10 February 2025

10 February

Ernesto Teodoro Moneta – Nobel Prize winner

Supporter of Garibaldi was also an ‘apostle for peace’

Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, who was at times both a soldier and a pacifist, died on this day in 1918.  Moneta was only 15 when he was involved in the Five Days of Milan uprising against the Austrians in 1848, but in later life he became a peace activist.  He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1907, but publicly supported Italy’s entry into the First World War in 1915. On the Nobel Prize official website he is described as ‘a militant pacifist’.  Moneta was born in 1833 to aristocratic parents in Milan. He fought next to his father to defend his family home during the revolt against the Austrians and then went on to attend the military academy in Ivrea.  In 1859 Moneta joined Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand and fought in the Italian army against the Austrians in 1866.  He then seemed to become disillusioned with the struggle for Italian unification and cut short what had been a promising military career.  For nearly 30 years Moneta was editor of the Milan democratic newspaper, Il Secolo. Through the columns of his newspaper he campaigned vigorously for reforms to the army which would strengthen it and reduce waste and inefficiency.  Read more…

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Francesco Hayez - painter

Artist who pushed boundaries of sensuality

The painter Francesco Hayez, regarded as the father of the Milanese Romanticism movement in the mid-19th century and an artist renowned for his depictions of historical events and for his political allegories, was born on this day in 1791 in Venice.  His father, a fisherman, was French in origin and married a girl from Murano called Chiara Torcello, although they were a relatively poor family and Francesco was largely brought up by his wife’s sister, who had the good fortune to marry Giovanni Binasco, a wealthy ship-owner who dealt in antiques and collected art.  It was Binasco who fostered in Hayez his love of painting and after initially beginning an apprenticeship as an art restorer became a pupil in the studio of the Venetian painter Francesco Maggiotto. He was admitted to the New Academy of Fine Arts in Venice in 1806.  Hayez moved to Rome in 1809 after winning a one-year scholarship at the Accademia di San Luca.  In the event, he stayed in Rome until 1814, then moved to Naples where he was commissioned by Joachim Murat, the  French military commander and statesman who was King of Naples under Napoleonic rule, to paint a major work.  Read more…

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Andrea Silenzi - footballer

Forward was the first Italian to play in the English Premier League

The footballer Andrea Silenzi, who made history in 1995 when he became the first Italian to be signed by a Premier League club, was born on this day in 1966 in Rome.  A 6ft 3ins centre forward, Silenzi had enjoyed Serie A success with Torino in particular, his form persuading Nottingham Forest to offer £1.8 million - the equivalent of about £3.5 million (€4 million) today - to bring him to England.  When Forest manager Frank Clark proudly announced his new man before the 1995-96 season, it was seen as an important moment for the fledgling Premier League, then only three seasons old.  The Italian League at the time was the most glamorous in Europe, wealthy enough to hire stars from all around the world, including many British players; it was rare for Italian players to move abroad. Yet Silenzi, a teammate of Diego Maradona during a two-year stay with Napoli who had won a call-up to the Italian national team after his 17 goals for Torino in the 1993-94 season, had agreed to come to England.  Forest gave Silenzi a contract worth £360,000 a year, a considerable sum at that time.  Read more…

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Luca della Robbia - sculptor

Renaissance ‘genius’ famed for glazed terracotta

Luca della Robbia, whose work saw him spoken of in the same breath as Donatello and Lorenzo Ghiberti among the great sculptors of the Renaissance, died on this day in 1482 in Florence.  Della Robbia worked in marble and bronze initially but enjoyed considerable success after inventing a process for making statuary and reliefs in terracotta decorated with a colourful mineral glaze.  Thought to be around 82 or 83 years old, he had shared the full details of the process only with his family. On his death, his nephew Andrea della Robbia inherited his workshop and other members of the family, notably his great-nephews Giovanni della Robbia and Girolamo della Robbia, continued to employ his methods with success into the 16th century.  Terracotta literally means cooked earth and Della Robbia’s technique involved the application of colourful glazes made using lead, tin and other minerals to the fired clay.  Sculpting in terracotta was not new, having been invented in the ancient world, but Della Robbia’s idea to coat the terracotta with a glaze that fused with the clay below gave the surface a brightness and shine and made the sculpture particularly durable.  Read more…

