June 2018 by FN

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Fireworks and Style

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Pitti fashion shows inaugurate spectrum of summer events

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lorence is dressed in the colors of fashion this summer as Pitti Immagine returns. Showcasing the latest in contemporary lifestyle trends, the series of trade fairs once again brings top designers to Florence for Pitti Uomo (June 12–15), Pitti Bimbo (June 21–23) and Pitti Filati (June 27 – June 29) located at Fortezza da Basso and throughout the city. It is one of the first in a series of similarly colorful events taking place in June. Estate al Bargello continues its spectacle of dance, music and theater in the

courtyard of the Bargello National Museum, while the Roman theater at Fiesole hosts music, cinema and dance for Estate Fiesolana from June 21. The city brims with energetic celebrations to commemorate the feast day of its patron saint John the Baptist on June 24. Best known for Calcio Storico Fiorentino, a barbarous combination of football, rugby and wrestling that pits the four quarters of the city against each other. The anniversary also includes a rowing regatta on the Arno and the San Giovanni

JUNE www.florencenews.it Nocturnal Run, which consists of a 10-kilometer competitive run and a four-kilometer walk that starts and finishes at the Piazza del Duomo on June 16. As night falls over the city on June 24, the legendary ‘fires of San Giovanni’, a pagan summer rite and now a modern pyrotechnic spectacle, set the sky alight over Piazzale Michelangelo. Estate Fiesolana takes place at the historical Roman theater in Fiesole, with its theater section to its lineup of music, cinema and dance, from June 21 throughout the whole summer. Opera aficionados can enjoy the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago from July 14 to Aug 25. Blues lovers can also relish in the Pistoia Blues Festival from July 4 to 15, while the Lucca Summer Festival returns in July with a line up of many international stars. The most important event in Florence this month is without a doubt the celebration of the city’s patron saint St. John the Baptist, whose image was spread throughout Europe on the Florin, the Florentine coin introduced in 1252, and who was notably mentioned by Dan-

te in his masterpiece The Divine Comedy. To get inside the heart of this Florentine feast day, the words of 19th century English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning are perhaps the most revealing. In a letter to her sister dated June 1847, Barrett Browning writes: “Meanwhile, here is the grand Festa of San Giovanni, the patron saint of Florence, the grandest Festa of the year—and there are to be chariot races in the piazza close to us, and horse races (without riders) somewhere else—games in the manner of the ancients—also fireworks at night. The fireworks I certainly shall like to see: I couldn’t help screaming out for pleasure, and surprise. I never had seen any good fireworks, but Robert, who had, declared that nothing ever met his eyes to compare with these...and then the whole scene, the river, the people, the garden & characteristic houses contrived to throw one into a fit of ecstasy—it was my turn to be child, after all my fine reflection of the hour before… I cannot describe to you how marvelously beautiful it was.”

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Uffizi Exhibits Painting and Drawing like a True Master: The Talent of Elisabetta Sirani (Bologna 1638-1665) Uffizi, Sala Edoardo Detti e Sala del Camino Until June 10 Showcases 35 works by Elisabetta Sirani, a legendary artist and personality from the city of Bologna.

Maria Lai. Thread and Infinity Palazzo Pitti, Andito degli Angiolini Until June 3 Maria Lai combines the traditions of Sardinian culture with the protocols of Contemporary Art.

Travelling in Style Palazzo Pitti, Museo della Moda e del Costume June 5-Dec. 2 Displays photos from the Locchi Archive that show the allure of cars in the 20th century, as well as travel-wear outfits borrowed from the collection of the Uffizi Gallery’s Costume and Fashion Museum.

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NEWS Leonardo da Vinci’s Leicester Codex: Water as the Microscope of Nature Uffizi, Aula Magliabechiana Oct. 29, 2018-Jan. 20, 2019 Displays the pages of the Codex and examines the illustrations and the theories of Leonardo.

Pio Fedi’s The Rape of Polyxena Uffizi, Sala del Camino Nov. 25, 2018-Feb. 24, 2019 Presents works by sculptor Pio Fedi, most of which stored in the Uffizi.

Islam and/in Florence Uffizi, Aula Magliabechiana, & the Bargello National Museum June 19-Sept. 23 The Halberdier Comes Home to Florence. Miraculous Encounters; Pontormo’s Drawings & Paintings Palazzo Pitti, Sala delle Nicchie Until July 29 A selection of the finest works by Jacopo da Pontormo made in the last years of the 16th century.

Explores the cultural links between Florence and the Islamic world through a display of carpets, fabrics, wooden items, ceramics, glassware, metals, ivory carvings, precious stones and manuscripts from the collections of the Tuscan Grand Duchy and other Italian and international collections.

Fritz Koenig in Florence (19242017) Uffizi, Galleria delle Statue e delle Pitture, & the Boboli Gardens June 21-Oct. 7 Displays sketches, maquettes, as well as small and medium-sized sculptures by Fritz Koening including the models for the monument in honor of the Mauthausen Extermination Camp and other monuments that were never completed.

The Delicate Treasures of Princes Palazzo Pitti, Sala del Fiorino Nov. 13, 2018-March 10, 2019 Showcases porcelain collections of the era of the Hapsburg-Lorraine Grand Duchy Giorgio Vasari and the Artists from Emilia-Romagna Uffizi, Sala Edoardo Detti Nov. 20, 2018-January 2019 Explores the difficult relationship that Vasari had with artists from Emilia-Romagna.

The Gilded Carriage Palazzo Pitti, Sala delle Nicchie Dec. 11, 2018 -March 17, 2019 Showcases the sumptuous miseen-scène created by Prince Giovan Battista Borghese for the Roman Carnival of 1664. Medici Tapestries Woven into the History of the City Palazzo Pitti, Sala Bianca Dec. 18, 2018-Feb. 19, 2019 Three panels representing The Consecration of the Baptistery, The Goths laying siege to Fiesole and The League between Florence and Fiesole.

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Discover Casa Buonarroti Museum displays rare collections

he Casa Buonarroti Museum celebrates the greatness of Michelangelo while presenting a Baroque exhibition of the art collections of the family. The museum also offers the possibility of admiring the two famous marble relief pieces sculptured by Michelangelo in his early years: the Madonna della Scala, which shows Michelangelo’s passion for Donatello, and the Battle of the Centaurs, which conveys the admiration of the artist for classic art. The Buonarroti family greatly contributed to enlarge the building and embellish the museum with the aim of preserving objects

from different cultures, including the recent collection of the autograph drawings by Michelangelo consisting of 205 precious sketches and the equally important Archive and Library. The exhibit showcases rare art collections including paintings, sculptures, majolicas and archaeological findings that are arranged on the two floors of Michelangelo’s Casa. A specially equipped room displays on rotation a small number of the drawings of Michelangelo. Among the works exhibited are the Crucifix of Santo Spirito, which critics tend to attribute to Michelangelo, the two 16th cen-

tury Noli me tangere based on the lost cartoon, the Wooden model for the façade of San Lorenzo, and the River Divinity, which was used to prepare one of the sculptures made for the New Sacristy. The idea of creating a building to celebrate the glory of the Buonarroti family was an initiative of Michelangelo Buonarroti the younger, a prolific promoter of cultural activities, who employed for the works of the building the most renowned Florentine artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi, Pietro da Cortona, Giovanni da San Giovanni, Francesco Furini and the young Jacopo Vignali. The rooms were chosen by Michelangelo the younger to exhibit the most precious objects of his colleciion, including the small cartoon of Michelangelo showing a Madonna with Child and the wooden panel representing some episodes of the Life of St. Nicholas masterpiece by Giovanni di Francesco, a disciple of Domenico Veneziano.

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Michelangelo’s Tomb Restored

he crowdfunding “In The Name of Michelangelo” has made the restoration of Michelangelo’s tomb possible. Launched by the Opera di Santa Croce, the fundraising totaled 100.000 Euros with donations coming from 12 countries around the world. Among the donors were Colm Kelleher, President of Morgan Stanley, and the notorious Italian economist Domenico Siniscalco, who made his donation with his wife. The money collected allowed for the cleaning of the tomb with deionized water and for removing dust layers that have formed after years of neglect. In addition, wax applied in previous maintenance has been removed with a deerskin cloth. Some of the donors were present

last month during the concluding event of the first phase of the intervention. Within the sarcophagus and the sculpture complex, three sculptures by Michelangelo were extracted and represented the personifications of painting, sculpture and architecture, saddened by the death of the great master. The donors were welcomed by Irene Senesi, president of the Opera di Santa Croce, and Giuseppe De Micheli, general director of the Opera. A work made by Vasari in 1570, Michelangelo’s Tomb is at the beginning of the right aisle of the church of Santa Croce, just inside the main door of the Basilica. Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 and died in Rome on Feb. 18, 1564 at the age of 88. His body was first laid in the church of Santi Apostoli in Rome in 1564.

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Brunelleschi For Sale

he Castle of Oliveto in Castelfiorentino, allegedly designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, is now on sale. The announcement came last month by the president of the Lionard Luxury real estate agency, Dimitri Corti. With four angular towers and battlements that allow to walk around the perimeter, the castle is part of an estate located on the Florentine countryside that includes 25 farms, a village with a 18th-century villa, and a chapel in the woods for a total of approximately 35,000 square meters of indoor space and 1,200 hectares of farmed land with vineyards, olive trees and woods. It was completed in 1424, at a time when the Florence Dome was in its first phase of construction. Formerly owned by the noble Pucci family, the Castle of Oliveto in Castelfiorentino hosted prestigious guests over the centuries including three Popes - Leo X, Clement VII, and Paul III Farnese - Lorenzo the Magnificent, the Grand Duke

of Tuscany Ferdinand III, and, in more recent times, Italy’s King Victor Emmanuel III. During World War II the Allies used the castle as their military command as part of the operations to free Italy from Nazism and Fascism. According to one of the top experts in Brunelleschi’s architecture, Massimo Ricci, evidence that the castle was built by Brunelleschi can be found in the fact that, at that time, the Florentine master was the only expert in military fortifications and therefore the only who could do the castle; further, in striking resemblance to the Medici Villa La Petraia unanimously attributed to Brunelleschi, both constructions are not made with stone but with bricks, which at the time was an innovative material that was also used for the construction of the Dome. Another indication is that several buildings inside the fortification - such as the strange gallery set over a system of half vaults,

which would have likely collapsed unless a genius like Brunelleschi had designed it - are built in such a style that no one at the time would have been able to use but Brunelleschi. Lastly, the close ties between the Pucci family and Brunelleschi, which are evident by the fact that the brother of the then-owner of the castle, Giovanni di Antonio Pucci, provided the lime and sand for the construction of the Florence Dome. The comparison between the systems used to build the castle and the Dome’s cupola is also very interesting. Brunelleschi used a cohesive combination of sandstone and wooden braces placed at very specific intervals to hold the walls of the building, to then locate the exact centre of the Dome by utilizing eight metallic hooks and a complex series of chains embedded in the structure around the interior balustrade. As construction continued upward, the chains were simultaneously raised on one end to create a perfectly symmetrical shape all the way up to the structural opening. To complete his job, Brunelleschi used a Herringbone brick system, which is almost as significant as the aforementioned integrated use of chains and hooks. Such system required the measured and precise layering of horizontal and vertical bricks that lend support to one another, much like the physics behind the classical Roman arch. According to Ricci, construction of the Dome without the herringbone system would have been impossible.

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How the Leaning Tower of Pisa Resisted Earthquakes

he Leaning Tower of Pisa has survived four major earthquakes since it was built in 1280 simply due to the fact that it is leaning, experts said last month. The announcement came by a group of researchers from several international universities including the Roman Universities of Roma Tre and La Sapienza, University of Pisa, University of Chieti and Pescara, University of Bristol, and the Chinese University of Fuzhou. The team of researchers, coordinated by Camillo Nuti, a professor at Roma Tre University, concluded that the particular interaction between the soft ground and the rigidity of the monument caused the tower to avoid collapse during four earthquakes that hit the nearby of the city of Pisa in the last 800 years. The team of experts studied in particular two earthquakes, one that happened in the 1500s and another in the 1700s. The tower is built on a very soft soil that is mixture of loam and sand. Such weak base was the reason why its construction was soon interrupted after its beginning in 1280 to be resumed two centuries after. The research gives an answer to a debate that over the centuries has pitted engineers, ar-

chitects, and seismologists. “We have been working on the tower for four years. This unique building is 58-meter tall with a 5-meter slope, and because of these characteristics it has always been thought that an earthquake of whatever intensity would have made the building collapse, even in consideration of the soft soil upon which the tower was built,” said Nuti. The answer to the centuries-old question lays on what researchers define as “the dynamic interaction between soil and building.” In short, seismic energy, instead of reversing the tower, goes into the tower’s axis and in this way it does not resonate with any earth movement and does not amplify the swings produced by the earthquake.“If the soil was rocky, the effect would be opposite,” said Nuti.

