23 September

Francesco Barberini – Cardinal

Patron of the arts sympathised with Galileo

Francesco Barberini, a cardinal who as Grand Inquisitor of the Roman Inquisition refused to condemn the scientist Galileo Galilei as a heretic, was born on this day in 1597 in Florence.  As a cardinal working within the Vatican administration, Barberini also became an important patron of literature and the arts.  The son of Carlo Barberini and Costanza Magalotti, Francesco was assisted by Galileo during his studies at the University of Pisa. The scientist was also a family friend. Francesco graduated in canon and civil law at the age of 25 in 1623.  Later that year, his uncle, Maffeo Barberini, who had been recently elected as Pope Urban VIII, made him a cardinal and sent him to be papal legate to Avignon.  He was sent to Paris as a special legate to negotiate with Cardinal Richelieu and then to Spain as a papal legate, but both his missions were unsuccessful.  Read more…

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Paolo Rossi - World Cup hero

Goalscorer who bounced back from two-year ban

The footballer Paolo Rossi, whose goals steered Italy to World Cup glory in 1982, was born on this day in 1956 in Prato in Tuscany.  At the peak of his career, in which his best years were with Juventus and Vicenza, Rossi scored almost 100 Serie A and Serie B goals in seven seasons.  Yet for many his exploits with the Italian national team define his career. In 48 appearances he scored 20 goals, including six in the 1982 finals in Spain, when he won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and the Golden Ball as the best player.  In 1982 he also won the Ballon D’Or, the prestigious award given to the player of the season across all the European leagues, following in the footsteps of Omar Sivori and Gianni Rivera to become the third Italian player to win the vote, in whose company he has since been joined by Roberto Baggio and Fabio Cannavaro.  Read more…

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Augustus - the first Emperor of Rome

Great nephew of Julius Caesar became powerful leader

Augustus, who history recognises as the first Emperor of Rome, was born Gaius Octavius on this day in 63 BC in Rome.  He was to lead Rome’s transformation from republic to empire during the stormy years following the assassination of his great-uncle and adoptive father Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Republic.  The son of a senator and governor in the Roman Republic, Octavius was related to Caesar through his mother, Atai, who was Caesar’s niece. The young Octavius was raised in part by his grandmother, Julia Caesaris, in what is now Velletri, about 40km (25 miles) southeast of Rome.  Octavius was only 17 when he learned of his great uncle’s death, although he had begun to wear the toga - a symbol of manhood - at 16 and fought alongside Caesar in Hispania, where his bravery prompted Caesar to name him in his will as his heir and successor.  Read more…

Mussolini's last stand

Deposed dictator proclaims Republic of Salò 

In what would prove the final chapter of his political career - and his life - Benito Mussolini proclaimed the creation of the Italian Social Republic on this day in 1943.  The establishment of this new state with the Fascist dictator as its leader was announced just 11 days after German special forces freed Mussolini from house arrest in the Apennine mountains.  Although Mussolini was said to be in failing health and had hoped to slip quietly into the shadows, Hitler's compassion for his Italian ally - whose rescue had been on the direct orders of the Führer - did not extend to giving him an easy route into retirement.  Faced with a quickening Allied advance along the Italian peninsula, he put Mussolini in charge of the area of northern and central Italy of which the German army had taken control following the Fascist Grand Council's overthrow of the dictator.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Galileo, by John L Heilbron

Just over 400 years ago, in 1610, Galileo published the Siderius nuncius, or Starry Messenger, a 'hurried little masterpiece' in John Heilbron's words. Presenting to the world his remarkable observations using the recently invented telescope - of the craters of the moon, and the satellites of Jupiter, observations that forced changes to perceptions of the perfection of the heavens and the centrality of the Earth - the appearance of the little book is regarded as one of the greatest moments in the history of science. It was also a point of change in the life of Galileo himself, propelling him from professor to prophet.  But Heilbron’s Galileo is not the biography of a mathematician. Certainly he spent the first half of his career as a professor of mathematics and has been called 'the divine mathematician'. Yet he was no more (or less) a mathematician than he was a musician, artist, writer, philosopher, or gadgeteer. This fresh lively new biography of the 'father of science' paints a rounded picture of Galileo, and places him firmly within the rich texture of late Renaissance Florence, Pisa, and Padua, amid debates on the merits of Ariosto and Tasso, and the geometry of Dante's Inferno - debates in which the young Galileo played an active role. Galileo's character and career followed complex paths, moving from the creative but cautious humanist professor to a 'knight errant, quixotic and fearless', with increasing enemies, and leading ultimately and inevitably to a clash with a pope who was a former friend.

