1 July

Achille Varzi - racing driver

Death on track led to mandatory wearing of crash helmets

Italian motor racing fans were in mourning on this day in 1948 when it was announced that Achille Varzi, whose rivalry with fellow driver Tazio Nuvolari made frequent headlines during the 1930s, had been killed in an accident while practising for the Swiss Grand Prix.  Although the sun was shining, an earlier downpour had left parts of the Bremgarten circuit outside Berne very wet and Varzi’s Alfa Romeo 158 was travelling at 110mph (170kph) when he arrived at a corner that was both wet and oily.  The car spun several times and appeared to be coming to a stop but then flipped over. The helmetless Varzi was crushed beneath the car and died from his injuries at the age of 43.  His death was especially shocking because he was regarded as one of the more cautious drivers. Since beginning his career on two wheels in his teens he had suffered only one major accident. Read more…

_____________________________________

Alberto Magnelli - abstract painter

Self-taught artist whose work became known as Concrete Art

The abstract painter Alberto Magnelli, who became a leading figure in the Concrete Art movement, was born on this day in 1888 in Florence.  Concrete Art is described as abstract art that is entirely free of any basis in observed reality and that has no symbolic meaning. It had strong geometric elements and clear lines and its exponents insisted the form should eschew impressionism and that a painting should have no other meaning than itself.  The movement took its name from the definition of concrete as an adjective rather than a noun, meaning ‘existing in a material or physical form’.  It became Magnelli’s focus after he moved to Paris in 1931. Until then, he had experimented in various genres.  He was born into a comfortable background in Florence, his father coming from a wealthy family of textile merchants.  He never studied art formally. Read more…

____________________________________

Clara Gonzaga – noblewoman

Countess from Mantua founded European dynasties

Clara (Chiara) Gonzaga, the eldest daughter of Federico I Gonzaga and Margaret of Bavaria, was born on this day in 1464 in Mantua.  One of her six children became Charles III, Duke of Bourbon and led the imperial army sent by Emperor Charles V against Pope Clement VII in what was to become the Sack of Rome in 1527.  Clara was also to feature as one of the characters in The Heptameron, a collection of 72 short stories written in French by the sister of King Francis I of France, Marguerite of Angouleme, who had been inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron.  Clara had five siblings, including Francesco II Gonzaga, who married Isabella d’Este.  She was married at the age of 17 to Gilbert of Bourbon Montpensier. Four years later he succeeded his father as Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne.  Clara and Gilbert had six children. Read more…

Gino Meneghetti - career burglar

Pisa-born criminal became legend in Brazil

Gino Amleto Meneghetti, a small-time thief in Italy who became a romanticised figure for his criminal exploits after emigrating to Brazil, was born on this day in 1878 in Pisa.  His early days were spent in a fishing village outside Pisa, but his father could find only low-paid work and moved the family to a different neighbourhood so he could take a job in a ceramics factory.  It was there that Gino fell in with a gang of boys who regularly engaged in petty crime, stealing fruit or chickens or other objects of minimal worth.  The young Meneghetti was arrested for the first time at 11 years of age.  After teenage years spent largely thieving, he made an attempt to change his life, going back to the classroom to learn to be a mechanic and a locksmith.  He found work and saved money, but then decided to move to Marseilles in France to live with an uncle, who owned a restaurant.  Read more…

_______________________________________

Claudio Saracini – musician

Baroque songs have survived till modern times

Composer Claudio Saracini was born on this day in 1586 in or close to Siena in Tuscany.  He is one of the most highly regarded composers of his time and is known also to have played the lute and been a singer.  He became famous for composing monody, which is secular music for a single voice, and 133 of the songs he wrote in this style have survived till today.  Some of Saracini’s compositions are still recorded, often in collections along with works by other composers of the same era, such as Monteverdi, who is said to have admired him.  Saracini travelled widely and seems to have established useful connections abroad as he dedicated a lot of his music to foreign aristocrats. He also appeared to have absorbed some of the musical styles of the lands he visited in his own compositions.  A unique feature of his work is the influence of folk music.  Read more…

______________________________________

Book of the Day: Motor Racing Heroes: The Stories of 100 Greats, by Robert Newman

Covering almost 100 years of motor racing history, Motor Racing Heroes emphasises that humanity, rather than simple statistics, is the true source of the subjects’ heroism. Take André Boillot; so tired at the end of the 1919 Targa Florio, he made a silly mistake, spinning his car backwards across the finish line – yet he still won. Or Grand Prix winners Robert Benoist, William Grover Williams and Jean-Pierre Wimille, all of whom became French resistance fighters during WWII. There’s David Purley’s valiant attempt at rescuing a trapped Roger Williamson by overturning Williamson's blazing march with his bare hands during the 1973 Grand Prix of Holland. And Alessandro Zanardi, who lost both his legs in a CART accident, yet still came back to win races. The lighter side of motor sport is also here, with Giannino Marzotto, who won the 1950 Mille Miglia wearing an immaculate double-breasted suit. Or Giovanni Bracco, who won the 1952 Mille Miglia as he swigged from a bottle of red wine! There are so many heroes and heroines in this sport. This book is about 100 of them.

