1 March

Cesare Danova - movie actor

Acclaim came late for Bergamo-born star

The actor Cesare Danova, who appeared in more than 300 films and TV shows over the course of a 45-year career, was born Cesare Deitinger on this day in 1926 in the Lombardy city of Bergamo.  The son of an Austrian father and an Italian mother, he adopted Danova as his professional name after meeting the film producer, Dino De Laurentiis, in Rome.  De Laurentiis gave him a screen test and was so impressed he immediately cast Danova in the 1947 movie The Captain's Daughter, playing alongside Amedeo Nazzari and Vittorio Gassman.  So began a career that was to see Danova star opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Joseph L Mankiewicz's 1963 hit Cleopatra, opposite Elvis Presley and Ann-Margaret in Viva Las Vegas (1964), alongside Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel in Martin Scorsese's cult movie Mean Streets (1973) and as part of a star-studded cast in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). Read more…

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Giovanni Dupré - sculptor

Work helped end the dominance of Neoclassicism

Giovanni Dupré, who came to be seen as one of the most important figures in 19th century Italian sculpture, was born on this day in 1817 in Siena. Like his contemporary, Lorenzo Bartolini, Dupré went back to the Renaissance for inspiration and his success helped Italian sculpture move on from the dominance of Antonio Canova, whose brilliant work in the Neoclassicist style had spawned a generation of imitators.  Dupré did much of his work in Florence and Siena, his greatest piece generally judged to be the Pietà he carved between 1860 and 1865 for the family tomb of the Marchese Bichi-Ruspoli in the cemetery of the Misericordia in Siena.  Although his family were of French descent, they were long established in Tuscany when Giovanni was born. The street in the Contrada Capitana dell'Onda where the family lived, a few steps away from Piazza del Campo, subsequently saw its name changed to Via Giovanni Dupré. Read more…

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Luigi Vanvitelli – architect

Neapolitan genius drew up a grand design for his royal client

The most famous Italian architect of the 18th century, Luigi Vanvitelli, died on this day in 1773 in Caserta in Campania.  The huge Royal Palace he designed for the Bourbon kings of Naples in Caserta is considered one of the greatest triumphs of the Baroque style of architecture in Italy.  Vanvitelli was born Lodewijk van Wittel in Naples in 1700, the son of a Dutch painter of landscapes, Caspar van Wittel. His father later also took up the Italian surname Vanvitelli.  Luigi Vanvitelli was trained as an architect by Nicola Salvi and worked with him on lengthening the façade of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Palazzo Chigi-Odelscalchi in Rome and on the construction of the Trevi Fountain.  Following his notable successes with the facade of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano (1732) and the facade of Palazzo Poli, behind the Trevi Fountain, Pope Clement XII sent Vanvitelli to the Marche to build some papal projects.   Read more…

Gastone Nencini - cycling champion

Lion of Mugello won both Tour de France and Giro d’Italia

Gastone Nencini, sometimes described as Italy’s forgotten cycling champion, and certainly one of its least heralded, was born on this day in 1930 in Barberino di Mugello, a town in the Tuscan Apennines, about 38km (24 miles) north of Florence.  Nencini won the 1957 Giro d’Italia and the 1960 Tour de France, putting him in the company of only seven Italians to have won the greatest of cycling’s endurance tests.   He followed Ottavio Bottecchia, Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi and preceded Felice Gimondi, Marco Pantani and the most recent Italian winner, 2014 champion Vincenzo Nibali.  Yet often even cycling fans asked to name the seven Italian champions sometimes forget Nencini, despite his courage and resilience earning him the nickname The Lion of Mugello.  This may be in part because he died very young, a month short of his 50th birthday. Read more…

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Pietro Canonica - sculptor

Artist in demand from European royalty

The sculptor Pietro Canonica, who was also a proficient painter and an accomplished musician but who found himself most in demand to create busts, statues and portraits for the royal courts of Europe, was born on this day in 1869 in Moncalieri in Piedmont.  Canonica’s ability to create realism in his work, bringing marble sculptures almost to life, resulted in an endless stream of commissions, taking him from Buckingham Palace in London to the courts of Paris, Vienna, Brussels and St Petersburg.  He was highly skilled in equestrian statuary and after the First World War was commissioned to create many monuments to the fallen, which can be seen in squares around Italy to this day.  Canonica’s mastery of Naturalism and Realism were the qualities that set him apart, exemplified nowhere with such stunning effect as in his 1909 work L'abisso - The Abyss. Read more…

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

This second edition of A History of Italian Cinema, an update of the bestselling definitive guide, was published to celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2018. Building upon decades of research, Peter Bondanella and Federico Pacchioni’s new edition brings the definitive history of the subject, from the birth of cinema to the present day, up to date with a revised filmography as well as more focused attention on the melodrama, the crime film, and the historical drama. The book is expanded to include a new generation of directors as well as to highlight themes such as gender issues, immigration, and media politics. Accessible, comprehensive, and heavily illustrated throughout, this is an essential purchase for any fan of Italian film.

