Made in Italy Sep'14

A chronicle of luxury, style & culture

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A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Italy has always knocked spots off its European neighbours when it comes to style and culture. There’s its fashion – for which the likes of Armani, Fendi and Valentino (page 6) have been pioneers.

Then there’s its food – some of the finest ingredients hail from the boot-shaped country (page 44). It, too, has introduced some of the best artists to the world – Raphael, Da Vinci, Michelangelo (page 34).

And of course some of the most significant architectural structures on the planet call it home – the Colosseum, Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco (page 28). Lest we forget its wheels – Italy gave us Ferrari (page 40). Here, Made in Italy has packaged the country’s best bits for you to enjoy.

Managing Director Victoria Thatcher Editorial Director John Thatcher Business Development Director David Wade Editor Tracey Scott

Tracey Scott

Deputy Editor Richard Jenkins

tracey@hotmediapublishing.com

Features Editor Lara Brunt Senior Designer Adam Sneade Designer & Illustrator Andy Knappett Production Manager Chalitha Fernando Senior Business Development Manager Rawan Chehab

To contact any of the above people, email firstname@ hotmediapublishing.com

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Eight Designing an Icon From its fashion to its wheels, nowhere does iconic quite like Italy

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Thirty Eight

The House That Gucci Built

Wild Ride The world’s rowdiest horse race keeps galloping on

A look at at the fashion house’s chic and chequered history

Forty

Twenty

Ferrari vs Lamborghini

La Dolce Vita When Hollywood and its screen icons fell in love with Italy, so did the world

Seatbelts on as the bull comes head-to-head with the prancing horse

Twenty Four

Forty Four

Bold as Bulgari

A Country Divided

The famed Italian jeweller continues to shine bright, 130 years on

Made in Italy gets to grips with true flavours from different regions

Twenty Eight Built to Last Luxury fashion leads the way in the preservation of Italy’s great monuments

Thirty Lady of Substance As Monica Bellucci turns 50, she talks family and ageing gracefully

Thirty Four Renaissance Man The life and legacy of Michelangelo lives on, 450 years since his death

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Valentino Often referred to as the only world-class couturier that Italy has ever produced, Valentino Garavani is legendary.

The Italian designer, who founded the label in 1959, has spent decades expertly designing and delivering fine fashion to stylish socialites and celebrities around the world. Perhaps the designer’s most iconic dress, however, is the Valentino red – the famous red evening dresses that have ended his couture shows for many years. Intricate and hand-crafted, dazzling and daring, the design house continues to reveal a bevvy of new takes on the classic gown. And while the Roman couturier may have retired, his impact (red dress included) on the fashion world – and consequently Italy’s position in the style stakes – is immeasurable.

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Designing an

ICON Nowhere does iconic designs quite like Italy. Here, Made in Italy picks four brands illustrative of such a billingâ&#x20AC;Ś

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Panerai Since Giovanni Panerai opened a watchmakerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shop in Florence in 1860 (which doubled as a watch-making school), Panerai has continued to push horological boundaries. Its first patent in 1916 is a case in point: the development of Radiomir, a radium-based powder that gives luminosity to the dials of sighting instruments and devices. Various other patents and breakthroughs followed (including the first underwater military watch), demonstrating the watchmakerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative approach to a centuries-old tradition.

Present day, and the Richemont Group-owned watchmaker and its iconic designs, such as the Radiomir 1940 and Luminor 1950, are as timely as ever.

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Vespa Like its fashion, Italy has produced some of the finest wheels to roll off the production line. And while not as luxurious as the home-grown Ferrari or Lamborghini, the twowheeled Vespa (meaning wasp in Italian) is symbolic the world over.

At the time of its creation in 1946 by Piaggio, the Vespa was revolutionary.

Little did Enrico Piaggio (son of founder Rinaldo) know that it would change the way Italians moved around the city forever. Even Hollywood picked up on the nifty mode of transport, with a Vespa starring alongside Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Present day, and the Vespa is considered the best-selling branded two-wheeler in Europe.

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Founded in 1872 in Milan, Pirelli has been responsible for manufacturing and supplying some of the best tyres to the world’s automotive industry.

It, too, has been praised for producing some of the most iconic calendars to grace the walls of its respected corporate clients.

While slightly off-piste for a rubber manufacturer, its calendars are the stuff of legend. Perhaps because they have been shot by the world’s top photographers (Peter Lindbergh, Richard Avedon, Bruce Weber) or because they often feature world-famous models on their pages (Christie Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Kate Moss). And to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, Pirelli decided not to produce a 2014 calendar, but instead release the unpublished 1986 calendar created by Helmut Newton, alongside a series of photographs by previous Pirelli snappers Peter Lindbergh and Patrick Demarchelier.