John Lewis Heilbron was an American historian of science best known for his work in the history of physics and the history of astronomy. He was Professor of History and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior research fellow at Worcester College, Oxford. He wrote more than 20 books.

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22 September

Mario Berrino - painter

Artist who was also a popular entrepreneur 

The painter and entrepreneur Mario Berrino was born on this day in 1920 in Alassio, the coastal town in Liguria where he spent almost all his life.  Berrino took up painting full time in his 50s and his simple yet atmospheric and evocative works became sought after by collectors, often selling for hundreds of euros at auction.  Alassio has a gallery dedicated entirely to his work, as does the jet set playground of Monte Carlo, about 100km (62 miles) along the riviera coastline to the west, not far from Italy’s border with France.  Before that, Berrino had lived a colourful life in and around his home town, his entrepreneurial spirit shining through in many projects that left a lasting impression on Alassio.  As a young man, he helped his father and brothers run a bar and restaurant in Alassio, the Caffè Roma, which earned fame in the years between the First and Second World Wars. Read more…

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Roberto Saviano - writer and journalist

Author of ‘Gomorrah’ who lives under police protection

The author and journalist Roberto Saviano, whose 2006 book Gomorrah exposed the inner workings of the Camorra organised crime syndicate in his home city of Naples, was born on this day in 1979.  Gomorrah was an international bestseller that was turned into a film and inspired a TV series, bringing Saviano fame and wealth.  However, within six months of the book’s publication, Saviano had received so many threats to his life from within the Camorra that the decision was taken on the advice of former prime minister Giuliano Amato to place him under police protection.  Some 20 years later, he remains under 24-hour police guard.  He travels only in one of two bullet-proof cars, lives either in police barracks or obscure hotels and is encouraged never to remain in the same place for more than a few days. Read more…

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Carlo Ubbiali - motorcycle world champion

Racer from Bergamo won nine GP titles

Carlo Ubbiali, who preceded Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi as Italy’s first great motorcycling world champion, was born on this day in 1929 in Bergamo.  Between 1951 and 1960, he won nine Grand Prix titles, in the 250cc and 125cc categories, setting a record for the most world championships that was equalled by Britain’s Mike Hailwood in 1967 but not surpassed until Agostini won the 10th of his 15 world titles in 1971.  Until his death in 2020, Ubbiali was the second oldest surviving Grand Prix champion after Britain’s Cecil Sandford, who was his teammate in the 1950s. Ubbiali’s compatriot Agostini, who came from nearby Lovere, in Bergamo province,was born in 1942.  Ubbiali won a total of 39 Grand Prix races, all bar two of them for the MV Agusta team.  Three times – in 1956, 1959 and 1960 – he was world champion in 125cc and 250cc classes. Read more…

Leonardo Messina - Mafia ‘pentito’

Sicilian who linked ex-premier with organised crime

The Mafia pentito or turncoat Leonardo ‘Narduzzo’ Messina, the first to accuse former prime minister Giulio Andreotti of links with organised crime, was born on this day in 1955 in San Cataldo, a town in the centre of the island of Sicily.  Messina, who decided to reveal what he knew to the authorities soon after the murder of the anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone, named Andreotti as part of extensive testimony that led to the arrest of more than 200 mafiosi in 1992.  A so-called ‘man of honour’ for more than a decade, Messina, who had been arrested for his part in a drugs racket, became a pentito - literally a ‘repentant’ - after Falcone was killed by a massive bomb placed under the highway linking the city of Palermo with its airport.  Falcone’s wife and three police escorts died with him when the bomb was detonated. Read more… 