The late Peter Bondanella was the author of a number of groundbreaking books, including Hollywood Italians, The Cinema of Federico Fellini, and The Films of Roberto Rossellini. In 2009, he was elected to the European Academy of Sciences and the Arts for his contributions to the history of Italian cinema and his translations or editions of Italian literary classics (Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Vasari, Cellini).  Federico Pacchioni is Chair of Italian Studies at Chapman University in Orange, California. 

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28 February

Gabriele Rossetti - poet and revolutionary

Academic fled to England after exile from Naples

The poet and academic Gabriele Rossetti, who was a key figure in a revolutionary secret society in 19th century Italy known as the Carbonari, was born on this day in 1783 in the city of Vasto in Abruzzo.  A Dante scholar known for his detailed and sometimes controversial interpretations of The Divine Comedy and other works, Rossetti’s own poetry was of a patriotic nature and regularly contained commentaries on contemporary politics, often in support of the growing number of popular uprisings in the early 19th century.  He became a member of the Carbonari, an informal collective of secret revolutionary societies across Italy that was active between 1800 and 1831, promoting the creation of a liberal, unified Italy. He came into contact with them after moving to Naples to study at the city's prestigious university.  Read more…

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Karl Zuegg - jam and juice maker

Businessman turned family farm into international company

Karl Zuegg, the businessman who turned his family's fruit-farming expertise into one of Italy's major producers of jams and juices, was born on this day in 1915 in Lana, a town in what is now the autonomous province of Bolzano in Trentino-Alto Adige.  His grandparents, Maria and Ernst August Zuech - they changed their name to Zuegg in 1903 - had been cultivating fruit on their farm since 1860, when Lana was part of South Tyrol in what was then Austria-Hungary.  They traded at local markets and began exporting.  Zuegg and the company's other major brand names, Skipper and Fruttaviva, are among the most recognisable in the fruit products market in Italy and it is largely through Karl's hard work and enterprise.  He was managing director of the company from 1940 to 1986, during which time Zuegg became the first drinks manufacturer in Italy to make use of the ground-breaking Tetrapak packaging invented in Sweden. Read more…

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Dino Zoff – footballer

Long career of a record-breaking goalkeeper

Dino Zoff, the oldest footballer to be part of a World Cup winning team, was born on this day in 1942.  Zoff was captain of the Italian national team in the final of the World Cup in Spain in 1982 at the age of 40 years, four months and 13 days.  He also won the award for best goalkeeper of the tournament, in which he kept two clean sheets and made a number of important saves.  Zoff was born in Mariano del Friuli in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. He had trials with Inter-Milan and Juventus at the age of 14 but was rejected because of his lack of height.  Having grown considerably, he made his Seria A debut with Udinese in 1961. He then moved to Mantua, where he spent four seasons, and Napoli, where he spent five seasons.  Zoff made his international debut during Euro 68 and was number two goalkeeper in the 1970 World Cup.  Read more…

Luisa Sanfelice - executed aristocrat

'Heroine' may have been accidental revolutionary 

Luisa Sanfelice, an aristocrat executed on the orders of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies because of her involvement with the French-backed Parthenopean Republic, was born on this day in 1764 in Naples.  Sanfelice was hailed as a heroine by supporters of the short-lived republic after revealing a plot among monarchist supporters to stage a violent uprising and reinstate Ferdinand and his wife, Queen Maria Carolina, who had been ousted by an invading French army in 1799.  She ultimately paid for her actions with her life when King Ferdinand - known also as Ferdinand IV of Naples - returned to power, yet historians believe she was cast as a revolutionary almost by accident.  Born Maria Luisa Fortunata de Molina, the daughter of Bourbon general of Spanish origin, she became Luisa Sanfelice - sometimes known as Luigia - at the age of 17. Read more…

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Domenico Agusta - entrepreneur 

Sicilian count who founded MV Agusta motorcycle company

Count Domenico Agusta, who founded the all-conquering MV Agusta motorcycle company in 1945, was born on this day in 1907 in Palermo.  Originally set up as a means of keeping the family’s aeronautical company in business after aircraft production in Italy was banned as part of the post World War II peace treaty with the Allies, MV Agusta became such a giant of motorcycle racing that their bikes claimed 38 MotoGP world titles in the space of 22 years as well as 34 victories in the prestigious Isle of Man Tourist Trophy.  MV Agusta made world champions of eight different riders, including two of the greatest Italians in motorcycle racing history, Giacomo Agostini and Carlo Ubbiali. Agostini won 13 of his record 15 world titles riding for MV Agusta.  Domenico Agusta was the son of Giovanni Agusta and hailed from a Sicilian family with aristocratic roots. Read more…

