25 February

Benedetto Croce – philosopher and historian

Prolific writer opposed the Fascists and supported democracy

Benedetto Croce, one of the most important figures in Italian life and culture in the first half of the 20th century, was born on this day in 1866 in Pescasseroli in the region of Abruzzo.  Croce was an idealist philosopher, historian and erudite literary scholar whose approach to literature influenced future generations of writers and literary critics. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 16 times.  He became a Senator in 1910 and was Minister for Education from 1920 to 1921 in the last pre-Fascist government of the so-called Giolitti era. He is also remembered for his major contribution to the rebirth of Italian democracy after World War II.  Croce was born into a wealthy family and raised in a strict Catholic environment.  However, from the age of 16 he gave up Catholicism and developed a personal philosophy of spiritual life.  Read more…

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Alberto Sordi - actor

Comic genius who appeared in 190 films

Alberto Sordi, remembered by lovers of Italian cinema as one of its most outstanding comedy actors, died on this day in 2003 in Rome, the city of his birth.  He was 82 and had suffered a heart attack.  Italy reacted with an outpouring of grief and the decision was taken for his body to lie in state at Rome's town hall, the Campidoglio.  Streams of his fans took the opportunity to file past his coffin and when his funeral took place at the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano it was estimated that the crowds outside the church and in nearby streets numbered one million people.  Only the funeral of Pope John Paul II, who died two years later, is thought to have attracted a bigger crowd.  Sordi was the Italian voice of Oliver Hardy in the early days of his career, when he worked on the dubbing of the Laurel and Hardy movies. Read more…

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Enrico Caruso – opera singer

Tenor's voice still regarded as greatest of all time 

Operatic tenor Enrico Caruso was born on this day in 1873 in Naples.  Believed by many opera experts to be the greatest tenor of all time, Caruso had a brilliant 25-year singing career, appearing at many of the major opera houses in Europe and America.  He made more than 200 recordings of his beautiful voice, some made as early as 1902.  Caruso was born in Via San Giovanello agli Ottocalli in Naples and baptised the next day in the nearby church of San Giovanni e Paolo.  At the age of 11 he was apprenticed to a mechanical engineer and also worked alongside his father in a factory.  At the same time he was singing in his church choir and was told his voice showed enough promise for him to consider becoming a professional singer.  Until she died in 1888, he was encouraged by his mother. To earn money, he started to work as a street singer in Naples. Read more...

Carlo Goldoni – playwright

Greatest Venetian dramatist whose work still entertains audiences today

Carlo Goldoni, the author of The Servant of Two Masters, one of Italy’s most famous and best-loved plays, was born on this day in 1707 in Venice.  Goldoni became a prolific dramatist who reinvigorated the commedia dell’arte dramatic form by replacing its masked, stock figures with more realistic characters. He produced tightly constructed plots with a new spirit of spontaneity and is considered the founder of Italian realistic comedy.  The son of a physician, Goldoni read comedies from his father’s library when he was young and ran away from his school at Rimini with a company of strolling players when he was just 14.  Later, while studying at the papal college in Pavia, Goldoni read comedies by Plautus, Terence and Aristophanes and learnt French so he could read plays by Molière.  He was eventually expelled for writing a satire about the ladies of Pavia and was sent to study law.  Read more…

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Giovanni Battista Morgagni - anatomist

The father of modern pathological anatomy

Anatomist Giovanni Battista Morgagni, who is credited with turning pathology into a science, was born on this day in 1682 in Forlì in Emilia-Romagna.  Morgagni was professor of anatomy at the University of Padua for 56 years and taught thousands of medical students during his time there.  He was sent by his parents to study philosophy and medicine at the University of Bologna when he was 18 and he graduated as a doctor from both faculties.  In 1706 he published his work, Adversaria anatomica, which was to be the first volume of a series and helped him become known throughout Europe as an accurate anatomist.  He succeeded to the chair of theoretical medicine at the University of Padua in 1712 and was to teach medicine there until his death in 1771.  Morgagni was promoted to the chair of anatomy after his first three years in Padua. Read more…