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Roberto Bompiani – artist

Prolific painter recreated scenes from ancient Rome

Artist Roberto Bompiani, who became well known for his paintings depicting Rome in ancient times, was born on this day in 1821 in Rome. He became a successful landscape and portrait painter and later in his career he also worked as a sculptor.  His portrait of Queen Margherita of Italy, which was painted in 1878, still hangs in the Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome.  From a wealthy family, Bompiani was able to dedicate himself entirely to the study of art and enrolled at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome when he was 15. He was awarded a share of a first prize in design along with a fellow student in 1836, not long after joining the Academy. Within three years he was regularly winning prizes for sculpture and painting.  As a painter, Bompiani depicted historical, mythological, and religious subjects in an idealised style making his figures physically perfect and giving them noble, spiritual expressions. His paintings of scenes from ancient Rome earned him the nickname of ‘The Italian Bouguereau’, referring to a French painter who made modern interpretations of classical subjects and was working at the same time as Bompiani.   Read more…

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ENI – oil and gas multinational

Italian energy company emerged after WW2

The Rome-based multinational oil and gas company ENI, one of the world’s largest industrial concerns, was founded on this day in 1953.  The company, which operates in 79 countries, is valued at $52.2 billion (€47.6 billion) and employs almost 34,000 people.  It is the 11th largest oil company in the world.  Its operations include exploration for and production of oil and natural gas, the processing, transportation and refining of crude oil, the transportation of natural gas, the storage and distribution of petroleum products and the production of base chemicals and plastics.  A wholly state-owned company until 1995, ENI is still to a large extent in the control of the Italian government, which owns just over 30 per cent of the company as a golden share, which includes preferential voting rights, almost four per cent through the state treasury, and a further 26 per cent through the Italian investment bank, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.  ENI came into being as Italy was rebuilding after the Second World War, which had left its economy in ruins. Enrico Mattei, an industrialist and a Christian Democrat deputy, was assigned the task of winding down the existing state-owned oil company Agip, which was seen as unsustainable.  Read more…

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Raffaele Lauro – author and politician

Sorrentine's talents include writing, film directing and song

Italian Senator and journalist Raffaele Lauro was born on this day in 1944 in the resort of Sorrento in Campania.  A prolific writer, Lauro has also been an important political figure for more than 30 years.  He was born in Sorrento and as a young man worked as a receptionist at a number of hotels along the Sorrento peninsula.  After finishing school he went to the University of Naples where he was awarded degrees in Political Science, Law and Economics.  Lauro then won a scholarship from Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and studied first at their diplomatic institute and later in Paris.  He later studied for a degree in journalism in Rome and became director of a scientific magazine, moving from there to become a commentator on new technology for Il Tempo in Rome and Il Mattino in Naples. He also studied film directing while living in Rome and taught Law of Mass Communications at Rome University.  His political career began when he was elected as a Councillor for Sorrento in 1980. He went on to become Deputy Mayor and Councillor for finance, personnel and culture, in which role he opened the Public Library of Sorrento.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Nobel Prize: The First 100 Years, edited by Agneta Wallin Levinovitz and Nils Ringertz

The Nobel Prize, as founded in Alfred Nobel's will, was the first truly international prize. There is no other award with the same global scope and mission. The Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences (from 1969) have not only captured the most significant contributions to the progress of mankind, they also constitute distinct markers of the major trends in their respective areas. The main reason for the prestige of the Prize today is, however, the lasting importance of the names on the list of Laureates and their contributions to human development. In celebration of the centennial of the Nobel Prize in 2001, this book offers a clear perspective on the development of human civilization over the past hundred years. The Nobel Prize: The First 100 Years serves to present the major trends and developments and also provide information about the life and philosophy of Alfred Nobel, the history of the Nobel Foundation, and the procedure for nominating and selecting Nobel Laureates.

Agneta Wallin Levinovitz is research and administrative coordinator at the Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet in Solna, Sweden. The late Nils Ringertz was a professor in medical cell genetics at the same university and initiated the Nobel Foundation’s on-line museum, the Nobel e-Museum.

