NEW - Guarino Guarini - architect
Baroque master who shaped the identity of Turin
Guarino Guarini, an architect regarded as one of the most transformative figures in the architectural history of Turin, died on this day in 1683 at the age of 59. Guarini enjoyed the patronage of the House of Savoy from 1666 until his death, during which time he is said to have built or submitted designs for as many as six churches and chapels and five palaces in Turin. He reportedly designed a gate to replace the existing Porta di Pio, although it was never actually built. Of those projects that progressed beyond the drawing board, his church of San Lorenzo, with its structurally daring dome, the Chapel of the Holy Shroud and the Palazzo Carignano, notable for the rhythmic curves of its facade, are regarded as his most notable achievements. The circumstances of Guarini’s death are not documented beyond his being in Milan at the time. Read more…
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Francesco Guicciardini - writer and diplomat
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Friend of Machiavelli among first to record history in context
The historian and statesman Francesco Guicciardini, best known for writing Storia d'Italia, a book that came to be regarded as a classic history of Italy, was born on this day in 1483 in Florence. Along with his contemporary Niccolò Machiavelli, Guicciardini is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. Guicciardini was an adviser and confidant to three popes, the governor of several central Italian states, ambassador, administrator and military captain. He had a long association with the Medici family, rulers of Florence. Storia d'Italia - originally titled 'La historia di Italia' - was notable for Guicciardini's skilful analysis of interrelating political movements in different states and his ability to set in context and with objectivity events in which sometimes he was a direct participant. Read more…
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La traviata - the world's favourite opera
Verdi's masterpiece performed for the first time
Giuseppe Verdi's opera, La traviata, was performed in front of a paying audience for the first time on this day in 1853. The premiere took place at Teatro La Fenice, the opera house in Venice with which Verdi had a long relationship, one that saw him establish his fame as a composer. La traviata would ultimately cement his reputation as a master of opera after the success of Rigoletto and Il trovatore. La traviata has become the world's favourite opera, inasmuch as no work has been performed more often, yet the reception for the opening performance was mixed, to say the least. Reportedly there was applause and cheering at the end of the first act but a much changed atmosphere in the theatre in the second act, during which some members of the audience jeered. Their displeasure was said to be aimed in part at the two male principals, the baritone Felice Varesi and the tenor Lodovico Graziani. Read more…
Giovanni Battista Bugatti - executioner
‘Mastro Titta’ ended 516 lives in long career
Giovanni Battista Bugatti, who served as the official executioner for the Papal States from 1796 to 1864, was born on this day in 1779 in Senigallia, a port town on the Adriatic coast about 30km (19 miles) northwest of the city of Ancona. Bugatti, who became known by the nickname Mastro Titta - a corruption of the Italian maestro di giustizia - master of justice - in Roman dialect, carried out 516 executions in his 68-year career. He was the longest-serving executioner in the history of the Papal States. The circumstances of him being granted such an important role in Roman life at the age of just 17 are not known. What is documented is that while not carrying out his grim official duties he kept a shop selling painted umbrellas and other souvenirs next to his home in the Borgo district, in Vicolo del Campanile, a short distance from Castel Sant’Angelo, which served as a prison during the time of the Papal States. Read more…
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Augusto Odone – medical pioneer
Father who invented ‘Lorenzo’s Oil’ for sick son
Augusto Odone, the father who invented a medicine to treat his incurably ill son despite having no medical training, was born on this day in 1933 in Rome. Odone’s son, Lorenzo, was diagnosed with the rare metabolic condition ALD (Adrenoleukodystrophy) at the age of six. Augusto and his American-born wife, Michaela, were told that little could be done and that Lorenzo would suffer from increasing paralysis and probably die within two years. Refusing simply to do nothing, the Odones, who lived in Washington, where Augusto was an economist working for the World Bank, threw themselves into discovering everything that was known about the condition and the biochemistry of the nervous system, contacting every doctor, biologist and researcher they could find who had researched the condition and assembled them for a symposium. Read more…
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Book of the Day: Rough Guides Snapshot Turin, Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta, by Ros Belford
Writer and journalist Ros Belford spends her time between Salina, Siracusa and Cambridge and is the author of numerous guidebooks to Italy, Sicily and the Mediterranean. She has written articles on travel and food for many magazines and newspapers and is the Telegraph's Sicilian travel expert.
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