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City Commemorates its Mafia Victims With restoration of painting destroyed in 1993 attack, but Vasari Corridor remains closed

n an interview released in the summer of 2016, Uffizi director Eike Schmidt said that he hoped that the 25th anniversary of the Georgofili Bombing - made by the Mafia to retaliate against the new measures against organized crime passed by the government - would be the occasion for the reopening of the Vasari corridor, closed for security reasons two years ago. However, instead of reopening the Corridor, to commemorate Mafia victims there was the restoration of Bartolomeo Manfredi painting I Giocatori di Carte (literally, card players). The painting was almost entirely destroyed on the night of May 27, 1993, and its restoration was considered impossible until expert Daniela Lippi created a restoration plan for an estimated cost of 23,000 Euros, about what the Uffizi cashes in three hours. The restoration, eventually, cost 30,000. As for the Vasari Corridor, more time is needed for the reopening. The Corridor traces a route through the rooftops of Florence from Palazzo Vecchio, across the Ponte Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti. Designed by Vasari in 1565 on the orders of Cosimo I de’ Medici to commemorate the marriage of his son Francesco to Joanna of Austria, it was created to allow safe passage

for the Medici duke and his family between their residence at Palazzo Pitti and the government offices at Palazzo Vecchio, high above the butchers’ knives and plebeian crowds on the Ponte Vecchio below. The corridor stretches for more than a kilometer and showcases a collection of artworks from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the early morning on May 27, 1993, a bomb exploded on Via de’ Georgofili in Florence killing five and wounding 48. The attempt was carried out with a small car packed full of explosives parked near the Torre dei Pulci, the seat of the Accademia dei Georgofili, between the Uffizi museum and the Arno River. The victims were Angela Fiume, a 36-year-old woman who served as an employee and caretaker of the Accademia; her 39-year-old husband Fabrizio Nencioni, who worked as a policeman; their daughters Caterina, who was only 50 days old, and Nadia, who was 9; and a 22-year-old student by the name of Dario Capolicchio. Several buildings were destroyed or damaged including the Uffizi Gallery, where three paintings were heavily damaged or destroyed (among which, a 1620 Adoration of the Shepherds by Gerard Van Honthorst).

The Florence bombing was followed by two others: on 27 July an explosion in Rome near the churches of St. John Lateran and San Giorgio al Velabro and in Milan, in via Palestro, where another car bomb killed five people. The choice to hit cultural and religious targets appeared to be too refined to have been conceived solely by the Mafia bosses. The objectives of the Mafia (and, if proved, of its allies) was to destabilize the Italian government and attack the Roman Catholic Church, the latter ‘guilty’ of reversing their traditional unwritten hands-off policy toward organized crime. To add suspicious that the Mafia did not act alone in the bombings, in those dark days of 1993 Italian Prime Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi blamed a “turbid alliance of forces” that he said pursued “both political destabilization and criminal goals.” Cosa Nostra bosses wanted to force the Italian State to loosen the harsh prison regime regulated by the 41-bis article of the Italian penal code, introduced one year earlier after two other bombings, also carried out by Cosa Nostra, killed prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the two architects of the trial that in early 1992 brought to the first real condemnation of mafiosi in Italian history.

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Michelangelo Used Right Hand Due to Prejudice, Expert Says

ichelangelo was left-handed and used his right hand because of prejudice against left-handed people during his time, an expert in medicine in art said last month. The announcement was made by the expert, Daniele Lazzeri, in an article published in the journal Clinical Anatomy. According to Lazzeri, Michelangelo worked hard to use his right hand from a young age in painting but continued to chisel and sculpt with his right because he needed more strength in making sculpture. Lazzeri came to his conclusions by comparing the impressions he made in his works with the recent discovery that Michelangelo had arthritis in his hands and with a self-caricature recently found in his painting of Victoria Colonna where he is seen painting with his right hand. The finding comes after last year a team of Brazilian researchers announced that Michelangelo carved pagan symbols of sexual female body parts in the Medici Chapels in Florence. These same researchers allegedly found similar symbols in the Sistine Chapel a few months ago and claim that they are representations of female power and sexuality, notions which the

Church notoriously fought against for centuries. After a study focusing on three symbols carved beside the tombs of Giuliano and Lorenzo dei Medici, the Porto Alegre researchers said that skulls, shells and spheres evoke the shapes of the uterus and Fallopian tubes, the organs of female reproduction. According to the researchers, Michelangelo wanted “to represent the capacity for rebirth and regeneration between life and death. The hypothesis, suggestive but perhaps a little forced, could confirm yet again Michelangelo’s great interest in human anatomy,” said the team. Lazzeri also said that Michelangelo in his youth, “started to examine corpses surreptitiously, in the basilica of Santo Spirito, to represent the human body in the most realis-

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Palazzo Strozzi Hosts Dawn of a Nation Exhibit TAYLER BRADFORD

alazzo Strozzi is hosting the art exhibition Dawn of a Nation from March 16 to July 22. This exhibit illustrates Italy’s growing sense of national identity during the 1950s and ‘60s. Curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, Italian Art from the Postwar Reconstruction to 1968 features over 70 works by artists such as Renato Guttuso, Lucio Fontana, Alberto Burri, Emilio Vedova, Piero Manzoni, Mario Schifano, Mario Merz and Michelangelo Pistoletto. Not only were artists in Italy inspired by the wounds of World War II, but also by the successive “Eco-

nomic Miracle,” the controversial social revolution that transformed Italy from a poor nation into a global industrial powerhouse during the late 50s and early 60s. In response to this societal change, Italian artists adopted new artistic trends like Informal Art, otherwise

known as abstract art, which led to the rise of Pop Art. They also experimented with monochromatic painting, Conceptual Art and Arte Povera, better known as contemporary art, making major contributions to today’s identity-related contemporary art scene.

JUNE www.florencenews.it “Dawn of a Nation will enable insight to a period in art that is indissolubly bound up with Italy’s development and that sucked its lifeblood from politics, current events and social change,” says Luca Barbero. “The works will be presented in contrasting juxtaposition in an effort to convey to visitors the sense of vitality typical of that moment. The energy in these years allowed the Informal artists to pursue their research, while Pop artists were busy following a diametrically opposite path. The aim is to make visitors feel that they’re encountering these artists first hand, at a point when they were defining new national art movements.” A Renaissance landmark of the 16th century, Palazzo Strozzi was first sold to the Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni in 1937 and then to the state in 1999. Since 2006, the Palazzo Strozzi Founda-

tion has hosted exhibits and cultural activities by some of the most renowned Italian and international artists.

Dawn of a Nation Palazzo Strozzi March 16-July 22 Hours Daily 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Thursdays 10 a.m. - 11 p.m. Price: € 13 palazzostrozzi.org

“Dawn of a Nation will enable insight to a period in art that is indissolubly bound up with Italy’s development and that sucked its lifeblood from politics, current events and social change ”

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‘The Florence Experiment’

Palazzo Strozzi Project explores relationships between human and plants

evised by artist Carsten Höller and scientist Stefano Mancuso, The Florence Experiment will run at Palazzo Strozzi until Aug. 26. The intention of this project to forge a new awareness of the way in which men see, sense, and interact with plants. Well-known for his work on the interaction between art, science, and technology as well as for his installations aimed at involving visitors to the greatest extent, Carsten

The fear and joy of the visitors produce different chemical compounds that will then be transported through two ducts in order to test whether and how these emotions influence the growth of Wisteria plants climbing on Y-shaped structures.

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Höller has been working on this project with Stefano Mancuso, a founding father of plant neurobiology whose interest focuses on analysing plants endowed with sensitivity and a capacity to communicate with their surrounding environment through chemical compositions that they perceive and emit.The first part of the “experiment” comprises two large slides placed in the courtyard and every week a selection of random

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visitors will descend carrying a bean plant. The plants will be given to a team of scientists who will analyse the photosynthetic parameters and molecules that they have emitted. The results will be then compared to plants carried by other visitors and also plants that act as a “constant,” or plants that have are not subject to these human interactions. The second part consists of two cinema theatres screening excerpts from horror films and comedies. Visitors’ fear or joy emotions will produce different chemical compounds that will be then conveyed to the façade through two ducts in order to verify whether and how such emotions influence the growth of Wisteria plants climbing on Y-shaped structures. The “smell of fear” will be released on one shank of the Y, the one of joy on the other. To take part in the project visitors must first read and agree to the terms and conditions posted in the ticket office or in the Palazzo Strozzi website. Children must be at least 6-year-old, between 130 cm (4’ 3”) and 195 (6’ 5”) tall, and weigh no more than 120 kg (18 st. 12 lbs; 264.5 lbs) to take part in the slides. An accompanying adult must sign a waiver for minors under the age of 14.

The Florence Experiment Palazzo Strozzi Until Aug. 26 Open every day Opening hours: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Thursdays 10 a.m. - 11 p.m.

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Ed Tasca Presents His Book on June 26 A

ward winning humor writer and novelist Ed Tasca will be presenting and signing copies of his new book “The Fables of Leonardo Da Vinci” at the Le Macchine di Leonardo Da Vinci Museum on Via Cavour 21 on June 26. The Fables of Leonardo Da Vinci is a small collection of allegories created from notes and ideas from Da Vinci’s famous manuscripts and codices. The collection is perfect for not only children and families, but also students of Leonardo Da Vinci who want a new perspective on his works. The stories teach how tales can create insightful human ironies and also display a bit of literary thought processes of a great genius. The book is very original and reveals fragments of Da Vinci’s moral code as well as concentrating on virtues such as humility, self-sacrifice, and egalitarianism while deploring pretension, dogmatism, and pomposity. Ed Tasca created a book that can introduce the Renaissance and Da Vinci to a variety of people. The signing will be held at the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum on Via Cavour. The exhibit showcases working models of Da Vinci’s designs, such as the 500-year-old Robot Drummer – the only one of its kind in the world. The museum holds over 30 fantastic machines and models that have been dis-

played throughout the world, over 100 sites throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, Brazil, and the United States of America. The exhibit also displays copies of the six codices that reveal the inner working of Da Vinci’s mind. The exhibit came to fruition by the Niccolai family, which reconstructed working models of Leonardo Da Vinci’s designs since 1995. Carlo Niccolai dedicated himself to working full time with the desire to realize Leonardo’s legacy. His passion founded the Niccolai collection, the largest private collection of Leonardo models in the world, comprised of more than 300 working models created by Carlo and his sons. In 2004 his son, Gabrielle, help create the museum to showcase the familial works and display Da Vinci’s genius. The event will take place at Leonardo Da Vinci Museum, in collaboration with numero45 of Andrea Del Carria , a historical research and cultural event firm, on Via Cavour on June 26, from 1 to 5 p.m.

Le Macchine di Leonardo da Vinci Museum Via Cavour 21 June 26 Hours: 1 to 5 p.m.

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The Fables of Leonardo da Vinci The Fables of Leonardo da Vinci is a small collection of fables created from notations for fables and half-finished fable ideas found in the back of Leonardo’s famous notebooks. Author: Ed Tasca is an award-winning humor writer and novelist, and a student of da Vinci’s extraordinary life. This little book of fables is a homage to that writing genre, offering readers of every age a taste of the simplicity and clarity of one of man’s oldest and most revered forms of fiction writing. Author’s email: edtasca@gmail.com

The Ape That Loved Too Much There once was an ape who thought no one loved him. His parents had gone off to other parts of the rainforest where it was quieter and safer. His brothers and sisters mated and moved on to higher ground where the jungle fruits were fatter and juicier. Other smaller animals were afraid of the ape, so he had very few friends. He tried to talk to the monkeys and the raccoons and the possum, but they ran away. He tried to hunt with the cats, but they were bored with him, because he was so slow. He even tried to befriend a human who lived close by. But the human thought the ape wanted to steal his food. One happy spring day, the ape

found a nest of young birds. The mother bird had been snatched out of the air and killed by a hawk. Her fledglings were so tiny and helpless that the ape could not help being overcome with feeling for them. He approached them carefully, so that he didn’t frighten them. He was filled with great joy, because he hoped to make them part of his family. But as he hid among the vines gaping at them as they tested their wings, the little birds spotted him. In an instant, without a second thought, they sensed danger and flew into the tree tops where the ape could never reach them. When the ape looked again at the nest he could see that one small

Moral:

fledgling still remained, trying desperately to flap its fragile wings and join its brothers and sisters. But it was too small and just didn’t have the power to fly. Filled with joy, the ape went from his hiding place to fetch the tiny prize and tell it that it was safe. The ape reached into the nest, and with all the love and passion he had saved up over a lifetime, grabbed the tiny bird and began to kiss it. But in his uncontrollable affection he gave it so many kisses, turning it over and over and squeezing it, that he took away its life. The ape was sad again, because he still had no one to love.

If you love unreasonably, you can bring misfortune upon those you love.

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Leonardo’s Adoration of the Magi Explained

eonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece Adoration of the Magi recovered much of its original colouring after a painstaking 6-year long restoration last year, when it returned to the Uffizi after being taken to the Opificio Delle Pietre Dure institute in 2011 due to serious deterioration of the surface. Displayed alongside Filippino Lippi’s replacement of the Adoration of the Magi from 1496, the painting is larger than two-square meters and is a chief example of Leonardo’s early work. It depicts the Vir-

gin Mary in the foreground with the infant Jesus, arranged in the artist’s signature triangular shape, surrounded by a semicircle of visitors; while in the background one observes a battle on horseback, a ruinous pagan building, the sketch of rocky landscape. In addition, according to some of the more controversial art historians, the young shepherd boy in the bottom right corner, facing away from the crowd, may be considered a self-portrait. Commissioned by the Augustinian

monks of the church of San Donato a Scopeto to make an altarpiece, Leonardo abandoned the work when he moved from Florence to the court of Milan. Thus, the monks recruited Filippino Lippi to make a replacement. Lippi completed his version of the Adoration, now housed in the Uffizi, in 1496. A separate painting was made in 1488 by Domenico Ghirlandaio, who expanded upon Leonardo’s theme. In 2002, Dr. Maurizio Serracini, an art diagnostician and alumnus of the University of California - San Diego as well as a native Florentine, was commissioned by the Uffizi to undertake a study of the paint surface to determine whether the painting could be restored without damaging it. After using high-resolution digital scans as well as thermographic, ultrasound, ultraviolet, and infrared diagnostic techniques to study the painting in ultra-fine detail, Seracini concluded that the painting could not be restored without damaging it and that Leonardo only did the underdrawing. Another artist, or other artists, was responsible for all of the existing paintwork on top of the underdrawing. “None of the paint we see on the Adoration today was put there by Leonardo,” said Seracini. The new images revealed by the diagnostic techniques used by Seracini were initially made public in 2002 in an interview with New York Times reporter Melinda Henneberger. In 2005, nearing the end of his investigation, Seracini gave another interview, this time to The Guardian. The final result were published in 2006.