Born in Ashford, Kent, Robert Newman spent almost a decade in Melbourne, Australia before returning to the UK in 1955 to pursue a career in journalism. In 1965 joined Pirelli Limited as their British press officer, later becoming PR director of their United States subsidiary.

Buy from Amazon

Home

30 June

Mario Carotenuto - actor

Roman from theatrical family made more than 100 films

The actor Mario Carotenuto, who became one of the most familiar faces in the commedia all’italiana genre of Italian film, was born on this day in 1916 in Rome.  Carotenuto, who was active in the movie industry for more than 30 years having started in the theatre and on radio, played alongside some of the greats of Italian cinema, including Totò, Alberto Sordi, Vittorio De Sica, Sophia Loren and Monica Vitti.  More often than not, he was cast in supporting roles rather than as the star, yet became respected as one of Italy’s finest character actors in comedy, winning a Nastro d'argento award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of The Professor in Luigi Comencini’s 1973 comedy-drama Lo scopone scientifico - The Scientific Card Player - which starred Sordi, Silvana Mangano and the American Bette Davis.  Read more…

________________________________________

Gianrico Carofiglio - novelist

Ex anti-Mafia judge now bestselling author

The novelist Gianrico Carofiglio, whose books have sold more than five million copies, was born on this day in 1961 in Bari.  Carofiglio is best known for a series of thrillers featuring the character of lawyer Guido Guerrieri but he has also written a number of novels featuring other characters, still mainly in the crime thriller genre.  One of them, his 2004 novel Il passato è una terra straniera (The Past is a Foreign Country), was made into an acclaimed film, directed by Daniele Vicari and starring Elio Germano, who appeared in the multi award-winning TV series Romanzo Criminale, and Michele Riondino, who played Andrea Camilleri’s most famous detective in the TV series The Young Montalbano.  Carofiglio drew inspiration and much technical knowledge from his career as a magistrate, which culminated in him becoming deputy prosecutor in the Anti-Mafia Directorate of his home town, Bari.  Read more…

______________________________________

Urbano Rattazzi – prime minister

Unpopular politician had anticlerical views

Urbano Pio Francesco Rattazzi, the third prime minister of the newly unified Kingdom of Italy, who is remembered for his clashes with the Italian people’s hero, Giuseppe Garibaldi, was born on this day in 1808 in Alessandria in the region of Piedmont.  Rattazzi became prime minister in 1862, succeeding Bettino Ricasoli, and he held the office for nine months until his behaviour towards Garibaldi led to him being driven from office.  He served as prime minister again in 1867 from April to October, but was forced by King Victor Emmanuel II to resign again because of the Italian people’s reaction to his treatment of Garibaldi.  Rattazzi was married to the French novelist, Laetitia Marie Wyse Bonaparte, who was the great niece of the Emperor Napoleon I, and they had one daughter, Romana, who was born in 1871. Read more…

Allegra Versace – heiress

‘Favourite niece’ who inherited Gianni fortune

The heiress Allegra Versace, owner of half the Versace fashion empire, was born on this day in 1986 in Milan.  The daughter of Donatella Versace, the company’s chief designer and vice-president, she was the favourite niece of Gianni Versace, who founded the fashion house in 1978.  When Gianni was shot dead outside his mansion in Miami in July 1997, Allegra was just 11 years old but could look forward to becoming immensely rich after it was announced that her uncle had willed his share of the business, amounting to 50 per cent, to her when she reached her 18th birthday.  By the most recent valuation of the Versace group, this means Allegra has a personal fortune worth $800 million. The remainder of the empire is owned by her mother, who has 20 per cent, and Gianni’s older brother, Santo Versace, who has 30 per cent.  Read more…

_______________________________________

First Martyrs' Day

Nero blamed Christians for his own crimes

Christians martyred in Rome during the reign of Nero in AD 64 are remembered every year on this day in Italy.  The Catholic Church celebrates the lives of the many men and women put to death by Nero, who are now known as i Primi Martiri, first martyrs of the Church of Rome, with a feast day every year on 30 June.  In the summer of AD 64, Rome was devastated by fire. The unpopular emperor Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace, was suspected of setting fire to the city himself but he accused the early Christians then living in Rome and had them executed.  Some were fed to wild animals, some crucified, while others were burnt to death to illuminate the sky and provide evening entertainment.  The feast of the First Martyrs came into the Church calendar in 1969 as a general celebration day for the early Roman martyrs. Read more…

_______________________________________

Book of the Day: Comedy Italian Style: The Golden Age of Italian Film Comedies, by Rémi Fournier Lanzoni 

This book explores the work of Dino Risi with The Easy Life (1962), The Monsters (1963), The New Monsters (1977), and Scent of a Woman (1974), Mario Monicelli with Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958), The Great War (1959), and Amici miei (1975), also Pietro Germi with Divorce Italian Style (1961), as well as filmmakers as disparate as Federico Fellini with Amarcord (1973), Ettore Scola with Down and Dirty (1976), Lina Wertmüller with Swept Away (1974), Luigi Comencini with The Scientific Card Player (1972) and many others. In addition, Comedy Italian Style: The Golden Age of Italian Film Comedies explains how the genre was able to reveal during two decades (1960s and 1970s) many acting talents and confirmed the future legacy of picturesque icons such as Alberto Sordi, Nino Manfredi, Vittorio Gassman, Stefania Sandrelli, Claudia Cardinale, Monica Vitti, Giancarlo Giannini and Ugo Tognazzi, all of whom depicted the Italian resilience in the utmost idiosyncratic manner.