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9 February 2025

9 February

NEW
- Procopio Cutò - chef and entrepreneur

Sicilian who popularised coffee and gelato in 17th century Paris

The chef and café proprietor Procopio Cutò, who opened one of the earliest coffee houses in Paris and has been credited with introducing Italian ice cream to the French capital, was born in Sicily on this day in 1651. Cutò, whose full name was Francesco Procopio Cutò and at times called himself Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, or François Procope, was the owner and founder of the Café Procope, which thanks to its illustrious clientele can claim to have been the first literary coffee house in Paris.  The café opened for business in 1686 and traded continuously for around 200 years before closing in the late 19th century.  The name was revived in the 1950s and the original premises in Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie - in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter on the left bank of the Seine - is again called Café Procope, although it is now a restaurant rather than a coffee house.  It was thought for many years that Cutò was born in Aci Trezza, a town on Sicily’s eastern coast, a little over 10km (six miles) north of Catania, the island’s second largest city. However, the discovery of baptismal certificate in the archives of the Church of Sant'Ippolito in the Capo district of Palermo suggests he was born in the capital.  Read more…

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Ezechiele Ramin – missionary

Priest from Padua who was murdered in Brazil

Ezechiele Ramin, a Comboni missionary who was shot to death by hired killers after standing up for the rights of peasant farmers and traditional tribesmen in a remote rural area in Brazil, was born on this day in 1953 in Padua.  Ramin was only 32 when he was murdered in July 1985, having worked in the South American country for about a year and a half.  He had already completed missionary assignments in North and Central America, worked to help victims of the Irpinia earthquake in Campania and organised a demonstration against the Camorra in Naples before being posted to Brazil.  He was based in the state of Rondônia, an area in the northwest of Brazil next to the border with Bolivia, where small farmers found themselves oppressed, by legal and illegal means, by wealthy landowners, and where government measures had been introduced to curb the freedom of the indigenous Suruí tribes.  Ramin, an easy-going and popular man who amused himself by making sketches and playing the guitar, tried to solve the problems by arranging for a lawyer, paid for by the Brazilian Catholic Church through the Pastoral Land Commission, to act on behalf of the peasant farmers to see that their legal rights were properly observed.  Read more…

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Ferdinando Carulli - classical guitarist and composer

Neapolitan wrote first guide to playing the instrument

The composer Ferdinando Carulli, who published the first complete method for playing the classical guitar as well as writing more than 400 works for the instrument, was born on this day in 1770 in Naples.  Carulli was also influential in changing the design of the guitar, which had a smaller body and produced a less resonant sound when he started out, to something much more like the classical guitars of today.  The son of an intellectual advisor to the Naples Jurisdiction, Carulli first trained as a cellist and received instruction in musical theory from a local priest.  He became interested in the guitar in his 20s and became so enthusiastic about the instrument he decided to devote himself to it entirely.  The guitar was little played and there were no guitar teachers in Naples in the late 18th century, so Carulli had to devise his own method of playing.  In time, he began to give concerts in Naples, playing some pieces of his own composition. These were popular, attracting large audiences who enjoyed the different sound that the guitar produced.  This encouraged Carulli to venture further afield and he engaged on a tour of Europe.  Read more…


Pietro Nenni - politician

Orphan who became influential leader of Italian Socialist Party

The politician Pietro Sandro Nenni, who was a major figure of the Italian left for five decades, was born on this day in 1891 in Faenza in Emilia-Romagna.  Nenni was general secretary of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) on three occasions and rose to high office in the Italian government, twice serving as foreign affairs minister and several times as deputy prime minister, notably under the progressive Christian Democrat Aldo Moro in the centre-left coalitions of the 1960s.  He was a recipient of the Stalin Peace Prize in 1951 but returned the $25,000 that came with the honour in protest at the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956.  Born into a peasant family, Nenni lost both his parents before he was five years old and grew up in an orphanage, having been placed there by the aristocratic landowners for whom his father had worked.  His experiences there seemed to stir in him a desire to rebel against authority.  He was only nine years old when, on learning of the assassination of King Umberto I by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci, he is said to have written ‘Viva Bresci’ on a wall in the orphanage.   Read more…

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Vito Antuofermo - world champion boxer