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Image: Dida: 50 years celebration of Pirelli calendar, picture of Peter Lindbergh

The Pirelli ‘Cal’

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THE HOUSE THAT

GUCCI BUILT

Text: Justine Picardie & Lara Brunt

It’s survived infighting and murder, but Gucci is still going strong after more than 90 years. Made in Italy looks back at the fashion house’s chic and chequered history

which is still going strong today – is nothing compared to the scandals that have helped shape this quintessentially Italian brand.

The story begins with Guccio Gucci. Born in 1881 and raised in Florence, he travels to London as a young man, and works at the Savoy as a porter, where he admires the monogrammed trunks and crested suitcases that are the measure of the guests’ wealth (a formative experience that is to be n any other etched into a future Gucci logo company, of a liftboy). When he returns to a romance Florence he marries a dressmaker, between Aida Calvelli, and opens a leatherthe creative goods store and workshop on via powerhouse della Vigna Nuova. and the business brain would Eventually, three of their sons cause shockwaves. But, while join them in the rapidly expanding the romantic pairing of Gucci’s business: Rodolfo is responsible creative director Frida Giannini and CEO Patrizio di Marco caused for managing the shop in Florence, a sensation when publicly revealed and thereafter Milan (where, in 1966, he commissions an artist to in 2011, it caused barely a ripple create the Flora print as a scarf with their boss, François-Henri for Princess Grace of Monaco); Pinault, then chief executive of parent company PPR (now called Vasco looks after manufacturing; Aldo opens the Rome store, then Kering). For an office romance –

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exports the brand abroad, with branches in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Palm Beach.

By the time Guccio dies in 1953 his grandchildren are also working for the company; one of them is Aldo’s son Paolo, who uses the now-iconic Flora pattern in a range of women’s clothing, sold under his name. The family is enraged, and order Paolo either to sell his shares in Gucci or stay on and give up his own line. When he refuses to do either he is sued by his family, and forbidden from using the Gucci name in business.

The company had been wrested out of the family’s hands, but their history nevertheless remained a key ingredient in the allure of Gucci, a brand that understood the importance of myth-making from the start. Hence Guccio Gucci’s decision to advertise his early products as ‘English-style leather goods’ – giving them an international cachet – and Aldo’s invention of the story that their ancestors had been tack-and saddle-makers. This legend was supported by the new post-war crest, a mildly ironic depiction of a knight in armour carrying

embossed into leather, or printed on silk scarves.

All this is entirely fitting for a company in which patterns repeat themselves – the Flora motif; the geometric rhombus design, used on Gucci products from the 1930s; the miniature horse-bit, decorating loafers and purses, including those carried by Grace Kelly and Jackie Kennedy. The once-flashy brand of the ‘90s is focusing on sensuality, rather than overt sexuality, and its rich Italian heritage.

As Gucci readies for the next 90 years, it is increasingly pursuing philanthropic and

‘The case brought together some of the country’s favourite obsessions’ In revenge, Paolo testifies against his father on a tax-evasion charge in America; Aldo is found guilty, and sent to jail.

From then on the family drama is as remorseless as a Greek tragedy. Rodolfo’s son, Maurizio, seizes control of Gucci, but is himself finally ousted, and in 1995 (the year after Tom Ford’s appointment as creative director) he is murdered by a gunman in the street. His ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani, is found guilty of hiring the killer (her personal psychic also received a sentence of 25 years). The Gucci trial gripped Italy; as observed by a New York Times’ correspondent at the verdict, it was “the ultimate reallife soap opera. The case brought together some of the country’s favourite obsessions: sex, money, designer footwear and astrology.”

a suitcase in one hand and a handbag in the other. The liftboy was replaced by the knight, a faux-medieval heraldic shield that nevertheless seemed not altogether removed from the original image of the hotel porter.

Under Giannini – who has been key to Gucci’s extraordinary success since she first joined the house in 2002, hired by its former director, Tom Ford, and creative director since 2006 – Gucci has been clearly identified as ‘Made in Italy’ . Its design studio in Rome (the city of her birth), and its artisans, ateliers and workshops all resolutely Italian. True, it is now owned by the French company Kering, but the logo revived by Giannini for the 90th anniversary collection in 2011 was that of the founder: ‘G Gucci Firenze 1921’ engraved upon metal tags,

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sustainable activities. In 2005, the house entered into a longterm partnership with UNICEF and since then has become one of the biggest corporate donors to the organisation’s women’s and children programs in Africa and Asia. It’s also voluntarily overhauled its production to certify that its supply chain meets international standards that seek to reduce its environmental footprint and promote decent work practices. Gucci also works closely with Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation to fund the digital restoration of cinematic masterpieces, such as La Dolce Vita. As to what’s next for the label, best to quote Giannini: “A stylistic marriage of past, present and future” . Presumptive or prescient? In the finest Gucci tradition, a little of both…

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La Dolce

VITA How Hollywood fell in love with Italy

Words: Richard Jenkins

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eautiful scenery, beautiful people and beautifully low prices – how could money-obsessed Hollywood not be enamoured with Italy? From the close of WWII, the country oversaw a revolution in filmmaking.