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Mario Andretti – racing driver

American champion was born and grew up in Italy

Mario Andretti, who won the 1978 Formula One World Championship driving as an American, was born on this day in 1940 in Montona, about 35km (22 miles) south of Trieste in what was then Istria in the Kingdom of Italy.  Andretti’s career was notable for his versatility. He is the only driver in motor racing history to have won an Indianapolis 500, a Daytona 500 and an F1 world title, and one of only two to have won races in F1, Indy Car, NASCAR and the World Sportscar Championship. He is the last American to have won an F1 Grand Prix.  He clinched the 1978 F1 title at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September, the 14th of the 16 rounds, having led the standings by 12 points going into the race.  He crossed the line first and even though he was demoted to sixth place – the result of a one-minute penalty – it was enough to mean he could not be caught.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy, by Derek Beales and Eugenio F Biagini

This book introduces the reader to the relationship between the Italian national movement, achieved by the Risorgimento, and the Italian unification in 1860. These themes are discussed in detail and related to the broader European theatre. Covering the literary, cultural, religious and political history of the period, Beales and Biagini show Italy struggled towards nation state status on all fronts.  The new edition has been thoroughly rewritten. It also contains a number of new documents. In addition, all the most up to date research of the last 20 years has been incorporated.  The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy remains the major text on 19th century Italy. The long introduction and useful footnotes will be of real assistance to those interested in Italian unification.

Derek Beales was a British historian. A former Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University, his books include the definitive work on the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II.  Eugenio F Biagini is an Italian historian, specialising in democracy and liberalism in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain, Ireland and Italy.

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27 February

NEW - Pietro Gnocchi – composer

Influential musician was inspired by geography

Baroque composer and writer Pietro Gnocchi, who is remembered for the unusual titles he gave to his music, was born on this day in 1689 in Alfianello in the province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy. As well as writing a large quantity of sacred music and being choirmaster at Brescia Cathedral, Gnocchi, who has come to be regarded as a polymath because of his wide knowledge, wrote about history, geography, and archaeology. His works included a treatise on memorial tablets in the Brescia region, and a 25-volume history of ancient Greek colonies.  Gnocchi was the second of four sons born into a middle class family and he grew up to study music and to train as a priest. He then went on to study music in Venice and later travelled to Hungary, Vienna, and Munich. After returning to Brescia, he was appointed as maestro di cappella at Brescia Cathedral in 1723. Read more…

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Franco Moschino - fashion designer

Made clothes with sense of humour

The fashion designer Franco Moschino, founder of the Moschino fashion label, was born on this day in 1950 in Abbiategrasso, a town about 24km (15 miles) southwest of Milan.  Moschino became famous for his innovative and irreverent designs, which injected humour into high fashion.  For example, he created a miniskirt in quilted denim with plastic fried eggs decorating the hemline, a jacket studded with bottle tops and a suit covered with cutlery. He designed a dress that resembled a shopping bag and a ball gown made from black plastic bin bags.  Other designs carried messages mocking his own industry, such as a jacket with the motif ‘Waist of Money’ printed round the waistband, another in cashmere with ‘Expensive Jacket’ emblazoned across the back and a shirt with the words ‘I’m Full of Shirt’.  Moschino’s first collections focussed on casual clothes and jeans. Read more…

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Chiara Iezzi - singer and actress

One half of Paola e Chiara

The actress and singer Chiara Iezzi, who with sister Paola forms half of the top-selling Paola e Chiara pop duo, was born on this day in 1973 in Milan.  The sisters performed together for seven years between 1996 and 2013, selling more than five million records, before breaking up, Chiara deciding to focus increasingly on acting and enjoying some success in the United States.  The duo were reunited in 2023, when they took part in the Sanremo Music Festival for the sixth time, having made their debut at the celebrated Italian song contest 26 years earlier.  Interested in music, acting and fashion since she was in her teens, Chiara graduated in fashion design, simultaneously taking acting lessons, but it was music that initially provided her with a career.  After seeing her perform in jazz and funk groups, in 1994 the record producer and television presenter Claudio Cecchetto hired her together with Paola. Read more… 