Farmer's son from deep south who won title in Monaco

Vito Antuofermo, who went from working in the fields as a boy to becoming a world champion in the boxing ring, was born on this day in 1953 in Palo del Colle, a small town in Puglia, about 15km (9 miles) inland from the port of Bari.  He took up boxing after his family emigrated to the United States in the mid-1960s.  After turning professional in 1971, he lost only one of his first 36 fights before becoming European light-middleweight champion in January 1976.  In his 49th fight, in June 1979, he beat Argentina's Hugo Corro in Monaco to become the undisputed world champion in the middleweight division.  Antuofermo's success in the ring, where he won 50 of his 59 fights before retiring in 1985, opened the door to a number of opportunities in film and television and he was able to settle in the upper middle-class neighbourhood of Howard Beach in New York, just along the coast from John F Kennedy Airport.  He and his wife Joan have four children - Lauren, Vito Junior, Pasquale and Anthony.  He grew up in rather less comfort. The second child of Gaetano and Lauretta Antuofermo, who were poor tenant farmers, he was working in the fields from as young as seven years old.  Read more…

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Pope Gregory XV

Legally-trained pontiff was against witchcraft and for secret ballots

Pope Gregory XV, who was christened Alessandro Ludovisi, was elected on this day in 1621.  He was the last Pope to issue a papal ordinance against witchcraft with his ‘Declaration against Magicians and Witches’, put out in March 1623.  He was already 67 years of age and in a weak state of health when he was chosen as Pope and relied heavily on his 25-year-old nephew, Ludovico Ludovisi, to assist him in his duties.  Born in Bologna in 1554, the young Alessandro Ludovisi was educated at a Jesuit college in Rome before going to Bologna University to study law.  He worked in various roles for the church until he was appointed Archbishop of Bologna in 1612, having at some stage been ordained.  In 1616 he was sent by Pope Paul V to mediate between Charles Emmanuel 1, Duke of Savoy and Philip III of Spain, who were involved in a dispute. The Pope elevated him to the rank of Cardinal in the same year.  He went to Rome after the death of Pope Paul V to take part in the conclave. He was chosen as Pope on February 9, 1621, the last Pope to be elected by acclamation.  His nephew, Ludovico, was made a cardinal.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Damn Coffee! History Made in the Coffeehouse,  by Alp Somyurek

In the wake of losing St Domingue to slave rebels, Napoleon's frustrated exclamation, "Damn Sugar. Damn Coffee. Damn Colonies," epitomised his bitter defeat. This pivotal moment led to the audacious sale of Louisiana to the young United States, altering the course of history.  Centuries before, when Shems and Hakem, two immigrants from Syria, opened their coffee house in the bustling Taht'ül Kale district of Constantinople in 1554, little did they anticipate the far-reaching consequences that would unfold in the centuries to come. Their humble establishment would serve as the spark that ignited transformative events and gave rise to renowned institutions within Western civilisation.  Since their inception, coffee houses have stood as beacons of enlightenment. Within their walls, the most exquisite music and artworks were conceived, drawing inspiration from the vibrant atmosphere. Scientists eagerly shared their discoveries, quenching their intellectual thirst while enlightening those who gathered in these establishments. Traders sought solace in coffee houses, where they obtained the latest and most accurate information, conducted negotiations and forged business connections. In this way, coffee houses became the engines that propelled capitalism forward, fostered an environment that championed freedom of thought and expression and served as incubators for democracy. Damn Coffee! History Made in the Coffeehouse unravels the intricate tapestry woven by these extraordinary establishments, exploring their triumphs and trials, their virtuous pursuits and darker undertakings, and the profound impact of coffee houses on Western civilisation.

Alp Somyurek is the founder and CEO of Coffee Talks (Inc and Ltd), which oversees the development and distribution of electric appliances designed for the preparation of Turkish Coffee and Turkish Tea.

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Procopio Cutò - chef and entrepreneur

Sicilian who popularised coffee and gelato in 17th century Paris

Procopio Cutò, born in Sicily, founded
the most successful 
café in Paris
The chef and café proprietor Procopio Cutò, who opened one of the earliest coffee houses in Paris and has been credited with introducing Italian ice cream to the French capital, was born in Sicily on this day in 1651.

Cutò, whose full name was Francesco Procopio Cutò and at times called himself Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, or François Procope, was the owner and founder of the Café Procope, which thanks to its illustrious clientele can claim to have been the first literary coffee house in Paris.

The café opened for business in 1686 and traded continuously for around 200 years before closing in the late 19th century.  