Home-grown productions were made in harmony with the Hollywood machine that saw dollar signs behind every olive tree and lining every piazza.

The love affair between Italy and the cinema began with one Italian actor – Rudolph Valentino.

Controversial in his day for changing perceptions of masculinity in a leading man, Valentino’s silent films of the early 1920s created huge revenues for the Hollywood studios that backed him – in some cases reluctantly. The stage was set for Hollywood’s golden era, and a fruitful collaboration with the land of pasta, coffee and wine.

The economic boom of the post-WWII United States saw a wide variety of films made, making use of new technological advances in widescreen displays like Cinemascope and VistaVision. The financial condition of the country was extremely robust, which meant more viewers than ever before were able to visit the cinema, boosting profits and budgets for movie productions across the board.

Directors like Alfred Hitchock were at their creative zenith with films like Strangers on a Train, Rear Window and Vertigo cementing his place in the pantheon of cinema greats. Sci-fi B-movies like It Came From Outer Space and Them! were enormous box-office hits, and the names of the stars of the age – Jimmy Stewart, Marlon Brando, John Wayne – are fondly remembered.

Meanwhile in Italy, the film industry was also booming. In 1949, Italy produced 76 feature films.

By 1954, that figure had risen to 201. Italians had embraced the American movies of their liberators in the war, and the enthusiasm extended to the films produced at home. With the newly appointed minister dello spettacolo (minister of entertainment) in place, the government and film industries combined to make Italian cinema as successful as that of the US. The Cinecittà Studios, previously utilised by Italian politician Benito Mussolini to produce propaganda films during the war, was now a hotbed for Italian directorial and acting talent, and the US had to take notice.

The phenomenon is now known as ‘The Hollywood

on the Tiber’, referring to the sudden influx of American filmmakers to Italy due to cheap labour, agreeable weather, and a sense of history and luxury that the US couldn’t compete with. With the filmmakers came the celebrities. With the celebrities came paparazzi and newspapermen, and all of a sudden Italy was the hottest place on the planet.

Couturiers, jewellers and fashion designers flocked to give Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor exclusive access to their stores, in the hope that some of their star appeal might rub off on their burgeoning brands. Salvatore Ferragamo went as far as to design a pair of shoes specifically for his muse, Hepburn. 1953’s Roman Holiday, starring Hepburn and Gregory Peck, is the iconic film of this time – buzzing Vespas, a beautiful woman and lantern-jawed hero finding romance in one of the world’s greatest cities was the recipe for a worldwide smash, and an Academy Award for Hepburn. More epics followed, each using the Cinecittà Studios.

William Wyler’s follow-up to Roman Holiday was Ben Hur, an epic with the largest sets ever built. It

‘All of a sudden Italy was the hottest place on the planet’ was only overshadowed by Cleopatra, the vehicle that cemented Elizabeth Taylor as the world’s most notorious screen siren.

It was time for Italy to start taking tips from the Americans. In 1958, Federico Fellini happened to see at-the-time-scandalous photographs of Anita Ekberg wading fully dressed in Rome’s Trevi Fountain, taken by Pierluigi Praturlon. He immediately changed the title of the screenplay on which he was currently working to La Dolce Vita and cast Ekberg. The film broke all box office records, partly due to cinemagoers believing the film would surely be banned or otherwise censored before long.

Over time, Italy’s costs crept up and the golden rush of Hollywood stardust drifted away – but not entirely. There were around 90 films and TV shows produced there in 2010 and 2011, and even fewer since then – but the legacy of the countryside, the films, celebrities and effortlessly glamorous lifestyles they espoused, will never fade.

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Bulgari BOLD AS

The world has long been captivated by the brilliance of Bulgari. To celebrate the jewellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 130th year, Made in Italy delves into the maisonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design archive

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rom Hollywood sirens to society doyennes, Bulgari has been a beacon of glamour for decades. Elizabeth Taylor was seldom seen without a heavy-set piece clinging to her décolletage, while a Bulgari was often the jewel of choice for Grace Kelly during public appearances. Sophia Loren rocked a Bulgari necklace in the film Pret-à-Porter, while Claudia Cardinale coveted the jeweller’s bold designs in a 1966 edition of Vogue Italia. Now in its 130th year, how did Bulgari gain – and maintain – a place in the hearts of the rich and famous?