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Enea Salmeggia – artist

Painter was dubbed the Raphael of Bergamo

Prolific painter Enea Salmeggia, who was active during the late Renaissance period and left a rich legacy of art in northern Italy, died on this day in 1626 in Bergamo in the region of Lombardy.  Salmeggia, also known as Il Talpino, or Salmezza, went to Rome as a young man, where he studied the works of Raphael. His style has often been likened to that of Raphael and he has even been called the Bergamo Raphael by some art lovers. A drawing formerly attributed to Raphael, now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, of two figures seated with some architectural studies, has subsequently been ascribed to Enea Salmeggia.  The artist was born at Salmezza, a frazione of Nembro, a comune - municipality - in the province of Bergamo, between 1565 and 1570. It is known that he grew up in Borgo San Leonardo in Bergamo, where his father, Antonio, was a tailor. Read more…

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Book of the Day: Benedetto Croce: An Introduction to His Philosophy, by Raffaello Piccoli

Explore the foundational ideas of one of Italy's most influential thinkers with Benedetto Croce: An Introduction to his Philosophy by Raffaello Piccoli. This essential volume offers a comprehensive overview of Croce's contributions to philosophy, aesthetics, and historical thought. Delve into his unique brand of idealism and understand its lasting impact on 20th-century intellectual discourse.  Piccoli expertly guides readers through Croce's complex ideas, illuminating his key works and their significance. Whether you're interested in Italian philosophy, literary criticism, or the life and work of Benedetto Croce himself, this book provides a valuable starting point - a vital resource for anyone seeking to understand Croce's profound influence on the fields of philosophy and history. This carefully prepared print edition ensures the accessibility of this important intellectual contribution for years to come.

Raffaello Piccoli was an influential Italian writer, poet, translator, and scholar, recognized for his contributions to philosophical literature, particularly in interpreting and explaining the works of Benedetto Croce.

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24 February

NEW - Candido Jacuzzi - inventor

Improvised hydrotherapy device became must-have spa bath

Candido Jacuzzi, whose surname became familiar across the world because of what followed his invention of a hydrotherapy bath for his sick son, was born on this day in 1903 in Casarsa della Delizia, a town in Friuli-Venezia Giulia about 80km (50 miles) northwest of Trieste, the regional capital.  His family joined many Italians in the early 20th century in emigrating to the United States in search of economic prosperity. After a number of years, they set up a business, Jacuzzi Brothers Inc., initially working in the burgeoning aircraft sector before later manufacturing pumps for agricultural use. It was based in Berkeley, California.  Business was successful if not spectacularly so and it was not until 30 years later that Candido, who was by then the father of a young child diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, hit upon the idea that would turn Jacuzzi into a household name.  Read more…

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Renata Scotto - soprano and opera director

Singer who stood in for Callas became an international star

Opera singer Renata Scotto, who was one of the leading sopranos in the world at the height of her career, was born on this day in 1934 in Savona in Liguria.  Admired for her musicality and acting ability, Scotto was one of the most popular singers during the bel canto revival of the 1960s, performing throughout Italy, and in the UK, America, Russia, Japan, Spain, France and Germany.  She sang opposite great tenors such as Mario del Monaco, Alfredo Kraus and Luciano Pavarotti.  Scotto made her stage debut on Christmas Eve 1952 at the age of 18 as Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata, singing to a sold-out house in Savona, her home town. The next day she made her official debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan as Violetta. Shortly afterwards, she performed in Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in Savona.  Read more…

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Bettino Craxi - prime minister

