.) 8. Love is blind. (L’amore è cieco.) 9. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. (La semplicità è l’ultima sofisticazione.) 10. Eat well, laugh often, love much. (Mangia bene, ridi spesso, ama molto.) 11. We cannot have a perfect life without friends. (Noi non potemo avere perfetta vita senza amici.) 12. You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help find it within himself. (Non puoi insegnare niente a un uomo. Puoi solo aiutarlo a scoprire ciò che ha dentro di sé.) 13. No news is good news. (Nulla nuova, buona nuova.) 14. When you finish the game, the king and pawn end up in the same box. (Quando finisce la partita il re ed il pedone finiscono nella stessa scatola.) 15. If you haven’t cried, your eyes can’t be beautiful. (Se non hai mai pianto, i tuoi occhi non possono essere belli.) 16. A meal without wine is a day without sunshine. (Una cena senza vino e come un giorno senza sole.) 17. Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow. (E meglio qualche cosa che niente.) 18. Skip the enjoyment that you will regret. (Fuggi il piacer presente, che accena dolor futuro.) 19. Where there is no temptation there is no glory. (Senza tentazioni, senza onore.) 20. United we stand, divided we fall; Union is strength. (I fratelli uniti tra loro formano un fascio che pùo resistere agli sforzi più robusti.) 54

Period

Holiday

1 January 6 January Variable Variable Variable 25 April

New Year’s Day (Capodanno) Epiphany (Epifania) Good Friday (Venerdi Santo) Easter Day (Pasque) Easter Monday (Pasquetta) Liberation Day (Festa della Liberazione) 25 April Saint Mark’s Day (Festa di San Marco) 1 May Labor Day (Festa del Lavoro) 2 June Republic Day (Festa della Repubblica) 24 June The Feast of Saint John (Florence, Genova, Torino) – (Festa di San Giovanni) 29 June The Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (Roma) – (Festa di San Pietro e Paolo) 15 August Assumption of Mary (Ferragosto) 19 The Feast of Saint Januarius (Napoli) – September (Festa di San Gennaro) 1 November All Saint’s Day (Ognissanti) 7 December The Feast of Saint Ambrose (Milano) – (Festa di Sant’Ambrogio) 8 December Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Immacolata Concezione) 25 Christmas Day (Natale) December 26 Saint Stephen’s Day (Santo Stefano) December 31 New Year’s Eve (Vigilia di Capodanno) December

Pizza is Italy’s most appreciated food worldwide

Everybody wants to experience a ride with the gondola on the Grand Canal

The Venice Carnival is one of the most well-known in the world for its elaborate masks and great fun

Italy is the birthplace of the Roman Empire

Typical Italian Mediterranean Street

Italian Costumes throughout the Middle Ages

Lots of famous ancient vestiges can be found across Italy

Italian Personalities

LEONARDO DA VINCI Leonardo Da Vinci (b. 15 April 1452 in Vinci, Republic of Florence - d. 2 May 1519 in Amboise, Kingdom of France) was an Italian polymath whose areas of interest included invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, poetry, and cartography. He has been variously called the father of paleontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter and tank, his genius epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. At the time of his birth, Leonardo’s parents were not married. His father, Ser Piero, was a Florentine notary and landlord while his mother, Caterina, was a young peasant girl. Leonardo spent his childhood on the estate of his father, as his legitimate son, receiving the basic education of those times: reading, writing and arithmetic. He only learned Latin, the foundation of the traditional education, much later, on his own. Also, he never penetrated the core of higher mathematics (geometry and advanced arithmetics) until his thirties, when he started to study them diligently and insight. Early on, he has demonstrated his artistic inclinations. At the age of 15 years old, his father, a prominent man in town, has placed young Leonardo under the apprenticeship of Andrea del Verrocchio. In the workshop of the famous artist, Leonardo received a rich instruction, learning painting, sculpture and mechanical arts. He also works in the neighboring workshop, belonging to artist Antonio Pollaiuolo. In 1472, he is received in the guild of painters in Florence, but preferred to remain in his master’s studio for another five years, after which he started working as an independent artist in Florence until 1481. From this period, countless pencil and pen sketches, among which many drawings, for example pumps, weapons of war or mechanical devices, survived during ages and proved his knowledge and technical issues concerns since the very dawn of his career. In 1482, Leonardo leaves for Milan to enter in the service of the duke. This was actually surprising if you consider that the thirty years old artist had just received an order for his first far-reaching works in his native 58

Leonardo Da Vinci

Florence: “Adoration of the Magi”, an unfinished panel for the San Donato a Scopeto monastery, and a painting that he didn’t start for the church altar of the Saint Bernard Church in the Palazzo della Signoria. He must have had reasonable grounds for leaving Florence, as he abandoned both projects. It may have been the result of the sophisticated trends of neoplatonism origin that characterized Florence’s Medici family at that time to be contrasted with the empirical thinking of Leonardo, who probably found the academic atmosphere of Milan more favourable. Without any doubt, he was tempted by Duke Lodovico Sforza’s great yard and the ambitious projects that awaited him there. Leonardo spent 17 years in Milan until Lodovico’s government collapse in 1499. In the royal administration, he figured as “pictor et ingeniarius ducalis” (painter and ducal engineer). His gentle but retained nature and nice behavior made him very popular at the Duke’s court. Being highly valued, people always asked paintings and sculptures from his and was charged with organizing the royal balls. He has also

of the founder of the Sforza dynasty. Leonardo has dedicated 12 years old to the statue. In 1493, the clay model of the horse was portrayed to the crowd at the marriage of Emperor Maximilian and Bianca Maria Sforza. Meanwhile, preparations for the pouring of the colossus that would measure 5 meters were taking place. However, because of the impending war, the metal for the work was used for the cannons instead, and thus the project was abandoned. Lodovico’s fall in 1499, sealed the fate of this unsuccessful attempt, perhaps the grandest idea for a monument in the 15th century. The war would leave the clay model in disrepair. As a master artist, Leonardo had a vast workshop in Milan. Disciples and students entered in his service. Among the disciples of those time were: Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Ambrogio of Predis, Bernardino de ‘Conti, Francesco Napoletano, Andrea Solari, Marco d’Oggiono and Salai. It’s not clear what role most of his associates played, a fact which raises a question mark

Baptism of Christ at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (realized by Leonardo Da Vinci and Andrea del Verrocchio)

served as a counselor in architecture, fortifications and military matters, but also as a hydraulic engineer and solved mechanical engineering problems. Leonardo has imposed endless goals throughout his entire life. In his 17 years of stay in Milan, Leonardo carried out six compositions. According to recent reports, he would have received an order for three more compositions, which either disappeared or weren’t even made. Between 1483 and 1486 he worked at the Virgin of the Rocks, a project that led to a decade of misunderstandings between the Brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception, which commissioned the painting and the artist. For unknown reasons, this litigation prompted Leonardo to execute a replica of this work in 1508. At the ending of his first Milanese period, he already finished one of his most famous works, the imposing wall painting of “The Last Supper”, painted between 1495 and 1498 in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery. Also notable is the decorative painting of the ceiling, dated from 1498, made for the “Sala delle Asse” of the Sforzesco Castle in Milan. During this period, he worked at a grand sculptural project that seemed to reveal the true reason for which he was summoned to Milan: a monumental equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza built in honor “Mona Lisa”, da Vinci’s most famous work

“Annunciazzione” is one of Leonardo’s earliest works

over the so-called apocryphal works, where the master collaborated with his assistants. Scientists disagree regarding the attribution of his works. In December 1499 or January 1500, after the victorious French entrance in Milan, Leonardo leaves the city accompanied by mathematician Lucas Pacioli. After a short stay at Mantova in February, he went to Venice, where the Signoria asks for his support to prevent a possible Turkish invasion in Friuli. Leonardo advises them to prepare the flooding of the threatened region. From Venice, he returns to Florence, where, after a long absence, is enthusiastically received and honored as honorary citizen of the city. In that same year, Leonardo is named expert architect in a commission appointed to investigate the damage suffered by the foundation and structure of the San Francesco al Monte church. He is hosted by the Servite Order at the Santissima Annunziata Monastery, where he seemed to be preoccupied with mathematics rather than painting, according to the story told by Fra Pietro Nuvolari to Isabella D’Este, who was trying in vain to obtain a composition belonging to the artist. His irrepressible lust for life probably causes him to leave Florence in the summer of 1502 to enter the services of Cesare Borgia as a “senior military architect and chief engineer.” Borgia, the famous son of Pope Alexander VI and commander of the papal 60

army, tried with an unprecedented cruelty to take possession of the Papal States, Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions. When he hired Leonardo, he was at the pinnacle of his power, at 27 years being one of the most exciting and most feared characters from that time. Leonardo, having twice his age, was probably seduced by his young personality. For ten months, Leonardo travels and explores the territories occupied by the Condottieri. In this time, he does sketches city plans and topographic maps, making the first steps in what will become modern cartography. At Cesare Borgia’s court, Leonardo Da Vinci met Niccolo Macchiavelli, who was sent by Florence as a political observer. In the spring of 1503, Leonardo returns to Florence to make the expertise of a project that aimed the diversion of the Arno river behind Pisa, so that the city who was under the siege of the Florentines, would lose its access to the sea. The plan didn’t succeed, but the artist’s research led him to a new plan, proposed for the first time in the 13th century, consisting in the digging of a large channel that would bypass the unnavigable area of the river, thus linking Florence to the sea. Leonardo outlined his ideas in a series of studies. He manages to prepare a map depicting the channel’s route. Although it was redesigned many times in subsequent centuries, the project was never carried through, although the nowadays great highway that connects Florence to the

“The Last Supper”, another worldwide known painting of Leonardo Da Vinci

sea was built on exactly the same route that Leonardo had given to the channel. In 1503, Leonardo also received an order for a fresco in the council hall of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, a historical scene of monumental proportions (7 x 17 m), which is twice the size of “The Last Supper”. For three years he worked at the “Battle of Anghiari”, but the painting remained unfinished, like Michelangelo’s “Battle of Cascina”, which was meant to be its pair. In these years, he also paints “Mona Lisa” (about 15031506). The second Florentine period captured the artist deepened in scientific studies. Performing dissections in the hospital Santa Maria Nuova and develops anatomical researches in a comprehensive study on the structure and function of the human body. Systematically, da Vinci observes the flight of birds, on which he writes a treatise. Even his hydrological studies “about the nature and movement of water” were extended to research on the physical properties of water, focusing on the laws of currents, which he compared to those of air. In May 1506, Charles d’Amboise, the French governor of Milan, asks to the Signoria of Florence the permission of Leonardo’s return to the Umbrian town. The Signoria accepts and the artist left, leaving unfinished the monumental “Battle of Anghiari”. Due to an unsuccessful experimenent with the paint, Leonardo

ceased to work on the fresco. Otherwise, his abandon of this grandiose work can’t be explained. In the winter of 1507-1508, Leonardo stops in Florence to help sculptor Giovanni Francesco Rustici to finish the bronze statues for the font, then he settles in Milan. Held in high esteem by his patrons in Milan, Charles d’Amboise and King Louis XII, Leonardo finds great satisfaction in his largely assumed duties in giving advice on matters of architecture. Tangible evidence of his work are found in the artist’s plans for the villapalace of Charles and it is assumed that he had done the sketches for the oratory of the Santa Maria alla Fontana church, founded by Charles. Also, Leonardo da Vinci works on an old resumed project of the French governor: the Adda channel, whose purpose was to establish naval ties between Milan and Lake Como. In this stint period spent in Milan, Leonardo painted very little. He surrounds himself by disciples again. In his workshop, there were Bernardino de ‘Conti and Salai, some of his older students, as well as new students, including Cesare da Sesto, Giampetrino, Bernardino Luini and the young nobleman Francesco Melzi, who would be his loyal friend until his death. In the same period, he received a significant order. Gian Giacomo Trivulzio returned victorious in Milan as marshal of the French army and enemy of Lodovico Sforza. He entrusts to Leonardo the carving of his tomb, 61