Go back to Bulgari’s very beginnings and you’ll find yourself not in Italy (that comes later), but in Greece, at the end of the 19th century and face-to-face with one man: Sotirio Bulgari. A skilled silversmith, Mr Bulgari left his home (little-known Epirus) for better-known Corfu, Naples and finally Rome – where his firm ‘Bulgari’ was founded. With sons Georgio and Costantino at his side, the trio created Bulgari’s first pieces – silver in Neo-Hellenic styles and shapes.

The dawning of the tassleswaying Twenties saw fanciful French fashions creeping across the rest of Europe – prompting Bulgari to move away from the art deco themes previously seen and into precious stones, platinum and diamonds.

Wartime restrictions and a spell of austerity came next, which meant that Bulgari’s designs featured gold, a few diamonds and little else. Prosperity bounced back, however, in the post-war era

when the Bulgari brothers went boldly where no jeweller had really been before – they offset their traditional diamond designs with coloured gemstones, marking the beginning of Bulgari’s life-long love affair with colour.

The Swinging Sixties were the real turning point for the jeweller.

For it was during this decade that it defined its own identity – one where diamonds became the support act for colourful cabochon stones alongside a heavy use of gold. Pooling influences from Greco-Roman classicism and the Italian Renaissance, these new voluminous creations marked a pivotal period in Italian jewellery design – one that no longer required inspiration from French fashion.

It was the sixties, too, that brought the world’s screen icons and Bulgari together. The Eternal

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City became the centre of the international film industry in the late 1950s and ‘60s – when the likes of Roman Holiday and La Dolce Vita drew the world’s most revered actresses to Rome, and consequently to Bulgari.

And there’s no better example than the late Elizabeth Taylor: she adored Bulgari – its Serpenti pieces famously decorated any bare piece of her flesh in her role as Cleopatra. (In fact, Taylor reportedly said wearing such pieces was the best part of the job.)

So large was Taylor’s jewellery collection – thanks, in part, to her husband Richard Burton’s generosity – it went under the hammer in 2011 fetching nearly US$116 million, making it the most valuable jewellery sale in auction history. Eighty of the film star’s most iconic jewels were open

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Swinging Sixties were the real turning point for the jewellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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to bidders, including a number of Bulgari pieces, such as a sizeable emerald necklace and a 23.46-carat emerald brooch pendant which fetched US$6.6 million at the auction. Bulgari bought back seven of Taylor’s pieces and now house them in its heritage collection – a 600-piece compendium dating from the 19th to the 21st centuries.

Moving into the 1970s and a new, younger third generation of Bulgaris took the helm. And it showed: designs were fun, offbeat and colourful. Drawing inspiration from pop art and other contemporary trends, the jeweller showed how the richest jewels can be worn in casual ways – diamond-encrusted ice-cream shaped brooches and Stars-andStripes earrings. It was also the decade of the inventive range of coin jewellery – a collection which would go on to become a Bulgari hallmark.

Come the 1980s, Bulgari’s bold use of clean shapes made it a perfect match for the bigger-isbetter fashions of the era. This was the decade of the Parentesi collection, an iconic design inspired by the joints of Roman pavements, henceforth the strong architectural presence in the pieces. It was during the ‘80s where Andy Warhol famously compared a Bulgari showroom to a “contemporary art museum”, showing how far ahead Bulgari was in terms of jewellery design.

Present day, and Bulgari’s love affair with colour continues to reign supreme, proving, yet again, that its place in the market is as vibrant as the gemstones that shaped it.

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ith the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites of any country in the world, Italy is rightly revered for its antiquities.

Yet, in recent times, the cashstrapped country has turned to another jewel in its crown – the fashion industry – to fund the restoration of some of its most historic monuments.

Leading the way is luxury leather goods company Tod’s, which pledged €25 million in 2011 to restore the crumbling Colosseum. Work began on the ambitious project in December 2013, and last month Tod’s celebrated the completion of phase one. Billionaire chairman and chief executive officer Diego Della Valle says: “It is both an honour and our duty to contribute to the support of our country’s image all over the world.”

The project, due to be completed by mid-2015, will see the façade returned to its original white ochre colour, the exterior arches rebuilt, and the underground cells restored, as well as a new visitor centre built alongside the arena.

It is not the only cultural icon in the Eternal City that is benefiting from the philanthropy of a luxury label. Last year, Fendi pledged €2.5 million to restore the Trevi Fountain, the 18thcentury Baroque masterpiece that is arguably the world’s most recognisable water feature thanks to its starring role in Federico Fellini’s 1960 film La Dolce Vita. During the restoration, only one third of the fountain will be covered by scaffolding at any

BUILT TO L AST Italy’s centuries-old monuments are getting a makeover from some fashionable friends, writes Lara Brunt

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one time, allowing those who visit to toss a coin into the basin, a tradition said to ensure they return to Rome.