Rémi Lanzoni, who earned a PhD in Italian from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is also the author of French Cinema: From its Beginnings to Present (2003). 

Buy from Amazon

Home

29 June

Masaniello - insurgent

Fisherman who led Naples revolt 

The 17th century insurgent known as Masaniello was born on June 29, 1620 in Naples.  A humble fishmonger’s son, Masaniello was the unlikely leader of a revolt against the Spanish rulers of his home city in 1647, which was successful in that it led to the formation of a Neapolitan Republic, even though Spain regained control within less than a year.  The uprising, which followed years of oppression and discontent among the 300,000 inhabitants of Naples, was sparked by the imposition of taxes on fruit and other basic provisions. Masaniello - real name Tommaso Aniello - was a charismatic character, well known among the traders of Piazza Mercato, the expansive square that had been a centre of commerce in the city since the 14th century.  Born in a house in Vico Rotto al Mercato, situated close to the city’s main port, he followed his father into fish trading. Read more…

_______________________________________

Elizabeth Barrett Browning dies in Florence

Romantic poet produced some of her best work after fleeing to Italy

English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning died on June 29, 1861 in Florence.  She had spent 15 years living in Italy with her husband, the poet Robert Browning, after being disinherited by her father who disapproved of their marriage.  The Brownings’ home in Florence, Casa Guidi, is now a memorial to the two poets.  Their only child, Robert Weidemann Barrett Browning, who became known as Pen, was born there in 1849.  Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era and was popular in both Britain and the United States during her lifetime.  From about the age of 15 she had suffered health problems and therefore lived a quiet life in her father’s house, concentrating on her writing.  A volume of her poems, published in 1844, inspired another writer, Robert Browning, to send her a letter praising her work.  Read more…

________________________________________

Oriana Fallaci - journalist

Writer known for exhaustively probing interviews

Oriana Fallaci, who was at different times in her career one of Italy’s most respected journalists and also one of the most controversial, was born in Florence on June 29, 1929.  As a foreign correspondent, often reporting from the world’s most hazardous regions in times of war and revolution, Fallaci interviewed most of the key figures on both sides of conflicts.  Many of these were assembled in her book Interview with History, in which she published accounts of lengthy conversations, often lasting six or seven hours, with such personalities as Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, Yasser Arafat, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Willy Brandt, Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Henry Kissinger and the presidents of both South and North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  Others she interviewed included Deng Xiaoping, Lech Wałęsa, Muammar Gaddafi and the Ayatollah Khomeini.  Read more… 

Giorgio Napolitano – 11th President of Italy

Neapolitan was concerned about the development of southern Italy

Giorgio Napolitano, who served as the 11th President of the Republic of Italy, was born on June 29, 1925 in Naples. He was the longest serving president in the history of the republic and the only Italian president to have been re-elected.  He graduated in law from Naples University in 1947, having joined a group of young anti-fascists while he was an undergraduate.  At the age of 20, Napolitano joined the Italian Communist Party. He was a militant and then became one of the leaders, staying with the party until 1991 when it was dissolved. He then joined the Democratic Party of the Left.  Napolitano was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in 1953 and continued to be re-elected by the Naples constituency until 1996.  His parliamentary activity focused on the issue of southern Italy’s development and on national economic policy.  Read more…

_______________________________________

Federico Peliti - catering entrepreneur and photographer

Italian became important figure in British Colonial India

Federico Peliti, whose skills as a chef and pastry-maker led him to spend a large part of his life in India under British colonial rule, was born on June 29, 1844 in Carignano, a town in Piedmont about 20km (12 miles) south of Turin.  He was also an accomplished photographer and collections of his work made an important contribution to the documentary history of the early years of British rule in India.  The restaurant Peliti opened in Shimla, the so-called summer capital of the British Empire in India, became a favourite with colonial high society and was mentioned in the writings of Rudyard Kipling and others.  Peliti’s family hailed from Valganna, near Varese in Lombardy. They had mainly been surveyors and Peliti initially studied sculpture in Turin before being diverted by the Third Italian War of Independence, in which he participated as a cavalryman. Read more…

______________________________________

Book of the Day: Masaniello: The Life and Afterlife of a Neapolitan Revolutionary, by Silvana D’Alessio

This is a translation and new edition of Masaniello. La sua vita e il mito in Europa (Rome, 2007), the first historical biography of the leader of the revolt that broke out in Naples in 1647–48. Initially, its main objectives were the cancellation of the many taxes introduced in previous decades and a political reform that would allow the people to have their voice in the civic parliament. Thanks to Masaniello, the Neapolitans were able to compel the Spanish viceroy to sign new ‘capitoli’ (popular desiderata) but soon after, Masaniello was isolated by his main counselor, Giulio Genoino, and others, and ultimately abandoned to a tragic fate. From the moment of his death, a fascinating new life began in which Masaniello was exalted and condemned in many texts (historical volumes, plays, and even a dialogue with Wilhelm Tell) until, by the Risorgimento, he was remembered as an Italian hero.