The Socialist who broke the grip of the Christian Democrats

Bettino Craxi, the politician who in 1983 became the first member of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) to be appointed prime minister, was born on this day in 1934 in Milan.  He was not the first socialist to hold the office - Ivanoe Bonomi had been prime minister for six months in 1920 on an Italian Reformist Socialist Party ticket and succeeded Marshal Pietro Badoglio as leader of the war-torn nation’s post-Mussolini government in 1944. However, Craxi broke the hold of the Christian Democrats, who had been in power continuously since the first postwar elections in 1946.  Craxi was a moderniser who moved his party away from traditional forms of socialism in a way that was replicated elsewhere in Europe, such as in Britain under the New Labour prime minister Tony Blair. Craxi replaced the party’s hammer-and-sickle symbol with a red carnation.  Read more…

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L’Orfeo – an early opera

The lasting appeal of Monteverdi’s first attempt at opera

L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, the earliest opera still being regularly staged, had its first performance on this day in 1607 in Mantua.  Two letters, both dated 23 February, 1607, refer to the opera due to be performed the next day in the Ducal Palace as part of the annual carnival in Mantua in Lombardy.  In one of them a palace official writes: ‘… it should be most unusual as all the actors are to sing their parts.’  Francesco Gonzaga, the brother of the Duke, wrote in a letter dated 1 March, 1607, that the performance had been to the ‘great satisfaction of all who heard it.’  L’Orfeo, or La favola d’Orfeo as it is sometimes called, is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus. It tells the story of the hero’s descent to Hades and his unsuccessful attempt to bring his dead bride, Eurydice, back to the living world.  While it is recognised that L’Orfeo is not the first opera, it is the earliest opera that is still regularly performed in theatres today. Read more…

Cesare “Caesar” Cardini – restaurateur

Italian emigrant who invented Caesar salad

The restaurateur who history credits with inventing the Caesar salad was born on this day in 1896 in Baveno, a small town on the shore of Lake Maggiore.  Cesare Cardini was one of a large family, with four brothers and two sisters.  In common with many Italians in the early part of the 20th century, his brothers Nereo, Alessandro and Gaudenzio emigrated to the United States, hoping there would be more opportunities to make a living.  Nereo is said to have opened a small hotel in Santa Cruz, California, south of San Francisco, while Alessandro and Guadenzio went to Mexico City.  Cesare left Italy for America in 1913. Records indicate he disembarked at Ellis Island, New York on May 1, having endured the transatlantic voyage as a steerage passenger, sleeping in a cargo hold equipped with dozens of bunk beds, which was the cheapest way to travel but came with few comforts.  Read more…

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Coronation of Emperor Charles V

Imperial ceremony in Bologna staged on birthday

Charles V was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in the Basilica di San Petronio in Bologna by Pope Clement VII on this day in 1530.  Considered the greatest of all the Habsburg emperors, Charles V was also King Carlos 1 of Spain. By the time he was 19, his grandfather and his father were both dead and he had become master of more parts of Europe than anyone since the emperors of ancient Rome.  He chose the day for his coronation because it was his birthday. Although he had been Holy Roman Emperor for more than ten years, Charles decided to receive his crown on his 30th birthday and elected to hold his coronation in the cathedral in Bologna because Rome was still in ruins, having been sacked by his own troops.  He was crowned by the same Pope he had held prisoner during his attack on Rome, Clement VII, who was formerly Giulio de’ Medici.  Read more…

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Sandro Pertini - popular president

Man of the people who fought Fascism

Sandro Pertini, the respected and well-liked socialist politician who served as Italy's President between 1978 and 1985, died on this day in 1990, aged 93.  Pertini, a staunch opponent of Fascism who was twice imprisoned by Mussolini and again by the Nazis, passed away at the apartment near the Trevi Fountain in Rome that he shared with his wife, Carla.  After his death was announced, a large crowd gathered in the street near his apartment, with some of his supporters in tears.  Francesco Cossiga, who had succeeded him as President, visited the apartment to offer condolences to Pertini's widow, 30 years his junior.  They had met towards the end of the Second World War, when they were both fighting with the Italian resistance movement.  Pertini's popularity stemmed both from his strong sense of morality and his unwavering good humour.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Italian Americans: A History, by Maria Laurino