Da Vinci’s “Anatomical Man”

an equestrian statue that was to be lifted in the mortuary chapel donated by Trivulizio to the San Nazaro Maggiore church. After years of preparation, from which lots of eloquent sketches survived until our days, the marshal himself gives up his ambitious plan in favor of a more modest building. It’s the second sculptural project that Leonardo abandoned. In these years, the artist’s scientific concerns are increasing. His anatomical studies acquire new dimensions thanks to collaboration with Marcantonio della Torre, a renowned anatomist from Pavia. Leonardo initiates the plans for a general work that would include not only accurate and detailed reproductions of the human body and organs, but also comparative anatomy and complete physiology studies. Da Vinci was going to finish the anatomy manuscript until the winter of 15101511. In addition, his manuscripts abound in studies of mathematics, optics, mechanics, geology and botany. In his research, he feels more and more convinced that 62

force and motion as basic mechanical functions, give rise to all the external forms of organic and inorganic nature and establish them. Moreover, he believed that these forces are in accordance with oredered and harmonious laws. During the political unrest of 1513, the French are expelled for a while from Milan and Leonardo, who reached the age of 60 years old, is determined to leave the city. At the end of the year, he went to Rome, accompanied by his pupils, Melzi and Salai, as well as by two workshop aids, counting on the support of his patron, Giuliano de Medici, brother of new Pope Leo X. Giuliano provides Leonardo some rooms in the Belvedere palace of the Vatican. He offers him a monthly stipend, but largescale orders weren’t immediate. Leonardo’s staying in Rome spans for three years, during which the artistic life of the city is blooming: Donato Bramante built the Basilica San Pietro, Raphael painted the last rooms in the new apartment of the pope, Michelangelo strived to

complete his work on the tomb of Pope Julius and many young artists, including Timoteo Viti or Il Sodoma, express their talent. Letters of the old master betray the bitterness of his secluded life in his studio, deepened in mathematical and technical studies, or scouring the city to explore ancient monuments. He seems to have preferred the company of Bramante, who died in 1514. However, about his relationships with other artists in Rome he didn’t left us any testimony. A splendid map of the “Pontine Marshes” suggests that Leonardo met at least the position of consultant in a project of rehabilitation of Giuliano de Medici, commissioned in 1514. He has also drawn up blueprints for a spacious residence that was to be built in Florence for the Medici, who seized power in 1512. However, the residence wasn’t built. Probably suffocated by this landscape, Leonardo, aged 65, agreed to enter into the service of young French King, Francis I. At the end of 1516, Leonardo da Vinci leaves Italy forever with his faithful disciple, Melzi. The last three years of his life he spends in the small castle of Cloux, near the royal summer palace at Amboise, on the Loire Valley. He was proudly wearing the title of “Premier peintre, architecte et mechanicien du Roi” (“First painter, architect and engineer of the King”). Leonardo continues to make sketches for proms, but the King had considered him an honored guest and offered him total freedom. A few decades later, Francis I talking about Leonardo with sculptor Benvenuto Cellini, using only words of praise and appreciation. Leonardo handed the King his plans for the Romorantin palace and gardens meant to serve as a widow residence for the queen mother. Unfortunately, the complex project that combined the most prominent features of Italian and French traditions in the fields of architecture and landscaping must be stopped, because malaria arrives in the region. Leonardo painted very little in France, preferring to appoint and to draw his scientific studies, treaties on painting and several pages of anatomy treaty. “Visions of the end of the world” or “The flood”, describes with waste of imagination the primordial forces that dominate nature, letting his pessimism to emerge. He died in Cloux and was buried in the palacechurch of Saint Florentine. The church was devastated during the French Revolution and during the early 19th century was devastated to the ground. Today, the place of da Vinci’s tomb is unknown. Melzi inherited all of Leonardo da Vinci’s artistic and scientific estate. Statue of Leonardo Da Vinci in Florence, at the Uffizi Gallery

GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI Giuseppe Garibaldi (b. 4 July 1807 in Nice, French Empire - d. 2 June 1882 in Caprera, Kingdom of Italy) was an Italian general, politician and nationalist who played a large role in the history of Italy. He is considered, with Camillo Cavour, Victor Emmanuel II and Giuseppe Mazzini, as one of Italy’s “fathers of the fatherland”. Garibaldi was a central figure in the Italian Risorgimento, since he personally commanded and fought in many military campaigns that led eventually to the formation of a unified Italy. He was appointed general by the provisional government of Milan in 1848, General of the Roman Republic in 1849 by the Minister of War, and led the Expedition of the Thousand on behalf and with the consent of Victor Emmanuel II.

Unknown painting of Garibaldi in a red shirt

Garibaldi was born and christened Joseph-Marie Garibaldi in Nice, which had been directly annexed by Napoleonic France in 1805, to Giovanni Domenico Garibaldi and Maria Rosa Nicoletta Raimondo. In 1814, the Congress of Vienna returned Nice to Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia. Garibaldi’s family’s involvement in coastal trade drew him to a life at sea. He participated actively in the community of the Nizzardo Italians and was certified in 1832 as a merchant marine captain. In April 1833 he travelled to Taganrog, Russia, in the schooner Clorinda with a shipment of oranges. During 10 days in port, he met Giovanni Battista Cuneo from Oneglia, a politically active immigrant and member of the secret “La Giovine Italia”/ “Young Italy” movement of Giuseppe Mazzini. Mazzini was an impassioned proponent of the Italian unification as a liberal republic through political and social reform. Garibaldi joined the society and took an oath, dedicating himself to the struggle to liberate and unify his homeland free from Austrian dominance. 64

Giuseppe Garibaldi

In Geneva, during November 1833, Garibaldi met Mazzini, starting thus a long relationship that later became troublesome. He joined the Carbonari revolutionary association, and in February 1834 participated in a failed Mazzinian insurrection in Piemonte. A Genoese court sentenced him to death in absentia, as a result, he fled across the border to Marseille. Garibaldi first sailed to Tunisia before eventually finding his way to the Empire of Brazil. Once there, he took up the cause of Republic of Rio Grande do Sul in its attempt to separate from Brazil, joining the rebels known as the Ragamuffins in the “Ragamuffin War”. During this war he met Ana Ribeiro da Silva, commonly known as “Anita”. When the Ragamuffins tried to proclaim another republic in the Brazilian province of Santa Catarina in October 1839 she joined him aboard his ship, “Rio Pardo” and fought alongside Garibaldi at the battles of Imbituba and Laguna. In 1841, Garibaldi and Anita moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where Garibaldi worked as a trader and schoolmaster. The couple married in Montevideo the following year. They had four children: Menotti, Rosita, Teresita and Ricciotti. A skilled horsewoman, Anita is said to have taught Giuseppe about the gaucho culture of southern Brazil and Uruguay. Around this time, he adopted his trademark clothing, which consisted of the red shirt, poncho, and sombrero commonly worn by the gauchos. In 1842, Garibaldi took command of the Uruguayan fleet and raised an “Italian Legion” for the Uruguayan Civil War. He aligned his forces with a faction composed of the Uruguayan Colorados led by Fructuoso Rivera, and the Argentine Unitarios. This faction received some support from the French and British Empires in their struggle against the forces of former Uruguayan president Manuel Oribe’s Blancos and Argentine Federales under the rule of Buenos Aires caudillo, Juan Manuel de Rosas. Between 1842 and 1848, Garibaldi defended Montevideo against forces led by Oribe. In 1845, he managed to occupy Colonia del Sacramento and Isla Martín García, and led the controversial sack of Gualeguaychú during the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata. Adopting guerrilla tactics, Garibaldi later achieved two victories during 1846 in the Battle of Cerro and the Battle of San Antonio del Santo. Garibaldi returned to Italy amidst the turmoil of the revolutions of 1848, and offered his services to Carlo Alberto of Sardinia. The monarch displayed some liberal inclinations, but treated Garibaldi with coolness and distrust. Rebuffed by the Piemontese, he and his

Portrait of Giuseppe Garibaldi at musée Masséna in Nice, France.

followers crossed into Lombardy where they offered assistance to the provisional government of Milan, which had rebelled against the Austrian occupation. In the course of the following unsuccessful First Italian War of Independence, he led his legion to two minor victories at Luino and Morazzone. On 30 April 1849, the Republican army, under Garibaldi’s command, defeated a numerically far superior French army. Subsequently, French reinforcements arrived, and the siege of Rome began on 1 June. Despite the resistance of the Republican army, the French prevailed on 29 June. On 30 June, the Roman Assembly met and debated three options: surrender, continue fighting in the streets, or retreat from Rome to continue resistance from the Apennine mountains. Garibaldi made a speech favoring the third option and then said: “Dovunque saremo, colà sarà Roma”. (Wherever we may be, there will be Rome). He went 65

Garibaldi at The Third Italian War of Independence (by Giulio Carlini)

to Tangier, where he stayed with Francesco Carpanetto, a wealthy Italian merchant. Carpanetto suggested that he and some of his associates finance the purchase of a merchant ship, which Garibaldi would command. Garibaldi agreed, feeling that his political goals were for the moment unreachable, and he could at least earn his own living. The ship was to be purchased in the United States, so Garibaldi went to New York, arriving on 30 July 1850. However, the funds for purchasing a ship were lacking. While in New York, he stayed with various Italian friends, including some exiled revolutionaries and he attended the masonic lodges of New York in 1850 where he met several supporters of democratic internationalism, whose minds were open to making socialist thoughts their own and giving Freemasonry a strong anti-papal stand. After side trips to Amoy and Manila, Garibaldi brought the “Carmen” (the ship he purchased) back to Peru via the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, passing clear around the south coast of Australia. He visited Three Hummock Island in Bass Strait. Garibaldi then took the Carmen on a second voyage: to the United 66

States via Cape Horn with copper from Chile, and also wool. Garibaldi arrived in Boston, and went on to New York. There, he received a hostile letter from Denegri, and resigned his command. Another Italian, Captain Figari, had just come to the U.S. to buy a ship, and hired Garibaldi to take his ship to Europe. Figari and Garibaldi bought the Commonwealth in Baltimore and Garibaldi left New York for the last time in November 1853. He sailed the Commonwealth to London and then to Newcastle, on the River Tyne for coal. The Commonwealth arrived on 21 March 1854. Garibaldi, already a popular figure on Tyneside, was welcomed enthusiastically by local working men, although the Newcastle Courant reported that he refused an invitation to dine with dignitaries in the city. He stayed in South Shields on Tyneside for over a month, departing at the end of April 1854. During his stay, he was presented with an inscribed sword, which his grandson later carried as a volunteer in British service in the Boer War. He then sailed to Genoa, where his five years of exile ended on 10 May 1854. Garibaldi returned again to Italy in 1854. Using a legacy from the death of his brother, he bought half of the Italian island of Caprera (north of Sardinia), devoting himself to agriculture. In 1859, the Second Italian War of Independence, also known as the Austro-Sardinian War broke out in the midst of internal plots at the Sardinian government. Garibaldi was appointed major general, and formed a volunteer unit named the “Hunters of the Alps” (Cacciatori delle Alpi). Thenceforth, Garibaldi abandoned Mazzini’s republican ideal of the liberation of Italy, assuming that only the Piemontese monarchy could effectively achieve it. With his volunteers, he won victories over the Austrians at Varese, Como, and other places. At the beginning of April 1860, uprisings in Messina and Palermo in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies provided Garibaldi with an opportunity. He gathered about a thousand volunteers, called “i Mille” (the Thousand), or, as popularly known, “the Redshirts”, in two ships named Piemonte and Lombardo. He left from Genoa on 5 May in the evening and landed at Marsala, on the westernmost point of Sicily, on 11 May. Swelling the ranks of his army with scattered bands of local rebels, Garibaldi led 800 volunteers to victory over an enemy force of 1.500 on the hill of Calatafimi on 15 May. He used the counter-intuitive tactic of an uphill bayonet charge. He saw that the enemy on the hill was terraced, and the terraces would shelter his advancing men. Though small by comparison with the coming clashes at Palermo, Milazzo and Volturno,

Garibaldi entering in Napoli on 7 September 1860 67

Giuseppe Garibaldi in Palermo in 1860

this battle was decisive in terms of establishing Garibaldi’s power in the island. An apocryphal but realistic story had him say to his lieutenant Nino Bixio, “Qui si fa l’Italia o si muore”, meaning: “Here we either make Italy, or we die”. In reality, the Neapolitan forces were ill guided, and most of its higher officers had been bought out. The next day, he declared himself dictator of Sicily in the name of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. He advanced to Palermo, the capital of the island, and launched a siege on 27 May. He had the support of many inhabitants, who rose up against the garrison, but before they could take the city, reinforcements arrived and bombarded the city nearly to ruins. At this time, a British admiral intervened and facilitated an armistice, by which the Neapolitan royal troops and warships surrendered the city and departed. Historians argue that Garibaldi’s “Thousand” were students, independent artisans, and professionals. They were not peasants. The support given by Sicilian peasants was not a matter 68

of patriotism, but of hatred towards the exploiting landlords and oppressive Neapolitan officials. Garibaldi himself had no interest in social revolution, and instead sided with the Sicilian landlords against the rioting peasants. Garibaldi had won a marvelous victory. He gained worldwide renown and the adulation of Italians. Faith in his prowess was so strong that doubt, confusion, and dismay seized even the Neapolitan court. Six weeks later, he marched against Messina in the east of the island, winning a ferocious and difficult battle at Milazzo. By the end of July, only the citadel resisted. Garibaldi deeply disliked the Sardinian Prime Minister, Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour. To an extent, he simply mistrusted Cavour’s pragmatism and realpolitik, but he also bore a personal grudge for Cavour’s trading away his home city of Nice to the French the previous year. On the other hand, he felt attracted toward the Piemontese monarch, who in his opinion had been chosen by Providence for the liberation of Italy. In his famous meeting with Victor Emmanuel II at Teano on 26 October 1860, Garibaldi greeted him as King of Italy and shook his hand. Garibaldi rode into Napoli at the king’s side on 7 November, then retired to the rocky island of Caprera, refusing to accept any reward for his services. In June 1862, he sailed from Genoa and landed at Palermo, seeking to gather volunteers for the impending campaign under the slogan “Roma o Morte” (Rome or Death). An enthusiastic party quickly joined him, and he turned for Messina, hoping to cross to the mainland there. When he arrived, he had a force of some two thousand, but the garrison proved loyal to the king’s instructions and barred his passage. They turned south and set sail from Catania, where Garibaldi declared that he would enter Rome as a victor or perish beneath its walls. He landed at Melito on 14 August, and marched at once into the Calabrian mountains. Far from supporting this endeavor, the Italian government was quite disapproving. General Enrico Cialdini dispatched a division of the regular army, under Colonel Emilio Pallavicini, against the volunteer bands. On 28 August the two forces met in the rugged Aspromonte. One of the regulars fired a chance shot, and several volleys followed, killing a few of the volunteers. The fighting ended quickly, as Garibaldi forbade his men to return fire on fellow subjects of the Kingdom of Italy. Many of the volunteers were taken prisoners, including Garibaldi, who had been wounded by a shot in the foot. Garibaldi took up arms again in 1866, this time

with the full support of the Italian government. The Austro-Prussian War had broken out, and Italy had allied with Prussia against the Austrian Empire in the hope of taking Venice from Austrian rule, in the Third Italian War of Independence. Garibaldi gathered again his “Hunters of the Alps”, now some 40.000 strong people, and led them into the Trentino. He defeated the Austrians at Bezzecca, thus securing the only Italian victory in that war and made for Trento. The Italian regular forces were defeated at Lissa on the sea, and made little progress on land after the disaster of Custoza. An armistice was signed, by which Austria ceded Venice to Italy, but this result was largely due to Prussia’s successes on the northern front. Garibaldi’s advance through Trentino was for nought and he was ordered to stop his advance to Trento. Garibaldi answered with a short telegram from the main square of Bezzecca with the famous motto: “Obbedisco!” (I obey!) . After the war, Garibaldi led a political party that agitated for the capture of Rome, the peninsula’s ancient

capital. In 1867, he again marched on the city, but the Papal army, supported by a French auxiliary force, proved a match for his badly armed volunteers. He was shot and wounded in the leg in the Battle of Mentana, and had to withdraw out of the Papal territory. The Italian government again imprisoned and held him for some time, after which he returned to Caprera. In 1879, he founded the “League of Democracy” which advocated universal suffrage, abolition of ecclesiastical property, emancipation of women, and maintenance of a standing army. Ill and confined to bed by arthritis, he made trips to Calabria and Sicily. In 1880, he married Francesca Armosino, with whom he previously had three children. On his deathbed, Garibaldi asked for his bed to be moved to where he could gaze at the emerald and sapphire sea. Upon his death, on 2 June 1882 at the age of almost 75, his wishes for a simple funeral and cremation were not respected. He was buried in his farm on the island of Caprera alongside his last wife and some of his children.

Statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi in Genova

MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI Michelangelo Buonarroti (b. 6 March 1475 in Caprese near Arezzo, Republic of Florence - d. 18 February 1564 in Rome, Papal States) was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High Renaissance who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Considered to be the greatest living artist during his lifetime, he has since also been described as one of the greatest artists of all time. Despite making few forays beyond the arts, his versatility in the disciplines he took up was of such a high order that he is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with contemporary rival and fellow Florentine Medici client, Leonardo da Vinci. Michelangelo di Ludovico Buonarroti Simoni was the third of the five sons of Lodovico di Buonarroti Simoni and of Francesca di Neri di Miniato del Sera. After returning to Florence, the place where his family came from, Michelangelo was left in the care of a nurse. The nurse being the daughter and wife of a stonemason, has inspired little Michelangelo the love for marble. This early passion made him abandon school, even though his parents wanted him to study grammar and to devote to humanities. Due to his friend, painter Francesco Granacci, Michelangelo discovers painting and in 1488, he is given to apprenticeship in the most famous painting workshop in Florence, belonging to Domenico Ghirlandaio. At that time, Michelangelo together with his brother, David, have executed the frescoes of the Santa Maria Novella Church. However, his desire to work in marble never abandoned him. He has 14 years old when he began to study sculpture under the observation of Bertoldo di Giovanni, a pupil of Donatello, based on the ancient statues found in the garden of Lorenzo de Medici, nicknamed “Il Magnifico”, one of the most important political leaders of Florence. In the palace of the rich leader, himself a patron of the arts, Michelangelo has the opportunity to know the artists who came to the yard, which became an important center of humanistic culture. Among them was poet Angelo Poliziano, with whom Michelangelo talked about Homer, Virgil, Dante and Petrarca. Michelangelo will live at the de Medici family in the years 1489-1492. During this time, he realizes 2 important works, “Battle of the Centaurs” and “Madonna 70

Michelangelo Buonarroti

della Scala”. After the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, he leaves the palace and returns to his parental home. Florence was crossing at the time a troubled period during which, Michelangelo left for a year in Venice after he spent some time in Bologna, where he admired the works of Jacopo della Quercia and made three sculptures for the Cathedral of San Petronio. He returns to Florence in 1495, along with the restoration of peace, and while Savonarola condemned in his sermons luxury and immorality, Michelangelo made a sculpture, called “Il bambino”. In 1496, he went for the first to Rome, where he received several sculpture orders from Cardinal Riario and banker Jacopo Galli including “Bacchus”. Michelangelo Buonarroti sculpts the famous “Pietà” for the Basilica San Pietro, whose beauty will make the artist’s contemporaries to recognize his genius. In 1501, upon his return to Florence, he sculpts the “Statue of David” and other works of sculpture and painting, including “Tondo Doni” and “Tondo Pitti”, which aroused the admiration of his countrymen. In 1505, Pope Julius II called him to Rome, giving him the order to accomplish a monumental mausoleum, in which the architecture could blend, in the classical manner, with sculpture. He spends 8

The Creation of Adam, painted on the Sixtine Chapel

months in Carrara to choose the best marble blocks. On this project he will work with interruptions, for four decades, perfecting it only in 1545. Also, Pope Julius II commissioned Buonarroti in 1508 to paint the vault of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Palace, a gigantic project at which Michelangelo will work for four years. In the following years, Michelangelo has dedicated to building the decorations for the façade of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, but it remained in a state of project and started the construction of a sacristy at Duke Lorenzo of Urbino’s grave. Already known as “Il Divino”, he starts in 1521 the work on de Medici’s tomb. Meanwhile, Florence became again a republic, but it would be soon besieged by the Papal and imperial detachments. Michelangelo got the position of inspector of fortifications. Florence surrenders in 1530 and de Medici returned to power. Pope Clement VII, who was part of this family, prefers to ignore the artist’s active participation in the defense of the besieged city. Michelangelo returned to its works at the San Lorenzo Church and at de Medici’s tombs. These works will absorb him for a few years. In 1534, Pope Clement VII brought him back to Rome where Michelangelo would remain until his death. The Pope entrusts him with the painting of the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel with the theme of Judgment. When, on 31 October 1541, Pope Paul II, successor to Pope Clement unveiled the painting, all those present were astonished in front of the apocalyptic painting with more than three hundred characters, dominated by the figure of Jesus, the Supreme Judge. The action

did not lack voices of disapproval of those who were revolted by the characters’ nakedness, considering the work as blasphemous. In 1549, he was appointed by the pope as “chief architect and builder of Basilica San Pietro” to continue the construction of the cathedral, begun by Bramante. By the end of his life, Michelangelo invests more time in the architectural plan: he finishes the construction of the Farnese palace, executes the plans for the systematization of the Capitol Square and of the Basilica San Pietro’s dome. His latest sculptures dealt again with the theme of Pietà (for the Duomo of Florence and others). Michelangelo Buonarroti died in Rome on 18 February 1564 at the age of 89 years old. According to the artist’s wishes, his body was taken to Florence, where it was deposited in a crypt of the church of Santa Croce. The sculpture was always Michelangelo’s greatest passion. In 1504, thanks to the statuary groups of Pietà and David, he already had the reputation of sculptor, both in Rome and Florence. Pietà, made by Michelangelo at the age of 24 years old, in 1499, is far away from the traditional way of representing the Virgin Mary, which appears as a very young woman, with immaculate features. Her suffering ennobles love and beauty. With a remarkable pain, her head is slightly bent, while holding tragically in her arms her son’s inert body that seems to flow like a wave on her knees. The sculpture has proven to be a masterpiece of the genre and his contemporaries immediately recognized the genius of the artist. The Statue of David, which was made between 71

melancholy person, “bizzarro e fantastico”, a man who “withdrew himself from the company of men.” The openly homoerotic nature of the poetry was a source of discomfort to later generations. Michelangelo’s grandnephew, Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, published the poems in 1623 with the gender of pronouns changed, and it was not until John Addington Symonds translated them into English in 1893 that the original genders were restored. Even in modern times some scholars continue to insist that, despite the restoration of the pronouns, they represent “an emotionless and elegant re-imagining of Platonic dialogue, whereby erotic poetry was seen as an expression of refined sensibilities”. Late in life, Michelangelo nurtured a great platonic Michelangelo’s painting of the Sixtine Chapel love for the poet and noble widow, Vittoria Colonna, 1501 and 1504, was realized in charge of the municipal whom he met in Rome in 1536 or 1538 and who was council of Florence. David appears as a character full of in her late forties at the time. They wrote sonnets for energy and force, his miraculous sculpted face looking each other and were in regular contact until she died. towards the left offers him a determined and brave These sonnets mostly dealt with the spiritual issues that appearance. Carved into a block of marble with a height occupied them. Condivi recalls Michelangelo’s saying of four meters, he personifies strength and safety. It that his sole regret in life was that he did not kiss the took three days to transport the statue in Piazza della widow’s face in the same manner that he had her hand. Signoria in central Florence. In 1873, to protect it from the weather, the original will be moved inside the Museum of Fine Arts Academy, its place in the market being occupied by a copy. Other sculptural works of Michelangelo are “Moses” (in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome), “Dying Slave” and “Chained Slave” (made for the mausoleum of Pope Julius II, now in the Louvre Museum of Paris), the group of statues “Day and Night”, “Dawn and Dusk” at the tomb of Giuliano de Medici, Il Pensioroso (the Thinker) depicting Lorenzo the Magnificent, the “Group of slaves” (the so-called “Giants”) and other unfinished sculptures located at the Academy Museum in Florence. The last sculptures with the theme of the Pietà differ from those from his youth through an impressive dramatism. Michelangelo was a devout Catholic whose faith deepened at the end of his life. He was abstemious in his personal life, and once told his apprentice, Ascanio Condivi: “However rich I may have been, I have always lived like a poor man.” Condivi said he was indifferent to food and drink, eating “more out of necessity than of pleasure” and that he “often slept in his clothes and ... boots.” His biographer, Paolo Giovio says: “His nature was so rough and uncouth that his domestic habits were incredibly squalid, and deprived posterity of any pupils who might have followed him.” He may not have minded, since he was by nature a solitary and 72

Michelangelo’s David

The Last Judgement fresco from the Sixtine Chapel

Michelangelo Buonarroti’s “Pieta”

The Torment of Saint Anthony by Michelangelo Buonarroti

GALILEO GALILEI Galileo Galilei (b. 15 February 1564 in Pisa, Duchy of Florence, Italy - d. 8 January 1642 in Arcetri, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Italy) was an Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician who played a major role in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. He has been called the “father of observational astronomy”, the “father of modern physics”, and the “father of science”. His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the 4 largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honour), and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments. Galileo was born in Pisa, then part of the Duchy of Florence in nowadays Italy as the first of the six children of Vincenzo Galilei, a famous lute singer and music theorist and of his wife, Giulia Ammannati. Galileo’s full name was Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de Galilei. At the age of 8 years old, his family moved to Florence, but he remained two years in Jacopo Borghini’s care. Then, he was educated in the Camaldolese Monastery from Vallombrosa, 35 km southeast of Florence. Although he seriously considered becoming a priest, he entered the University of Pisa to study medicine at his father’s urging. He did not complete his medical degree, but instead studied mathematics. In 1589, he started to work at the chair of mathematics in Pisa. His father died in 1591 and Galileo took care of his younger brother, Michelagnolo. In 1592, he moved to the University of Padova, where he teachied geometry, mechanics and astronomy until 1610. During this period, Galileo made significant discoveries in both pure science (astronomy and cinematic movement) and applied science (strength of materials, improvement of the telescope). His multiple interests included the study of astrology, which in pre-modern disciplinary practice was seen as correlated to mathematics and astronomy. Although a faithful Roman Catholic, Galileo fathered three illegitimate children with Marina Gamba. They had two daughters, Virginia, born in 1600 and Livia, born in 1601 and a son, Vincenzo, born in 1606. Because of their illegitimate birth, the father 76

Galileo Galilei

considered that the two daughters can not be married. Their only worthy alternative was the religious life. Both were sent to the convent of San Matteo in Arcetri and spent their whole life over there. Virginia took the name Maria Celeste upon entering the convent. She died on 2 April 1634 and was buried with Galileo at the Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze. Livia took the name Sister Arcangela and was ill for most of her life. Vincenzo was later legitimized and married Sestilia Bocchineri. In 1610, Galileo published an account of his telescopic observations of Jupiter’s satellites, using this observation to argue in favor of the Copernican heliocentric theory of the universe as an alternative to the dominant earth-centered theories of Ptolemaic and Aristotelian origin. The following year, Galileo visited Rome in order to present his telescope to the influential philosophers and mathematicians of the Jesuit Collegio Romano, and to let them see with their own eyes the reality of the four satellites of Jupiter. During his stay in Rome, he became a member of the Accademia dei Lincei. In 1612, opposition to the heliocentric theory

supported by Galileo Galilei increased. In 1614, the pulpit of the Basilica Santa Maria Novella, Father Tommaso Caccini (1574-1648) denounced Galileo’s opinions on the motion of the Earth, judging them as dangerous and close to heresy. Galileo Galilei went to Rome to defend himself against these accusations, but, in 1616, Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino personally handed Galilei an admonition not to advocate nor teach Copernican astronomy. Between 1621 and 1622, Galileo wrote his first book, “Il Saggiatore”, which was approved

and published in 1623. In 1630 he returned to Rome to apply for a license to print the “Dialogue Concerning the two Chief world systems”, published in Florence in 1632. In October that year, however, he was ordered to appear before the Holy Office in Rome. Galileo Galilei was tried by a secular court that excommunicated and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He retracted and according to the procedure, he was tried by a court of the Inquisition. Following a papal trial in which he was found

Galileo Galilei demonstrating the New Astronomical Theories at the University of Padova