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Florence News 11

NEWS

Uffizi Honors Elisabetta Sirani

n exhibition showcasing paintings by Elisabetta Sirani is on display at the Uffizi until June. The exhibit showcases 34 works donated for the event by public and private museums from all over Italy (one piece – the Self-Portrait as an Allegory Painting – was borrowed from the Pushkin Museum in Moscow). Born in Bologna in 1638, in spite of her short life (she died at 27) Sirani was one of the most influential painter of her century. Among her most famous works are the Madonna and Child with St Giovannino and The Beheading of St John the Baptist, today part of the Uffizi collection, and the St Jerome, stored at the Pinacoteca Nazionale Bologna museum. The exhibit also presents anecdotes and references drawn from multiple sources – such as prose and poetry, letters and other archive material – which testify the extent to which this painter was admired (particularly in Florence, where she became friend of Cardinal Leopoldo de Medici). “The stunning appeal of Sirani is not so much the fact that she was a female artist in a city that could boast Lavinia Fontana as one of its brightest stars, as the sheer high quality of her industrious output, which she begun when she was 17 with pretty eye-catching altar-pieces made in the manner

of Guercino, and then continued, without ever lowering the intellectual rigour of her approach, in the mould of the femmes fortes of her times,” said Uffizi director Eike Schmidt, adding that “another thing that is striking in her paintings is the rather noble, even heroic quality of the female figures: Virtuous figures who appear to be warriors – such as those painted for cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici in 1664 – saints, virgins, mothers and Madonnas all distinguished by an intrinsic nobility and an uncompromising gravitas.”

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NEWS

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Il Ponte Presents Mauro Staccioli

Tribute to Giorgio Laveri

sen. Laveri’s objects are sometimes anto Ficara Contemporary Art kitsch and predictable, however Gallery presents an exhibition icons of the 20th century and alon Giorgio Laveri, one of the most ways present is our life: artifacts renowned Italian contemporary that communicate and urge us to artists. The exhibit inaugurates reflect upon things. For their aesMay 5 at 11 a.m. Laveri’s production spans from ce- thetic, chromatic and formal perfection, these artifacts fascinate, ramics to theatre, film, reflections on mental illness, and civil com- seducing sight and heart first, and then the viewer.” mitment. As art critic Claudio Casali wrote, Irony and seduction thus become Laveri’s art main ingredients. “just one, simple piece of data is enough for us to comprehend the “Laveri takes us with irony and seduction to the enchant of memcomplexity of this author, who ories, of our youth, to the charm cannot be constrained within a single form of art but has to be con- and romance of playing, to finally reach the subtle lightness of living, sidered in all of his productions: which is rich of elegant, intellecfrom the ‘90s on, 300 were in fact Laveri’s cinema, theatre, perfor- tual, and spiritual reminders; in short, it is a sort of oxymoron of our mances and other events.” According to Casali, “Laveri choos- daily life.” es his subjects from our daily life, the techniques that he uses alGiorgio Laveri: ways recall some Italian tradition The Daily Chant in their being refined, elegant in the choice of the colors, with their Santo Ficara Contemporary Art shiny enamels, with the perfection Gallery of each sign; to all this, it must me Via Arnolfo 6L added a certain maniacal kind Open every day except Sundays of virtuosity, that is never cutesy 10 a.m.-12.30 p.m., 4-7 p.m. but always nicely researched, as santoficara.it demonstrated by the contrasts Until June 16 and the decorative patterns cho-

he contemporary art gallery Il Ponte presents a solo show dedicated to the sculptor Mauro Staccioli until July 27. The exhibit, which inaugurates on Friday May 11 at 6 p.m., showcases works between 1969 and 2009. Born in 1937 in Volterra, Staccioli earned a degree at the Art School in 1954. After an early stage in which he experimented with painting and engraving, Staccioli approached sculpture at the end of the 60s. In this period, he began to focus on the relationship between art and society, and developed the idea

that sculptures are intrinsically related with the places in which and for which they are created, both physically and socially. In Staccioli’s art, thus, places are central and without them sculpture would not exist. In 1972 Staccioli organized a series of “sculptures-interventions” in Volterra after a series of exhibitions in Milan galleries such as Studio Sant’Andrea, Studio Marconi, and Galleria Bocchi. He was later invited to the prestigious Venice Biennial in 1976 and 1978. In the ‘90s he continued to experiment on new forms and created

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exhibits in Italy and Europe. In recent years, his research yielded several installations, in Italy and abroad: at the the Lapiz Building in La Jolla, San Diego (2003) where a steel beam crosses the building’s façade, in Taiwan (2003), Puerto Rico (2004), Carrazeda de Ansiães, Portugal (2008), Voisins-le-Bretonneux, France (2008), and in Italy, Greve in Chianti (2009) and Parco della Cupa in Perugia (2009). In Mauro Staccioli, All’origine del fare/At the Roots of Sculpting, art critic Maria Laura Gelmini writes: “Mauro Staccioli follows his own peculiar procedure designed to meet the grounding need underpinning his own line of thought: to interpret a place in light of history and leave an indicative sign in the wake of this interpretation. The artist conscientiously adopted this approach in the late 1960s: politically engaged, he believed that art was his dutiful way of getting involved in debate. His awareness of the historical-social environment emerged in Volterra in 1972: the place, urban space, building and nature have their own history, their own life, they carry the imprints of ancient events or socio-environmental situations.”

Mauro Staccioli. Marking Space Il Ponte Art Gallery Via di Mezzo 42/b Until July 27

JUNE www.florencenews.it

‘The Halberdier’ Returns to Florence Courtesy of L.A. Getty Museum for Pontormo exhibit

from 1929 from 1929

modified by more recent historiographical research. The exhibition Miraculous Encounters: Pontormo from Drawing to Painting presents a series of works of outstanding importance, most of which are here displayed for the first time together, an endeavour that perfectly represents the collaborative ethos between Italian and international cultural institutions, as defined by the statute of the Uffizi,” said Schmidt. Schmidt refers to a debate sparked in recent years about identity of the person portrayed in the painting. The young man painted by Pontormo (1494- 1557) dresses dashingly, wears a red cap adorned with a golden pin, while armed with a halberd and a sheathed sword on his left side. Based on the chronicles of Giorgio Vasari, the thesis more accredited by art historians and Renaissance specialists is that the man in the painting is Francesco Guardi, a youthful soldier of the Florentine Republic army at the time of the siege of Florence in 1529. Other art historians, however, have claimed that The Halberdier is Cosimo de’ Medici at a young age. This theory too is based on accounts by Giorgio Vasari, who also wrote that Cosimo was the subject of a painting made by Pontormo. A third theory is that our mysterious halberdier is a young Floren-

from 1929

cquired by the Getty Museum of Los Angeles in 1989, for the record-breaking sum of $32.5 million, Pontormo’s masterpiece The Halberdier is back to its home town Florence after almost 30 years. The portrait is the centrepiece of the exhibition Miraculous Encounters: Pontormo from Drawing to Painting on show at Palazzo Pitti until July 29. Uffizi director Eike Schmidt said he was quite satisfied by the joint venture between Italian and international cultural institutions. “The pervasive impression of Jacopo Carrucci da Pontormo as an eccentric figure, first peddled by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Artists (1568) has been profoundly

from 1929 from 1929

tine nobleman by the name of Ercole Rangone, also a soldier in the Florentine city militia. Each hypothesis implies a specific timeframe: if the Halberdier is Francesco Guardi or Ercole Rangone, it means that Pontormo made his painting during the months of the siege of Florence. If is Cosimo de’ Medici, the painting was made later, after 1537. Representing his subject from the forehead allows Pontormo to concentrate on aspects that would have been hard to represent using a lateral perspective, such as his subject’s clothing rather than his facial features. Consequently, the sketch does not reveal the ambi-

from 1929

Florence News 13

NEWS tion of a portrait, but rather a detailed attention of the subject’s outfit. Displayed together with the Halberdier in the Sala delle Nicchie of the Pitti Palace are also other pieces by Pontormo. One is the Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap. The painting, which comes from a London-based private collection, might represent one Carlo Neroni, of whom little is known. The identity of the subject was lost during the 17th-century, although even in this case there is not total agreement amongst art historians as according to a 1733 inventory the man in the painting is Masaniello, a famous 16th-century Neapolitan rebel whose fame spread throughout all of Italy. This portrait of a very fastidiously dressed, proud young man who is either concealing or brandishing inside his leather blouson a mysterious letter rivals The Halberdier for its stunning beauty. Another piece on display is The Pygmalion, which depicts the story, first told by Ovid, of how a prayer to the Goddess Venus transforms an ivory statue into a living woman. This painting was not made by Pontormo but by his pupil Bronzino or was made in collaboration between the two artists. This latter hypothesis is supported by the fact that the figure of the young woman resembles Pontormo’s Venus and Cupid and may thus have been made by him, whereas it is certain that Bronzino portrayed the pygmalion taking good account from Pontormo’s St Francis of Assisi at Prayer which was made as part of

SINCE1929 1929 from from 1929

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the Holy Family, commissioned by Francesco Pucci for his family funeral chapel in the church of San Michele Visdomini. On display is also The Visitation, a painting in which Pontormo features the emotional meeting and passionate embrace between two cousins – the mother-to-be of Jesus and the mother-to-be of St John the Baptist – who exchange an expressive glance of profound serenity.

Miraculous Encounters: Pontormo from Drawing to Painting Pitti Palace Until July 29 Price: €16; €8 for EU citizens between 18 and 25-year-old Open Tuesday-Sunday 8:15 a.m. - 6:05 p.m.

14 Florence News

NEWS

Europe and Solidarity

Theme debated at recent State of the Union conference JOHN HOOD The theme of The State of the Union Conference at the Palazzo Vecchio was European solidarity and which proved true during the multiple speeches at the event. An annual event in Florence, The State of the Union, organized by the European University Institute, brings together high-level leaders from the EU institutions as they reflect and discuss key issues both in Europe and the world. This year the conference emphasized solidarity and unity in the European Union. While challenges to the union have occurred, it is important to hold together. The top diplomat Frederica Morgherini said, “No country is big enough to face this world alone.” The event hosted to leaders from different institutions such as President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Frederica Morgherini, President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, and the Prime Minister of Italy Paolo Gentiloni. Antonio Tajani, the first speaker, stressed the negative cloud of populism and euroskepticism, the harsh criticism of the European Union and integration, through-

out Europe. The negative trend is fuelled by the migration crisis and specifically calls to the Italian people. “Being a good Italian also means being a good European citizen. It needs to be repeated out loud, especially now,” Tajani states. His point is important since the Italian government is in limbo as the 5Star Movement, the majority party in Italian Parliament, continues talks of leaving the European monetary union. The need for solidarity is essential, “To think that we can get by alone is a pure illusion or, worse, a deliberate deception aimed to sway public opinion.” Later, Jean-Claude Juncker says, “We need more Europe.” The President of the Commission, the acting executive branch, wants improved integration of Europeans and attacked “part-time Europeans” in politics. President Juncker says, “I discovered during the migration crisis, and also during the economic and financial crisis, that there are full-time Europeans who are always there when the necessary measure of Europe is required. And then I discovered that there are part-time Europeans who sometimes take part, who sometimes don’t come to work but who make a lot of speeches.” He wants to improve solidarity by finalizing the long-term EU budget, lead a more political Commission (not a bureaucratic one), and boost

the European Fund for Strategic Investments to improve business investments in Europe. The President of the European Central Bank and former University of Florence Professor Mario Draghi also gave a speech on risk reduction and and risk sharing in the monetary union. He points out that the monetary union is not complete and that “the crisis revealed some specific fragilities in the euro… that so far have not been resolved.” He ends his speech with the final point, “The people of Europe have come to know the euro and trust the euro. But they also expect the euro to deliver the stability and prosperity it promised.” The top diplomat in Europe, Frederica Morgherini says that Europe will not leave the Iran nuclear deal that the United States recently withdrew from. “We are determined to keep this deal in place,” and that Iran is the only country that could actually ruin the deal. Further, she points out that there is great unity within the European Union especially in defense and security by establishing a single European command center, improving defense spending and cooperation. “The State of our Union is as strong as Europeans want it to be,” and regrets that support among Europeans is falling. She reiterates that “The European Union means all of us … It is not a building in Brussels.”

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Extra-luxury Since 1830

With its evening bags, walking sticks, and fans, Ottino has been supplying the royal family since its establishment in 1830. Thanks to its reputation for selling high quality items, the shop soon became an essential stop for the European aristocracy when visiting Florence. After the Second World War, Ottino established its name as one of the foremost producers of leather accessories. Since then, its products became the symbol of quality for Florentines as well as for the English and American communities living in Florence or visiting the city.