The restoration is part of the fashion house’s four-year initiative called Fendi for Fountains, which will also fund the refurbishment of the nearby Quattro Fontane, a group of four 16th-century fountains. As the birthplace of the brand in 1925, Rome “is part of Fendi’s creative heritage,” says designer Silvia Venturini Fendi, who represents the third generation of the fashion house.

Similarly inspired is Bulgari, which recently donated €1.5 million towards the restoration of the city’s famous Spanish Steps to mark the brand’s 130th anniversary. “[The Spanish Steps] lie at the heart of our story, between Via Sistina, where Sotirio Bulgari opened the first Bulgari shop in 1884, and our present shop in Via dei Condotti,” says chief executive Jean-Christophe

meeting places of Romans, and its popularity continues to this day.

Italy’s fashion moguls are also digging deep to restore its national treasures in Venice. In 2012, Renzo Rosso, president of the Diesel clothes empire, pledged €5 million to help restore the floating city’s celebrated Rialto Bridge. One of four bridges spanning the Grand Canal, the bridge was built towards the end of the 16th century and is renowned as an architectural and engineering achievement of the Renaissance. Restoration work will last 18 months and should be finished by May 2016, according to officials.

Meanwhile, the Prada Foundation, set up by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli in 1995 and dedicated to contemporary art and culture projects, is responsible for the restoration of an historic palazzo on the Grand Canal.

With phase one of the six-year preservation project complete,

‘Italy is rightly revered for its antiquities’ Babin. “The majestic beauty of this unique city and its rich archaeological, artistic and architectural heritage have always been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for our collections.”

Designed as a theatrical link between the slopes of the Pincian Hill, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, and the Piazza di Spagna below, the monumental staircase was built between 1723 and 1726. At the end of the 19th century it was one of the favourite

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Ca’ Corner della Regina was partially reopened in 2011 as a permanent exhibition space for the foundation. Built between 1724 and 1728 on the ruins of an old palazzo in which Caterina Corner, the future queen of Cyprus, was born, the imposing palazzo will slowly be returned to its former glory.

While fashion may be fleeting, Italy’s luxury brands are keen to ensure its cultural heritage lives on.

A woman of substance

As Monica Bellucci approaches 50, the actress speaks about life as a working mother, love and why she intends to age gracefully...

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un an Internet search on Italian actress Monica Bellucci and it is all but impossible to avoid reference to her smouldering beauty.

The former model’s sultry looks are a global phenomenon. As she nears her 50th birthday, Bellucci continues to top lists of the world’s most attractive women, fronting campaigns for some of the fashion industry’s biggest brands.

But, Bellucci is far more than just a pretty face. Some 20 years after the raven-haired, olive-skinned beauty made the move from

Having had minor roles in the Italian film La Riffa and Bram Stoker’s Dracula in the early nineties, it was Bellucci’s captivating performance as Lisa in the award-winning L’Appartement that saw her gain a César Award nomination in France for best supporting actress – catapulting her into the limelight. It was on set that she also met and fell in love with her co-star, Vincent Cassel, whom she separated from last year.

Bellucci remains a big box office draw: whether starring in a Hollywood or European title, her name carries weight and award nominations usually follow. Her resumé is as impressive as it is eclectic,

‘I am never going to be a typical Hollywood actress, because I look different’ modelling to acting, her on-screen talent is now as universally accepted as her astonishing looks. Indeed, so powerful a force is Bellucci that when Hollywood wants her, it comes knocking.

Of course, it wasn’t always that way.

Having been born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy, in 1964, Belluci moved to Milan in 1988 seeking fame and fortune and signed with Elite Model Management.

Within a year she was gracing the catwalk and fashion pages on both sides of the Atlantic – Paris and New York. However, hungry to do more, that same year Bellucci enrolled in acting classes. “In the beginning, it was so difficult because people didn’t take me seriously,” she admitted. “And, actually, it’s normal because being a model is completely different from being an actress. It doesn’t happen very often that a model can become a good actress, so I know I’m very lucky to have the possibility to work in this profession, with such good directors from all over. Of course, I am luckier because those people call me, I don’t look for them.”

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including everything from The Matrix Reloaded and The Brothers Grimm to The Whistleblower and the highly controversial Irreversible. Never one to shy away from a challenging role, choosing the right films, she insists, is even more important as an European actress straddling two continents.

“I am never going to be [a typical Hollywood actress], because I look different, I sound different,” she said. “So I have to find the right project each time.

When I make a film, I stay there for two or three or five months of my life. It’s a long time. I have to give a lot in the movies and that’s why I need to believe in the project.

And then, if it’s successful or not, nobody knows.” She added: “From the moment I am there working, I need to feel that the director believes in what he is doing, that all of the actors are there together. For me, it is impossible to make films just for the money.”

While other actresses in her age group have resorted to face fillers and surgery to retain their looks, Bellucci is steadfast in her resolve not to be drawn into that

world. “There is this thing in America where actresses reach 40 and go mad,” she said.