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Andrea Bocelli - tenor

Singer with perfect voice for either opera or pop

Tenor Andrea Bocelli was born on this day in 1958 in La Sterza, a hamlet or frazione of Lajatico in Tuscany.  Bocelli, who is blind, had poor eyesight from birth and was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma, but he lost his sight completely at the age of 12 after an accident while playing football.  He always loved music and started to learn the piano at the age of six. But after hearing a recording by opera singer Franco Corelli, he set his heart on becoming a tenor.  Bocelli won his first singing competition in Viareggio with ‘O sole mio’ at the age of 14.  He has since sold 150 million records worldwide and performed for four US presidents, three Popes and the British Royal family. His voice has been acclaimed by critics as perfect for either opera or pop.  Bocelli originally studied law and spent one year working as a lawyer. Read more…

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Book of the Day: DK Italian Riviera (Travel Guide), by DK Travel

Whether you fancy a glorious hike through the villages of the Cinque Terre, a spot of shopping in the boutiques of Portofino, or a day of delicious food in Genoa, with so much to see and do, the Italian Riviera is a must-visit. Whatever your dream trip involves, this DK Italian Riviera Eyewitness travel guide is the perfect companion. The updated guide brings the Italian Riviera to life, transporting you there like no other travel guide. You'll find trusted travel advice, expert-led insights, detailed breakdowns of all the must-see sights, photographs on practically every page, and hand-drawn illustrations, which take you inside the region's buildings and neighbourhoods. The content includes the authors’ pick of the best spots to eat, drink, shop and stay; detailed maps and walks that make navigating the region easy; selected itineraries; expert advice on how to prepare, get around and stay safe; colour-coded chapters to each part of the Italian Riviera; all in a lightweight format, so you can take it with you wherever you go.

DK Eyewitness Guides are written by a team of writers, cartographers, and researchers. Those who worked on the DK Italian Riviera guides include Emily Hatchwell, Emanuela Damiani, Giovanna Morselli and Susi Cheshire, with Lucio Rossi and Ian O'Leary among those who took photographs.

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21 September

NEW - Barbara Longhi – painter

Artist created small portraits in soft colours with strong feeling

The talented portrait painter Barbara Longhi was born into a family of artists on this day in 1552 in Ravenna. Her work was much admired by her contemporaries but, sadly, only a small part of it has survived.  Daughter of the painter Luca Longhi, Barbara painted a portrait of herself as Saint Catherine of Alexandria and thankfully this can still be seen in Ravenna’s Museo dell’ Arte della Città. She also modelled for her father and his representations of her in his paintings confirm that the portrait of Saint Catherine was a good likeness of herself at that time.  Barbara and her older brother, Francesco, were both taught to paint by their father and as they grew up they would help in his workshop with major projects such as altarpieces. Barbara was depicted by her father as Saint Barbara in his 1570 painting Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints.  Read more…

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Giacomo Quarenghi - architect

Neoclassicist famous for his work in St Petersburg

The architect Giacomo Quarenghi, best known for his work in Russia, and in St Petersburg in particular, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, was born on this day in 1744 in Rota d’Imagna, a village in Lombardy about 25km (16 miles) northwest of Bergamo.  His extensive work in St Petersburg between 1782 and 1816, which followed an invitation from the Empress Catherine II (Catherine the Great), included the Hermitage Theatre, one of the first buildings in Russia in the Palladian style, the Bourse and the State Bank, St. George’s Hall in the Winter Palace, several bridges on the Neva river, and a number of academic buildings including the Academy of Sciences, on the University Embankment.  He was also responsible for the reconstruction of some buildings around Red Square in Moscow in neo-Palladian style.  Read more…

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Cigoli – painter and architect