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Florence News 15

FASHION

Understanding the Roots of Fashion from the Renaissance COSTANZA MENCHI

n the early 1930s, Italian writer Gianna Manzini noted that the renowned Bronzino’s portrait of Eleanor of Toledo with her son, Don Garzia, acts as “a program, a prophecy,” the document of an epoch. It is, in fact, in the Renaissance that we can find the first manifestation of a “discourse on dress” and a ‘rhetoric’ of ‘la bella figura’ (literally: beautiful figure, meaning: giving a good impression). Thus, the Renaissance is the key moment in history for understanding the roots of Italian fashion. Fashion in the Renaissance became scientia habitus and a political and a state affair via the Sumptuary Laws. In the 16th century, numerous authors, such as Baldassar Castiglione and Cesare Vecellio, expressed an existing concern for appearance. It was in this period that the body became a vital component of identity as individuals, beginning with the members of the Medici family, began to see themselves as the ‘agents’ of their own fate. In the Renaissance, the act of “fashioning” had connotations different from modern ones. Clothes were seen as to transform the wearer, while dressing in particular, elegant clothes gave people a form.

In the mid-16th century, Cosimo de’ Medici became a duke and his wife Eleanora became a duchess by putting on the robes of state. From Eleanor’s wedding dress of 1539 to her burial dress of 1562, the Spanish-born duchess wore ceremonial to advertise both the Florentine silk industry and Duke Cosimo’s loyalty to the Spanish Emperor Charles V. Here we have identified some of the early meanings of modern fashion: dressing becomes, in this period, a way of advertising, of communicating an identity. Our primary evidence for Cosimo and Eleanor’s newly achieved ducal status is portraiture. Florentine painter Agnolo Bronzino under-

stood the importance of dress in crafting Eleanor’s public persona, and for this reason he made the virtuoso depiction of clothing and jewels (some of them attributed to Cellini) central to his four portraits of her in ceremonial dress. In these portraits, Bronzino depicts Eleanor as an icon of Spanish nobility and, together with her two eldest sons, as a symbol of a fecundity at the base of the Medicean dynastic ambitions. Thus, just as Eleonora’s public appearances in lavish dress were carefully staged, Bronzino’s images of her in this clothing were part of Duke Cosimo’s political culture, in which he presents his duchess as he wished her to be seen. Eleanor, Cosimo and the members of the Medici family represented in those portraits were not just showing off their refined style and taste, but the richness of the city of Florence. Through their wardrobe, they adopted different ways and tricks by means of which ideas, ideology and power could be conveyed through appearance. Florentine heirs of that tradition are still recognized worldwide for the superb “Made in Italy” fashion, textiles, leather goods, jewels and accessories, which still let people wearing them make aa good impression during public and private occasions.

The ‘Supermodels’ of the Past T

hrough Renaissance portraits of women it is possible to understand how modern fashion began. It was during this period, in fact, that for the first time in art history, women became the object of a somewhat obsessive attention to the details of beauty. Artists began focusing intently on women’s faces, hair and clothes, and thus female portraiture took on another expressive element, beyond representing personality and social status. Simonetta Cattaneo can be considered the first “supermodel” in history, as Botticelli used her as a muse and inspiration for his paintings. Born in Genoa, she married Mario Vespucci, cousin of Amerigo Vespucci who baptized America. In 1475 she was nominated “Queen of Beauty” at the popular chivalrous tournament known as La Giostra, which that year was won by Giuliano de’ Medici, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Giuliano and Simonetta embarked on a love story which came to a tragic end in 1476. She was only 22 when she died of tuberculosis. Giuliano died a few years later in the Pazzi Conspiracy. Simonetta’s face is believed to appear in The Birth of Venus and the Madonna of the Magnificat at the Uffizi. Hers and Giuliano’s are believed to be the faces in Botticelli’s Primavera, or

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (fragment)

Allegory of Spring.Another model was Lucrezia Panciatichi. In Bronzino’s portrait she appears with a “complicated” hairstyle, blue eyes and a melancholic expression; she wears a sumptuous red velvet dress and a corset trimmed with a belt made of precious stones. One of her two necklaces bears the inscription “Amour dure sans fin,” an allusion to the love of God, whilst her right hand holds a prayer book. The sleeves of the dress are big and detachable, as it was common in that period.

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16 Florence News

FASHION

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Summer with Style

THE SPECIAL EVENTS AND GUESTS:

Pitti Uomo returns June 12-15

• CRAIG GREEN, MENSWEAR GUEST DESIGNER – PITTI UOMO 94 The London born designer will present his S/S 2019 collection during an exclusive runway show in Florence with a collection focusing on modern fashion. • FUMITO GANRYU, DESIGN PROJECT – PITTI UOMO 94 The Japanese fashion designer will present his independent label at Pitti Uomo. The event will focus on the pure essence of his style – a new philosophy of modern casual wear. • GUEST NATION GEORGIA

itti Uomo, the most important fashion event in Florence dedicated to menswear, is coming back to the Fortezza da Basso from June 12 to 15 for its 94th fair. Within a space of about 60,000 square meters divided into 13 sections, 1,250 brands – 561 from abroad – will showcase venues that emphasize research in menswear and the future of fashion. This year the new collections are inspired by the theme, P.O.P Pitti Optical Power that uses an array of colors to create a visual celebration, a kaleidoscope of colors for the event. Agostino Poletto, the general man-

ager, states that Pitti Uomo “presents a witty and creative full-color graphic world.” The event is ever evolving and will have a vast array of projects. Projects will interpret the outdoors in a new and original way or redefine lifestyle concepts. Talents from all over the world will be available, such as the innovative abilities from Northern Europe or the inventive scene from Eastern Europe, that use cutting edge design to push forward the future of fashion. These projects and talents give Pitti Immagine a unique feel. This June, the fair will have new routes, a careful redistribution of

the spaces, an expansion of the sections on experimental menswear and areas dedicated to the future of fashion. The theme of Pitti Uomo this summer is P.O.P. Pitti Optical Power, which will focus on the visual and virtual celebration of the event. The event will use original patterns with contrasting colors to create a visual power surge offering new perspectives on the event and fashion. This year, Pitti Uomo will truly be innovative as it uses these new concepts to move away from the aesthetics of “black and white” and create a Fortezza of visual delights and hypnotic hues.

New creative minds from Georgia will showcase their work thanks to Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery’s collaboration with Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi. • FANATIC FEELINGS – FASHION PLAYS FOOTBALL Pitti Immagine Discovery will present “Fanatic Feelings – Fashion Plays Football.” The event, June 12 - July 22, will focus on the influence of football on modern fashion.

NEW PROJECTS IN THE VENUES AT FORTEZZA DA BASSO • I GO OUT – OUTDOOR STYLES IN SALA DELLA RONDA An original interpretation of outdoor style will be presented at Pitti Uomo 94. “I Go Out” is a new project that combines style and performance with functionality and design. • SCANDINAVIAN MANIFESTO – A SHOWCASE OF NORTH EUROPEAN TALENT Pitti Immagine presents Scandinavian Manifesto – a unique selection of 17 collections by new designers and established names from North Europe. • UNCONVENTIONAL – LUXURY UNDERGROUND MEETS ATHLEISURE Unconventional combines the luxury underground with personality for a contemporary gender-neutral wardrobe in the Archivi. Within Unconventional, the venue Athlovers will be available. Athlovers is a special project that represents the birth of athletic minded collections - a new dimension of modern life.

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JUNE www.florencenews.it • SOPHISTICATED SOUL IN SALA DEL RONDINO – “MAKE” With a focus on the new generation of craftspeople, “Make” that presents new concepts and unique selections with sophistication and contemporary allure.

TWO IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARIES • HERNO CELEBRATES 70 YEARS WITH “LIBRARY” Herno will celebrate its 70th anniversary and presents “Library” at Stazione Leopolda June 12 - 14. “Library” explores the past, present, and future of Herno – an iconic element of rebirth. • LARDINI TURNS 40 Larini celebrates its 40th anniversary with an event at Fortezza da Basso. Larini will host a breakfast that includes a full immersion into the brand’s stylistic world of vibrant flowers.

OTHER SPECIAL EVENTS • GUCCI GARDENS OPENS NEW GALLERIA ROOMS • MONCLER GENIUS PROJECT – 7 MONCLER FRAGMENT HIROSHI

FUJIWARA • MCM SHOWCASE SPECIAL EVENT BY BIRKENSTOCK • COS MENSWEAR CAPSULE COLLECTION – SPECIAL LAUNCH • INSTALLATION EVENT – FREDERICO CURRADI • EMILIO PUCCI AND BONAVERI PRESENT: “BONAVERI, A FAN OF PUCCI” • PITTI IMMAGINE AND MINI – “FIELD NOTES” • FEATURES – LAUNCHES, SPECIAL PROJECTS AND REAPPEARANCES • ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA – BEACHWEAR • POLVERIERA HOSTS SEASE • PAUL & SHARK PRESENTS NICK WOOSTER X PAUL & SHARK • DEBUT OF ICEBERG • ROSSIGNOL PRESENTS SS19 • BASICNET PRESENTS THE NEW BRANDS: K-WAY, SEBAGO AND SUPERGA • LA MARTINA PRESENTS

Florence News 17

FASHION

Cavalli Special Guest at Pitti Uomo

A NEW COURSE AT THE EXCLUSIVE SETTING INSIDE GHIAIA PAVILION. • BAND OF OUTSIDERS • ATELIER & REPAIRS COLLABORATES WITH CANDIANI DENIM • T-MICHAEL PRESENTS “5 CURATORS – ONE SPACE.” • PHILIPPE MODEL PARIS

OTHER EVENTS IN FLORENCE • INFERNO HOST THREE EVENTS FROM JUNE 12-14 With the theme of “Lounge Bar,” Inferno will exhibit creations from the film Casablanca. Events include: Special guest Scarlett will perform a live show on June 12, an “Angels and Demons” costume party with DJ Lord Baroli performing June 13, a live acrobatic show with DJ Andrea Camilloni on June 14. • CROMOPARTY HOSTED BY MARCO CANTINI Marco Cantini, a local jeweler will be hosting an exhibition of jewelry and bracelets on June 13 from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. at his shop on Via del Castello D’Altafronte

Cavalli’s new creative director, Paul Surridge

oberto Cavalli returns to Florence to launch his new fashion project with a special event on June 13. The event, in which Roberto Cavalli presents a new collection by Paul Surridge, the creative director for all the company’s lines, will be part of Pitti Uomo. A Florence native, Cavalli is one of the most prominent names in fashion and design with breathtaking style and a distinct elegance. Pitti Immagine and Roberto Cavalli have a historic relationship. “The long love story between Pitti Immagine and Roberto Cavalli began nearly twenty years ago, ” says Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti

Immagine. Napoleone points out that the upcoming collaboration forms a new bond and a new phase. “It marks the return of one of the champions of Italian style, one of the names that made Florence the world capital of fashion, and – at the same time it is the moment for highlighting a new phase for the brand led by the design talents of the new creative director.” Pitti Uomo is the perfect setting for the launch of the new project. “The Roberto Cavalli brand was born in Florence and it is only natural that its relaunch goes through this city,” says Gian Giacomo Ferraris, CEO of the Roberto Cavalli Group. English designer Paul Surridge took over the position of creative director for all the Cavalli brands in May 2017. Guided by a strong respect for the heritage of the brand, but also determined to define a new phase on modern dynamism in line with the needs of today’s men and women, Surridge meets the challenge of changing international markets but has the ability to create innovative ideas for Roberto Cavalli group. “Growing menswear is a significant opportunity for our business,” says Ferraris. “Paul’s talent, vision and experience in the context of Pitti Uomo are the perfect platform for its development.”

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18 Florence News

FASHION

his month Fortezza da Basso will host Pitti Bimbo, the most important international fair dedicated to fashion for children and teenagers. The event will bring to Florence a mix of creativity and experimentation as well as new trends in kids’ fashion. From June 21 to 23 Pitti Bimbo will present 557 collections, 347 of which from abroad, with 146 brands showcasing at this fair for this time. A total of 5,300 buyers will be present and over 10,000 visitors from all over the world attended last year’s event. The fair focuses on research and across-the-board proposals, building its itinerary through worlds both autonomous and synergic. The event presents an array of stylistic and established brands, among which the sartorial vocation of Apartment; sustainability,

the banner for Ecoethic; the dynamic dash of Sport Generation; the street soul of Superstreet; the athletic-metropolitan dimension of the new #ACTIVELAB section; the mixture of research and experimentation in KidzFIZZ; the lifestyle of Fancy Room; the incubator of brands that are small in size but big in content of The Nest. Pitti Bimbo kicks off with the Pitti P.O.P. Party on Friday, June 22, with a dinner party introducing guests to an imaginative and kaleidoscopic world where fantasy and fun are the true protagonists.