A sweeping, highly readable account of the Italian‑American experience, written to accompany a television documentary series of the same name. Across roughly a century and a half of migration, struggle, and cultural transformation, Maria Laurino traces how a diverse group of regional Italian identities - Sicilian, Neapolitan, Calabrian, Piedmontese - were gradually reshaped into the single identity known as Italian‑American. The book blends social history with vivid personal stories: the perilous transatlantic voyages; the cramped tenements of the East Coast; the rise of mutual‑aid societies; and the complicated dance between assimilation and cultural pride. The Italian Americans: A History is particularly strong on the tension between stereotype and reality - how the group was once viewed as racially suspect, how the spectre of organised crime distorted public perception, and how families navigated the pressures of Americanisation while trying to preserve language, culinary heritage and Catholic traditions. It pays strong attention to the entrepreneurial and inventive spirit that flourished within immigrant communities, showing how mechanical skill, agricultural know‑how, and small‑business ingenuity became pathways to stability and, for some families, remarkable success. 

Maria Laurino is an American journalist, essayist, and until 1993 chief speechwriter to former New York City Mayor David Dinkins. Born into an Italian‑American family in New Jersey, she has explored themes of identity, heritage, and assimilation in earlier books, including Were You Always an Italian? and Old World Daughter, New World Mother. 

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Candido Jacuzzi - inventor

Improvised hydrotherapy device became world's favourite spa bath

Candido Jacuzzi with the pump
he made for his son's treatment

Candido Jacuzzi, whose surname became familiar across the world because of what followed his invention of a hydrotherapy bath for his sick son, was born on this day in 1903 in Casarsa della Delizia, a town in Friuli-Venezia Giulia about 80km (50 miles) northwest of Trieste, the regional capital.

His family joined many Italians in the early 20th century in emigrating to the United States in search of economic prosperity. After a number of years, they set up a business, Jacuzzi Brothers Inc., initially working in the burgeoning aircraft sector before later manufacturing pumps for agricultural use. It was based in Berkeley, California.

Business was successful if not spectacularly so and it was not until 30 years later that Candido, who was by then the father of a young child diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, hit upon the idea that would turn Jacuzzi into a household name.

Jacuzzi's son, Kenneth, was only 15 months old when he was diagnosed with the painful, inflammatory condition, for which there was no cure. He was given hydrotherapy sessions to ease the symptoms and regular immersion in a bath of hot, aerated water, followed by a massage, made him feel much better. 

The problem for Candido and his wife, Ines, was that these therapy sessions involved a two-hour round-trip to a hospital several times a week. It would be much more practical, Jacuzzi thought, if he could install a similar bath at home.

But none existed for home use at the time and the only real option open to him was to build one himself.  Jacuzzi studied the hydrotherapy unit used by the hospital and realized that it was run by pumps, which gave him a head start as pumps were part of the family business. He decided to experiment by modifying an agricultural pump by adding an air intake, reversing its pump action and submerging it in a bathtub of hot water. 

To his great satisfaction, it worked. The strong jet of bubbles emerging from the pump replicated the whirlpool effect of the hospital bath and Kenneth could now have his treatments without leaving the house. 

The therapists who now visited Kenneth at home encouraged Candido to make more of the devices so that other sufferers could benefit.  He talked to his older brothers, who had been the founders of the business, and other family members, and they agreed to give it a try.

Candido Jacuzzi (left) with brothers Gelindo, Frank,
Joseph and Valeriano at their factory in Berkeley

While the merits of the whirlpool bath pump were obvious to Candido and his wife, it needed exposure for its benefits to become more widely known. Thankfully, this came thanks to a daytime TV programme, Queen for a Day, who agreed to take a number of Jacuzzi’s pumps to give away as prizes.

Sales took off, with the unexpected bonus that its appeal would spread beyond those who needed it for medical reasons to others - many celebrities among them - who simply liked the idea of luxuriating in a bath of perpetual bubbles.