Silvana D’Alessio teaches Early Modern History at the University of Salerno, having trained at the University Federico II in Naples, with periods in England and Germany. Besides the Masaniello revolt of 1647, she has worked on the devastating 1656 bubonic plague outbreak in Naples, focusing on physicians and their world.

Buy from Amazon

Home

28 June

NEW - Domenico Fontana – architect

Swiss designer who built Royal Palace in Naples

Domenico Fontana, an architect working during the late Renaissance, died on this day in 1607 in Naples. Although he had a long career working for the papacy in Rome, Fontana was employed by the Spanish Viceroy of Naples toward the end of his life and he built the Royal Palace in Naples. His work in Naples led to the rediscovery of Pompei, when a crew working for him building canals became the first to confirm the location of the ancient city. Fontana was born in Melide, a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. He went to Rome in 1563 to join his older brother and began a career as a plasterer, moving on to become a mason and master builder, showing particular expertise with measuring and good technical skills. After moving to Rome, just before Michelangelo's death, Fontana was able to study the works of both ancient and modern masters of design.  Read more…

______________________________________

Pietro Mennea – Olympic sprint champion

200m specialist won gold at Moscow in 1980

Pietro Mennea, one of only two Italian sprinters to win an Olympic gold, was born on June 28, 1952 in the coastal city of Barletta in Apulia.  Mennea won the 200m final at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, depriving Britain's Allan Wells of a sprint double. In doing so, Mennea emulated his compatriot, Livio Berruti, 20 years earlier in Rome.  He held the world record at 200m for almost 17 years, from 1979 until 1996.  His time of 19.72 seconds remains the European record.  It would stand as the world record for 16 years, nine months and 11 days, until Michael Johnson ran 19.66 at the US Olympic trials in 1996.  As well as winning his gold medal, outrunning Britain’s Allan Wells in the last 50m, Mennea’s other great Olympic feat was to reach the 200m final at four consecutive Games, the first track athlete to do so at any distance. Read more… 

________________________________________

Walter Audisio - partisan and politician

Claimed to be the man who killed Mussolini

The partisan and later politician Walter Audisio, whose claim to be the man who executed Italy’s Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in April 1945 is generally accepted as likely to be true, was born on June 28, 1909 in Alessandria in Piedmont.  Mussolini was captured in the town of Dongo on the shore of Lake Como as he tried to flee from Italy to Switzerland, having accepted that the Axis powers were facing near-certain defeat to the Allies as the Second World War moved into its final phase.  He was taken along with his entourage to the village of Giulino di Mezzegra, 20km (12 miles) south of Dongo along the lakeside road, and after spending the night under guard in a remote farmhouse was taken back into the village, where he and his mistress, Claretta Petacci, were shot dead by a partisan who went under the nom de guerre of "Colonnello Valerio". Read more…

Lorenzo Amoruso - footballer

Defender was most successful Italian in British football

Lorenzo Amoruso, a defender who played for teams in Italy, San Marino, England and Scotland during a career spanning almost two decades, was born on June 28, 1971 in Bari.  Formerly the captain of Fiorentina, Amoruso signed for Glasgow Rangers for £4 million in 1997 and remained at the Scottish club for six seasons, during which time he won nine major trophies, which makes him the most successful Italian player in British football.  The first Catholic player to captain Rangers - traditionally the club supported by Glasgow’s Protestant community - Amoruso won the Scottish Premier League title three times, the Scottish Cup three times and the Scottish League Cup three times.  His total of winners’ medals dwarfs those of much higher profile Italian stars in England, including the illustrious Chelsea trio of Gianfranco Zola, Gianluca Vialli and Roberto di Matteo. Read more… 

_________________________________________

Giovanni della Casa - advocate of good manners

Bishop and poet remembered for his manual on etiquette

Giovanni della Casa, the Tuscan bishop whose witty book on behaviour in polite society became a handbook for generations long after he had passed away, was born on June 28, 1503 in Borgo San Lorenzo, 30km (19 miles) north-east of Florence.  Born into a wealthy family, Della Casa was educated in Bologna and followed his friend, the scholar and poet Pietro Bembo, into the church.  He became Archbishop of Benevento in 1544 and was nominated by Pope Paul III as Papal nuncio to Venice. Disappointed at not having been elevated to Cardinal, however, he retired to a life of writing and reading.  At some point between 1551 and 1555, living at an abbey near Treviso, he wrote Galateo: The Rules of Polite Behaviour, a witty treatise on good manners intended for the amusement of a favourite nephew.  Read more… 

__________________________________________

Book of the Day: Naples (On the Road Architectural Guides), edited by Andrea Nastri

A contemporary guide to the architecture of Naples, the purpose of which is to tell about the city through its architectural works. The book's jacket opens out into a map, marking the locations of the architectural works and interesting sites to visit. Includes general information about Naples, and useful tips for travellers. Each entry includes a photo of the whole building, architectural drawings, a short description, and facts including architect, year of construction, address, website, and how to visit. The influence of Anjou and Aragon, and the traces left by Bourbon, Hapsburg and Napoleonic domination have made Naples a treasure-trove of different styles and periods, rich in original imperfections and extravagance that deserve to be discovered and enjoyed. This guide is aimed at illustrating the structure and unusual aspects of a city in constant artistic ferment, where architecture ranges from ancient aristocratic palaces to the modern futuristic skyscrapers of the business district, the Art Stations of the Naples Metro, the small Art Nouveau houses in the poorer areas in the historic centre; architecture that exists layer upon layer, spreading outwards to the city boundaries. The twenty-year period of Fascism was crucial for Neapolitan architecture: the city was the object of widespread land drainage and reclamation work, resulting in the conclusive isolation of the Angevin Keep, the creation of the new Corsea in the area of the new foundations for the San Giuseppe-Carità district, as well as a large number of building projects in the city centre.