Painting of Galileo Galilei

vehemently suspect of heresy, Galileo was put under house arrest and his movements were restricted by the Pope. After 1634, he stood at his home country in Arcetri, near Florence. He went completely blind in 1638 and was suffering from hernia and insomnia, so he was permitted to travel to Florence for medical advice. He continued to receive visitors until 1642 when he died after suffering from fever and heart palpitations. His tomb is in the basilica “Santa Croce” in Florence. Only on the basis of the unreliable descriptions of the first practical telescope, invented by Hans Lippershey in the Netherlands in 1608, the following year, Galileo made a telescope with a 3x better zoom. Later, he realized others, with increases of up to 30x. With this improved device he could see magnified images on Earth. It is what is now called terrestrial telescope or telescope. He also used it to observe the sky. For a while, he was one of those who could construct good enough telescopes for that purpose. On 25 August 1609, he introduced the first telescope to the Venetian lawmakers. His telescopes were a profitable business. He could sell them to merchants who found them useful both at sea and as items of trade. He published his first initial telescopic astronomical observations in March 1610 in a short treatise entitled “Sidereus Nuncius” (Starry Messenger). On 7 January 1610, Galileo observed with his telescope what was described at the time as “three fixed stars, totally invisible because of their smallness” all close to Jupiter, located on a straight line with it. Observations from the subsequent nights showed that the positions of these “stars” compared to Jupiter were changing in a way that could not be explained if they were fixed stars. On 10 January, Galileo noted that one of them has disappeared, which he attributed to the fact that the star was behind Jupiter. In a few days, he concluded that they were orbiting Jupiter: He discovered three of the four largest moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa and Callisto. He found the fourth one as well, named “Ganymede” on 13 January 1610. Galileo named the four discovered satellites: “the Medicean stars”, in honor of his future patron, Cosimo II de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and in the honor of his three brothers. Astronomers later changed their name to Galilean satellites in honor of Galileo. Galileo observed the Milky Way, previously considered to be a nebula, and found it to be a multitude of stars so close to each other that from the Earth they appeared to be clouds. He located many other stars too distant to be visible with the naked eye. Galileo observed

“Neptune” in 1612, but did not realize it was a planet and didn’t gave much attention. It appears in his notebooks as one of the many other distant and weak stars. He noticed the double star Mizar in the Ursa Major in 1617. In “The Starry Messenger”, Galileo reported that the stars appeared to be simple bright flames unchanged in their appearance seen from the telescope, putting them in contrast to the planets that through the telescope were shown like disks. In his later writings, however, he described the stars as also being disks, whose size he measured. According to Galileo, stellar disk diameters typically measured a tenth of the diameter of the disc of Jupiter (five hundredth of the diameter of the Sun), although some were somewhat higher, others much smaller. Galileo also said that the stars are also some smaller suns that aren’t arranged in a spherical shell around the solar system, but at different distances from Earth. Brighter stars were considered nearer suns and the weaker were farther. Based on this idea and based on the dimensions calculated by him for stellar discs, he calculated that the stars are at distances of a few hundred solar distances. These distances, although too small by modern standards, were much higher than planetary distances, and he used these calculations to argue the anti-Copernican theories which considered that the arguments of distant stars were absurd.

Galileo showing the Doge of Venice how to use the telescope

CRISTOFORO COLOMBO Cristoforo Colombo (b. 31 October 1451 in Genova, Republic of Genova, Italy - d. 20 May 1506 in Valladolid, Crowne of Castile, Spain) was an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genova. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, initiated the European colonization of the New World. Christopher Columbus was born in Genova, Italy, in 1451. His father was a weaver and his son allegedly entered into this trade as a child. The most cited theory by historians argues that Cristóbal Colón would be the Castilian translation of the Italian name Cristoforo Colombo. He was the son of Domenico Colombo, as mentioned earlier, a weaver, and of Susanna Fontanarossa. According to this theory, he was not an educated child and therefore was initiated into the world of navigation from a very early age. Information about the beginning of his seafaring career is uncertain, however. Between 1474 and 1475, he made his first trip to the island of Chios, a Genoese possession, located in the Aegean Sea. In 1476, Columbus sailed with a convoy bound for England. While the convoy was off the coast of Portugal, they were attacked by pirates and the ship on which Columbus was sank, but he swam to shore and took refuge in Lisbon. Settling there, where his brother Bartholomew, was a cartographer, Christopher married in 1479 the daughter of the governor of the island Porto Santo. The only child of Cristoforo Colombo’s marriage, Diego was born in 1480. Based on the information gathered during his travels and studying the books and maps of the time, Christopher concluded that the earth is 25% smaller than he previously thought. Starting from this premise, Columbus believed that Asia can be reached faster by sailing west. In 1484, he presented his ideas to João II, King of Portugal, petitioning him to finance a westward crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The proposal was rejected by a royal maritime commission. Shortly after, Columbus moved to Spain, where his plans won the support of some very influential people, thus arranging an audience in 1486 at Isabella I, Queen of Castile. 80

Cristoforo Colombo

During this time, he met Beatriz Enriquez, who later became his mistress and the mother of his second son, Ferdinand Colombo. In Spain, as in Portugal, a royal commission rejected his plan. But Columbus continued to seek help and, finally, in April 1492, his persistence was rewarded: Ferdinand V, King of Castile, and Queen Isabella agreed to sponsor the expedition. The signed contract stipulated that Columbus would become viceroy of all territories he discovered and in addition, he was granted a tenth of all precious metals found within his jurisdiction. The first expedition departed from the port of Palos de la Frontera, with ships Santa Maria of about 30 meters long, which was under his command, Pinta and Nina, two smaller caravels of about 15 meters long. The two smaller vessels were ordered by Martín Alonso Pinzón and his brother, Vicente Yañez Pinzón together with 90 people. For the crossing of the ocean, the trade routes were chosen. On 12 October 1492, at 2 AM, Rodrigo de

“Landing of Colombo”, by John Vanderlyn

Triana, a sailor from Pinta sees the earth, discovering thus the New World (America). The following islands are discovered: Santa Maria Conception, Fernandina, Isabella, Juna, Bohio (Española). On 15 March 1493, Columbus returns to Spain in triumph. Columbus explored the northeast coast of Cuba (where he landed on 28 October), and the north coast of Hispaniola on 5 December. Here, the Santa Maria sunk, on the Christmas morning of 1492 and the crew was forced to abandon it. He was received by the local cacique, Guacanagarí, which allowed Columbus to leave some of his men in that village when he would leave. Colombo left 39 men and founded the settlement of La Navidad, which today is a village in Haiti. Before returning to Spain, Columbus kidnapped 10 to 25 Indians, whom he took with him. Only seven or eight of them arrived alive in Spain, making a special impression in Seville. Columbus planned immediately a second expedition with 17 vessels and about 1.500 people, who

left Spain in September 1493. Landings were made on the islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe and Antigua. On 27 November, the vessels anchored at Navidad where all people were killed and the fort was destroyed. Columbus abandoned the ruins, and close to Cape Isabella (in the Dominican Republic), he established a colony which became the first European settlement in the New World. Leaving the colony for a voyage of exploration in the spring of 1494, Columbus surveyed the coasts of Cuba, that he considered not to be an island, but part of the Asian continent. When Cristoforo came back on the Isabela colony, on 29 September 1494, he found that there were serious dissension among the colonists, and some of them were already en route to Spain to press their grievances. One of the major problems which Columbus faced was the hostility of the natives, whose initial friendliness disappeared after the brutality shown by the Europeans. Columbus managed to defeat the natives in 81

battle in March 1495 and shipped a large number of them to Spain to be sold as slaves. Queen Isabella objected and the survivors were returned. A royal investigating commission arrived at Isabella in October 1495. Because this group was consistently critical of his policies, Colombo established a new capital, Santo Domingo and went back to Spain, leaving Bartholomew in command. He reported directly to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, who dismissed criticism of Columbus. The sovereigns promised to subsidize a new fleet, but they lost their enthusiasm because the colonies weren’t as productive as they expected, thus it took almost two years until the 8 new vessels were sent. Columbus set sail on his third voyage on 30 May 1498. The first landing took place on the island of Trinidad (Holy Trinity). He then sighted what is now Venezuela. After sailing along the coast, he went into the Gulf of Paria. At the mouth of the Orinoco River, he set ashore. In his logbook, he wrote that he had found a “New World”, still unknown to the Europeans. Columbus set sail again, encountering several new islands including Margarita Island, after which he set the course for the island of Hispaniola. Arriving in Santo Domingo on 31 August, Colombo found part of the colony in revolt against his brother. He annihilated the rebels and intensified his efforts, but in vain as it was proven, to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. Also, he expanded the gold mining operations. Meanwhile, his enemies in Spain had convinced the monarchs that the Española island should have a new governor. In May 1499, the crown removed Columbus as governor and named Francisco de Bobadilla instead, who arrived on the island on 23 August 1500, and arrested Colombo and his brother, Bartholomew Colombo. He was handcuffed and sent to Spain. Columbus insisted on wearing his chains until the queen removed them. The monarchs pardoned the brothers and rewarded them, but refused to give them command of the colonies. Bobadilla was replaced as governor shortly by Nicolas de Ovando. Although Columbus received the royal support for a fourth journey in search of a western route to India, at his disposal there were put only four caravels in bad operation mood and he was forbidden to stop on the island of Española. The expedition started from Cadiz in May 1502. At the end of the 21 days of quick race across the ocean, the ships were in desperate need of repair. Columbus anchored off Santo Domingo, but he was forbidden to enter the harbor despite a very powerful hurricane was approaching. After completing 82

the repairs to his ships, Columbus set sail toward the waters of Honduras, then he sailed south, along the Central American coast for six months, searching for a westward passage. In January 1503, he landed in Panama and established a settlement there, but a mutiny in the crew and trouble with the natives, made Cristoforo give up the idea. The expedition was reduced to two caravels, which sailed for Hispaniola, but the rotten ships foundered near Jamaica on 23 June 1503. Columbus sent messengers to Hispaniola for help, while he forced the native people to give food to his sailors. Relief arrived after almost a year, a deliberate delay made by Ovando. The little remaining crew boarded the ship on 28 June 1504, for Santo Domingo, then went to Spain, reaching Saluncar de Barrameda on 9 November. Since then, Cristoforo Colombo never sailed again. The last months of his life were marked by illness and vain attempts to recover the privileges from King Ferdinand, although Christopher was quite rich. He died on 20 May 1506 in the town of Valladolid.

Posthumous portrait of Christopher Columb by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio

ANTONIO VIVALDI Antonio Vivaldi (b. 4 March 1678 in Venice, Republic of Venice, Italy - d. 28 July 1741 in Vienna, Habsburg Empire) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric. He is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He is known mainly for composing many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as “The Four Seasons”. Antonio Lucio Vivaldi is the most prominent representative of the Venetian Baroque music. He was born in Venice, following the marriage of Giovanni Battista Vivaldi and Camilla Calicchio. Since childhood, little Antonio was suffering from a disease of the chest, which he called later in a letter: “pinching chest” pain that would follow him throughout his life, forcing him to live longer close to his apartment and to go out usually in the gondola or a carriage. These things would be felt in his work aswell. Endowed since a little child with an inclination to contemplate beautiful sounds, the talented Antonio will be highlighted by his father, also a violin virtuoso. It seems that his father was the only violin teacher who managed to make the future master exceed his limits. Under the influence of his father, Vivaldi began to learn the little mysteries of music and started to approach more and more to his first love: the violin. In his early childhood, Venice lived the emotions of the Ottoman army presence even at its gate, the Vizier Mustafa II had surrounded the city and surely he would have won if the Polish king, John Sobiesky hadn’t promptly intervened. Mobilizing its last resources and delegating the leadership in battle to Francesco Morosini, Venice defeated the Turks in several naval battles and regained much of the lost territory in the Peloponnese. Antonio was only 10 years old when Morosini, the Venetians triumphant hero, was invested with the supreme magistracy of the country. In those circumstances, Giovanni Battista Vivaldi obtain the approval of the admission of his talented son in the quality of violonist of the ducal chapel of “San Marco” in Venice. In parallel with his work and musical studies at the chapel, Antonio attended the theology courses of the patriarchal seminar

Antonio Vivaldi

of the Somaschi order, in the prospect of a career as a prelate of the Catholic Church. The experience he gained while in the seminary, has helped young Vivaldi to build a strong personality anchored in the plurality of knowledge of his time. At the seminary, he has deepened his musical knowledge as well. But besides all this, the “San Marco” Church will play a crucial role in shaping its future as a musician. Here, he met the great master Giovanni Legrenzi, who was a priest and servant of the chapel at that time. He was a gifted man with many qualities and in the sound of art field, he was a true pioneer. Often, his house was full of Venetian elites who came to listen in an intimate atmosphere the new compositions of maestro Legrenzi. Some biographers have contradicted that Vivaldi would have been a pupil of Legrenzi. In this sense, the written evidence is nonexistent, but there are many assumptions that corroborate themselves and the conclusion that 83

with the entry of the little violonist through the doors of this sanctuary of music, he was taken under the tutelage of the great master, who anticipated his potential. Studying in parallel both music and theology, Antonio Vivaldi has progressed on both fronts, the artistic creation and the service at the holy altar becoming nearly “conjugal”. Thus, on 18 September 1693, the young theologian submitted a vow of chastity, the first event in his life that was later recorded in a register. A few days later, he was given the minor orders and on 4 April 1699 he was ordained subdeacon. Meanwhile, Vivaldi learned to play the organ, also composing his first musical works. On 23 March 1703, Vivaldi received the sacrament, proving to be a fully formed musician, having various works in a manuscript, which soon enough saw the light of day. Although some rumours that were circulating at that time incriminated Vivaldi that he wanted to renounce to the service at the holy altar, in order to dedicate himself completely to music, it seems that the red priest (as he was known, because of his hair colour) could not serve anymore because of his illness which he had inherited since childhood. Some church superiors who trusted the rumours and where poorly informed even took a negative attitude, trying several times to kill him. As a result, in the autumn of 1737, when Vivaldi watched the staging of one of his works in Ferrara, the Papal Nuncio, S. E. Rufo has denied him the access to the citadel, because he renounced to the priesthood and was no longer allowed to serve. Vivaldi complained to his patron, the Marquis Guido Bentivoglio, in a letter where he substantiated his indignation: “There are twenty-five years since I hadn’t serve at the altar and I will not serve anymore, not because I was banned, as your eminence can inform itself, but because of my own decision, following the fact that I suffer since I was born from a disease that makes my breathing process difficult. As soon as I was made a priest, I officiated for a year or something more; then I stopped again because this suffering forced me to leave the altar three times without having finished