“The film industry wants all these young people. They also like a different sort of woman (to me). I will never be skinny. I love to eat. Who cares? I am natural.”

It is this attitude Bellucci hopes to instill in her two daughters, Deva and Léonie. “I think that the movie The Brothers Grimm was a good metaphor for anyone who believes that their image or beauty is who they are,” she said. “When the image or the myth is destroyed, the person is lost along with it. I think it is the perfect movie for all of us, but especially for actors because we are the first victims of vanity.”

The threat of her looks fading does not

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Text: Leah Oatway

worry the actress – unsurprising given how dazzling she remains as she approaches 50. Death, however, is a concern. “I am scared about death because I have two children and I want to see them grow up,” explained Bellucci, who made a conscious decision to become a mother relatively late in life – she gave birth to Deva in 2004, aged 39, and Leonie at 45. “If I had been pregnant 10 years before, it would have been a disaster,” she said. “I wasn’t ready for something so incredibly huge, something that would change my life for ever. I think it was because I am an only child. In a way I always felt a child – too much into myself. I worried I wouldn’t be ready to give myself.”

She had initially planned to have another quickly afterwards, but that changed after her first daughter’s birth. “Ultimately, I wanted to have time with just her and be really confident and know who she really is before I could get pregnant with my second.

I was lucky to get pregnant at 44. We didn’t have to try for a long time – it was natural.

“As a woman I feel so complete because it happened at the right time in my life.”

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ainter, sculptor, architect, engineer and poet. At just 31 years of age, Michelangelo was considered the finest artist in Italy, if not the world. Long before his death nearly six decades later, he was proclaimed the greatest man the arts had ever known.

“Michelangelo’s personality was complex and contradictory,” says Martin Gayford, art critic and author of Michelangelo: His Epic Life. “He was supremely selfconfident and at times consumed by neurotic anxieties, angry and quarrelsome but capable of great warm-heartedness, solitary but prone to fall desperately in love, a miser who could be wildly generous.”

Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 6 in 1475 into a poor but genteel family in the village of Caprese and grew up in the nearby city of Florence. At the age of 12, he became an artist’s apprentice, studying under the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, who was known for his frescoes.

Demonstrating obvious talent and still in his mid-teens, Michelangelo

was taken under the wing of Lorenzo de’ Medici, the leading patron of the arts in Florence. For two years he lived in the Medici palace, where he was a student of the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni.

After the Medici family was expelled from Florence in 1494, Michelangelo travelled to Bologna and then, two years later, to Rome, where he was commissioned to do several works. His most important work was Pietà, a sculpture carved out of a single block of marble that showed the body of Christ in the lap of the Virgin Mary. Some 50 years later, 16th-century art historian Giorgio Vasari wrote: “It would be impossible for any craftsman or sculptor, no matter how brilliant, ever to surpass the grace or design of this work, or try to cut and polish the marble with the skill that Michelangelo displayed.”

Michelangelo returned to Florence and was commissioned to sculpt a monumental statue of the biblical character, David. Upon its completion in 1504, the artist’s reputation was cemented. That same year, he was pitted against his older rival Leonardo da Vinci, with both artists commissioned

RENAISSANCE

MAN

This year marks 450 years since the death of Michelangelo. We look at his life and legacy 34

Words: Lara Brunt

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by the Florentine government to paint an enormous mural in the Palazzo Vecchio. “Vasari said there was the ‘greatest disdain’ between Leonardo and Michelangelo. That seems to be true,” says Gayford.

Their bitter rivalry lasted a lifetime, and Michelangelo was also engaged in a long-running artistic battle with younger rival Raphael.

The following year, Pope Julius II summoned the artist back to Rome and commissioned him to design and sculpt the Pope’s own tomb in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Due to quarrels between the two, and the many other demands on the artist’s time, the project was abandoned and Michelangelo left Rome.

In 1508, he was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. His epic frescoes, which took several years to complete and cover over 5,000 square feet, are among his most memorable works. Today, more than five million tourists visit the chapel every year to view Michelangelo’s masterpiece.

After the triumphs of Pietà, David and the Sistine Chapel, came many unhappy years of frustrated toil. In 1512, Michelangelo, now 37, returned to his work on Pope Julius II’s tomb, eventually completing just three out of 40 planned statues some 30 years later. “Michelangelo’s difficulty in finishing his projects, especially the tomb of Julius II, resulted from the over-ambitious scale of what he was attempting, and his unwillingness to delegate the work. As a result, he suffered much guilt and frustration,” says Gayford.