First artist to paint a realistic moon

The artist Cigoli was born Lodovico Cardi on this day in 1559 near San Miniato in Tuscany.  He became a close friend of Galileo Galilei, who is said to have regarded him as the greatest painter of his time. They wrote to each other regularly and Galileo practised his drawing while Cigoli enjoyed making astronomical observances.  Cigoli painted a fresco in the dome of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome depicting the Madonna standing upon a pock-marked lunar orb, exactly as it had been seen by Galileo through his telescope.  This is the first example still in existence of Galileo’s discovery about the surface of the moon being portrayed in art. The moon is shown just as Galileo had drawn it in his astronomical treatise, Sidereus Nuncius, which published the results of Galileo’s early observations of the imperfect and mountainous moon.  Read more…

Clara Calamai - actress

Star remembered for groundbreaking moments in Italian cinema history

The actress Clara Calamai, best known for two Italian cinema classics of the 1940s and for a cult 1970s horror film, died in the Adriatic resort of Rimini on this day in 1998, at the age of 89.  Calamai’s career is generally seen to have peaked with her appearances in Luchino Visconti’s 1943 crime drama Ossessione and, three years later, in Duilio Coletti’s melodrama L’adultera, for which she won a Nastro d’Argento award as best actress. She scaled down her career drastically after marriage but won fresh acclaim three decades later for her role as Marta, a murderous ageing actress in ‘Master of Horror’ Dario Argento’s box office smash Profondo Rosso. For many years, Calamai was also known as the first woman to bare her breasts in Italian cinema - in a 1942 movie that not surprisingly caused scandal at the time. Read more…

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Maurizio Cattelan - conceptual artist

Controversial work softened by irreverent humour

The conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, known for the dark humour and irreverence of much of his work, was born on this day in 1960 in Padua.  Cattelan, probably best known for his controversial waxwork sculptures of Pope John Paul II and Adolf Hitler, has been described at different times as a satirist, a prankster, a subversive and a poet, although it seems to have been his aim to defy any attempt at categorisation.  His works are often interpreted as critiques of the art world and of society in general and while death and mortality are recurring themes there is more willingness among modern audiences to see how even tragic circumstances can give rise to comedic absurdities.  Although some of his work has provoked outrage, more viewers have been enthralled than angered by what he has presented, and some of his creations selling for millions of dollars. Read more…

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Book of the Day: Barbara Longhi of Ravenna: Art, Grace and Piety, by Liana De Girolami Cheney

This book provides new impetus to the study of female art in regional areas. It will expand research beyond studies of women’s lives, careers, socio-political patronage, and specific gender issues to look at emblematic, historical, and spiritual aspects of their work. Through an analysis of the paintings of Barbara Longhi, the book reveals the importance of devotional art and the ample creativity of female painters. Barbara Longhi of Ravenna: Art, Grace and Piety highlights the importance of Longhi’s artistic contribution in the study of iconography and iconology on art and devotion in some of her paintings. Although there is limited information about her personal life, through the records of her two Wills and Testaments, we learn about her administrative ability, family dedication, and, most of all, about her Christian religiosity and devotion to the Virgin Mary (La Madonna).

Liana De Girolami Cheney is Professor of Art History Emerita at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Visiting Researcher in Art History at the University of Aldo Moro Bari, Italy.

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Barbara Longhi – painter

Artist created small portraits in soft colours with strong feeling

Longhi's painting of Saint Catherine of
Alexandria is a supposed self-portrait 

The talented portrait painter Barbara Longhi was born into a family of artists on this day in 1552 in Ravenna. Her work was much admired by her contemporaries but, sadly, only a small part of it has survived.

Daughter of the painter Luca Longhi, Barbara painted a portrait of herself as Saint Catherine of Alexandria and thankfully this can still be seen in Ravenna’s Museo dell’ Arte della Città. She also modelled for her father and his representations of her in his paintings confirm that the portrait of Saint Catherine was a good likeness of herself at that time.

Barbara and her older brother, Francesco, were both taught to paint by their father and as they grew up they would help in his workshop with major projects such as altarpieces. Barbara was depicted by her father as Saint Barbara in his 1570 painting Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints. 

She had completed her training by the time she was 18, but always stayed close to her father’s workshop in Ravenna.

Many of the surviving works that have been definitely attributed to Barbara Longhi depict the Virgin Mary and the infant Christ. Her picture of the Madonna and Child, which shows the Virgin Mary breast feeding, painted between 1575 and 1580, was acquired by the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2021.