the service. This is the reason why I don’t serve at the altar anymore. I was in three seasons at the carnival in Rome, for the opera, as Your Excellency knows, and I have never served; I played the violin in the theater and it is well known that even His Holiness wanted to listen to me and how much he thanked me. I was called to Vienna and even there I haven’t served. In Mantova, I have been three times in the service of the Prince of Darmstadt and I haven’t served.” Antonio Vivaldi remained known to the Venetians as the „red priest”. The year 1703, was a new stage for Vivaldi on his way to glory. He was hired at the “Seminario musicale dell Ospitale della Pieta” as a choir conductor. It was an institution founded by Fra Pieruzzo from Assisi in 1346 to support the disadvantaged children, especially girls with social problems, offering them shelter, education, and later employment. This action of social support for the children with problems had spread almost all over Italy. Ospitale della Pieta was functioning in Venice near the Church of “San Marco”. Here, the girls, called in the Venetian dialect „ospealiere”, were taught music in particular. They had to adapt to a severe educational discipline, under the teacher’s observation who had the function of masters (maestro di coro, di violino, di Cornetto). The master’s obligations were imposed by the Congregazia from Pieta. In this manner, Vivaldi was obliged to write each month at least two musical works and had the task to teach the girls, in addition to vocal singing, the technique of the musical instruments which appeared to be titanic, this in the conditions that he had to teach and coordinate the art of violin, cello, flute, oboe, the bassoon or of any other instrument that may be necessary in the orchestra. Mostly, the famous concerts of the girls orchestra from Pieta, took place under the dome of Basilica “San Marco”. For nearly 25 years, Antonio Vivaldi formed the characters of the young artists of the orchestra della Pieta, thus remaining forever in the history of a charitable institutions. The figure of the great master della Pieta became almost a symbol for the inhabitants of Venice. About his ascension, the abbey Conti said: “Vivaldi made three

Antonio Vivaldi’s Signature

works in less than three months, two for Venice and the third for Florence; the last one saved the theater of this city from its financial condition and brought him a lot of money.” It is the famous Teatro degli Immobili, which was saved for the second time from the financial crisis in which it seemed that this time it will not survive, by the works composed by Vivaldi. It took just one artwork with beautiful music, well presented and sung by good singers, even if they were not of the highest order to restore the theater’s monetary status and release him from the most urgent needs. Vivaldi’s successful show was fantastic, the rooms were always overcrowded and the tickets were sold out weeks before. Instrumental music was for his Vivaldi’s times something very difficult to digest. For many auditors it was an abstraction and the words were considered as the soul of the music. This was for the “red priest” the long expected challenge. He had to respond to the public’s demands, but at the same time, he also had to bring something of new effect. Writing in 1725 the famous concert “Seasons”, based on a literary program, Vivaldi manifested at first some serious doubts on the ability of the music to express in a clear matter the complexity of human thinking and feelings. Vivaldi wanted to help listeners understand the music itself, to facilitate the transformation of the auditory perception in a complex image, adding to each painting a literary image. Imitating in short passages various sounds of nature (either the murmur of the spring or the rave or the chirping of birds), Vivaldi’s Four Seasons reproduce only what it is essential. With its magnificent opera, the great artist sought to symbolically represent the human ages and its relationship with the cosmos. Animated by the same sentiments and having a similar conception of life, poet Metastasio published in 1719 a canzonet entitled “Spring” and five years later, he wrote “Summer”. These songs with idyllic lyrics, animated by a conglomerate of suggestive feelings, succeeded each other regularly. Under the influence of these marvelous pieces, Vivaldi decided to compose music in which he would describe the four seasons, forming a creation that the elite Venetian audience, finally deemed as fashionable. Through his “Seasons”, Antonio Vivaldi remains even nowadays one of the most listene and beloved composers of the Venetian baroque. After he left a treasure to posterity, the great Italian composer, violinist, conductor and educator, Antonio Vivaldi passed away on 28 July 1741 after a sudden illness. He was buried in the cemetery of the hospital.

The house where he lived in Vienna has since been destroyed. The Hotel Sacher is built on part of the site. Memorial plaques have been placed at both locations, as well as a Vivaldi “star” in the Viennese Musikmeile and a monument at the Rooseveltplatz. Vivaldi’s music was innovative. He brightened the formal and rhythmic structure of the concerto, in which he looked for harmonic contrasts and innovative melodies and themes. Many of his compositions are flamboyantly, almost playfully, exuberant. Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi’s concertos and arias (recalled in his Saint John Passion, Saint Matthew Passion, and cantatas). Bach transcribed six of Vivaldi’s concerti for solo keyboard, three for organ, and one for four harpsichords, strings, and basso continuo based upon the concerto for four violins, two violas, cello, and basso continuo.

Vivaldi was nicknamed “The Red Priest” due to his red hair

Niccolò Macchiavelli Niccolò Macchiavelli (b. 3 May 1469 in Florence, Republic of Florence, now Italy - d. 21 June 1527 in Florence, Republic of Florence, now Italy) was an Italian Renaissance historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and writer. He has often been called the founder of modern political science. He was for many years a senior official in the Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs. He also wrote comedies, carnival songs, and poetry. His personal correspondence is renowned in the Italian language. He was secretary to the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence from 1498 to 1512, when the Medici were out of power. He wrote his most renowned work The Prince (Il Principe) in 1513. Born in the small village of San Casciano in Val di Pesa, about 15 kilometers from Florence, Niccolò was the son of Bernardo Machiavelli, a lawyer belonging to a deleted branch of influential families of Florence, and Bartolomeii di Stefano Nelli, both families of noble and educated origins, but with few resources because of the father’s debts. Niccolò entered the service of the government between 1494 and 1512 as an accountant, and became successful after the proclamation of the Florentine Republic in 1498. He was secretary of the “Council of Ten” (“i Dieci della liberta e della pace”), a council who led the diplomatic negotiations and oversaw the military operations of the republic. Among his assignments, there have been included visits to the French sovereign (in 1504, 1510-1511), the Holy See (1506), and to the German Emperor (1507-1508). During his diplomatic missions, he met many Italian principles and was able to study their political strategies, especially those of Cesare Borgia, who was concerned at that time on expanding his possessions in central Italy. From 1503 to 1506, Macchiavelli reorganized the military defense of the Florentine Republic. Although in this period, armies of mercenaries were used routinely, he preferred to rely on recruiting locals to ensure a permanent and patriotic defense of the public goods. In 1512, when the Florentine family of de Medici regained power over Florence and the republic was dissolved, Macchiavelli was dismissed and detained briefly. He was detained in Florence and charged with an alleged conspiracy against the new government. After his release, he was exiled and detached in San Casciano, 86

Niccolò Macchiavelli

where he wrote his most important works. Despite his attempts to gain the confidence of the house of Medici, he has never acquired another high position as he had held in the previous government. When the republic was restored briefly in 1527, Niccolò was suspected by many Republicans that he would support the house of Medici. He died in Florence on 21 June 1527 and was buried in the Basilica of Santa Croce. Even if there is little evidence found about of Macchiavelli’s youth, the city of Florence of those days was so familiar that it is easy to imagine the climate in which the young citizen developed his personality. Florence was a city where two points of view were confronting, one represented by the austere monk, Girolamo Savonarola and the other by Lorenzo de Medici, a lover of splendor. Although, Savonarola power over the wealth of Florence was immense, he didn’t appear to have been of much importance to Macchiavelli, who mentions him in “Il Principle” as a defeated and disarmed prophet. On the other hand, the greatness of Lorenzo’s tenure impressed Macchiavelli so strongly that he dedicated his greatest work, “Il Principe” to Lorenzo’s nephew. Machiavelli was considered to be one of the greatest writers in his college. He was a well-

Niccolò Macchiavelli in his studio (by Stefano Ussi, 1894)

known writer and soldier, who had a great influence in humanism. Little is known about the personal life of Niccolò Macchiavelli. In 1501, when he was 32 years old, he was married to Marietta Corsini, who gave birth to four sons and two daughters. One of his nephews, Giovanni Ricci, has saved many of his letters and manuscripts. Sebastian de Grazia, one of his biographers, gives us some background on the marriage of Macchiavelli in his book, “Macchiavelli in Hell”. The concept of love before marriage is relatively recent in the history of human civilization. In 16th century Florence, marriages were made following a contract arrangement. Basically, an intermediary arranged the marriage between two people based on their social status, the two families wealth, bridal dowries, and possibly on the social position of the groom. It is almost certain that the marriage of Niccolò Macchiavelli and Marietta Corsini was no exception to the rule. De Grazia writes that in

1502, Machiavelli’s parents were already dead, and that the negotiation of the marriage contract was done under the high positions that he held and Marietta’s dote. Very few details on the relations between Macchiavelli and his wife are known. Of the more than 300 letters that have been preserved, published in the book “Macchiavelli and his friends”, not even one is addressed to his wife. Instead, a letter from 1503, written by Marietta was the only one preserved. She was concerned with the problems of Niccolò’s health, saying that he misseshim a lot. Marietta also recalls about her son that had just been born, saying: “When I realized how much he looks like you, the more I liked it”, adding that he would like him to write more often. She finally said: “do not forget to come home.” Although Macchiavelli’s absences from home were pretty long, relations between the two were apparently based on affection and respect. Researchers claim that at that time, letter writing between spouses was uncommon. In a letter from 1527 to his son Guido, Macchiavelli has expressed in terms of full respect for his wife, calling her Madonna Marietta. Although very few details about his conjugal life are known, however, a lot about his extramarital adventures was discovered. Macchiavelli seemed to have a particular weakness for women, many of his adventures being mentioned in detail in his correspondence. The first definite affair dates back to 1510, when a certain Jeanne of Lyon was mentioned in a letter to a certain Giovanni Girolami. A prostitute, La Riccia, which Niccolò visited often, was also mentioned. This La Riccia is mentioned in six letters of Macchiavelli. In 1510, he is accused before the Council, by an anonymous denunciation of heterosexual sodomy with La Riccia, by this meaning oral sex and anal intercourse. At the time, in all over Europe, including Florence, the acts of sodomy (men with men or men with women) were punishable by death, with or without prior mutilation, the current sentence of those time being death by burning at the stake . Inquisition ensured that the doctrine of the Catholic Church was closely followed. These anonymous denunciations were quite common at the time, often used to eliminate political opponents. A contemporary researcher, Michael Rocke, investigated with modern tools the “Officials Night” archive (“Ufficiale di notte”), a repressive institution, designed to handle cases of sodomy in Florence, stating that for 70 years, between 1432 and 1502, time in which this institution was active, there were investigated approximately 16.000 cases of sodomy, while 3.000 87

persons were convicted. At a city with approimately 40.000 inhabitants, in 70 years that would mean approximately 42 convictions annually or nearly 1 per

Statue of Niccolò Macchiavelli at the Uffizi Gallery, Florence

thousand of the city’s population. Similarly to Leonardo da Vinci’s trial from 1476 for sodomy, this case was closed for lack of evidence and because it was unsigned, without affecting in any manner Macchiavelli’s career, who continued to assiduously attend this La Riccia. In a letter to Francesco Vettori (1474-1539), a politician and diplomat in Florence, Macchiavelli speaks about another “conquest” of his, but he does not give the name, and he says about her that it would be the sister of a friend, who left her husband. Finally, the last of its best-known mistresses, and it was mentioned quite often, is actress Barbera Raffacani Salutati. Vettori, in an exchange of letters in 1523, where they mutually shared their extramarital affairs, wrote: “If you knew how you are, you shouldn’t have had married ever.” Macchiavelli’s best-known book “Il Principe” contains several maxims concerning politics. Instead of the more traditional target audience of a hereditary prince, it concentrates on the possibility of a “new prince”. To retain power, the hereditary prince must carefully balance the interests of a variety of institutions to which the people are accustomed. By contrast, a new prince has the more difficult task in ruling: “He must first stabilize his newfound power in order to build an enduring political structure”. Macchiavelli suggests that the social benefits of stability and security can be achieved in the face of moral corruption. Macchiavelli believed that public and private morality had to be understood as two different things in order to rule well. As a result, a ruler must be concerned not only with reputation, but also must be positively willing to act immorally at the right times. As a political theorist, Macchiavelli emphasized the occasional need for the methodical exercise of brute force or deceit including extermination of the entire noble families to head off any chance of a challenge to the prince’s authority. Scholars often note that Macchiavelli glorifies instrumentality in statebuilding, an approach embodied by the saying “The ends justify the means.” It should be noted that this quote has been disputed and may not come from Niccolò Machiavelli or his writings. Violence may be necessary for the successful stabilization of power and introduction of new legal institutions. Force may be used to eliminate political rivals, to coerce resistant populations, and to purge the community of other men strong enough of character to rule, who will inevitably attempt to replace the ruler. Niccolò has become infamous for such political advice, ensuring that he would be remembered in history through the adjective, “Macchiavellian”.

Cesare Borgia is used by Macchiavelli as an 89 example of a ruler in his book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Il Principeâ&#x20AC;?