The name was revived in the 1950s and the original premises in Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie - in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter on the left bank of the Seine - is again called Café Procope, although it is now a restaurant rather than a coffee house.

It was thought for many years that Cutò was born in Aci Trezza, a town on Sicily’s eastern coast, a little over 10km (six miles) north of Catania, the island’s second largest city. However, the discovery of baptismal certificate in the archives of the Church of Sant'Ippolito in the Capo district of Palermo suggests he was born in the capital.

The surname Cutò, while common in Sicily at the time of his birth, is of Greek origin. The first name Procopio was inspired by the Greek historian Procopius.


Although there is evidence that flavours were added to snow and ice as a refreshment in ancient Rome and Greece, ice cream had yet to be produced commercially as Cutò was growing up.

Café Procope's elegant and luxurious decor  attracted an upmarket, intellectual clientele
Café Procope's elegant and luxurious decor
 attracted an upmarket, intellectual clientele
Sorbets had been introduced to Sicily by Arabs. Cutò’s grandfather had invented a machine that could produce sorbets, which were ‘frozen’ using a combination of natural snow or ice and salt, which kept the ice cooler for longer. When he died, he left the machine to his grandson, who made some modifications to it and believed he could use it to make sorbets on a larger scale. 

With dreams of making his fortune by producing and selling his ices, Cutò chose to try his luck in Paris because, with a population of half a million, the French capital was at the time the largest city in Europe.

Having travelled through mainland Italy, he is thought to have arrived there at some point between 1670 and 1674. He took jobs along the way, in one of which he acquired cooking skills, joined a guild of drinks-makers soon after reaching Paris and becoming apprenticed to an Armenian, called Pascal, who had a kiosk serving lemonade and coffee on Rue de Tournan. It was one of the first such establishments to call itself a café. When Pascal moved to London in 1675, he allowed Cutò to take over.

In the meantime, using the gelato-making methods he had learned from his grandfather, Cutò developed a range of flavoured ices and successfully applied for a licence to sell them from his kiosk. In search of a bigger market, he opened a second stall at the nearby Foire Saint-Germain, a large covered marketplace which staged annual fairs that could accommodate 300 merchants.

The writer Voltaire, who was a Procope regular
The writer Voltaire, who
was a Procope regular
In 1686, Cutò relocated his kiosk to the Café Procope’s present location, on a street which was then called Rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-des-Prés.  Although there were coffee houses in Paris already, they were mainly frequented by the lower classes and immigrants.

Cutò believed that if he changed the image of the coffee house, he could appeal to a wealthier, more sophisticated branch of Parisian society. With that aim, he bought up a redundant bath house, stripped out all its bathing facilities and repurposed it as a luxury meeting place, with crystal chandeliers, wall mirrors and marble tables. 

It soon became a place where stylish gentlemen would develop a taste for coffee and Cutò’s fruit sorbets, which were served in porcelain cups by elegant waiters. 

Cutò’s big break came in 1689, when the Comédie-Française opened its doors in a theatre across the street from his café. A new crowd of young intellectuals began to frequent the Café Procope, establishing the venue as one of the first literary cafes.

Over time, the likes of Voltaire, Maximilien Robespierre, Victor Hugo, Pierre Beaumarchais, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Honoré de Balzac would become regulars. Oscar Wilde and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow are also known to have visited, along with American political luminaries such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.  Even Napoleon Bonaparte took coffee there.

The Café Procope, in Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie,
  is still in business today as a thriving restaurant 
Franklin, one of America’s ‘founding fathers’, is said to have drafted the terms of the 1778 Treaty of Alliance with French king Louis XVI while sitting at one of Café Procope’s tables.

The Café Procope thus became the most famous and successful café in Paris and is credited with turning France into a coffee-drinking society.

Cutò, who married three times and fathered at least 14 children, became wealthy as a result. Having adopted the surname Dei Coltelli soon after arriving in Paris when his name was misspelled as Couteaux - the French word for knives (coltelli in Italian) - in 1702 he changed it to François Procope not long after becoming a French citizen.

In 1716, he handed the running of Café Procope to his second son, Alexandre. Cutò continued to run his kiosk at the Foire Saint-Germain before passing away in 1727 at the age of 76. 