Andrea Nastri is an architect from Capri and a writer about architecture, urban planning, and design. 

Buy from Amazon

Home

Domenico Fontana – architect

Swiss designer who built the Royal Palace in Naples

The Royal Palace in Piazza del Plebiscito was
designed by Fontana in his role as Royal Engineer

Domenico Fontana, an architect working during the late Renaissance, died on this day in 1607 in Naples. Although he had a long career working for the papacy in Rome, Fontana was employed by the Spanish Viceroy of Naples toward the end of his life and he built the Royal Palace in Naples.

His work in Naples led to the rediscovery of Pompeii, when a crew working for him building canals became the first to confirm the location of the ancient city.

Fontana was born in Melide, a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

He went to Rome in 1563 to join his older brother and began a career as a plasterer, moving on to become a mason and master builder, showing particular expertise with measuring and good technical skills. After moving to Rome, just before Michelangelo's death, Fontana was able to study the works of both ancient and modern masters of design.

Fontana’s first architectural project was to design a villa for Cardinal Montalto, who later became Pope Sixtus V. He was then commissioned to design a Cappella del Presepio, a chapel of the crib, for the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. This was a powerful domed building over a Greek cross.

He then constructed the Palazzo Montalto near Santa Maria Maggiore and later, when Cardinal Montalto became Pope, he was appointed as the official papal architect.

Domenico Fontana was born in
the Swiss canton of Ticino 

Fontana designed the Vatican Library, made alterations to Basilica San Giovanni in Laterano and rebuilt the Lateran Palace, on the site of the former medieval palace. 

He also worked with Giacomo della Porta on the completion of St Peter’s dome, with them both referring to Michelangelo’s model that the great architect had left behind him. 

His most famous undertaking was the removal of the 320-ton Egyptian obelisk, which had been brought to Rome in the first century. He moved it from its location near the Vatican and re-erected it in St Peter’s Square in front of the basilica in 1586. This was said to have taken the concerted effort of 800 men, 160 horses, and countless pulleys and metres of rope, and was a feat of engineering that astonished his contemporaries.

It also demonstrated his mastery of statics, the branch of classical mechanics that is concerned with the analysis of force and torque (the rotational equivalent of linear force), acting on a physical system that does not experience an acceleration, but rather is in equilibrium with its environment. . 

But, after later being accused of misappropriating public money, Fontana was dismissed from his post in 1592 by Pope Clement VIII, who was the fourth pope to come after the death of Pope Sixtus V in 1590. 

Fontana went to live in Naples where he became Royal Engineer at the court of the Spanish Viceroy and he was responsible for building the Royal Palace in Piazza del Plebiscito, which commenced in 1600.

Later, during work he was overseeing to construct a canal linking the River Sarno with some mills in Torre Annunziata, his workmen were the first to find some remains of Pompeii. At the time, the importance of this discovery was not fully understood and the ancient city of Pompeii in Campania was not rediscovered until 150 years later.

Domenico Fontana was the first Ticinese architect to gain major recognition in Roman architecture, establishing a lineage of Ticinese builders who dominated the Roman scene for nearly two centuries afterwards and contributed significantly to the construction of baroque Rome alongside architects such as Carlo Maderno and Francesco Borromini.

Fontana's legacy is marked by his architectural innovation and his pivotal role in shaping Renaissance and Baroque Rome and Naples. 

Michelangelo's Dome of St Peter's is one of the
most familiar landmarks on the Rome skyline

Travel tip:

Michelangelo's dome, which Domenico Fontana helped to complete, is one of the dominant features of the Rome skyline.  Situated next to the Tiber, St Peter's is the largest Christian church in the world, covering 5.7 acres with a capacity to accommodate 60,000 people, with room for a further 400,000 in the square outside.  The dome itself rises to a height of 136.57 metres (448.1 feet) from the floor of the basilica to the top of the external cross. The Egyptian obelisk in the square, which Fontana erected, rises to 40m (132 ft), and was placed at or near the spot where St Peter was believed to have been crucified by the Romans in 64 AD. The construction of St Peter’s Basilica took 120 years, from the laying of the foundation stone in April 1506 under Pope Julius II to its formal dedication in November 1626 by Pope Urban VIII. The project spanned the reigns of 21 popes and  was led by eight different chief architects. In addition to Michelangelo, other key figures in shaping the design included Donato Bramante, who created the initial layout, Carlo Maderno, who completed the main façade, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who left a considerable imprint on both the vast interior and St Peter’s Square.