To cater for this market, Candido and his nephew, Roy Jacuzzi, devised a way of incorporating their pump in a custom-made fibreglass tub as a single, self-contained unit, a luxury item that could be made large enough to hold two people or more. With its own hot-water supply, it could even be used outside.

After the first two-person Jacuzzi 'Roman' Spa Bath was sold in 1970, the brand soon became a household name. 

Given the family’s humble start, it was quite a success story.  Candido’s family in Italy were not poor. His father, Giovanni, ran a fruit and vegetable shop in Casarsa, selling produce from his farm. But money was tight. Italy as a country was suffering economic hardship at the start of the 20th century and the possibility of war in Europe was looming.

The family was made up of 13 children and keeping them all on the proceeds of the farm was a challenge. Candido’s older brothers had already been sent to Germany for months at a time to find work.

The popularity of the Jacuzzi made it
the world's best-known spa bath brand

Most of them worked as bricklayers but the oldest, Rachele, was smart enough to become a telegraph operator while attending classes to further his education. He joined the Italian army, making a point of studying aeronautics, which he had identified as a field likely to throw up opportunities.

He might have seen active service, but as a world war became more likely, Giovanni decided to protect his older sons from the possibility of being conscripted and sent them to America, at first to Washington State

Rachele used the knowledge he had acquired in the Italian military to get a job with McDonnell Douglas, the aircraft manufacturer, for whom he designed an aircraft propeller with thin, aerodynamically efficient blades made of wood that became known as the “Jacuzzi Toothpick”. 

It was so successful it was bought by both the US and Russian military. Thanks to his rights as the inventor, the two major contracts provided him with enough money to launch the family business, Jacuzzi Brothers Inc., which had its headquarters in San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley. 

Initially, their factory made products for the aviation industry, including one of the first fully enclosed aircraft cabins, which was used by the postal service to transport mail. When one of these planes crashed, however, with Giacomo Jacuzzi, one of Candido’s brothers, among those killed, the family turned their back on the aircraft business and diversified into other products, including water pumps.

Between 1912 and 1920, the whole Jacuzzi family left northern Italy for California, including Candido, then entering his teens, who would work for the company until ill health forced his retirement in 1975 at the age of 72, having been president since 1971. He died in 1986 at the age of 83.

The Church of Santa Croce e Beata Vergine
del Rosario, with its distinctive twin towers

Travel tip:

The town of Casarsa della Delizia is in the province of Pordenone, a town about 15km (9 miles) to its west, surrounded by flat, fertile countryside shaped by waterways and vineyards. The La Delizia wine cooperative, established in 1931, is still a major local institution. Casarsa, with a population of around 8,500 inhabitants, is known mainly for its association with the writer and film-maker, Pier Paolo Pasolini, whose mother was from Casarsa, where he spent part of his childhood. The town became a place of memory for his admirers, these days drawn by the Centro Studi Pier Paolo Pasolini, a cultural centre dedicated to Pasolini’s life and work, hosting exhibitions, archives, and events.  Just outside the main town lies Versuta, a tiny hamlet where Pasolini lived during World War Two. II. In the town centre, the Church of Santa Croce e Beata Vergine del Rosario, the twin towers of which give the town its most recognisable architectural silhouette, has frescoes by Pomponio Amalteo, a notable 16th‑century painter of the Venetian school, the presence of whose work is an example of how Friuli’s religious buildings often hide unexpected artistic treasures.  The fertile quality of the land around Casarsa is due to the nearby Tagliamento River and a network of irrigation channels.  Casarsa is surrounded by vineyards, and seasonal festivals celebrate Friulian varieties such as Friulano, Refosco and Prosecco.   