SANDRO BOTTICELLI Sandro Botticelli (b. 1445 in Florence, Republic of Florence, now Italy - d. 17 May 1510 in Florence, Republic of Florence, now Italy) born as Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. He belonged to the Florentine School under the patronage of Lorenzo de Medici, a movement that Giorgio Vasari would characterize less than a hundred years later in his Vita of Botticelli as a “golden age”. Botticelli’s posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, since then, his work has been seen to represent the linear grace of Early Renaissance painting. Sandro Botticelli was born in Florence as the fourth son of spouses Mariano and Esmeralda Filipepi. Ognissanti, the place where the Filipepi family lived was a part of Florence on the river Arno, a district inhabited mainly by craftsmen. Mariano Filipepi was a tanner and the nickname of Sandro’s eldest brothers being “Botticello” (“barrel”), hence the name of the painter. One of his brothers, Antonio, was a goldsmith and engraver, and young Sandro acquired his first drawing knowledge under his supervision. As Giorgio Vasari wrote, the ties between goldsmiths and painters were close and despite the rapid growth of its popularity as a

Sandro Botticelli

“Portrait of a Young man”, possibly Botticelli himself

painter, Sandro Botticelli has always remained strongly linked to craftsmen. In 1464, Botticelli is received at master Fra Filippo Lippi’s workshop, where he worked as an apprentice in painting the frescoes of the cathedral of Prato. When Fra Filippo Lippi left for Spoleto, Botticelli was hosted at the residence from Via Nuova of the wealthy family of Vespucci, who was close to de Medici family, where he will work until his death. By 1467-1468, he attends to the workshop of Florentine sculptor and painter, Andrea del Verrocchio. It is the period when he executed his first independent works (“Madonna and Child” in 1469). He was barely 25 years old when, in 1470, he opened his own workshop. Soon, Filippino Lippi, Fra Filippo Lippi’s son became his pupil. That same year, the City’s Comercial Council orders him a painting, which depicts an allegory of force. After two more years, his name also figured in Saint Luke’s association registry, which brought together painters from Florence. The artist received more and more orders. Sandro’s “Portrait of a Man with a Medal” or “Cosimo

Botticelli’s “Primavera”

the Elder” painting from 1474 is one of the most famous portraits of Botticelli. It is uknown who the man is the painting is, the art historians dispute not being solved until today. The most widely accepted opinion is that the man from the painting is engraver of medallions, Antonio Filipepi, brother of the painter. In the same year, he finishes in Pisa the frescoes started at Campo Santo by Benozzo Gozzoli. He painted in the Capella dell’Incoronata of the Pisa Cathedral, the Ascension fresco, which was destroyed in 1586. A year later, Sandro decorated the chapel of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Here, he completes the first version of “Adoration of the Magi”, a theme that returns several times in his creation. The figures of this composition represents well known personalities of the era, especially members of the Medici family. After 1478, the artist’s ties with this family became closer. Thanks to the Medici family, Botticelli penetrated the intellectual circles of the time. Sandro Botticelli was an educated man, who read the work of Leone Battista Alberti, “Della Pittura” (“On Painting”), where it is written about the concerns of the capturing movement which spread in northern Italy at the beginning of the 15th century. A passionate reader of Dante Alighieri, he executed illustrations of several

cantos from “The Divine Comedy”. In 1481 Pope Sixtus IV, entrusts Botticelli with the realization of three frescoes for the Sistine Chapel, where the genius worked with exceptional artists like Domenico Ghirlandaio, Piero del Pollaiuolo and Pietro Perugino. After more than a year, Botticelli left Rome and returned to Florence. The political situation in the city worsened when the great family of de Medici, especially after the death of Lorenzo di Medici in 1492, began to lose popularity and was banished from Florence. The spiritual leader of the city became the Dominican monk preacher from Ferrara, Fra Girolamo Savonarola, who fought not only against debauchery and ostentatiously opulent lifestyle, but also against the worship of pagan antiquity and, as a consequence, the modern art insufficiently imbued with Christian spirituality. Hundreds of paintings were declared indecent and provocative, and were burnt in fire, including several nudes of Botticelli, although, paradoxically, the painter was part of the fanatic followers of the monk. His style becomes more rigorous, more anxious, he shares the sense of chaos and he closes himself in his own world of sensibilities. In 1501, Sandro painted “Birth of Christ”, his only work dated and signed “during the unrest in 91

Birth of Venus, exposed at the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

Italy”, referring to the events which took place after the death of Savonarola. He died alone, in Florence, on 17 May 1510. The coffin with his body was deposited in his family’s tomb at the church of Ognissanti. Botticelli’s opera since his youth, “Madonna with Child and two angels” bears the signs of the influence of many masters, from Fra Filippo Lippi to Verrocchio and Antonio Pollaiuolo, but marks several new elements in the religious painting. The portrait of Mary and baby Jesus, so often repeated by various painters, loses its solemn earnestness in Botticelli’s work, winning sincerity and realism. Botticelli painted five paintings showing the “Adoration of the Magi”, the best known being at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The painter represent all members of the Medici family and several other important personalities. Thus, the second person from the left, with the red hat is humanist philosopher Pico della Mirandola and the last on the right, in an orange robe, is Botticelli himself. Like all great masters of the Italian Renaissance, Botticelli processed the theme of “Annunciation”. But 92

compared with other paintings, for example of Fra Angelico, the idyllic atmosphere and the acceptance with humility of God’s will disappear and it reflects a peculiar tension, which illustrates the emotional burdern of the scene of the divine message transmission through the Archangel Gabriel. The dramatic message of the painting “Lamentation over the Dead Christ” reflects the asceticism and moral rigor of Savonarola’s preaching. “Spring” is a fine and complex opera, radiating beauty and grace. Venus is the central figure around which are clustered the other characters: Spring scattering flowers, beside her are the Flora and Zephyr, to the left there are the Three Graces and the god Mercury with the caduceus, and Cupid above them. The viewer has the impression that the pictorial space is a theater stage, very popular in the Renaissance. The painting “The Birth of Venus”, one of the most famous paintings in art history, was commissioned by Lorenzo and Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de Medici for their villa from Castello. In this masterpiece, Botticelli paid much attention to the movement caused by wind,

the goddess’ hair cascade, that have arisen from the waves of the sea is loosened by the wind and ends in soft fraying. The opal body of the goddess Venus, with the turquoise sea and blue sky in the background, is highlighted with open tone, subtly differentiated, similar to gold. The theme of the painting “Venus and Mars” was probably taken from the astrological doctrine of humanist Marsilio Ficino, in which he analyzes the relantionship of harmony and contrast that occur between the stars. Venus is the goddess of love and harmony, while Mars is the god of war. The composition structure has a perfect balance between the two figures, lying half in positions almost symmetrical. Particularly successful is the play of chiaroscuro from Mars’ face. The painting titled “Calumny of Apelles” was inspired by the Greek painter Apelles story, unfairly maligned for taking part in a conspiracy against King Ptolemy IV Filopat. “Calumny” is a moralizing work, illustrating the latest style of Botticelli, close to mannerism. The works of Botticelli have lost in popularity in the last years of his life, being pushed into the background by the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Sanzio and Michelangelo Buonarroti. The creation of the great Florentine master, forgotten at the beginning of the 16th century, was rediscovered decades later, when the style known as Mannerism developed. British painters of the 19th century, the Pre-Raphaelites, will be enthralled by the beauty of Botticelli’s figures. They were fascinated by the anxiety and melancholy of the figures that they will enrich in their own works with the romanticism characteristic of their time.

Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo the Elder

„Venus and Mars” Painting

DANTE ALIGHIERI Dante Alighieri (b. Mid-May to Mid-June 1265 in Florence - d. 14 September 1321 in Ravenna, Italy) was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. His “Divine Comedy” (Divina Commedia), originally called “Comedìa” and later christened Divina by Boccaccio, is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature. In the late Middle Ages, the overwhelming majority of poetry was written in Latin, and therefore accessible only to affluent and educated audiences. In “De vulgari eloquentia” (On Eloquence in the Vernacular), however, Dante defended use of the vernacular in literature. He himself would even write in the Tuscan dialect for works such as “The New Life” (1295) and the aforementioned Divine Comedy. This choice, although highly unorthodox, set a hugely important precedent that later Italian writers such as Petrarca and Boccaccio would follow. Dante Alighieri’s life is closely linked to political events in Florence. At that time, Florence was about to become the most important and powerful city in central Italy. Since 1250, the communal government composed of bourgeois and artisans removed the nobility class from rule and, two years later, the first golden “florins” appeared, a forte currency of European trade. The conflict between the “Guelphs”, loyal to the temporal authority of the pope and the “Ghibellines”, partisans of political primacy of the German Emperors of the “Holy Roman Empire” turned into a war between the nobility and bourgeoisie. At Dante’s birth, after the removal of the “Guelphs”, Florence was in the power of the “Ghibellines”. In 1266, the Guelphs return to power and the Ghibellines are expelled from the city. In turn, the Guelphs divide into two factions: “Bianchi” (whites), who were trying to limit the hegemony of the Pope and the “Neri” (black). Dante Alighieri was born in Florence into a gentry family. His father, Alighiero di Bellincione was dealing with merchandise. His mother, Gabriella degli Abati has died in his childhood, and the father died when Dante was 17 years old. The most significant event of his youth, as himself says in his book “La Vita Nuova”, is the meeting in 1274 with Beatrice (Florentine noble Bice di Folco Portinari). Dante sees her in only three occasions, without having the opportunity to talk 94

Dante Alighieri

to her. Loving her to adoration, Beatrice became the angelic symbol of divine grace, which will be exalted in “La Vita Nuova” and later in the “Divine Comedy”. Little is known about the education he received, but his creations highlight a special scholarship for his time. He was deeply impressed by the philosophy and rhetoric of Brunetto Latini, who appears as a leading figure in the “Divine Comedy”. In Florence, he hears the lectures of philosophy and theology at the Franciscan (at the church of Santa Croce) and Dominican schools (at the church of Santa Maria Novella), studying especially Aristotle and Toma d’Aquino. In 1285, Dante was in Bologna and it is very likely that he had studied at the renowned university of this city. At 20 years old, he married Gemma Di Manetto Donati, belonging to a side branch of a large noble family, from which he will have four children: Jacopo, Pietro, Giovanni and Antonia. In 1292, two years after Beatrice’s death from puerperal complications, Dante began to write “La Vita Nuova”. At the same time, he engages in the turbulent political life of that time, imagining in the person of the “Holy Roman Empire” King the myth of a possible

Dante, posed between the mountain of purgatory and the city of Florence

political unity. However, in 1293, following a decree in which all nobles were excluded from any political activity, Dante is compelled to devote only to literary creation. Two years later, this decree is abolished, provided that the person is part of a corporation craft. Dante is part of the physicians and pharmacists corporation, as well as that of the librarians, with the mention of being a “poet”. Alighieri affiliates to the “white Guelphs” faction who opposed the influence of Pope Boniface VIII Caetani. In 1295, he was sent to San Gimignano with a diplomatic mission and in 1300 he was elected as a magistrate, one of the six “Priori”, supervisors of the executive power, which made up the “Signoria”. At Dante’s urging, the leaders of the antagonistic groups, the “whites” and “blacks” among the Guelphs, were exiled to maintain peace in the city. While Dante was at Rome, summoned by Pope Boniface VIII, the “black Guelphs” faction took political power in Florence. Dante is prohibited from entering the city and is sentenced to a sharp fine. Not having the required amount, Alighieri is sentenced to death if he will ever return to Florence. Convinced that he was deceived, Dante will reserve a special place to Pope Boniface VIII in one of the “Inferno” circles from “The Divine Comedy”. Starting from the year 1304, Dante begins a long exile in which he will never return to Florence. He spends most of his exile in Verona, between the

years 1307 and 1309 he spends his time in Paris, and later in Ravenna. In 1310, Dante’s political hopes were aroused by the arrival in Italy of Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg, in which he saw the solution of the rivalries between the Italian cities. But the sudden death of Henry in 1313 at Siena interrupts the restoration of the imperial power. In 1316, the leadership of Florence invites him to return from exile, but the humiliating conditions were the same as for a forgiven criminal. Dante rejected the invitation with dignity, saying that he would return only if his honour would fully restored (“senza onore e dignità di Dante....a Firenze non entrerò mai”). In 1319, Dante is invited to Ravenna by Guido Novello da Polenta, the leader of the city. Two years later, he is sent as ambassador to Venice. During the journey he suffered an attack of malaria and died on the night of 13 to 14 September 1321 in Ravenna, where his grave can still be found today, although the Florentines have kept him a special place in the church of Santa Croce. The first formal biography of Dante was the “Vita di Dante”, also known as “Trattatello in laude di Dante”, written after 1348 by Giovanni Boccaccio. Although several statements and episodes of it have been deemed unreliable on the basis of modern research, an earlier account of Dante’s life and works had been included in the “Nuova Cronica” of the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani. Florence eventually came to regret 95

Dante’s exile, and the city made repeated requests for the return of his remains. The custodians of the body in Ravenna refused, at one point going so far as to conceal the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Nonetheless, a tomb was built for him in Florence in 1829, in the basilica of Santa Croce. That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante’s body remaining in Ravenna, far from the land he had loved so dearly. The front of his tomb in Florence reads “Onorate l’altissimo poeta”, which roughly translates as “Honor the most exalted poet”. The phrase is a quote from the fourth canto of the Inferno, depicting Virgil’s welcome as he returns among the great ancient poets spending eternity in limbo. The ensuing line, “L’ombra sua torna, ch’era dipartita”, which means “his spirit, which had left us, returns), is poignantly absent from the empty tomb. “The Divine Comedy” describes Dante’s journey through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. He is first guided by the Roman poet Virgil and then by Beatrice, the subject of his love and of another of his works, “La Vita Nuova”. While the vision of the Inferno is vivid for most modern readers, the theological niceties presented in the other books require a certain amount of patience and knowledge to appreciate. “Purgatorio”

is arguably the most lyrical of the three, referencing more contemporary poets and artists than “Inferno”. “Paradiso” is the most heavily theological, and the one in which, many scholars have argued, the “Divine Comedy”’s most beautiful and mystic passages appear. With its seriousness of purpose, its literary stature and the range, both stylistic and thematic, of its content, the Comedy soon became a cornerstone in the evolution of Italian as an established literary language. Dante was more aware than most early Italian writers of the variety of Italian dialects and of the need to create a literature and a unified literary language beyond the limits of Latin writing at the time. In that sense, he is a forerunner of the Renaissance, with its effort to create vernacular literature in competition with earlier classical writers. Dante’s in-depth knowledge, within the limits of his time, of Roman antiquity, and his evident admiration for some aspects of pagan Rome, also point forward to the 15th century. Ironically, while he was widely honored in the centuries after his death, the Comedy slipped out of fashion among men of letters: too medieval, too rough and tragic, and not stylistically refined in the respects that the high and late Renaissance came to demand of literature.