Hotels in Naples from Expedia

The Throne Room inside the Royal Palace, in
which 30 rooms are open to the public

Travel tip:

The Royal Palace (Palazzo Reale) in Naples, which was designed by Domenico Fontana near the end of his life, was once one of the magnificent residences of the Kings of Naples. The palace is at the eastern end of Piazza del Plebiscito and dates back to 1600, when building commenced using Domenico Fontana’s design. It now houses a 30-room museum and has the largest library in southern Italy, which are both open to the public to look round.  The palace was originally commissioned to host King Philip III of Spain. Though the monarch never actually visited, the building became the seat of Spanish, Austrian, and eventually Bourbon power in the region. From 1734, King Charles of Bourbon and his successors expanded the palace, transforming its interior into a showcase of Baroque and Neoclassical opulence. During the Napoleonic era, rulers such as Joachim Murat further embellished the estate with refined Neoclassical decor. After Italian Unification in 1861, the House of Savoy took ownership, eventually opening the palace to the public in 1919.

Find accommodation in Naples with Hotels.com

More reading: 

Giovanni Antonio Medrano, the Sicilian who designed Teatro di San Carlo

Luigi Vanvitelli, Neapolitan genius behind Royal Palace at Caserta

Why the Bourbons executed Joachim Murat, the flamboyant Neapolitan King of Naples

Also on this day:

1503: The birth of Giovanni della Casa, author of manual on etiquette

1909: The birth of politician and partisan Walter Audisio

1952: The birth of athlete Pietro Mennea

1971: The birth of footballer Lorenzo Amoruso 

Home

27 June

Giorgio Vasari - the first art historian

Artist and architect who chronicled lives of Old Masters

Giorgio Vasari, whose 16th century book on the lives of Renaissance artists led to him being described as the world's first art historian, died on June 27, 1574 in Florence.  Born in Arezzo in 1511, Vasari was a brilliant artist and architect who worked for the Medici family in Florence and Rome and amassed a considerable fortune in his career.  But he is remembered as much for Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, from Cimabue to Our Times, a collection of biographies of all the great artists of his lifetime.  The six-part work is remembered as the first important book on art history.  Had it not been written, much less would be known of the lives of Cimabue, Giotto, Donatello, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Giorgione, Raphael, Boccaccio and Michelangelo among many others from the generation known as the Old Masters.  Read more…

____________________________________

Gianluigi Aponte - shipping magnate

Billionaire started with one cargo vessel

Gianluigi Aponte, the billionaire founder of the Mediterranean Shipping Company, which owns the second largest container fleet in the world and a string of luxury cruise liners, was born on June 27, 1940 in Sant’Agnello, the seaside resort that neighbours Sorrento in Campania.  He and his wife, Rafaela, a partner in the business, have an estimated net worth of $11.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine.  The Mediterranean Shipping Company has more than 510 container ships, making it the second largest such business in the world, behind the Danish company Maersk. MSC Cruises, meanwhile, is the fourth largest cruise company in the world. With offices in 45 countries, it employs 23,500 people, with a fleet of 17 luxury cruise liners.  The business, which Aponte began in 1970 with one cargo vessel, has more than 60,000 staff in 150 countries. Read more…

__________________________________________

The Ustica Massacre

Mystery plane crash blamed on missile strike

An Italian commercial flight crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea between Ponza and Ustica, killing everyone on board on June 27, 1980.  The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC9-15 in the service of Itavia Airlines was en route from Bologna to Palermo, flight number IH870. All 77 passengers and the four members of the crew were killed, making this the deadliest aviation incident involving a DC9-15 or 10-15 series.  The disaster became known in the Italian media as the Ustica massacre - Strage di Ustica - because Ustica, off the coast of Sicily, was a small island near the site of the crash.  After the fragments of the aircraft that were recovered from the sea were re-assembled, the Parliamentary Commission on Terrorism issued a statement in 1989 asserting that the DC9 had been shot down. Read more…

_______________________________________

Giorgio Almirante – politician

Leader who tried to make fascism more mainstream

Giorgio Almirante, founder and leader of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, was born on June 27, 1914 at Salsomaggiore Terme in Emilia-Romagna.  He led his political party for long periods from 1946 until he handed over to his protégé, Gianfranco Fini, in 1987.  Almirante trained as a schoolteacher but went to work for the Fascist journal Il Tevere in Rome.  In 1944, he was appointed Chief of Cabinet of the Minister of Culture to the Italian Social Republic, the short-lived German puppet state led by Benito Mussolini after he was thrown out of office as Italy’s prime minister.  After the Fascists were defeated, Almirante was indicted on charges that he had ordered the shooting of partisans, but these were lifted. He set up his own fascist group in 1946, which was soon absorbed into the Italian Social Movement (MSI).  Read more…

_______________________________________

Book of the Day: The Lives of the Artists, by Giorgio Vasari, translated by Julia Conaway Bondanella and Peter Bondanella

Packed with facts, attributions, and entertaining anecdotes about his contemporaries, 16th century painter and architect Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists is a collection of biographical accounts that also presents a highly influential theory of the development of Renaissance art.   Beginning with Cimabue and Giotto, who represent the infancy of art, in The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, from Cimabue to Our Times, to give the book its full, original title, Vasari considers the period of youthful vigour, shaped by Donatello, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and Masaccio, before discussing the mature period of perfection, dominated by the titanic figures of Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo.  This specially commissioned translation - by Peter Bondanella and Julia Conaway Bondanella - is an abridged version of the original six-volume work, containing 36 of the most important lives as well as an introduction and explanatory notes.