In 1513, the new pope Leo X, a member of the Medici clan,

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commissioned Michelangelo to rebuild the façade of the church of San Lorenzo in Florence, marking the beginning of Michelangelo’s activity as an architect. He spent three years creating drawings and models for the façade, before his cash-strapped patron cancelled the project. The influential family later commissioned Michelangelo to design a chapel in the same church to house the tombs of two young Medici heirs who had recently died. The artist

‘He suffered much guilt and frustration’ worked on the chapel until 1534 and, although still incomplete, it was his first major architectural achievement and featured many innovative architectural forms based on classical models.

In 1534, Michelangelo left Florence for the last time and travelled to Rome, where he would live and work for the rest of his life. He was commissioned to paint The Last Judgement on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, and from 1546 he was increasingly active as an architect, in particular on the great church of St. Peter’s.

During the last three decades of his life, he produced a copious body of work: paintings, frescoes, sculpture, drawings and architectural designs, as well as over 300 poems. Often called Il Divino (the divine one) during his lifetime, Michelangelo died in Rome on February 18, 1564 at the age of 88, leaving a legacy unlikely ever to be surpassed.

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ach summer, the Tuscan town of Siena comes alive for the Palio, a bareback horse race that’s been held in the medieval main square since 1644.

The race takes place twice a year on July 2 and August 16 – and lasts just 90 seconds – but the three days leading up to each race fizz with pageantry and passion.

Each race sees 10 of the city’s 17 contrade, or districts, represented by a horse and jockey dressed in traditional colours. The night before, each contrada hosts a festive open-air dinner, with trestle tables filling up the main piazza and celebrations lasting long into the night.

Come race morning, the horses and jockeys are blessed during ceremonies in the church of Santa Rocco. Then a spectacular pageant takes place, with the horses paraded through the cobblestone streets and townspeople dressed in historical costume, evoking the glory days of the 13th and 14th centuries.

The actual race is short – amid a cloud of dust, the horses hurtle three times around the Piazza del Campo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is transformed into a track with mattresses lining the walls. Jockeys are allowed to whip not only their own horses, but also other horses and their riders.

Cheered on by 40,000 spectators, the winner is the first horse to cross the line, with or without its rider. And the reward for such an epic display of horsemanship and bravery? A hand-painted silk banner – and the adulation of the frenzied crowd.

Words: Lara Brunt

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WILD RIDE DATING BACK TO THE 17TH CENTURY, THE PALIO DI SIENA IS THE WORLD’S ROWDIEST HORSE RACE

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Ferrari

Lamborghini A look at the histories of the bull and the prancing horse

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Ferrari ounded in 1929, Scuderia Ferrari was set up as a manufacturer of racecars before moving into the street-legal vehicle market in 1947. Enzo Ferrari, the company’s founder, wasn’t interested in producing road cars when the “Ferrari Stable” was founded.

Until 1938, Enzo was in the business of training and racing drivers in Alfa Romeo cars, until Alfa decided to hire him themselves to take charge of their motor racing department. During WWII when Alfa Romeo was annexed by politician Benito Mussolini, Enzo’s Ferrari sub-division was ignored due to its small size, which allowed him to begin entering his own cars for racing (after his four-year contract with Alfa Romeo ran out). However, in the immediate aftermath of WWII the company needed money to finance the Scuderia Ferrari racing division, and so Enzo reluctantly produced the 1947 125 S, the first Ferrari to be sold to the public.

In 1969, Fiat assured Ferrari’s future by taking a 50 per cent stake in the company, immediately giving Enzo a huge amount of funds with which to

experiment. The era that followed cemented Ferrari’s place in automotive history, its output defining what supercars could be. The iconic 365 Daytona, Dino, Testarossa, 348 and, of course, the F40 were just a few of the models that caused jaws to drop worldwide and turn Ferrari from an Italian curiosity into a worldwide powerhouse.

By the noughties, the prancing horse was synonymous with wealth, luxury and success.

Enzo Ferrari had been immortalised in one of the company’s loftiest efforts, with the Enzo car being named in his honour.

Ferrari’s dominion of the road-legal supercar market is matched only by its prowess on the racetrack. Built on racing, Ferrari utterly dominated the F1 circuit for many years. In this regard Ferrari has a racing heritage the likes of which other manufacturers can only dream of.

Ferrari’s brand name has never been stronger.

In fact, their success is so great that they are downscaling production to a mere 7,000 cars a year in order to maintain exclusivity. This makes buying a new Ferrari more difficult, and the Ferraris that already exist even more collectable.

Hot W heels F40, 1987-1992

Built to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary, at the time it was the fastest, most powerful and most expensive car Ferrari had ever built. The Pininfarina design summed up the excess and boldness of the ‘80s. Only 400 were due to be made, but demand saw a total of 1,315 produced in total.

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Lamborghini f a Ferrari sums up luxury sports cars, then raw automotive power falls into the kingdom of Lamborghini. Its aggressive style and predominantly rear-engined power systems are, in a way, symbolised by its brand icon – the snorting, snarling bull. Ironically, that wasn’t the foundation upon which the company was built.