Dante in exile

Portrait of Dante Alighieri from the late 16th century / early 17th century

GIUSEPPE VERDI Giuseppe Verdi (b. 10 October 1813 in Busseto, Italy - d. 27 January 1901 in Milan, Italy) was an Italian composer of operas. Verdi was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, and developed a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini, whose works significantly influenced him, becoming one of the preeminent opera composers in history. Verdi was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, and developed a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini, whose works significantly influenced him, becoming one of the pre-eminent opera composers in history. In his early operas Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy. He also participated briefly as an elected politician. His parents, Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini, had a small farm there, Vecchia Osteria. Since he was just a child child, Giuseppe took music lessons from the local organist, exercising at home with an untuned Spinetta (a kind of harpsichord). He continued doing this, until Antonio Barezzi, a musical lover merchant from Busseto, friend of the Verdi family, took him to his house and payed him music lessons of a higher level. In 1832, he is presented at the Milan Conservatory, but is rejected because he exceeded the age limit for a Conservatory student. Back in Busseto, he receives the post of music master of the commune and in 1836, Giuseppe marries Barezzi’s daughter, Margherita, from whom he had two children, Virginia and Icilio. Meanwhile, Verdi begins to compose, being oriented towards opera music. In 1839, he makes his debut at Teatro alla Scala from Milano with his opera, „Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio”, achieving a little bit of success, but his performance is overshadowed in 1840 by the death of his wife, Margherita, and his two children. Saddened by this loss, Verdi resets and continues his composing activity with the opera „Un giorno di regno”, which is a total fiasco. Discouraged, he was already thinking to abandon music, but only two years later, in 1842, Giuseppe Verdi obtained a triumphant success at Teatro alla Scalla with his new opera, „Nabucco”, due 98

Giuseppe Verdi

in part to the magnificent interpretation of soprano Giuseppina Strepponi, who would accompany him until the end of his life. For Verdi then starts a period when he starts working “like a convict” as he called himself, to meet the demands of various opera houses in Italy. Between 1843 and 1850, Verdi composed in a steady pace 13 works, among them being: „I Lombardi alla prima crociata” (The Lombards), „Ernani”, „I due Foscari”, „Macbeth” and „Luisa Miller”. At this time, his relationship with Giuseppina Strepponi started to become official. After „Nabucco”, Verdi composed 14 operas, the decade after 1843 being characterized by Verdi as the “galley years”. For the first time, breaking the Italian opera fundamental agreement specific to the 19th century, Verdi approached an opera without the classic love story. In 1847, his opera „I Lombardi”, later revised and renamed „Jerusalem”, was staged at the Paris Opera. Due to honoring a number of typical Parisian conventions requirements (including extensive ballet scenes), it became Verdi’s first work in the style of French grand opera.

movement is difficult to estimate accurately. In the words of the music historian Philip Gossett “myths intensifying and exaggerating such sentiment began circulating” during the 19th century. An example is the claim that when the “Va, pensiero” chorus in Nabucco was first sung in Milan, the audience, responding with nationalistic fervour, demanded an encore. As encores were expressly forbidden by the government at the time, such a gesture would have been extremely significant. But in fact the piece encored was not “Va, pensiero” but the hymn “Immenso Jehova”. Among the celebrating festivities at the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Giuseppe Verdi composed the opera „Aida”. Verdi seems to have been commissioned for the inauguration of the Suez Canal but, if we are to believe a major critic of the time, Verdi refused the invitation of the viceroy of Egypt to write an “ode” to the new opera house that was to be opened as part of the ceremonies’s dedicated to the channel. The Opera was inaugurated with a performance of Rigoletto. Subsequently, by 18691870, the organizers again approached Verdi with an invitation (this time suggesting the idea of writing an opera), but he refused once more. After warnings that they will appeal to Charles Gounod and after threats that they will require the services of Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi in 1870 Verdi suddenly began to show considerable interest in this regard, signing a commitment in June 1870. In 1848, he moved to Paris. His creative force In 1887, his masterpiece „Otello” is represented became more fruitful, to such an extent that from 1851 until 1853, he composed one after another, three masterpieces, known as “The Popular Trilogy”, namely: Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata, to which, I Vespri Siciliani was added (Sicilian Vespers). The success of these works was indescribable. Adorned with the acquired fame, Verdi establishes with Giuseppina Strepponi at the “Sant’Agata” proprty of Busseto, where he will live most of his time. In 1857, the opera „Simon Boccanegra” was put in the scene, while in 1859, „Un ballo in maschera” is represented (“Masquerade”). In the same year, he married Giuseppina Strepponi. Since 1861, Verdi took part in political activity in Italy, his name became a symbol of the liberation movement of northern Italy, under the dynasty of Savoy, from the Austrian rule (V.E.R.D.I. = Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia = Victor Emanuel, King of Italy). In 1874, he was appointed senator in the Italian parliament. He didn’t stop working and reveals his musical opera „La forza del destino” (“Force of Destiny”) and „Messa di Requiem”, celebrated in 1873 at the death of writer Alessandro Manzoni. His early commitment to the Risorgimento Portrait of Verdi by Bice Lombardini

and in 1893, at the age of 80 years old, he inspires again from Shakespeare in order to compose the opera buffa, „Falstaff ”. Verdi has finished his last composition in 1897, a work from the traditional Latin text „Stabat Mater”. This was the last of the four sacred pieces composed by Verdi, (Quattro Pezzi Sacri) often interpreted today either as fully or separately. The first audition of the four works was held on 7 April 1898, at the Grande Opéra in Paris. The four parts are: Ave Maria for mixed chorus; Stabat Mater for mixed choir and orchestra; Praise alla Vergine Maria for female choir; and Te Deum for double chorus and orchestra. Then, Verdi withdrawed at “Sant’Agata” and took his farewell from the composition activity. After Josephine died in 1897, Verdi died in Milano on 27 January 1901. Not all of Verdi’s personal qualities were amiable. John Rosselli concluded after writing his biography that “I do not very much like the man Verdi, in particular the autocratic rentier-cum-estate owner, part-time composer, and seemingly full-time grumbler and reactionary critic of the later years”, yet admits that like other writers, he must “admire him, warts and all...a deep integrity runs beneath his life, and can be felt even when he is being unreasonable or wrong. Budden

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suggests that “With Verdi...the man and the artist on many ways developed side by side.” Ungainly and awkward in society in his early years,” as he became a man of property and underwent the civilizing influence of Giuseppina, he acquired assurance and authority.” He also learnt to keep himself to himself, never discussing his private life and maintaining when it suited his convenience legends about his supposed „peasant” origins, his materialism and his indifference to criticism. Mendelsohn describes the composer as “an intensely private man who deeply resented efforts to inquire into his personal affairs. He regarded journalists and wouldbe biographers, as well as his neighbors in Busseto and the operatic public at large, as an intrusive lot, against whose prying attentions he needed constantly to defend himself.” Verdi was similarly never explicit about his religious beliefs. Anti-clerical by nature in his early years, he nonetheless built a chapel at Sant’Agata, but is rarely recorded as going to church. Strepponi wrote in 1871 “I won’t say Verdi is an atheist, but he is not much of a believer.” Rosselli comments that in the Requiem “The prospect of Hell appears to rule...the Requiem is troubled to the end,” and offers little consolation.

Giuseppe Verdi’s bust in Palermo, Italy

Italian Cuisine

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Pizza (quatro stagioni) Ingredients:

For the tomato sauce: • 50ml extra virgin olive oil • Cloves garlic • A small bunch of parsley • 100g of tomato juice • Salt and pepper to taste Pizza topping: • 250g tomato pulp • 100g Kalamata Olives • 200g mushrooms • 100g salami • 100g ham

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• 100g artichokes in olive oil • 150g Mozzarella • 50ml extra virgin olive oil

Steps:

For the tomato sauce: 1. Put 50 ml olive oil in a pan and fry 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic for one minute, then add the chopped parsley and the tomato juice (from the tomato pulp jar). 2. Add salt and pepper to taste then let the sauce cook for 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. For the pizza: 1. Choose either a fluffy or crispy dough for the pizza and spread it in the tray where you will bake the pizza only after you greased it with olive oil and you lined parchment paper on it (if you don’t have a wooden oven ). The dough should be about 1

Pizza Quatro Stagioni

centimeter thick. 2. Sprinkle on the surface of the pizza the tomato sauce you just prepared earlier, several chopped tomatoes pulps and 50g of grated mozzarella. 3. Divide the surface of the dough into 4 equal parts, tracing lightly with a knife without cutting the dough. For each quarter of the pizza you can add different ingredients. 4. In every quarter of the pizza, add these 4 ingredients: Kalamata olives, ham, mushrooms and artichokes, then sprinkle all over with small cubes of mozzarella (100 g) and a little olive oil. You can add salami instead of artichoke or you can put salami on a quarter and then put small artichokes all over the pizza. 5. Put the prepared pizza in a preheated oven at 220ºC for 25 minutes. 6. To bake the pizza faster and avoid burning the ingredients, you can bake it in the preheated oven at 300ºC for 15 minutes without adding the final ingredients (olives, ham, mushrooms, artichokes, salami and mozzarella). You can add them 5 minutes before taking the pizza out.

pasta (spaghetti bolognese) Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil • 6 slices of unsmoked minced Italian bacon • 2 large onions (chopped) • 3 garlic cloves • 2 carrots (chopped) • 1 celery • 1 kg minced beef • 2 large glasses of red wine • 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes • Salt and freshly ground black Pepper • Maximum 1 kg dried Tagliatelle • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for serving) • Olive oil Herbs: • Fresh Rosemary. • Fresh Basil (plus extra for garnish). • 1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano. • 2 Fresh Bay Leaves. • Crusty bread (to serve).

Spaghetti Bolognese

Steps:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the bacon over medium heat until golden. 2. Add the onion and the garlic and fry them until soft. 3. Add the carrots, bay leaves and leave it on the fire until the vegetables begin to soften. 4. Increase the heat and add the chopped beef. Fry until golden brown. 5. Pour the wine and simmer until the beef reduced its volume by about a third. 6. Reduce the heat and add the tomatoes, celery and herbs. 7. Boil the Tagliatele in salted water over low heat in a pot with lid, according to the instructions on the package. 8. When they are ready, divide them into plates. 9. Sprinkle a little parmesan cheese and then add the sauce. 10. Finally, sprinkle again with parmesan, fresh basil and a little black pepper. 103

lasagna Lasagna Ingredients:

For meat sauce: • 600 gr. minced beef (or beef and pork mixture) • 1 large onion (chopped) • 1 carrot • 1-2 peppers (or 1-2 tablespoons pepper pasta) • 1 glass of red wine • 3-4 cloves of garlic (chopped) • 2 bay leaves • 1-2 teaspoons dried basil • 50g tomato paste • Salt • Pepper • Olive oil • Optional you can add vegetables: mushrooms, tomatoes, peas or others. For the Béchamel sauce: • 2 tablespoons butter • 3 tablespoons flour • 200 ml milk (or more if you want a thinner sauce) • Nutmeg • Salt • Pepper Other ingredients:

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• • • •

Grated cheese/parmesan/mozzarella 1 box of lasagna sheets Chicken broth Other herbs

Steps:

1. We start by cooking meat sauce: Peel the onion and finely cut the carrot and peppers. 2. Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and put the onion, pepper and chopped carrot to cook. When the vegetables have softened, add the minced meat, stirring constantly so you may crush any lumps of meat that tend to congregate while boiling. 3. Add the bay leaves, tomato paste, red wine bended with water and simmer for 5-8 minutes then add the dried basil, chopped garlic and other spices or herbs that you feel tempted to try. 4. Season with salt and pepper. 5. While the meat sauce is boiling, prepare the Bechamel sauce. 6. Melt the butter over low heat, add the flour mixture and let it cook for two minutes without turning into another colour. 7. Take it off the heat and pour all the hot liquid in a pot together with the hot milk or broth at once. Use a whisk to mix the liquid then put the mixture back on the fire and let it boil for a minute. 8. Take it off the heat and add salt and pepper to taste. 9. Prepare the vessel in which you will bake the lasagna. 10. Brush the bottom with béchamel sauce and place

Lasagna

the first layer of lasagna sheets then spread 3-4 tablespoons of white sauce. Over it put the first layer of meat sauce, add some grated cheese on top and again add a layer of lasagna sheets, Bechamel sauce, meat sauce, grated cheese and so on until the last layer which will consist of lasagna sheets, Bechamel sauce generously poured over it and above the lasagna, a generous layer of cheese. 11. Add the remaining sauce over the lasagna. 12. Bake it in the oven for about 40-50 minutes, until the sheets are really soft and a great ruddy crust has formed above. 13. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Frog Legs (Cosce di Rana Piccata) Ingredients: • • • • • • • • •

1 kg of frog legs 2 eggs Paprika or hot sauce 1 lemon A few leaves of sage, bay leaf and salad Flour Some garlic cloves Salt and pepper Chopped parsley

• Olive oil • A glass of white wine • 450g Pasta

Steps:

1. Wash the frog legs with cold water and let them rest in a container with white wine and a bit of sage and bay leaf. The thighs should be placed in the refrigerator for an hour, but do not forget to turn them from time to time. 2. Take two bowls and beat the eggs with salt and pepper, while in the other you will put the flour with a little paprika or you can opt for oil or hot sauce to be added after the cooking is done. Be careful not to exaggerate with it! 3. Once the frog legs are drained and buffered, put them in the bowl with flour at first and then in the bowl with the beaten eggs. 4. Heat some oil in a skillet to fry them and then soak up the frog legs. Cook them until they turn golden brown, turning them occasionally and when half cooked add some garlic which you can eliminate after you finish cooking. 5. Once they are well fried, drain and place them on a tray with a paper towel so that it can absorb the oil in excess. 6. Add to the tray some slices of lemon, some salad and a little chopped parsley and you’re done! 7. In salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain well. Serve together with the frog legs!