Pitti Bimbo 87 June 21-23 Opening Hours: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. (last day 5 p.m.) www.pittimmagine.com

www.florencenews.it

Pitti Presents Filati

Fashion for Kids

JUNE

itti Filati, the key international fair that features yarns for the knitting industry will be returning to Florence from June 27 – 29 at Fortezza da Basso. A dynamic research lab and an authoritative global observatory that looks into lifestyle trends for the future, Filati presents world-scale excellence in yarns to international buyers and designers of the most famous fashion brands who attend the event in search for creative inspiration. Key foreign markets and brands from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Peru, India, New Zealand, China, and Russia will be in attendance. This June’s event features the world previews of knitting yarn collections for fall/winter 2019/20. The exhibition area is 20,000

square meters with a total of 129 brands, 27 of which are from abroad. Last year, the vent attracted 5,350 buyers from all over the globe. The special project for this June’s Filati is Modateca Deanna, which brings an extraordinary collection of knitwear of Marina Spadafora to the event. Modatecca Deanna will celebrate Italian excellence in knitwear through the archives of Miss Deanna, a historic knitwear manufacturer who has been collaborating with most influential designers and international stylists since the 1970s. A creative soul, her fashion focuses on the search for stylized shapes and the innovation of materials and techniques. The main theme of this Filati is WWW. Its intent is to look at the generation of digital natives and provide a link

between the physical and virtual dimension on and offline.. The theme of P.O.P. Pitti Optical Power will focus on the visual and virtual celebration of Pitti Filati. The Fortezza da Basso will be covered in a kaleidoscope of full color patterns and a playful atmosphere. The event will also present a new edition of Feel the Yarn directed by Pitti Immagine, Consorzio Promozione Filati and Elementi Fashion. Feel the yarn is the competition dedicated to aspiring designers from the best international fashion schools that aims to expand the creative potential of yarn production in the most qualified Italian spinning mills. The objective is to assist the emergence of design and knitwear talents whilst maximizing their expertise and originality.

20 Florence News

FASHION

Roberto Ugolini: Master Loafer

uality and elegance. This is what you can find in a small shop next to Piazza Santo Spirito that carries on the antique tradition of designing and producing handcrafted shoes, primarily for male clients who want to wear the top quality. The shop is that of Roberto Ugolini, a Florentine artisan famous in America and Japan for designing and manufacturing shoes based on the wishes of his customers and on the shape of their foot. The shop offers a wide range of solutions regarding shape, colors and materials. Entering it you can ‘breath’ the air of an old tradition that today has be-

come a rare luxury. The formula of Roberto is that of combining the best Florentine artisan traditions with the highest quality of materials. Always with the same scope: quality and elegance.

Roberto Ugolini Via Michelozzi 27/r (next to Piazza Santo Spirito) www.roberto-ugolini.com

www.florencenews.it

‘Son of the Heart’ Benheart Launches Expanded Boutique

JUNE

enheart opened last month a renewed shop on Via Della Vigna, the street that made Florence the capital of Italian fashion in the 60’s. The shop doubles the previous one in size and is the second important expansion that the brand ‘Benheart’ has had in the last two years, having Ishan already opened another shop on Via Cimatori, near Piazza della Signoria, just two years ago. The story of this young stylist is quite literally derived from his heart. It was after a heart transplant, in fact, that Ishan woke up with a new perspective on life, realizing that he now had the best chance to express his emotions through his hands. That’s why Benheart is synonymous to ‘son of the heart’ - the distinctive logo imprinted on all his leather goods: shoes, bags, jackets and belts. Along with his heart, Ishan takes inspiration from the American way of living, which he describes as vivacious, happy, full of hopes and fueled by dreams. “We look at quality first: quality is our brand’s identity. Then, of course, all our products have to fit and look beautiful when you wear them,” Ishan told us. The first Benheart store opened Florence six years ago. Since then, he has expanded to six stores: five of which are in Italy, and one of

which is in Tokyo. Soon, the boutiques will be seven, as a new one is about to open in San Francisco at the beginning of the next year. The clothing and accessories are crafted entirely by hand, the treatment of which is taken from the traditions of Ben’s native town. Customized pieces are also available if you visit one of their locations in Florence.

Fashion Online S

hoppingscanner is a search engine for clothes and accessories for women, men and children, cosmetics and house decor. Easy to manage, it uses tools and filters such as price range, discount percentage, color, size or name of the product, brand, keyword. One can also navigate within the categories and find a series of tips and outfits that are in the trend section. Shoppingscanner has currently four versions: Italian (.it), French (.fr), English (.uk) and American (.com) and nearly 1,000,000 products per site from over 60 of the best Italian, European and American stores. The website gets about 400,000 visitors per month. “We’ve created this search engine that can browse the best online stores and filter products according to brand, price range, discount, color and size. We want shopping online to be easier for everyone. We’re working hard to perfect it. Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening,” say Laura Cappelletti and Alessandra Massaini , co-founder s of the platform.

Benheart Via della Vigna Nuova, 97/r Via CImatori, 25/r www.benheart.it

www.shoppingscanner.it/com/fr/uk

LUNCH&DINNER | BEER&BURGERS LIVE MUSIC&APERITIVO

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JUNE www.florencenews.it

Authentic Florentine Hands

Florence News 21

FASHION

The Art of Tailored Clothing Meet Florentine stylist Piero Puliti

Marco Cantini’s jewelry and fragrance

allets, jewelry, fragrance, handmade by a real Florentine craftsman, Marco Cantini. Marco was born and raised in Piazza della Passera, in the most ‘authentic’ neighborhood of Florence, Santo Spirito, where you can still find pure Florentines today, which seems to be an increasing rarity in this city. Since childhood, his life has been devoted to his strong passion for work. In these early years, Marco’s daily life consisted of school in the morning and working at a boutique with a craftsman in the afternoon, polishing frames and restoring small objects. He later became the apprentice of a Florentine goldsmith. “I could ‘smell’ the beauty of this noble and ancient art,” Marco says, recalling this time, “but couldn’t accede to it until I was 20, when my mentor started teaching me the medieval techniques of his job. My adventure begins here. I bought my first workbench and started creating.” But still, Marco’s curiosity was not satisfied. “I needed to know, to see, to explore. Being Florentine and a goldsmith has been really helpful in my tours and adventures. In London I worked for David Morris on Bond

Street. It’s there that I was introduced to the world of international fine jewelry,” says Marco. “I understood that, thanks to what I learned in my early ages, I could travel and work all over the world. And that’s what I did. I travelled to Brazil, Mexico, New York and connected my craftsmanship techniques and to the new ones I learned abroad.” Despite these travels, Florence has always been Marco’s real home. And it’s here that, back in the 90’s, he opened his first shop, with more on the way.

T Marco Cantini

Via del Castello D’Altafronte, 28/r, www.marcocantini.com

he idea of mindfulness is the ability to never be absent minded and to be conscious of your environment – to be present in the world around you. Piero Puliti is one of the foremost designers in Florence. He meditates on a regular basis and believes that a designer needs to “have the sensibility to understand the change of environment… feel what is the best and what is going to come up in fashion.” A stylist who prefers to have his own voice and own style, Piero expresses himself in the clothes he makes and

through the right concentration and right effort, reaches enlightenment through the clothes he makes and the joy it brings people. Born in the San Frediano, Piero had an early start in the fashion industry. The spark was at the age of 11, when his father wanted a tailored suit for Piero, who was fascinated by the skills of the tailor. At the age of 16, Piero worked as a sale associate in local shops, giving fashion advice and suggesting outfit combinations to local patrons. In the 1990s, Piero wanted his own place, with his own voice, and opened up the shop that allowed him to become an innovative force in the Florentine fashion scene. Initially the shop offered clothing for men and women, but after one year it specialized in menswear – specifically shirts and ties. Piero still believes in the artisanal style. While the challenge is always the changing market and mass production destroying small businesses and bespoke apparel, Piero points out that “we are artisans” and everything is made in the workshop with a unique style and handmade craftsmanship that will surpass any machine. They are one of the few genuine shops left in Florence, in which everything is truly “Vero in Italia.” “We have a small place, but everything starts from small things,” Piero says, “from a seed it can grow – a big

tree; small business working with people all around the world.” Piero and his wife are both Buddhists and met at a local meeting. Not only do they work together in the shop, but also practice meditation daily, in the morning and in the evening. They believe that the Buddhist practice gives energy and clears mind, a factor that is crucial to the fashion business. The practice helps Piero find the best fit from and ever changing world that doesn’t always fit. The changing business, trying to improve the merchandise, or trying to find better fabrics, what fits best? He says that clarity in this “comes from energy from daily practice.” Making people happy and being welcoming to new patrons is his main goal. Piero wants to evoke emotion and positivity in his work as he welcomes all people to his shop. “You don’t need to buy, just come inside and feel good – create an experience, something to take home, something to remember.”

Via Del Corso 51/r 055 282662 www.pieropuliti.it

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Calcio Storico Honors Patron Saint

Foto credits: Flickr user Francesca Romana Correale

s part of a celebration of Florence’s patron saint, John the Baptist, the Calcio Storico Fiorentino is held annually in June, a tradition dating back to the sixteenth century that puts the four districts the Romans divided Florence into head-to-head in a game that mixes football, rugby, and wrestling, invented by the Romans to train

their troops and conserved by Florentines, who still play it every year in the Piazza Santa Croce. The sport originates from the traditional game played over 500 years ago, and the ancient rules are still observed. Before each game a procession of drummers, flag-bearers, team members and other Florentines,

all dressed in sixteenth-century Renaissance attire, parades from Piazza Santa Maria Novella to Piazza della Signoria, through Via dei Neri and Via dei Benci and on to the field of play, Piazza Santa Croce. Matches last 50 minutes and are played on a field covered in sand, doubly long as it is wide, with net goals at each end. Each team has 27 players: 4 Datori Indietro (goalkeepers), 3 Datori Innanzi (fullbacks), 5 Sconciatori (halfbacks), and 15 Innanzi or Corridori (forwards). The game starts when the "Pallaio" throws the ball to the center line, followed by the firing of a small cannon, announcing the beginning of the conflict. From this moment on, the players attempt to get the ball into the opponent's goal. The teams change sides with every point scored. Tactics such as head-butting, punching, elbowing and choking are allowed, although the modern version forbids sucker punches and kicks to the head. Players continue to play despite any injuries they may incur, as there are no substitutes. Many players boast that they would rather die on the field than in the hospital.

Florence News 23

CITY BEAT The Captain and Alfiere (flag bearer's) tent sits in the center of the goal net. They don't actively participate in the game, but act as referees along two “side judges” per district, making eight total. The Maestro di Campo is “Master” of the game and ensures it runs smoothly, stepping in to reestablish order and maintain discipline in case of a fight on field. The team which scores the most cacce (points) wins. Historically, the winners are awarded a white calf to represent the “sweet taste of victory.” Today, the victorious team wins a calf’s equivalent weight in mouth-watering bistecca fiorentina. Originally, Calcio Storico was reserved for aristocratic noblemen who played every night between Epiphany and Lent in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce, and the areas of Via Il Prato, Piazza della Signoria or Piazza Santa Maria Novella. In fact, even Popes were known to play the Calcio in the Vatican, including Clement VII, Leo XI and Urban VIII. The pageant of Calcio was prohibited for a period in 1739 by the Grand Dukes of Lorraine, but was restarted by the Fascist government which came to power in the 1930s.

Calcio Storico in brief Santa Maria Novella (Reds): Northwest quadrant of the city Basilica of Santa Maria Novella Banner: Golden sun Gonfalons of company: White Lion, Lion Red, Viper, Unicorn St. John (Greens): Northeast quadrant of the city Baptistery of San Giovanni Banner: Depiction of the Baptistery Gonfalons of company: Keys, Vaio, Green Dragon, Golden Lion Holy Cross (Blues): Southeast quadrant of the city Basilica of Santa Croce Banner: Golden cross Gonfalons of company: Ox, Black Lion, Wheels, Tow Holy Spirit (Whites): Southwest quadrant of the city Basilica of the Holy Spirit Banner: White dove Gonfalons of company: Shell, Ladder, Lash, Dragon

Saturday, June 9: Azzurri Santa Croce (Blues) vs. Rossi Santa Maria Novella (Reds) Sunday, June 10: Verdi San Giovanni (Greens) vs. Bianchi Santo Spirito (Whites) Final match: June 24 All matches begin at 5 p.m. Tickets are available exclusively at the Box Office, via delle Vecchie Carceri 1, with digital payment by debit card (excluding AMEX) and prepaid card available.

Find your customized Calcio Storico shirt at the concept store Jack in Flo in Via Ghibellina 121

24 Florence News

CITY BEAT

Tattoo and Piercing Under the Tuscan Sun

Meet Massimo and Cosma of Blood Brotherhood

www.florencenews.it JUNE EVENTS One Eyed Jack June 7 - Live music: T.C. Costello For nearly a decade T.C. Costello has been bringing accordion powered, alcohol-friendly cabaret punk to the dive bars, squats, and festivals around world. June 8 - Live music: The Partners In Crime – Acoustic Rock Blues

MIGLE VAISNORAITE

June 15 - Live music: Le Pande Gialle – Tuscan acoustic duo

ven though the name of their studio may sound intimidating, Blood Brotherhood is far from being a suspicious location. The shop, light and delicate and draped in sunlight through large windows, is run by Cosma, a tattoo artist, and Massimo, a piercer. Both have interesting stories worthy to be discovered. Cosma studied ancient language, and after finishing her studies two years ago she began working as a professional artist. “My classmates thought they were Vikings so one day they took a stick and asked me to engrave the runes on their arms. So this was my first tattooing experience,” she says. Massimo had a different path, he started this job in 2014. “I was studying medicine at the university and the final exam was an experimental exam with a mouse. I had to cut it to check the brain and that’s how I got the idea to cut,” he says. Tattoos and piercings are becoming more of a norm than an oddity, an act of beauty instead of rebellion. Massimo believes that the rea-

June 19 - Cocktail Martini Day A special event dedicated to world’s most famous cocktail in all of its varieties June 22 - Drink Your Movie Drink/Theme Party inspired to the movie “Fear and Loathing” in Las Vegas. Live music with the bands Tenedle and Bonsai Bonsai. The event is organized together with Titty Twister Club. sons why people like piercings is “aesthetics, pure aesthetics. If you want to be more visible – piercing. If you want to be more cool – piercing.” Cosma seems to be addicted to her work. She has deep focus on her work and her professional, yet down to earth approach, moves the idea of tattooing closer to the norm as more people are getting tattoos. Cosma understands and empathizes with her clients. “When I am with a client I cannot be a 100% artist because I would be disrespectful to my client.” She continues, “It is about understanding and interpreting.” But tattoos and peircings are not for everyone - body enhancements are not for the faint of heart. Massimo recollects all sorts of reactions, “One person peed during

the preparation, others vomited.” “Maybe you feel less naked because you have some color,” laughs Cosma. She says that her own tattoos hide her fears but also show her hopes and wishes. For Massimo, the only piercing that is easy to spot is the one between his eyes and says he “prefer less but strange.” The dedication to their work are proving the relativity of the norm as they are paving the way for piercings and tattoos.