Giorgio Vasari was an Italian Renaissance painter in the Mannerist style and architect and sculptor of renown. Peter Bondanella, who died in 2017, was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Italian, Comparative Literature, and Film Studies at Indiana University, United States. Julia Conaway Bondanella is Associate Professor of Italian and Associate Director of the Honours Division at the same university.  

Buy from Amazon

Home

26 June

San Marino is bombed by British

Allies believed the Germans were using rail facilities

The British Royal Air Force bombed the tiny Republic of San Marino on June 26, 1944 as a result of receiving incorrect information.  It was recorded at the time that 63 people were killed as a result of the bombing, which was aimed at rail facilities. The British mistakenly believed that the Germans were using the San Marino rail network to transport weapons.  San Marino had been ruled by Fascists since the 1920s but had managed to remain neutral during the war.  After the bombing, San Marino’s government declared that no military installations or equipment were located on its territory and no belligerent forces had been allowed to enter.  However, by September of the same year San Marino was briefly occupied by German forces, but they were defeated by the Allied forces in the Battle of San Marino.  Read more…

______________________________________

Alberto Rabagliati - singer and actor

Performer found fame through radio

The jazz singer and movie actor Alberto Rabagliati, who became a star of Italian radio in the 1930s and 40s, was born on June 26, 1906 in Milan.  His movie career reached a peak in the post-War years, when he had roles in the Humphrey Bogart-Ava Gardner hit Barefoot Contessa and in The Monte Carlo Story, starring Marlene Dietrich.  The son of parents who had moved to Milan from a village in Piedmont, Rabagliati’s career began when he won a competition in 1927 to find a Rudolph Valentino lookalike.  The prize was to be taken to Hollywood to audition, so his life changed overnight.  Later he recalled: "For someone like me, who had never been beyond Lake Como or Monza Cathedral, finding myself on board a luxury steamer with three cases full of clothes, a few rolls of dollars, grand-duchesses and countesses flirting with me was something extraordinary".  Read more…

Claudio Abbado – conductor

The distinguished career of a multi award-winning musician

The internationally acclaimed orchestra conductor Claudio Abbado was born on June 26, 1933 in Milan.  Abbado was musical director at La Scala opera house from 1972 to 1980 and remained affiliated to the theatre until 1986. He was the principal conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra and was appointed director of the Vienna State Opera and the Berlin Philharmonic.  Born into a musical family, Abbado studied the piano with his father, Michelangelo,from being eight years old. His father was a professional violinist and a professor at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory. His mother, Maria Carmela Savagnone, was a pianist and his brother, Marcello, became a concert pianist, composer, and teacher.  After the Nazis jailed his mother for harbouring a Jewish child, Abbado grew up anti-fascist. Read more… 

_____________________________________

Paolo Maldini - football great

Milan defender's record-breaking career spanned 25 years

Paolo Maldini, the AC Milan defender who won the European Cup and Champions League more times than any other player in the modern era, was born on June 26, 1968 in Milan.  A Milan player for the whole of his 25-year professional career - plus six years as a youth player before that - Maldini won Europe's biggest club prize five times. Only Francisco Gento, a member of the all-conquering Real Madrid side of the 1950s and 60s, has more winner's medals.  Maldini also won seven Serie A championships plus one Coppa Italia and five Supercoppa Italiana titles in domestic competition, as well as five European Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and a World Club Cup.  Only in international football did trophies elude him, although he played in the finals of both the World Cup, in 1994, and the European Championships, in 2000. Read more… 

_____________________________________

Book of the Day: The Day Of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy 1943-44, by Rick Atkinson

In An Army at Dawn - winner of the Pulitzer Prize - Rick Atkinson provided a dramatic and authoritative history of the Allied triumph in North Africa. Now, in The Day of the Battle, he follows the strengthening American and British armies as they invade Sicily in July 1943 and then, mile by bloody mile, fight their way north.  The Italian campaign's outcome was never certain; in fact, Roosevelt, Churchill and their military advisors engaged in heated debate about whether an invasion of the so-called soft underbelly of Europe was even a good idea. But once under way, the commitment to liberate Italy from the Nazis never wavered, despite the agonizingly high price. The battles at Salerno, Anzio, and Monte Cassino were particularly difficult and lethal, yet as the months passed, the Allied forces continued to push the Germans up the Italian peninsula. And with the liberation of Rome in June 1944, ultimate victory at last began to seem inevitable.  Drawing on an astonishing array of primary source material, written with great drama and flair, this is narrative history of the first rank.