The dramatic rock formation off the coast at Aci Trezza is known as the Islands of the Cyclops
The dramatic rock formation off the coast at Aci
Trezza is known as the Islands of the Cyclops
Travel tip:

Aci Trezza, which for many years was thought to have been the birthplace of Procopio Cutò, is a small fishing town within easy reach of the Sicilian city of Catania that has become a popular resort. It has rocky volcanic beaches which look out over some dramatic rock formations in the sea known as the Islands of the Cyclops, sometimes called the Faraglioni of Trezza. The main part of the town is clustered around the harbour and the Chiesa Madre di San Giovanni Battista, Aci Trezza’s parish church. Many houses have been painted in pastel colours. The town is particularly lively in the evening thanks to its reputation for having outstanding fish restaurants. The town hosts a fish festival every July. Its connection with Cutò may have arisen because Aci Trezza is one of many towns that sit in the shadow of Mount Etna, where snow from the upper slopes used to be collected for turning into sorbets. It is possible that Cutò may have visited the area while perfecting his recipe for gelato.

The daily Mercato di Capo runs the whole length of the Via Sant'Agostino in the centre of Palermo
The daily Mercato di Capo runs the whole length
of the Via Sant'Agostino in the centre of Palermo
Travel tip:

Capo, the neighbourhood of Palermo where Procopio Cutò is likely to have been born, is one of the original four quarters of Palermo established during the Spanish rule of the city, which lasted from early 15th century until Italy became a unified country in the 19th century. Also known as Seralcadi, derived from the Arabic name Sari al Cadì, the area nestles between Palermo’s duomo - the Cattedrale della Santa Vergine Maria Assunta - the Teatro Massimo, and Via Maqueda, one of the city’s main thoroughfares. The largest opera house in Italy, able to accommodate an audience of 1,350 people, the Renaissance-style Teatro Massimo opened in 1897, with an initial capacity of 3,000. It closed in 1974 for supposedly minor repairs but a lack of funding prevented its re-opening for 23 years. A major attraction for visitors to Capo is the huge, historic outdoor street market, which occupies virtually the length of Via Sant’Agostino, selling everything from fresh fish, fruit and vegetables to clothes, household items and local handicrafts. Street food can be found in abundance, in particular the Sicilian specialities - arancini, cannoli and panelle.

Also on this day:

1621: The election of Pope Gregory XV

1770: The birth of classical guitarist and composer Ferdinando Carulli

1891: The birth of left-wing politician Pietro Nenni

1953: The birth of boxer Vito Antuofermo

1953: The birth of missionary Ezechiele Ramin


8 February 2025

8 February

Guercino - Bolognese master

Self-taught artist amassed fortune from his work

The artist known as Guercino was born Giovanni Francesco Barbieri on this day in 1591 in Cento, a town between Bologna and Ferrara in what is now the Emilia-Romagna region.  His professional name began as a nickname on account of his squint - guercino means little squinter in Italian.  After the death of Guido Reni in 1642, he became established as the leading painter in Bologna.  Guercino painted in the Baroque and classical styles. His best known works include The Arcadian Shepherds (Et in Arcadia Ego - I too am in Arcadia), showing two shepherds who have discovered a skull, which is now on display at the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Antica in Rome, and The Flaying of Marsyas by Apollo, which can be found in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, both of which were painted in 1618.  Guercino's frescoes were notable for the technique of creating an illusionist ceiling and would make a big impact on how churches and palaces in the 17th century were decorated.  Mainly self-taught, Guercino became apprenticed at 16 to Benedetto Gennari, a painter of the Bolognese school, at his workshop in Cento before moving to Bologna in 1615.  Read more…

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Italo Santelli - fencer


Olympic medallist famous for real ‘duel’

The Olympic fencer Italo Santelli, who famously fought a duel with his former team captain over a matter of honour, died on this day in 1945 in Livorno, Tuscany.  Santelli won a silver medal at the 1900 Olympics in Paris with a new style of sabre fencing of his own invention. Originally from Carrodano in Liguria, he fought for Italy but spent a large part of his career coaching Hungary, who he helped become a formidable power in fencing.  It was this conflict of interests that sparked an incident at the 1924 Olympics, also in Paris, that led to Santelli and Adolfo Cotronei, who was Italy’s team captain, engaging in the infamous duel.  It happened during a match between the Italians and the host nation France in the team foil event when Italy’s Aldo Boni was facing off against Lucien Gaudin. With the match tied at four touches each, the Hungarian judge György Kovacs awarded the winning fifth touch to Gaudin, a decision that sparked immediate consternation in the Italian ranks.  Boni rounded on Kovacs, delivering a verbal tirade. But it was in Italian - beyond the official’s comprehension. It just happened that Santelli, in his capacity as Hungary’s coach, witnessed the whole dispute and was asked to step in as interpreter.  Read more…