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The Palazzo del Governo is one of several grand
palaces flanking Trieste's Piazza Unità d'Italia

Travel tip:

The seaport of Trieste, capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, officially became part of the Italian Republic in 1954. It had been disputed territory for thousands of years and after it was granted to Italy in 1920, thousands of the resident Slovenians left. The final border with Yugoslavia was settled in 1975 with the Treaty of Osimo. The area today is one of the most prosperous in Italy and Trieste is a lively, cosmopolitan city and a major centre for trade and ship building.  At its heart is the Piazza Unità d'Italia, the main square, which faces the Adriatic and is thought to be Europe's largest square located next to the sea. When it was built, Trieste was the most important seaport of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Its impressive buildings include the city's municipal offices and other important palaces. Trieste has a coffee house culture that dates back to the Habsburg era.  Caffè Tommaseo, in Piazza Nicolò Tommaseo, near the grand open space of the Piazza Unità d’Italia, is the oldest in the city, founded in 1830. Just along the coast is the Castello di Miramare, which stands over the harbour at Grignano, located on the end of a rocky spur jutting into the Gulf of Trieste, about 8km (5 miles) from the city itself. This Habsburg castle was built between 1856 and 1860 for Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium, based on a design by Carl Junker.  Legend has it that Ferdinand chose the spot to build the castle after taking refuge from a storm in the gulf in the sheltered harbour of Grignano that sits behind the spur.

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More reading:

The world renowned coffee brand with its roots in Trieste

The father who invented ‘Lorenzo’s Oil’ for sick son

The Italian-American believed to have made the world’s first ice cream cone

Also on this day:

1530: The coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

1607: The premiere of Monteverdi’s historic opera L’Orfeo 

1896: The birth of restaurateur Cesare “Caesar” Cardini

1934: The birth of politician Bettino Craxi

1934: The birth of soprano Renato Scotto

1990: The death of popular president Sandro Pertini

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23 February

Emanuele Notarbartolo - banker and politician

First major figure to be assassinated by Mafia

The banker and politician Emanuele Notarbartolo, whose determination to end corrupt banking practices in Sicily in the late 19th century would cost him his life, was born on this day in 1834 in Palermo.  Notarbartolo served as a conservative Mayor of Palermo from 1873 to 1876 and director of the Banco di Sicilia from 1876 to 1890.  He saved the bank from going bust by stamping down on the practice of doling out large and effectively unsecured loans to favoured individuals but in doing so made many enemies.  Having survived being kidnapped in 1882, Notarbartolo was stabbed to death in his first-class compartment on a train just outside Palermo in 1893. Although ultimately they were set free as the legal process broke down, Raffaele Palizzolo, a rival politician with Mafia connections as well as a fellow member of the Banco di Sicilia board, and a Mafia boss, Giuseppe Fontana, were identified as being responsible for his death. Read more…

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John Keats – poet

Writer spent his final days in the Eternal City

English Romantic poet John Keats died on this day in Rome in 1821.  He had been a published writer for five years and had written some of his greatest work before leaving England.  Ode to a Nightingale, one of his most famous poems, was written in the spring of 1819 while he was sitting under a plum tree in an English garden.  Keats was just starting to be appreciated by the literary critics when tuberculosis took hold of him and he was advised by doctors to move to a warmer climate.  He arrived in Rome with his friend, Joseph Severn, in November 1820 after a long, gruelling journey.  Another friend had found them rooms in a house in Piazza di Spagna in the centre of Rome and they went past the Colosseum as they made their way there.  Keats slept in a room overlooking the Piazza and could hear the sound of the fountain outside. Read more…

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Corrado Cagli - painter

Jewish artist who fought in World War II as a US soldier

The painter Corrado Cagli, one of the outstanding figures in the New Roman school that emerged in the early part of the 20th century, was born in Ancona on this day in 1910.  He moved with his family to Rome in 1915 at the age of five and by the age of 17 had created his first significant work, a mural painted on a building in Via Sistina, the street that links Piazza Barberini with the Spanish Steps in the historic centre of the city.  The following year he painted another mural inside a palazzo on the Via del Vantaggio, not far from Piazza del Popolo.  In 1932, he held his first personal exhibition at Rome’s Galleria d’Arte Moderna.  At this stage, despite being both Jewish and gay, Cagli had the support of the Fascist government, who commissioned him and others to produce mosaics and murals for public buildings.  Read more…