Via Degli Alfani 32/r 39 344 20 48 393 39 342 75 47 804

Tel. (+39) 055 290748 | Via dell’Acqua, 2/R - 50122 Firenze

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June 29 - Live music: Led Zeppelin Tribute with Iacopo Meille.

Brewdog June 14-17 - On occasion of the event Firenze Rock Brew Dog will be serving beer before and after concerts at the Titty Twister Club. The club is located on Via del Fosso Macinante 13.

Blood Brotherhood

FRESH AND ORIGINAL SINCE 2004

Calimala

JUNE

Piazza di S. Croce

Guess who’s coming for dinner? Jason Derulo special guest at restaurant Acqua al Due

JUNE www.florencenews.it

Bollani Live!

Pianist to perform at Estate Fiesolana

talian pianist-composer Stefano Bollani will present his new album Que bom at the Estate Fiesolana summer festival. The concert will be on July 10 in the ancient Roman setting of the Fiesole Amphitheatre. Que Bom is a genuine hymn to life marked by sparkling liveliness and contagious joy. The album is a mix of original tunes and distinctive melodies influenced by Brazilian music culture, which Bollani has always cherished since the very beginning of his rich, multifaceted career. In this new album, entirely produced by himself and the first to be released worldwide by his newly created label Alobar, as in his earlier album Carioca released 10 years ago Bollani is joined by a Brazilian rhythm section: Jorge Helder

(bass), Jurim Moreira (drums) and Armando Marçal (percussion), and Thiago da Serrinha (percussion). Que Bom also ‘hosts’ some Brazilian guest stars such as Caetano Veloso, João Bosco, Jaques Morelenbaum and Hamilton de Holanda. Bollani began studying the piano at the age of six and made his professional debut at 15. After graduating at the music Conservatory in Florence in 1993 and a brief experience as a session musician with some renowned Italian pop artists, he became an established jazz musician and performed on stages such as the Town Hall in New York, the Barbican in London, the Scala in Milan, and the Salle Pleyel in Paris. Crucial in his career has been his collaboration with Enrico Rava, with whom he has

Florence News 25

CITY BEAT

performed hundreds of concerts and recorded 13 albums, the most recent of which are Tati (2015), The Third Man (2005) and New York Days (2008). Bollani has also worked with musicians such as Richard Galliano, Bill Frisell, Gato Barbieri, Sol Gabetta, Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Pat Metheny, and Chick Corea, with whom he recorded the live album Orvieto in 2011. His most recent productions include: Big Band (2013); Joy in Spite of Everything (2014); Sheil Yer Zappa (a 2014 live recording dedicated to Frank Zappa); Arrivano gli Alieni (a 2015 album in which he tried his hand as a singer-songwriter for the first time); Napoli Trip (a 2016 album made in collaboration with Neapolitan artists Daniele Sepe, Manu Katché, Jan Bang and others); and Mediterraneo, a live recording in Berlin with Jesper Bodilsen, Morten Lund, Vincent Peirani and members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, arranged by Geir Lysne. In the field of classical music, Bollani has performed as a soloist with symphonic orchestras (Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Orchestre de Paris, Filarmonica della Scala in Milan, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Toronto Symphony Orchestra) alongside conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Kristjan Järvi, Daniel Harding, Antonio Pappano and especially Riccardo Chailly, with whom he recorded Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in Fa by Gershwin in a CD (2010) that won the Italian Platinum disk after selling over 70,000 copies.

Festival Events

June 1, 2018 20:00, June 2, 2018 16:00 BEATRICE BRESOLIN IO E L(‘)ORO PARC ex Scuderie Cascine Firenze June 1, 2018 20:00 ISABELLA GIUSTINA MUTAMENTI PARC ex Scuderie Cascine Firenze June 1, 2018 20:00, June 2, 2018 16:00 MONICA GENTILE / MARCELA GIESCHE FIRE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN PARC ex Scuderie Cascine Firenze June 1, 2018 20:00 PIETRO PIREDDU | MOSÈ RISALITI MURPHY PARC ex Scuderie Cascine Firenze June 1, 2018 20:00, June 2, 2018 16:00 SINA SABERI PRELUDE TO PERSIAN MYSTERIES

PARC ex Scuderie Cascine Firenze June 2, 2018 16:00 DAVIDE VALROSSO STUDIO ANATOMICO SULLA MEMORIA PARC ex Scuderie Cascine Firenze June 2, 2018 16:00 SARA CATELLANI COCKTAIL PARTY EFFECT PARC ex Scuderie Cascine Firenze June 2, 2018 20:45, June 3, 2018 17:45 ANNE TERESA DE KEERSMAEKER / JEAN-GUIHEN QUEYRAS / ROSAS MITTEN WIR IM LEBEN SIND/ BACH6CELLOSUITEN Teatro della Pergola Florence June 9-10 2018 21:00 BENOÎT LACHAMBRE / PAR B.L.EUX LIFEGUARD Secret Florence

I' GIRONE DE' GHIOTTI THE VINAIO NEAR PIAZZA SIGNORIA

TUSCAN PANINI, ARTISANAL BEERS AND WINE TASTING Via dei Cimatori 23/r 055 53 26 053

26 Florence News

MUSIC

JUNE www.florencenews.it

Porto di Mare Goes Jazz and Arezzo Wave

he smooth sounds of a saxophone and the vibrant roar of the trumpet will echo in Porto di Mare – Eskimo as it opens up to jazz music. Porto di Mare – Eskimo has had a variety of acts in the past, but now it will bring in some of the most famous jazz musicians in Tuscany as it hosts the initial rounds of the Arezzo Wave contest,

The Week at Porto di Mare

tures at Porto di Mare is just getting out an instrument and beginning to play. “I’d be keen to talk to anyone who is interested in playing and sharing their music with us,” Francesco says. Every Tuesday the club hosts an open-mic night where any artist can truly go out and share their music. Make sure to tip the musicians!

THE PORT OPEN TO ALL MUSICIANS TUES: PALCO D’AUTORE: Music lab for emerging artists and songwriters WED: CITY LAB PROJECT: Musicians forming an orchestra will accompany the Palco D’Autore artists THURS: CAM’ ON: Students from the school of music CAM exhibit their talents. Then open mic jam sessions open to all musicians FRI - SAT: Rock music or singer-songwriters

a famous Italian music festival that takes place in July. The venue will be a part of the circuit where musicians compete with each other for a spot in Arezzo. Porto di Mare’s focus on live music and cultural exchange is one that the man who started the club, Francesco Cofone, holds close to his heart. “We never play anything recorded here,” he says with a smile. The method of bridging cul-

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The club is also introducing a new way to tip the performers. While the musicians are still getting paid for their gigs, Porto di Mare is introducing a “tipping basket” where patrons can tip the musicians. Porto di Mare – Eskimo is located on the corner of Via Pisana and Via del Ponte Sospeso, open for lunch at 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and with music in the evening from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

SUN: TARANTA NIGHT: Popular southern Italian music and dance. Starts at 6 p.m. CONTACT FRANCESCO COFONE Via Pisana, 128 055 71 20 34

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JUNE www.florencenews.it

Taste Wine with Pino In a renovated 700-year-old well

‘P

ozzo Divino’ is a witty play on words: literally meaning ‘divine well’, it also translates as ‘wine well’ when read as ‘Pozzo di Vino’. The ancient well is now the cellar that hosts Pozzo Divino’s wine tours. Dating back to 1312, the well was built to supply water through a vast system of underground tunnels and pipes to the prisoners of a local prison known as ‘The Stinche’ (now Teatro Verdi) that stretched as far as the Bargello. Pino bought the location in 2006 and restored it himself with the help of some friends. Despite its

restoration, Pino reveals that it was always his principal intention to maintain a tangible sense of history when stepping into the cellar. This is something he has undoubtedly achieved; the place is almost like a time-machine propelling you back a few centuries into a part of authentic medieval Florence – albeit in excellent condition. Pino imparts his knowledge while taking guests around the cellar, offering a range of Italian wines to sample with an appetizer of complementary regional cheeses, cuts of meats, bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Florence News 27

FOOD&WINE

Guests are offered a spectrum of Tuscan flavors to try, from a variety of the region’s renowned Chianti Classico to white wines that include Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio. The wine-tasting ends with the most exclusive reds of the cellar: Bolgheri, Super Tuscan, Morellino and Montepulciano. Upon request, guests also enjoy a buffet lunch comprising fresh pasta, specialty Italian second courses, and “the best panini in the world” made by Pino himself. Pino boasts that 90 percent of the wines he holds are of Tuscan origin, and that his tours prove so popular that he often ships back boxes of the wine sampled to America in order to appease impressed customers. Those looking to take a taste of Tuscany back home can find comprehensive information on shipping zones and freight costs on the company’s website. Pozzo Divino’s wine tours can be organized for tourist groups, families and universities, and cost only €15 a head – which not only makes it an experience to enjoy over the festive season but also an ideal Christmas gift for lovers of Tuscany’s finest vintages.

Pozzo Divino Only 15 Euro! Via Ghibellina, 144/r 055 24 66 907 Open from Monday to Saturday Wine-tasting on Sundays by appointment (minimum 10 people) www.pozzodivino.it

Dine with Dante

amed after Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, a homely, rustic taverna fittingly lies on Via dei Cimatori, only a few meters away from Dante’s house. The restaurant offers traditional dishes based on medieval recipes. Some are adapted and revisited for the modern age in a way that one maintains the omnipresent feeling of Florentine history and tradition – so much so that Dante himself could walk in and dine next to you. Others are as they were centuries ago. Traditional medieval-style dishes include homemade ribbon pasta with wild boar and mushroom sauce, roast shin of pork with new potatoes and seasonal vegetables, risotto inspired by medieval Tus-

can flavors, and tasting plates of assorted cheeses accompanied with fresh fruit and jams, including the taverna’s specialty hot red pepper jam. Also serving as a wine bar and pizzeria, the restaurant offers an eclectic selection of wines from its cellar, an outdoor summer terrace, and is fittingly decorated in a medieval style with armour and banners.

Taverna Divina Commedia Via dei Cimatori, 7r 055 21 53 69

OPEN EVERY DAY

OPEN EVERY 12:00 - 15:00 / 19:00DAY - 24:00 12 a.m.-12 p.m. Via Ghibellina

RISTORANTE PIZZERIA IL TEATRO Via Ghibellina 128/R IL055TEATRO 2466954 128R • 055 2466954 • www.ristoranteilteatro.net www.ristoranteilteatro.net

Il Supermercato... da Gustare e deGustare HOME DELIVERY SERVICE AVAILABLE Sapori & Dintorni is the new way to do the shopping: in the heart of Florence there is a place where Food, Culture and Territory meet. Get in and discover the Big Supermarket to test and taste! Inside you will find many typical products of the Italian food tradition. Buy your favorite product and taste it within the tasting area.

FIND YOUR LOCAL BIG SUPERMARKET IN THE CITY CENTER

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THE BIG SUPERMARKETS ARE OPEN: • Monday - Saturday: from 08.30 am to 9.00 pm • Sunday: from 09.30 am to 9.00 pm

JUNE www.florencenews.it

Florence News 29

TUSCANY

Discover Colle Val d’Elsa

‘The Italian Way of St. James’ Via Francigena, among ancient routes and modern “pilgrims”

ver 25,000 people, half of whom are Italian, walked at least a part of the Via Francigena last year. Compared to the number of people who walked that stretch in previous years, this is encouraging — an improvement due to the increasing number of bed & breakfasts along the route and to the efforts to promote the route made by the region of Tuscany who has been trying to transform it in a sort of Italian version of the Spanish Way of St. James — but that could, and should, be improved in the future. It was this the conclusion of Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano that recently published a reportage on the route. According to Il Fatto, the potential of the route are huge and, if well exploited, could make it the Italian version of the St. James Way. First documented as the Lombard Way and then the Frankish Route in 725, according to the travel records of Willibald, Bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, the route was named Via Francigena in 876, given its crossing with French territories (Francia, in Italian) at the Abbey of San Salvatore al Monte Amiata in Tuscany and was used

throughout the Middle Ages by pilgrims headed to Rome from the North, particularly from France. Nearly 400 kilometers of the Via pass through Tuscany, accounting in part for the development of a number of the region’s historic settlements and trade and religious centers. Today, tourists and history buffs can enjoy the cultural mecca that is Via Francigena by following one or all of the 15 Tuscan legs, beginning with the journey from Passo della Cisa to Pontremoli and ending with the route from Radicofani to Acquapendente. The Via passes through San Gimignano and its Fortress of Montestaffoli. Originally a castle for the Lombard Astolfo and later a Dominican Convent, the fortress took on a defensive role in the 14th century while under the threat of attack from Siena.