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Nicola Salvi – architect

Creator of Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain

The architect Nicola Salvi, notable as the designer of the Fontana di Trevi – known in English as the Trevi Fountain and one of the most famous and most visited monuments in Rome – died on this day in 1751.  He was working on the Trevi when he passed away, having been engaged on the project since 1732. It had to be finished by Giuseppe Pannini and the giant statue of Oceanus – the Titan God of the Sea in Greek mythology – set in the central niche, was completed by Pietro Bracci, yet Salvi takes credit as the lead architect.  Salvi ran a workshop in Rome that he had taken over when his master, Antonio Canevari, left the city in 1727 to take up a position working as architectural consultant to the king of Portugal in Lisbon.  He completed a number of commissions on behalf of Canevari but spent a good deal of his time tutoring others and might have made very little impression on architectural history had he not submitted entries for two design competitions run by Pope Clement XII in 1732.  One was for a new façade for the church of San Giovanni in Laterano, for which his design was commended.  Read more…

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Giuseppe Torelli – violinist and composer

Brilliant musician could both perform and write beautiful music

Talented musician Giuseppe Torelli, who played the viola and violin and was a composer during the late Baroque era, died on this day in 1709 in Bologna in Emilia-Romagna.  He is remembered for contributing to the development of the instrumental concerto and for being the most prolific Baroque composer for trumpets and he is ranked with Arcangelo Corelli as a developer of the Baroque concerto and concerto grosso.  Torelli was born in Verona in 1658. He learnt to play the violin and studied composition with Giacomo Antonio Perti.  At the age of 26 it is known that he was a member of the Accademia Filarmonica as a violinist. Two years later he was employed as a viola player at the Basilica di San Petronio in Bologna. He stayed there for about ten years until the orchestra was disbanded because of financial constraints.  His first published works were ten sonatas for violin and basso continuo and 12 concerti da camera for two violins and basso continuo.  Around 1690 Torelli began writing his first trumpet works. It is considered unusual for a strings player to compose works for the trumpet. Read more… 

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Revolt in Padua

When students and citizens joined forces against their oppressors 

An uprising against the Austrian occupying forces, when students and ordinary citizens fought side by side, took place on this day in Padua in 1848.  A street is now named Via VIII Febbraio to commemorate the location of the struggle between the Austrian soldiers and the students and citizens of Padua, when both the University of Padua and the Caffè Pedrocchi briefly became battlegrounds.  The Padua rebellion was one of a series of revolts in Italy during 1848, which had started with the Sicilian uprising in January of that year.  The Austrians were seen as arrogant and aggressive by ordinary citizens and the ideas of Giuseppe Mazzini and Camillo Benso Cavour about a united Italy were becoming popular with progressive thinkers.   Students and professors at Padua University had been meeting in rooms at the University and in Caffè Pedrocchi to discuss their discontent.  The uprising began with the storming of a prison and prisoners being set free. Then many ordinary citizens came to fight alongside the students against the armed Austrians, who clubbed the Paduans with their guns as well as firing at them.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Understanding Italian Renaissance Painting: A Guide to the Artists, Ideas and Key Works, by Stefano Zuffi

Filled with great masterpieces by such artists as Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Mantegna and Titian, Understanding Italian Renaissance Painting takes a journey into their world. As in the acclaimed and innovative How to Read a Painting, each spread uses an important painting as a way to explain a key concept, with numerous large details. Here, 180 works illuminate key ideas in Renaissance painting, from perspective and the golden section to grace and symbolism. In addition, there are brief biographies of the major artists. The result is an original, accessible and affordable volume that offers an introduction into the art and culture of the Italian Renaissance.

Stefano Zuffi is an Italian art historian. He is the author of numerous volumes on the history of art, especially Renaissance and Baroque.

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