Manfredo Fanti - military general

Risorgimento hero who founded Royal Italian Army

The Italian general Manfredo Fanti, a key figure in the Italian Wars of Independence in the mid-19th century and the founder of the Royal Italian Army, was born on this day in 1806 in Carpi, a town about 20km (13 miles) northwest of Modena in what is now Emilia-Romagna.  Although he ultimately had a disagreement with Giuseppe Garibaldi, the figurehead of the Italian Unification movement, Fanti is still regarded as one of the heroes of the Risorgimento, as a result of the military victories he engineered against the Austrians in the second war of independence, which liberated Lombardy from foreign control, and in the final push for unification in 1860.  Between the second and third wars of independence, after he had been appointed Minister of War in the Cavour government, Fanti organised the absorption of the army of the League of Central Italy into the Royal Sardinian Army. Read more…

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Giovanni Battista de Rossi - archaeologist

Excavations unearthed massive Catacomb of St Callixtus

Giovanni Battista de Rossi, the archaeologist who revealed the whereabouts of lost Christian catacombs beneath Rome, was born on this day in 1822 in the Italian capital.  De Rossi’s most famous discovery – or rediscovery, to be accurate – of the Catacomb of St Callixtus, thought to have been created in the 2nd century by the future Pope Callixtus I, at that time a deacon of Rome, under the direction of Pope Zephyrinus, established him as the greatest archaeologist of the 19th century.  The vast underground cemetery, located beneath the Appian Way about 7km (4.3 miles) south of the centre of Rome, is estimated to have covered an area of 15 hectares on five levels, with around 20km (12.5 miles) of passageways.  It may have contained up to half a million corpses, including those of 16 popes and 50 Christian martyrs. Read more…

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Gentile Bellini - Renaissance painter

Bellini family were Venice's leading 15th century artists

Gentile Bellini, a member of Venice's leading family of painters in the 15th century, died in Venice on this day in 1507.  He was believed to be in his late 70s, although the exact date of his birth was not recorded.  The son of Jacopo Bellini, who had been a pioneer in the use of oil paint in art, he was the brother of Giovanni Bellini and the brother-in-law of Andrea Mantegna.  Together, they were the founding family of the Venetian school of Renaissance art.  Although history tends to place Gentile in their shadow, he was considered in his time to be one of the greatest living painters in Venice and from 1454 he was the official portrait artist for the Doges of Venice.  He also served Venice as a cultural ambassador in Constantinople, where he was sent to work for Sultan Mehmed II as part of a peace settlement between Venice and Turkey.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia, by John Dickie

Recognised as the 'first truly definitive English-language study of this myth-laden subject' (Sunday Times), Cosa Nostra is the compelling story of the Sicilian Mafia, the world's most famous, most secretive and most misunderstood criminal fraternity.  The Mafia has been given many names since it was founded 140 years ago: the Sect, the Brotherhood, the Honoured Society, and now Cosa Nostra. Yet as times have changed, the Mafia's subtle and bloody methods have remained the same. Now, for the first time, Cosa Nostra reconstructs the complete history of the Sicilian mafia from its origins to the present day, from the lemon groves and sulphur mines of Sicily, to the streets of Manhattan.  Described by journalist and presenter Andrew Marr as 'Monumental and gripping', Cosa Nostra is a history rich in atmosphere with the narrative pace of the best detective fiction, and hailed by critics in Italy as one of the best books to be written about the Mafia.

John Dickie is Professor of Italian Studies at University College, London. He is an internationally-recognised specialist on many aspects of Italian history and culture and his books have been translated into more than 20 languages. His history of Italian food, Delizia!, was turned into a six-part series for Italian television.

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