9 April

Gian Maria Volonté – actor

Brilliant talent who played ‘spaghetti western’ parts for fun

Gian Maria Volonté, recognised as one of the finest character actors Italy has produced, was born on this day in 1933 in Milan.  Trained at the Silvio D’Amico National Academy of the Dramatic Arts in Rome, Volonté became famous outside Italy for playing the villain to Clint Eastwood’s hero in two movies in Sergio Leone’s western trilogy that were part of a genre dubbed the ‘spaghetti westerns’.  However, he insisted he accepted the chance to appear in A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – in which he appeared under the pseudonym John Wells - and For a Few Dollars More (1965) simply to earn some money and did not regard the parts of Ramon and El Indio as serious.  In Italy, it was for the much heavier roles given to him by respected directors such as Elio Petri and Francesco Rosi that he won huge critical acclaim.  Read more…

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Patty Pravo - pop singer of enduring fame

Venetian artist's career has spanned 60 years

The pop singer Patty Pravo was born on this day in 1948 in Venice.  Pravo has enjoyed an extraordinarily long career, spanning 60 years since the release of her first single, Ragazzo Triste.  Pravo has recorded 30 studio albums, 54 compilation albums and 58 singles, selling more than 110 million records, making her the third biggest selling Italian artist of all time.  Her latest album, Opera, was released in February 2026 following her 11th appearance at the Sanremo Music Festival, where she sang the title track. She continues to tour, even in her late 70s.  Born Nicoletta Strambelli, she grew up in an intellectual environment. Family friends included Cardinal Angelo Roncalli - the future Pope John XXIII - the actor Cesco Baseggio, the soprano Toti dal Monte and the American poet Ezra Pound, who lived in Venice and would take the young Nicoletta for walks and buy her ice cream.  She would spend time too at the house of Peggy Guggenheim, the American socialite and art collector..  Read more…

Treaty of Lodi

When the battles stopped (briefly) in northern Italy

The Treaty of Lodi, which brought peace between rival states in the north of Italy for 40 years, was signed on this day in 1454 at Lodi in Lombardy.  Also known as the Peace of Lodi, it established a balance of power among Venice, Milan, Naples, Florence and the Papal States.  Venice had been faced with a threat to its commercial empire from the Ottoman Turks and was eager for peace and Francesco Sforza, who had been proclaimed Duke by the people of Milan, was also keen for an end to the costly battles.  By the terms of the peace, Sforza was recognised as ruler of Milan and Venice regained its territory in northern Italy, including Bergamo and Brescia in Lombardy.  The treaty was signed at the Convent of San Domenico in Via Tito Fanfulla in Lodi, where a plaque today marks the building, no longer a convent.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: A History of Italian Cinema, by Peter Bondanella and Federico Pacchioni

A History of Italian Cinema, 2nd edition is the much anticipated update from the author of the bestselling Italian Cinema, which celebrates its 43rd anniversary in 2026. Building upon decades of research, Peter Bondanella and Federico Pacchioni reorganised their history in order to keep the book fresh and responsive not only to the actual films being created in Italy in the 21st century but also to the rapidly changing priorities of Italian film studies and film scholars. The new edition brings the definitive history of the subject up to date with a revised filmography as well as more focused attention on the melodrama, the crime film, and the historical drama. The book is expanded to include a new generation of directors as well as to highlight themes such as gender issues, immigration, and media politics. Accessible, comprehensive, and heavily illustrated throughout, this is an essential purchase for any fan of Italian film.

Until his retirement in 2007, Peter Bondanella was Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature, Film Studies, and Italian at Indiana University. A member of the European Academy of Sciences and the Arts and past President of the American Association for Italian Studies, Bondanella wrote numerous books and articles on Italian literature and cinema and translated or edited a number of Italian literary classics.  He died in 2017.  Federico Pacchioni is a professor of Italian Studies at Chapman University, Orange, California.

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