Barbara Longhi did not sign all her paintings but on one, she wrote "B.L.F.", which means "Barbara Longhi fecit" (made by Barbara Longhi). On another, she wrote "B.L.P.", meaning "Barbara Longhi pinxit (painted by Barbara Longhi). Since most of her work was not signed, it is not known exactly how many pictures she painted, and only 15 works have been definitely attributed to her up to now.

One of her best-known paintings, Portrait of a Camaldolese Monk, is the only one of her known works to show an adult man. It is also one of the few paintings that has a date on it, though it is hard to read and could be either 1570 or 1573.

It is thought that Barbara probably posed for her father Luca Longhi’s painting of Nuptials of Cana for the Church of the Camaldolese in Ravenna. In the picture with her are her brother, Francesco, and the Abbot of the church’s convent, Don Pietro Bagnolo da Bagnacavallo. 

Longhi's Portrait of a Camaldolese
Monk, a rare depiction by her of a man

Barbara Longhi’s portrait of herself as Saint Catherine was painted when she was still a young woman and it shows her to be poised and elegantly dressed. It was painted for a monastery, but was acquired by the Museo dell' Arte della Città di Ravenna in 1829 and was cleaned in 1980.

One of her few paintings that does not show the Madonna is her 1570s work, Judith with the Head of Holofernes. It differs from other pictorial versions of the same story because it does not depict the violence of the act, but shows Judith looking up to heaven as if asking for forgiveness, reflecting the ideas being put forward by the Counter Reformation at the time.

Barbara Longhi’s paintings were typically small and composed with just a few people in them, rather than recreating huge scenes from the Bible. 

Experts have praised her use of soft colours and her ability to capture the feelings of her subjects. It has been claimed that her own father, Luca, once said he was astonished by her ability to portray a subject, after only a short glance at them, with more skill than other artists could achieve with the sitter posed in front of them for a longer period.

Barbara Longhi died at the age of 86 in her home town of Ravenna. A few of her paintings have since found their way to art galleries in France, Romania, the US, and Canada, as well as throughout Italy.

The Lombard Loggetta in the former monastery that
houses the Museo dell’ Arte della Città di Ravenna

Travel tip:

There are seven paintings by Barbara Longhi, as well as works by her brother, Francesco, and father, Luca, on display in the Museo dell’ Arte della Città di Ravenna, which is in the centre of the city. The museum is housed in the former monastery of Santa Maria in Porto, which has a 16th century cloister and a loggia overlooking its gardens, known as the Lombard Loggetta. Today the museum preserves works of art ranging from the 14th century, right up to examples of contemporary art. It also houses a contemporary mosaics collection. The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 09.00 to 18.00 and on Sundays and during holidays from 15.00 to 19.00. It is situated in Via di Roma, at number 13.

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Magnificent mosaics adorn the
Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna

Travel tip:

Ravenna, in Emilia-Romagna, was the capital city of the western Roman empire in the fifth century. It is known for its well-preserved late Roman and Byzantine architecture and has eight UNESCO world heritage sites within the city. The Basilica di San Vitale, with its magnificent mosaics, is one of the most important examples of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture in Europe. Ravenna also houses the tomb of the great Italian poet Dante Alighieri, who lived and died in the city after he was exiled from Florence. The English poet Lord Byron also lived in Ravenna in the 19th century and was said to have found Dante’s tomb in the centre of the city inspirational. He would regularly visit the tomb and sit writing his poetry close by it during his time in the city. Florence has repeatedly asked for Dante’s remains to be sent back to them, but Ravenna has always refused to relinquish them.

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More reading:

Luca Longhi, the ‘quiet scholar’ who trained his children to follow in his footsteps

When Lord Byron became a Ravenna revolutionary

The mother of 11 who was Italy’s first female professional painter

Also on this day:

1559: The birth of painter Lodovico Cardi, known as Cigoli

1744: The birth of architect Giacomo Quarenghi

1960: The birth of conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan

1998: The death of actress Clara Calamai

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