To book a trip to the Via Francigena: www.spreadyourwings.it

ts name means “Hill of Elsa Valley”, where “Elsa” is the name of the river which crosses it. Today, Colle di Val d’Elsa is internationally renowned for the production of crystal glassware and art (15% of world production), largely produced in the industrial lower town. The area was settled by man from at least the 4th millennium BC, but first mentions of the city are from the 9th century AD. In 1269 it was the seat of a famous battle during the wars of Guelphs and Ghibellines and in 1479 it was besieged by Neapolitan troops. From the 14th century it was a possession of Florence and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the unification of Italy in 1860. In the 20th century it became

an important industrial center. During World War II it was bombed by Allied aircraft. The oldest part of the town is the “colle alta”, the higher part, with a well preserved medieval center. The town developed along the river from the 11th century onwards, building an artificial canal to power various industrial activities, such as wheat mills and paper factories. The city is also famous as the birthplace of sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cambio.

Deluxe rooms with private garden and panoramic view in Colle Val d’Elsa from €35 For info contact 349-4651605

To book a trip to Colle Val d’Elsa: www.spreadyourwings.it

Wine Tour Chianti Classico (Every day, transportation included)

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ENOTECA IL SALOTTO Wine tastings

Traditional Tuscan first courses and cold cuts

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Via Gracco del Secco, 31, 53034 - Colle di Val d’Elsa (SI) • www.enotecailsalotto.com 0577 926983 0577926983 • www.enotecailsalotto.com • info@enotecailsalotto.com

From 50 euro TRUFFLE HUNTING • WINE TOUR IN A CASTLE WALKING TOUR VIA FRANCIGENA ART AND FOOD IN VOLTERRA Via Vecchia, 3 - 53037 San Gimignano (Siena) 0577 940568 - 3393817394 www.spreadyourwings.it

DIRECT TO BUS FROM PISA AIRPORT

PISA AIRPORT

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PISA AIRPORT

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JUNE www.florencenews.it

Florence News 31

TUSCANY

Gelato Classes with a World Champion

San Gimignano Hosts Harvest Festival Fiera delle Messi returns June 15-17

ormer Gelato World Champion, Sergio Dondoli, offers gelato classes for adults and kids alike in his hometown San Gimignano, in the very heart of Tuscany. Gelato was invented in this region thanks to the famous Florentine architect Bernardo Buontalenti, who in 1500 amazed the Medici family with gelato made from fruit and zabaione before Caterina de’ Medici, who was married to King Henry II, and introduced this precious Florentine dessert to the Royal French Court. From here, gelato spread across all of Europe.

Dondoli opened his famous Gelateria di Piazza in San Gimignano in 1992. In 2011, his Gelateria was the only Gelato-shop mentioned by Lonely Planet among the ten “Best Gourmet Places in the World.” In his career as a gelato-maker Dondoli has earned many prestigious awards, including the Master of Art & Craft Living National Treasure Award in 2016. Since last year, he offered his knowledge and creative energy to whoever, from all over the world, is willing to learn the secrets of preparing real Gelato.

Each class consists of an introduction to Gelato History and to its ingredients. It follows the preparation of a Fiordilatte Gelato made with raw milk and seasonal fruit. The best part of these classes is the end, when groups can eat the gelato they prepared. Via del Castello 15 San Gimignano www.dondoligelatoclass.com +39 393 5448969

modern version of the Harvest Festival of the Middles Ages, in which towns of central Italy celebrated the harvest season with music, dances and jousters, every year on the third weekend of June the festival recreates the magic atmosphere of the happiest moment of the year. Organized by the Cavalieri di Santa Fina – an association that gets its name name from Fina dei Ciardi, patron of the city, and that has the goal of celebrating the past of San Gimignano – the event begins on Friday, June 15 at 9:30 p.m. in Piazza Duomo and goes until 11 p.m. with dances, drums and knight exhibits. On Saturday festivities start at 4 p.m. with a reproduction of a mil-

itary camp in the Rocca di Montestaffoli. A colorful costume parade will arrive in Piazza Duomo at 4:30 p.m., marking the start of other attractions and events that wil end at night with music and dancing in the piazza. The festival begins at 11 a.m. with a medieval market in the Piazza delle Erbe. In the afternoon there is a parade with more than 500 men dressed in handmade costumes, and a joust and a flag-thrower show. At 7 p.m. the Joust of Bastioni will reward with a gold blaze the knights of the best of the four borough’s contrade. The festival will end on Sunday at around 7:30 p.m. with a circle dance involving all participants and visitors.

WINE TASTINGS IN SAN GIMIGNANO

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32 Florence News

TUSCANY

JUNE www.florencenews.it

Explore the Gagliardi Contemporary Art Gallery

On Horseback in Tuscany

ON THE ROAD

A Journey Through Human Cruelty

he Galleria Gagliardi was established in 1991, in a 400-square-meter space once used as a garage and farm machinery store. Today the gallery bears absolutely no resemblance to the original building apart from a section of the floor made up of oak boards, covering a hole which once enabled repairs to the underside of cars and machinery in the absence of a ramp. This work of art was created by the previous owner, Dino Conforti, and has been left in his memory. Since 1991, the exhibition area of the gallery has been extended and the gallery has now become a cultural reference for the promotion and sale of contemporary art. Every work is chosen

directly from the studios of artists who constantly experiment new solutions through their research, renewing their approach and skills. The gallery exhibits ceramic, bronze and marble sculptures; conceptual, abstract and figurative paintings as well as works in steel, iron and wood by Italian and international artists.

Galleria Gagliardi 393 1643 615 www.galleriagagliardi.com

The Torture and Death Penalty Museum displays more than 100 tools designed to torture and kill. Some of these tools are extremely rare, dating to the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They include the notorious ‘iron maiden,’ the guillotine, rack, torture chair and the chastity belt. Also on display are lesser-known sophisticated devices, such as the ‘heretic’s fork,’ the ‘noisemaker’s fife,’ the ‘Spanish spider’, and flaying instruments. Via San Giovanni, 82 & 125 San Gimignano Open daily: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. 0577-940526, 055-940151 Tickets: Full €10 Concessions: €7; Groups: €5 www.museodellatortura.it

his tour offered by Florence Country Life is an adventure through the lush vineyards, native woods, olive groves and rolling hills of Chianti, with a collection of breathtaking and unforgettable views in the most wonderful and romantic way: on horseback. No prior experience is needed. Before the ride, you will be given a lesson by a trained guide to become better acquainted with your horse. After the ride, you will enjoy a Tuscan meal washed down with Chianti wine and an oil tasting. If you do not want to ride a horse, you can still come and enjoy the tour with a 20% discount. So, while your friends go on the horse ride

Il Palagetto Vernaccia

ante Aligheri, Giovanni Boccaccio, Pope Martin IV, Lorenzo the Magnificent, Michelangelo, just to name a few of the greats that praised the most famous wine produced in San Gimignano. A delicious white wine, that is even referenced in Dante’s legendary “Divine Comedy.” First mentioned in tax documents from 1276, Vernaccia is not only one of Italy’s most esteemed wines, but also one of its oldest. The wine boasts a bold straw-yellow color and a flavor that delicately combines floral and fruity. Perfectly suited for fish and white meats in particular, Vernaccia can be enjoyed even more when combined with complimenting cuisine.

www.palagetto.it

THE BAR DELL’ORSO IS RENOWNED FOR ITS CURED MEATS, CHEESES AND PRESERVES IN OIL

Via Cassia Nord, 23, 53035 Monteriggioni (Siena) 0577 305074

you can enjoy snacks, wine and a nice walk around a traditional Tuscan farm. If you have never horse-whispered before, then let horses whisper to you.

Florence Country Life From € 100

(€ 80 for students) www.florencecountrylife.com info@florencecountrylife.com Tel.: +39.366.4738711 TRANSPORTATION INCLUDED

JUNE www.florencenews.it

he exhibit, on display at the San Gimignano Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea until Oct. 7, presents over 100 photos in a chronological order as part of unitary path that intends to give importance to Man Ray’s overall look regardless of the genre of photos. Born Emmanuel Rudnitzky, Man Ray was the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia who moved to Brooklyn as a child. After finishing high school in 1908, he followed his passion for art by studying with Robert Henri at the Ferrer Center and frequenting Alfred Stieglitz’s Gallery 291. Stieglitz’s photographs influenced Ray considerably, as Ray utilized a similar style and photographed images that provided an unvarnished look at the subject. The Armory Show of 1913 featuring the works of artists such as Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky and Marcel Duchamp also influenced this extraordinary artist. In this phase, which coincided with his soon-to-end marriage with Belgian poet Adon Lacroix and a growing relationship with fellow artist Marcel Duchamp, Ray’s work evolved from a Cubism to Abstract art. He soon became a leading figure in Dadaism in New York. The movement which, taking its name from the French nickname for a rocking horse, challenged existing notions of art and literature while

TUSCANY

Voyage Inside a Blind Experience

Man Ray: Wonderful Visions T

Florence News 33

Exhibit tributes Josef and Anni Albers

at the same time encouraging spontaneity. In 1999, ARTnews magazine named Ray one of the 25 most influential artists of the 20th century.

T MAN RAY: Wonderful Visions Galleria di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Via Folgore 11, San Gimignano Price: Euro 9, reduced 6 Until Oct. 26

he Siena museum complex Santa Maria della Scala presents an exhibition on Josef and Anni Albers, two leading pioneers of 20th century modernism, until July 4. The showcase will then move to two other European museums: The Lewis Glucksman Gallery in the University College Cork in Ireland, and the Muzei Suvremene Umjetnosti in Zagreb, Croatia. The objective of the organizers – the Santa Maria della Scala Museum, the Glucksman Museum, the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art, the Milan Institute for the Blind – was to create an exhibit for visually impaired people through special tactiles and auditory tech-

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nologies. “It is an innovative approach that mixes in one cognitive sensorial and participatory exercise the visit experience of seeing and not seeing, inducing the former to extend their sense of perception through touch, and the latter to approach the composite and stylistic complexity of the artworks,” said Daniele Pitteri, director of the Santa Maria della Scala Museum. For the first time, visitors will have the opportunity to touch five original works by Josef and Anni Albers (Rail, Montanius III, Intaglio DUO E, Homage to the Square, and Color Study per Homage to the Square). Audio guides will make it possible

to tactil explore three-dimensional textured surfaces while receiving information in their headphones. An entire section dedicated to listening and music will relate covers designed by Josef Albers for Command Records with the music of their vinyl. Finally, it will be possible to touch 12 epoxy reproductions of the pieces on display. Lifelong artistic adventurers, Josef and Anni Albers were among the leading pioneers of 20th-century modernism. Josef Albers (1888– 1976) was an influential teacher, writer, painter, and color theorist best known for the Homages to the Square he painted between 1950 and 1976 and for his innovative 1963 publication Interaction of Color. Anni Albers (1899–1994) was a textile designer, weaver, writer, and printmaker who inspired a reconsideration of fabrics as an art form, both in their functional roles and as wallhangings.

Josef and Anni Albers: Voyage Inside a Blind Experience Santa Maria Della Scala Museum Siena Until July 4 santamariadellascala.com

JUNE www.florencenews.it

Florence News 35

TRAVEL

Sun and Fun: Visiting the Amalfi Coast

Croatia’s Natural Beauty Unveiled

side town of Positano. Positano is made up of picturesque multi-colored buildings that cling to the cliff above the black sand and pebbled beaches. The Smart Trip tour includes transportation to the aforementioned areas, 3 nights of accommodation, breakfast on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday along with dinner on Friday and Saturday night. Visit smarttrip.it for more details and bookings for a memorable time at the Amalfi Coast.

C K

nown for its picturesque sights and serene beach atmosphere that attracts celebrities, weekend jetsetters and college students across the world, the Amalfi Coast is an Italian paradise. It’s located in the region of Campania, home to a variety of renowned destinations like Naples, Pompeii and the Island of Capri, particularly attractive in the months of March and April because of the cool weather, making a trip to Capri and the seaside towns of Positano and Sorrento ideal. The almighty Mt. Vesuvius greets Smart Trip travelers as it looms over the countryside, accompa-

nied by fantastic views of beautiful, traditional cities built into the sloping cliffs. The first day of the trip includes breakfast and a ferry ride to the Island of Capri, one of the most spectacular Italian islands. There, visitors will journey to mystical places, to the home of many ancient myths, such as the site of the infamous sirens from Homer’s Odyssey, and to the world famous Blue Grotto: an accessible sea cave with sunlight that pierces the clear water, bringing out brilliant hues of blue and green. Travelers will then visit the sea-

5 Best Views in Amalfi Mount Solaro in Capri View from Positano beach looking at all the pastel color buildings Top of Mount Vesuvius overlooking Napoli Blue Grotto Pompeii

roatia’s natural beauty makes it one of the best destinations for outdoor activities like relaxing on the beach and admiring cultural wonders. Student travel company Smart Trip offers a convenient way to reach the country and an itinerary that covers must-see locations and exciting activities. The tour focuses on the medieval port town of Split located on Croatia’s pristine Dalmatian coast. On the first day, Smart Trip organizes optional water activities such as white water rafting or canyoning on the Cetina River. Other adventures lay ahead, like spending the day laying on one of Split’s beaches, touring the Split’s historic city center, visiting the Diocletian Palace, renting a bike and riding up

Via Ghibellina 178/r • 055 2645411 • www.ristoranterubaconte.it

Marjan Hill, or taking a day trip to the local surrounding towns, such as Omiš or the Krka Waterfalls. On the last day the group takes a trip to Krka, where a few hours are dedicated to swimming and exploring the magnificent waterfalls of the national park before heading back to Florence.