Ferruccio Lamborghini started his career in the four-wheeled world with a tractor company that became one of the most successful agricultural equipment manufacturers in the world. In 1958, the car enthusiast bought his first Ferrari, a 250GT. He found the ride too noisy, rough, and not refined enough. When the clutch on his 250 broke, Lamborghini discovered that it was the very same he used on his tractors. He reached out to Enzo Ferrari to ask for a worthier replacement, only to be told to leave the sports car business to the experts and stick to tractors. Piqued, Ferruccio Lamborghini decided to show his fellow countryman just how much a tractor salesman could know about sports cars, and set about creating his own.

Lamborghini’s first decision

was to design his engine exclusively for road use, whereas Ferrari modified its race engines. A mere four months later, the 350GTV was unveiled, and in October 1963 Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini S.p.A. was born. The first bona-fide success of the fledgling company was the iconic Miura, with its transversely mounted mid-engine layout, huge headlamps and low profile. The Miura’s layout would

‘Frighteningly loud and as wide as the bulls’ set the precedent for high performance, two-seat sports cars that has yet to be bettered.

Despite union troubles and an alarming downturn in sales during the 1973 recession, Lamborghini came out swinging with the Countach, the angular, aggressive forerunner to today’s models. The Countach was in production from 1974 to 1988, an almost unheard of

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Hot W heels Diablo, 1990-2001

lifespan for a supercar. Angles gave way to curves with 1990’s Diablo, and up to the present day and the most recent trio of cars, Lamborghini’s holy trinity: The Murciélago, Gallardo and Aventador, plus the new Huracán. Blisteringly quick, frighteningly loud and as wide as the bulls that give them their names, these models demand attention with their outrageous power in a way that many Ferraris do not.

One area in which Lamborghini and Ferrari differ is in the arena of motorsport. Ferrucio Lamborghini decided that he was not interested in racing Lamborghinis, as it took too much of a toll on the production line – completely the opposite of Enzo Ferrari, who only sold cars to fund his race team.

However, in the early 1990s Lamborghini provided Formula One engines to several race teams, and even experimented with its own car – although it never went any further than that.

The highest-selling Lamborghini model ever, the Gallardo, has been replaced as of 2014 with the Huracán. A 5.2 litre, 610bhp V10 four-wheeldrive engine rockets the intimidating machine from 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds. What’s new about the Huracán, though, is its user-friendliness and sleek lines. In many ways it’s as close to a Ferrari as any Lamborghini has been since the Miura. Perhaps these two greats are growing more alike after all.

The 14-year lifespan of the Countach was brought to an end by the Diablo, which ushered in a new era of supercar – the era of curves. The first Lamborghini whose maximum speed exceeded 200mph, the Diablo (“Devil” in Spanish) was described at the time as being designed “solely to be the biggest head-turner in the world”.

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2. Emilia-Romagna

A COUNTRY DIVIDED

Parmigiano-Reggiano originated from the province of Reggio Emilia during the Middle Ages, and its distinctive aroma derives from the various chemicals in the soil particular to the region.

The regions of Italy each have their own unique flavour – we’ve picked a few key areas for gastronomic delight 6. Abruzzo

7. Umbria

In a country famed for pasta, the small region of Abruzzo holds a handful of factories that use clear mountain water to produce it like nowhere else.

“The Green Heart of Italy” produces numerous seasonal vegetables – wild asparagus and mushrooms being the most succulent.

4. Lazio

1. Lombardy

Lazio’s coastal land and dry soil allows it to produce stunning wine like Est Est Est, but its most famous export is Falerno, a wine that was enjoyed

by Roman emperors thousands of years ago.

Unlike many other pastaobsessed areas of Italy, rice is a mainstay of Lombardia cuisine, and the famous risotto alla Milanese is the most exported dish.

3. Campania

While Buffalo mozzarella is produced in many parts of Italy, the cheese produced in Campania is the only one that bears an European Uniongranted trademark.

9. Sicily

Unsurprisingly for the island off Italy’s southern coast, tuna and sardines are the region’s speciality. The warm coastal waters bring the fish in their droves.

5. Tuscany

8. Piedmont

Gordon Ramsay himself describes Piedmont’s white truffles as “a unique culinary experience”, and this mountainous region’s clear air produces them better than anywhere else.

Centuries-old trees produce olives that go into Lucini olive oil, the country’s finest – and one of its most successful exports, used by professional chefs and home cooks like.

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pa n e r a i . c o m

Mediterranean Sea. “Gamma” men in training.

The diver emerging from the water is wearing a Panerai compass on his wrist.

history a n d heroes. luminor marina 1950 3 days automatic (ref. 312) available in steel , titanium and red gold

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