Rick Atkinson is the bestselling author of eight works of narrative military history, including The Fate of the Day, The Guns at Last Light, The Day of Battle, An Army at Dawn, The Long Gray Line, In the Company of Soldiers, and Crusade. He was a reporter, foreign correspondent, war correspondent, and senior editor at The Washington Post for more than 20 years. His many awards include Pulitzer Prizes for history and journalism,

Buy from Amazon

Home

25 June

Marta Abba - actress

Aspiring star who became Pirandello’s muse

Marta Abba, who as a young actress became the stimulus for the creativity of the great playwright Luigi Pirandello, was born on June 25, 1900 in Milan.  The two met in 1925 when Pirandello, whose most famous works included the plays Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921) and Henry IV (1922), asked her to see him, having read an enthusiastic appreciation of her acting talents by Marco Praga, a prominent theatre critic of the day.  Abba had made her stage debut in Milan in 1922 in Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull and was noted for the exuberance and passion of her performances. Pirandello was impressed with her and immediately hired her as first actress for his Teatro d’Arte company in Rome.  Over the next nine years until Pirandello’s death in 1936, Abba would become not only his inspiration but his confidante. Read more…

_____________________________________

Luigi Capello – World War I Army Commander

Popular General experienced both glory and shame

General Luigi Capello, who was held in high regard by the Allies during World War I, but was disgraced when his troops suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Caporetto, died on June 15, 1941 in Rome.  His reputation was ruined when he was removed from his command after a disastrous defeat by the Austrian army, which resulted in 13,000 Italians killed and up to 300,000 wounded or captured, and he never resumed his military career.  Capello went on to join the Fascists and took part in the March on Rome in 1922. His fall from grace was complete after he was accused of taking part in a failed conspiracy against Mussolini. Stripped of his military honours, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, although he was released after serving 11.  Born in Intra on the shores of Lake Maggiore in 1859, Capello became a second lieutenant in the Italian Army in 1878. Read more… 

______________________________________

Aldo Serena - footballer

Azzurri striker left field in tears after penalty miss

Aldo Serena, one of the two Italian players who most felt the agony of defeat after the Azzurri suffered the pain of losing at the semi-final stage when the football World Cup last took place on home soil, was born on June 25, 1960 in Montebelluna, in the Veneto.  The match that ended the host nation's participation in the Italia '90 tournament took place in Naples against an Argentina side that included the local hero, Diego Maradona. It was decided on penalties after finishing 1-1 over 120 minutes. Italy converted their opening three penalties, as did Argentina.  Then Roberto Donadoni’s shot was saved by the Argentina goalkeeper, Sergio Goycochea.  Up stepped Maradona, who scored, to the delight of many in the crowd who had divided loyalties.  Suddenly, everything was down to Aldo Serena.  Read more… 

Elena Cornaro Piscopia – philosopher

First woman to graduate from a university

Elena Cornaro Piscopia became the first woman to receive an academic degree from a university on June 25, 1678, it is believed, in Padua.  She was awarded her degree in philosophy at a special ceremony in the Duomo in Padua in the presence of dignitaries from the University of Padua and guests from other Italian universities.  Piscopia was born in a palazzo in Venice in 1646. Her father had an important post at St Mark’s and he was entitled to accommodation in St Mark’s Square.  She was taught Latin and Greek when she was a young child and was proficient in both languages by the time she was seven. She then went on to master other languages as well as mathematics, philosophy and theology.  Her tutor wanted her to study for a degree in theology at Padua University but the Bishop of Padua refused to allow it because she was female. Read more…

_______________________________________

Francesco Domenico Araja - composer

Brilliant musician introduced Italian opera to Russia

Francesco Araja was the first in a long line of Italian composers to work for the Imperial Court in St Petersburg in Russia. Born on June 25, 1709 in Naples, then in the Kingdom of Sicily, Araja received a musical education in his native city and was composing operas by the age of 20.  He made history as the composer of the first Italian opera to be performed in Russia and as the composer of the first opera with a Russian text.  It is thought that Araja was probably taught music by his father Angelo Araja and his grandfather Pietro Aniello Araja, who were both musicians. He was appointed maestro di cappella at the church of Santa Maria La Nova in Naples at the age of just 14.  Araja’s early operas were staged in Naples, Florence, Rome, Milan and Venice. His opera Berenice was performed in Florence in 1730. Read more…

____________________________________

Book of the Day: Pirandello in Context, edited by Patricia Gaborik

For students of Luigi Pirandello's life and works, this volume provides a multi-faceted view spanning the many genres in which he wrote, from poetry and essays to fiction and drama. Pirandello in Context gives a true sense of Pirandello's remarkable sensitivity to place – from his native Sicily to Germany and Latin America – and of how his perspective was shaped by a wide range of interlocutors with varying professional backgrounds, from contemporary philosophers to fellow playwrights such as Bernard Shaw, directors such as Max Reinhardt and the actress Marta Abba. Diverse contributors explore the sheer genre-bending originality of Pirandello's humour, metatheatre, and fantastic tales, and reveal how profound shifts in society, culture, and politics in his time – Freud, Futurism, Fascism – conditioned not just his thought but also his meteoric rise to fame. A final section is dedicated to Pirandello's legacy in literature and drama throughout the 20th century and into the 21st.

Patricia Gaborik is a theatre historian and playwright based in Rome, Italy. She has published several essays on 19th and 20th-century Italian performance. She is the translator of Massimo Bontempelli's Watching the Moon and Other Plays (Italica, 2013) and of Gabriele Pedulla's In Broad Daylight: Movies and Spectators After the Cinema (Verso, 2012).

Buy from Amazon

Home