Croatia’s Five Gems Krka National park waterfalls Centa River Diocletian’s Palace Old Town Split Split’s Beaches and Coves

36 Florence News

TRAVEL

The Top Beaches in Italy HANNAH NAGLE

he 2017 edition of an annual survey of the 15 most beautiful beaches in Italy released by travel website Skyscanner has shown that some of Italy’s most beautiful beaches are on its islands. The top four beaches on the list are on the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Ponza. Five other Italian regions made it into the top 15: Puglia, Campania, the Marche, Abruzzo and Liguria. However, the islands dominated the list, with three Sardinian beaches, three Sicilian beaches, and the lone Lazio beach on the island of Ponza. The classification relied on tips from travelers and also took other criteria into account, including water and beach cleanliness, as well as the uniqueness of the surrounding the scenery and landscape. The top beach honour went to Tonnarella dell’Uzzo, in the Zingaro nature reserve on Sicily - a seven-kilometre stretch of beach that runs from San Vito lo Capo to Castellammare del Golfo. The island of Sardinia took second place with its Cala dei Gabbiani beach, which is still little-known because it is overshadowed by the fame of nearby Cala Mariolu beach.

In third place is the island of Ponza with its Cala Feola beach, located in the region of Lazio not far from Rome. Sicily also took fourth place with the protected marine area known as Plemmirio, which was celebrated in the epic poem Aeneid written by Virgil between 29 and 19 B.C. Nowadays it’s a favorite destination for scuba divers. The third Sicilian beach in the top 15, at number six, is Capo Graziano on the island of Filicudi, one of the eight Aeolian Islands just northeast of Sicily, which are part of Sicily’s province of Messina. Campania took the fifth place spot, with its Marina Grande beach in Positano, a town perched high on a cliff along the Amalfi Coast. The two other Sardinian beaches on the list are in eighth and 14th place: Cala Cipolla at number eight with its white sands, and Cala Luna, made famous by the 1974 Lina Wertmuller film Swept Away, at number 14. Puglia took the seventh and 10th spots with Torre di Sant’Andrea and Baia di Punta Rossa, respectively. photo: Tonnarella dell’Uzzo beach. As the summer approaches, if you have the posibility to travel off the foreign tourist beaten path, these are the right advices for you.

JUNE www.florencenews.it

JUNE CALENDAR JUNE 7 AMALFI COAST INTERLAKEN & LAKE COMO PRAGUE & MUNICH JUNE 8 GREEN CHIANTI JUNE 9 CINQUE TERRE VENICE CANYON ADVENTURE SOUTHERN TUSCANY – WINE TASTING IN MONTALCINO & MONTEPULCIANO JUNE 10 CINQUE TERRE JUNE 14 AMALFI COAST FRENCH RIVIERA INTERLAKEN & LAKE COMO CROATIA JUNE 15 PISA (OPTIONAL TOWER) FERRARI: LIVING IN THE FAST LANE SPA, WINE & TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE

FRASCATI HALF DAY WITH WINE TASTING GREEN CHIANTI JUNE 16 PISA (OPTIONAL TOWER) PISA & LUCCA SUNSET IN SIENA CINQUE TERRE NAPLES IN ONE DAY VENICE JUNE 17 CINQUE TERRE I LOVE TUSCANY PISA (OPTIONAL TOWER) VERONA & LAKE GARDA JUNE 19 A DAY IN CHIANTILAND JUNE 21 AMALFI COAST CROATIA INTERLAKEN & LAKE COMO BUDAPEST, VIENNA, & SALZBURG JUNE 22 SPA, WINE & TUSCAN COUNTRISUDE GREEN CHIANTI

JUNE 23 CINQUE TERRE A DAY IN CHIANTILAND VENICE CANTON ADVENTURE SOUTHERN TUSCANY – WINE TASTING IN MONTALCINO & MONTEPULCIANO JUNE 24 CINQUE TERRE VERONA & LAKE GARDA JUNE 28 AMALFI COAST CROATIA INTERLAKEN & LAKE COMO PRAGUE JUNE 29 GREEN CHIANTI FRASCATI HALF DAY WITH WINE TASTING I LOVE TUSCANY JUNE 30 CINQUE TERRE NAPLES IN ONE DAY PISA (OPTIONAL TOWER)

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38 Florence News

CITY GUIDE

JUNE www.florencenews.it

MUSEUMS & MONUMENTS Cappelle Medicee The Old Sacristy, the New Sacristy, with architecture and sculpture by Michelangelo, and the Chapel of the Princes, decorated with inlaid marble and hard stones. P.zza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, 6 Tel: +39.055.294883 Hours: 8.15-17.00 Closed: 2nd, 4th Sunday; 1st, 2nd, 5th Monday of month

Galleria degli Uffizi Open since 1591, the Uffizi hosts one of the most important collections of art of all time, classical sculpture and 13th to 18th century paintings Loggiato degli Uffizi Tel: +39.005.294883 Hours: 8.15-18.50 Closed: Mondays

Palazzo Vecchio Quartieri Monumentali Residence of the Priors, the Signoria and the Medici. Paintings, sculpture, furniture and hangings. Piazza della Signoria Tel: +39.005.2768224 Hours: Sept: 9-24 - Thursdays 9-14 Oct: 9-19 - Thursdays 9-14.

Galleria dell’Accademia Michelangelo’s masterpieces: the David and the Slaves. Sculpture, paintings and casts by various artists. Via Ricasoli, 60 Tel: +39.005.294883 Hours: 8.15-18.50 Closed: Mondays

Museo del Bargello Residence of the Captain of the People, of Justice and ancient prison. Masterpieces of painting and sculpture, plus minor arts. Frescoes by the school of Giotto in the Chapel. Via del Proconsolo, 4 Tel: +39.005.294883 Hours: 8.15-17.00. Closed: 2nd, 4th Sunday; 1st, 3rd, 5th Monday of month.

Battistero di San Giovanni Romanesque temple dedicated to St. John the Baptist, patron saint of the city. Outside, the doors by Ghiberti. Piazza San Giovanni Tel: +39.055.2302885 Hours: 11.15-18.30 - Sundays, 1st Saturday of month 8.30-13.30.

Campanile di Giotto Famous bell tower, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture by Giotto, built between 1334 and 1359. Piazza del Duomo Tel: +39.055.2302885 Hours: 8.30-18.50. Closed: Easter.

Galleria d’Arte Moderna Paintings and sculptures related to the art in Tuscany from the late 18th century to the period between the two world wars. Temporary shows of contemporary art. Piazza Pitti Tel: +39.055 294883 Hours: 8.15-18.50. Closed: Mondays.Fri, Sat, Sun 9.00 18.00. Thur 9.00 - 14.00.

Cupola di Brunelleschi The masterpiece of Brunelleschi. Frescoes of the Last Judgement by Federico Zuccari. Suggestive itinerary to the top of the dome with breathtaking views over the city. Piazza del Duomo Tel: +39.005.2302885 Hours: 8.30-18.20 - Saturdays 8.3017.00pm. Closed: Sundays and Easter day.

Tattoo Piercing Via degli alfani 32/r Firenze Cartoleria Lory Srl P.za Frescobaldi 8r 50125 055-213246 Shop.lory.net www.digital-fineart.it www.lorycad.net

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Museo delle Porcellane

Galleria Palatina e Appartamenti Reali The Palatine Gallery occupies the whole left wing of the first floor of the Pitti Palace, which was the residence of the Medici grand-dukes. In 1828, when Tuscany came under the rule of the Lorraine, the most important paintings in the Palace, most of which had been collected by the Medici. Piazza Pitti Tel: +39.055.294883 Hours: 8.15-18.50 Closed: Mondays

Giardino Bardini These beautiful gardens, recently restored, contain many rare plants and specialised areas, such as Italian and English gardens, as well as a fine Baroque staircase, statues, fountains, a small amphitheater and panoramic views. Entrances: Via dei Bardi, 1 r and Boboli Gardens. Info and reservations: Tel: +39.055.294883 Hours: 8.15-18.30 Closed: 1st and last Monday of month.

Collections of porcelain from reigning royal families. Palazziana del Cavaliere, Boboli Gardens, Piazza Pitti, 1 Tel: +39.055.294883 Hours:8.15-18.30 Closed: 1st and last Monday of month

Museo degli Argenti Summer apartments of the Grand Dukes. It contains vases in hard stone that belonged to Lorenzo the Magnificent, and the jewellery that belonged to the Electress Palatine. Piazza Pitti Tel: +39.055.294883 Hours: 8.15-18.30 Closed: 1st and last Monday of month.

Museo Novecento Italian art of the 20th century, in a journey backwards from the Nineties to the first decades of the century. Piazza Santa Maria Novella Tel: +39.055 286132 Hours: Oct to March- Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun 9.00 - 18.00. Thur 9.00 14.00.

Cooking Classes THE RESTAURANT OF THE FLORENTINES Located on Via Ghibellina near Santa Croce, Da Que’ Ganzi offers a fresh seafood and meat menu for both lunch and dinner. Tuscan specialties include ribollita and authentic Florentine steak, and all of the cakes and sweets are homemade. A special weekday lunch menu for less than €10 makes the restaurant affordable for anyone. Special dishes: BAKED SEA BASS & TUSCAN STEAK Mon. to Sun.: 12–2:30 p.m. & 7–11:30 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays. Via Ghibellina, 70/r •055 22 60 010 www.daqueiganzi.it • info@daqueiganzi.it

In Tavola aims to spread the rich food and wine culinary traditions of Italy and the Tuscany region through an incredible variety of dishes and recipes to all interested in learning the secrets behind the traditional Italian kitchen. With this intent to promote their knowledge, In Tavola organizes several opportunities for professionals and beginners to participate in cooking and baking lessons with the guidance of professional Chefs in an individual or group setting.

Via dei Velluti, 18/20r 055 217672 www.intavola.org

JUNE www.florencenews.it

Florence News 39

CITY GUIDE TOURIST INFORMATION

Your Private Concierge

SOS

Emergency Phone Number: 113 Ambulance Service: 118 Carabinieri (National Military Police): 112 Environmental Emergency: 1515 Fire Department: 115

Firenze Card

Via dei Boni 5r 334 7007714 www.leftluggageflorence.com

Via dei Boni 5r 334 7007714 leftluggageflorence.com

The Firenzecard is a way for tourists and locals alike to visit the countless museums the city has to offer. For 72€, the card includes the cost of entrance, the ticket for the exhibition, and the reservation for all the museums of the Firenzecard Circuit.The card lasts 72 hours after it is activated. Activation occurs when the card is used for the first time at a museum. Cardholders do not need to make any reservation with Firenzecard because it includes, in its price, the reservation for all the museums. With Firenzecard, cardholders can visit the museums when they choose and can access to the museums through the reserved entrance. Firenzecard can be used at 67 museums, but it can only be used once per museum. The card cannot be shared or transferred. For more information on the card or to purchase one, visit www.firenzecard.it

EMERGENCIES

+ HEALTH SERVICES

Your Private Concierge in Florence Every day problem solving - Workshops Access to treasures off the beaten path Property finding. Ask with confidence Contact us at +39 055 5357527

Piazza Duomo: 055 212221 Open Pharmacies: 800 420707 Veterinary Services: 055 7223683 Poison Center: 055 7947819

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LAW ENFORCEMENT Accad emia

Uffizi

42€

39€

from per pe

from rson per pe

rson

Railway Police: 055 211012 Florence Municipal Police: 055 3283333 Uffizi - Accademia - City Tour Priority entrance tickets Police Force: Local National Small Groups or Private Ones 055SKIP 49771 THE LINE BOOK NOW! Fire and Rescue Service: booking@keysofflorence.com +39 324 075 6714 More info and tours: 055 24901 www.keysofflorence.com

BEST OF FLORENCE Your Private Concierge Florence Premium Touristin Services Every day problem solving - Workshops Access to treasures off the beaten path

Uffizi Academy Gallery

Property finding. Ask with confidence

BUSES

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BOOK NOW! booking@keysofflorence.com

Ataf: 6 a.m.-9 p.m. : 800424500 Li-nea: Bus info, 055 7355742 FBUSITALIA: SITA NORD: www.fsbusitalia. it, 800 373760

LIVE MUSIC AND SPORT Via Faenza 27/r • 055 274 1571

TOURIST INFO POINTS

Via Cavour, 1r - 055 290833 Vespucci Airport - 055 315874 Piazza del Duomo - 055 215440 Piazza Stazione, 4 - 055 212245

ON THE ROAD Roadside Assistance for Foreigners: 800 116800 Obstruction, theft, and towed vehicles: 055 4224142

AIRPORTS A Vespucci, Firenze Peretola: www.aeroporto.firenze.it/en 055 3061300 Lost and found: 055 3061302 G. Galilei, Pisa: www.pisa-airport.com 050 849300 Lost and found: 050 849400

TAXI

TAXIS

055 4242 Night Taxi only for Women Service from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.: 334-66 22 550 (WhatsApp or SMS)

Via del Castello Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Altafronte, 30-32R www.marcocantini.com