Frog Legs

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cannelloni Ingredients:

• 1 package of cannelloni • 100g Ricotta • 500g minced pork or beef (or mixture) • 1 onion • 1 carrot • 1 can of diced tomatoes in tomato juice • 100g Gorgonzola • Salt • Pepper • Rosemary • 2 cloves garlic • 2 tablespoons tomato paste Bechamel sauce: • 100g butter • 3 tablespoons flour • 800 ml milk • Salt • Pepper • Nutmeg • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese.

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Steps:

1. Put the chopped onion in a frying pan and cook it easy in a little oil. Add the grated carrot and the minced meat, stirring occasionally, until they change their colour. 2. Add the tomato paste and let it boil on low heat for about 20 minutes. 3. After you stop the fire, season to taste and let the meat cool. Add the grated gorgonzola and mix well. 4. Cook the garlic cloves slightly in another pan after which you can remove them. Add the diced tomatoes, along with their juice and let it simmer for 6-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 5. In a saucepan melt the butter, add the flour and stir vigorously with a whisk. Gradually pour the hot milk, stirring constantly. 6. Let the sauce boil until it begins to thicken then take the saucepan off the heat. Season and add the grated Parmesan. 7. Fill the cannelloni tubes with the meat composition using a teaspoon. 8. In a baking dish pour the tomato sauce, then add the filled cannelloni. 9. Put the bechamel sauce over and put the dish in the preheated oven at 180ºC for about 30 minutes. 10. Take the bowl out and put 100g of Ricotta on top then leave the dish in the oven for 15 minutes more.

Cannelloni

Sicilian Meatballs Al Forno Ingredients:

• 50g Parmesan cheese • 500g spaghetti • 500g lamb neck fillet • 150g mozzarella • 75g breadcrumbs • 75g pine nuts • ½ a bunch of Parsley • 1 lemon • 50g raisins • 1 teaspoon dried oregano • Olive oil • 50g sun-dried tomatoes • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar • Extra virgin olive oil Arrabiata Sauce: • 1 onion (preferably red) • 2 garlic cloves • 2 anchovy fillet • 1 red chilli • 1 dried chilli • 800g chopped tomatoes • 1 pinch of ground cinnamon • Red wine vinegar • 1 teaspoon sugar

Sicilian Meatballs Al Forno

• ½ a bunch of fresh basil

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven at 200ºC. 2. Soak the raisins in balsamic vinegar for about 5 minutes. 3. Mince the lamb, then place it into a large bowl. 4. Chop and add the sun-dried tomatoes, then chop and add most of the parsley. 5. Add all the breadcrumbs, the lemon zest, pine nuts, soaked raisins and oregano. 6. Grate in half the Parmesan. Season and mix together well. 7. Roll and pat the mixture into meatballs of the size of golf balls. 8. Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan over a high heat. Fry the meatballs until browned on all sides. Set them aside. 9. For the arrabbiata sauce, peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Chop the anchovies, then deseed them and chop the fresh chilli. 10. Heat some olive oil in a pan while on a medium heat. 11. Add onion, garlic, anchovies and chopped chilli. Crumble in the dried chilli and fry for a few minutes until it becomes soft. 12. Put in the cinnamon and chopped tomatoes and simmer for about 20 minutes, keeping in mind to 107

stir often. 13. Add a little bit of red wine vinegar, season with salt and pepper, add the sugar and put in most of the basil. 14. Put the sauce into an ovenproof dish then dot the meatballs on top. 15. Tear over the mozzarella and sprinkle over the remaining basil leaves. Grate the rest of the Parmesan on top. 16. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until they become golden and start bubbling. 17. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti, then drain and add some extra virgin olive oil and the parsley you are left with. 18. Serve the meatballs with pasta.

Gnocchi with parsley, butter & basil Ingredients: • • • • • • •

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300g white potatoes (boiled) 100g flour 4-5 basil leaves (very finely chopped) Salt (to taste) 3 liters of water 1 tablespoon olive oil 100g of butter

• • • • •

2 cloves of garlic Salt and white pepper 50g parmesan (to serve) Basil leaves Chopped Parsley

Steps:

1. The boiled, cooled and peeled potatoes are mashed, mixed with with salt, chopped basil and flour. They are then knead by hand until an elastic dough which no longer sticks to the hands is obtained. 2. Divide the dough into 3 or 4 parts of which you must form 1,5 cm diameter rolls. From each roll, cut about 1 cm wide. 3. Tumble every piece through the teeth of a fork. 4. Put approximately 3 liters of water in a pot. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. 5. When the water starts to boil, put in the gnochhi by adding them one at a time so they won’t stick between them. When the gnocchi rises to the surface (it will takes 10-15 minutes) it means that they are boiled and you can remove them with a strainer. 6. Melt the butter in a pan at low heat. Add the crushed garlic, salt and white pepper to taste. 7. Once the garlic has left its flavor in the melted butter, its duty is done, so you can remove and discard it. 8. Put the well cooked and drained gnocchi in the pan, over melted butter, mix and serve immediately. 9. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and decorate with fresh basil leaflets and parsley.

Gnocchi with parsley, butter & basil

Pappardelle with rabbit & chestnut ragu

Steps:

1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan or in a tempered pan with lid. Season the rabbit meat and fully cover it with flour. Put it in a pan and brown Ingredients: on all sides. • 2 tablespoons olive oil 2. When the meat is evenly browned, transfer it to a • 1 rabbit (sliced) plate. Add the remaining oil and the bacon cubes • 2 tablespoons of flour to a pan and fry them for 10 minutes until golden • 200g smoked bacon (cut into cubes) brown and crispy. • 1 onion (finely chopped) 3. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook them for • 1 carrot (finely chopped) 10 minutes, stirring to loosen the debris stuck to • 1 celery (finely chopped) the base, until the vegetables have softened. Add the • 2 cloves of garlic (crushed) garlic and cook 1 more minute. • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 4. Add cinnamon, juniper berries, bay leaves and • 1 teaspoon juniper berries (crushed) rosemary. After 1 minute, pour the wine and add • 3 bay leaves the crumbled chicken cube. • 2 sprigs of rosemary (chopped) 5. Boil on low heat for 5 minutes, then add the tomatoes • 200ml red wine and put the rabbit back into the saucepan. Cover • 1 cube of chicken soup the meat with sauce, put the lid and let everything • 2 cans of 400g chopped tomatoes simmer for 2 hours, stirring only twice during this • 200g chestnut (already cooked and chopped period. coarsely) 6. Take the rabbit out of the sauce, stir and put the • 400g pappardelle lid back on. Continue to cook the sauce while you • 3 tablespoons milk detach the meat from the bones with the help of 2 • Zest of 1/2 orange or 1 clementine forks. • 1 small parsley (chopped) 7. Removes the bones and add the meat back in the • Parmesan cheese (to serve) 109

pan with half of the chestnuts. Prepare the sauce without putting the lid for 30 minutes until the sauce is reduced and you will get a thick and creamy sauce. 8. Add the remaining chestnuts. At this time, it may be left overnight in a refrigerator or frozen up to 2 months. 9. Boil the pasta as directed on package. Add milk, orange zest and parsley sauce and stir. 10. When the pasta is ready, add the sauce and cook everything for 1 minute. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese over if you want.

torta della nonna Ingredients:

For the dough: • 350g flour • 1 egg • 1 egg yolk • A pinch of salt • 8g baking powder • 120g butter • 170g sugar

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For the cream: • 750 ml milk • Zest from 1/2 lemon • Vanilla essence • 8 egg yolks • 200g sugar • 50g of food starch Other ingredients: • 40g pine nuts • 2-3g powdered sugar

Steps:

1. For the Cream: Put in a double bottom saucepan the milk, the lemon zest and vanilla essence and leave it on medium heat until it boils. 2. Separately, mix the yolks with the sugar until they get white then incorporate the food starch. 3. Thinly pour the yolk mixture over the hot milk. Mix until the composition thickens. Cover with foil and leave it to cool. 4. For the Dough: Mix flour with salt powder, baking powder and sugar then add the butter, and finally the whole egg and egg yolks. 5. Knead very little until the dough is homogenized. Wrap the dough in cling film, place it on a plate and let it in the refrigerator for 1 hour. 6. After 1 hour has passed, divide the dough into 2 parts, one of which must be larger. Stretch the bigger dough in round pan with 26cm diameter. The dough must reach the edges. 7. Fill with cold cream and cover with the other small piece of dough left. The edges of the first dough will cover the dough placed above. Prick the dough with a fork in different places. 8. Put 40g of pine nuts above and bake until golden brown above (about 35 minutes). 9. Let the tart to cool, then sprinkle powdered sugar and vanilla. 10. Serve with lust, because it is a delight! Torta della Nonna

Tiramisu

Tiramisu Ingredients: • • • • • • • • •

500g Italian Savoiardi ladyfingers 500g mascarpone 4 eggs 8 tablespoons sugar 6 tablespoons milk 2 small bags of vanilla sugar 250 ml coffee 3 tablespoons of amaretto Powdered cocoa

Steps:

1. Separate the eggs. Mix the egg yolks with sugar and powdered sugar then beat the composition with a

mixer until they lighten and the sugar melts. 2. Add the Mascarpone and milk over the eggs and sugar mixture and homogenize them. 3. Separately, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and incorporate them in the egg yolks and mascarpone mixture. Mix well. 4. Prepare a strong coffee and when it’s almost cold, add the 3 tablespoons of amaretto. 5. Assemble the cake in a pan, casserole dish or pyrex dish. Soak the ladyfingers in coffee and put them in the pan. 6. Over the first layer, stretch half of the cream and sprinkle with cocoa powder. Proceed to the next layer of ladyfingers and put the remaining cream and cocoa powder all over. 7. You can put grated chocolate over the Tiramisu if you want. 8. Let them for 6-7 hours in the refrigerator. 111

Limoncello

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Italy Travel

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RomA

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Palatine Hill

The Colosseum of Rome

Interior of Colosseum

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Fontana di Trevi

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Fontana di Trevi by night

Interior of the Archbasilica Saint John Lateran

Catacombs of Rome

Castle San Angelo, Roma

Il Vittoriano

Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran

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Villa Borghese Gardens

Roman Forum

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Trajanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Forum

Piazza Navona

Galleria Borghese

Galleria Borghese, Interior

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Road to Castle San Angelo

Pantheon of Rome

120

Spanish Steps

Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore

Capitoline Hill

Baths of Caracalla

Constantineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Arch

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Milano

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Santâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Ambrogio Cathedral

Dome of Milano

Pinacoteca di Brera

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Teatro Alla Scala, Milano

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Leonardo Da Vinci Science & Technology Museum

Sforza Castle, Milano

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Piazza dei Mercanti

Basilica Santa Maria delle Grazie

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Torino

126

Dome of Turin

Palazzo Reale

Egyptian Museum of Turin

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Porta Palatina

Piazza San Carlo

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Palazzo Madama

Museo dellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Automobile

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Florence

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Palazzo Vecchio

Florence Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore

Basilica San Lorenzo

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Michelangeloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s David Statue

Interior of the Florence Baptistery

Ponte Vecchio

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Boboli Gardens

Uffizi Gallery

133

Basilica Santa Croce

Palazzo Pitti

134

Florence Baptistery

Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio

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Venezia

136

Grand Canal Rialto Bridge

Basilica Santa Maria della Salute

Grand Canal

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Basilica San Marco

Murano

138

Piazza San Marco

Palazzo Rezzonico

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Dogeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Palace

Basilica Santa Maria Dei Miracoli

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Napoli

Mount Vesuvius near Napoli

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Palazzo Reale di Napoli

Piazza and Basilica San Domenico Maggiore

Vesuvius seen from a closer range

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Museo di Capodimonte

Napoli Harbour

Castel Nuovo

Basilica Santa Chiara

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Vatican

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Sistine Chapel

Piazza San Pietro, Roma (Vatican City)

Vatican Museum Interior

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Basilica San Pietro, Roma (Vatican City)

Vatican Museum

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Other Places

Fontana del Nettuno in Bologna

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Piazza del Campo, Siena

San Antonio da Padova Basilica

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Siena Cathedral

Taormina

Port of Genoa

Piazza Duomo in Parma

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Mount Etna

Assisi

Arena di Verona

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Typical Tuscany stone house with stunning vineyard in the Chianti region

Gardaland Park

Basilica San Nicola in Bari

Arena di Verona Interior

Piazza del Popolo in Ravenna

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Amalfi Coast

Capri Island

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Tower of Pisa and Piazza Miracoli

Lake Maggiore

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Palermo Cathedral

Lake Como

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Piazza Castello in Ferrara

Sardinia

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Pompeii

Panorama of Vernazza and suspended garden in Cinque Terre National Park, Liguria

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Piazza Duomo in Catania

Lake Garda

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