Italy's appeal for help with Leaning Tower

Fears of collapse prompted summit of engineers

The Italian government finally admitted that it needed help to save the Leaning Tower of Pisa from collapsing on this day in 1964.  There had been numerous attempts to arrest the movement of the tower, which had begun to tilt five years after construction began in 1173.  One side of the tower started to sink after engineers added a second floor in 1178, when the mistake of setting a foundation just three metres deep in weak, unstable soil became clear. Construction was halted.  In fact, in part because of a series of military conflicts, it did not resume for 100 years.  Additions were made to the building over the next 100 years, culminating in the completion of the bell chamber in 1372. Nothing more was done until the 19th century, when an ill-considered plan to dig a path around the base in 1838 resulted in a new increase in the tilt.  Ironically, the tower might have been deliberately destroyed in the Second World War. Read more…

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Mirella Freni – opera singer

Good advice from Gigli helped soprano have long career

Singer Mirella Freni was born Mirella Fregni on this day in 1935 in Modena in Emilia-Romagna.  Freni’s grandmother, Valentina Bartolomasi, had been a leading soprano in Italy from 1910 until 1927, specialising in Wagner roles. By coincidence, her mother worked alongside the mother of tenor Luciano Pavarotti in a tobacco factory in Modena.  Freni was obviously musically gifted and sang an opera aria in a radio competition when she was just ten years old.  One of the judges was the tenor Beniamino Gigli, who advised her to give up singing until she was older to protect her voice.  Freni took his advice and resumed singing when she was 17, making her operatic debut at the Teatro Municipale in Modena at the age of 20 in Bizet’s Carmen.  Her international debut came at Glyndebourne in Franco Zeffirelli’s staging of Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.  Read more…

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Simone Di Pasquale – dancer

Ballroom talent has been springboard for business success

Ballroom dancer and television celebrity Simone Di Pasquale was born on this day in 1978.  In 2005, he became a household name after he started to appear regularly on Italian television in Ballando con le Stelle - the equivalent of the US show Dancing with the Stars and Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing. The show, presented by Milly Carlucci, was broadcast every Saturday evening on the tv channel Rai Uno.  Pasquale has also appeared in numerous other television programmes, on stage in musical theatre and as an actor in a television drama.  Born in Rome, Di Pasquale learnt ballroom dancing at a young age and took part in competitions.  In 2000 he paired up with the dancer Natalia Titova, who also later became a celebrity because of Ballando con le Stelle. The couple were engaged from 1998 to 2005.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Baroque Music In Focus: Second Edition, by Hugh Benham

Baroque Music in Focus provides a detailed yet concise look into this fascinating and vitally important period of music history, and explores Baroque music and composers in their wider social and historical context. This second edition has been fully revised and updated to keep abreast of the latest scholarship, and now includes colour images throughout, and a glossary and index. In addition there are new, expanded sections on the major genres and works of the Baroque era, as well as in-depth examinations of the lives and careers of the two greatest Baroque composers, Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Frideric Handel. This focus guide is intended to provide a solid foundation for pupils of all levels who are studying Baroque music, as well as general readers with an interest in the topic. It suggests listening and viewing material to complement the main topics within the book, and is an ideal resource for those wanting to explore the many aspects of Baroque music.

Hugh Benham is a teacher and writer who has contributed to magazines and other publications and, as well as Baroque Music in Focus, is the author of two books on English church music, including John Taverner: his Life and Music.

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Pietro Gnocchi – composer

Influential musician was inspired by geography

Pietro Gnocchi studied
music in Venice

Baroque composer and writer Pietro Gnocchi, who is remembered for the unusual titles he gave to his music, was born on this day in 1689 in Alfianello in the province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy.

As well as writing a large quantity of sacred music and being choirmaster at Brescia Cathedral, Gnocchi, who has come to be regarded as a polymath because of his wide knowledge, wrote about history, geography, and archaeology. His works included a treatise on memorial tablets in the Brescia region, and a 25-volume history of ancient Greek colonies.

Gnocchi was the second of four sons born into a middle class family and he grew up to study music and to train as a priest. He then went on to study music in Venice and later travelled to Hungary, Vienna, and Munich.

After returning to Brescia, he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the cathedral now known as Brescia's Duomo Vecchio in 1723. Ten years later he applied to be the organist there, but was unsuccessful. He also worked at an orphanage, Orfanelle della Pietà, where it is thought he may have been a music instructor.

Although Gnocchi’s music was never published, it still exists in manuscript form and is regularly performed today. His choral music, which reveals the influence of his early training in Venice, included more than 60 masses, with surprising titles, such as Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. He also composed Requiems, sets of Vespers, various settings of the Magnificat and settings of the Miserere, as well as hymns and motets.

One of his settings for the Magnificat is entitled ‘Il Capa di Buona Speranza’, The Cape of Good Hope, reflecting his interest in geography.

Gnocchi also wrote some secular music, which included concertos and sonatas for stringed instruments, and some songs.

Most of his music manuscripts are now stored in the archives of Brescia Cathedral and the Church of Madonna delle Grazie in Brescia.

In 1762, Gnocchi successfully reapplied for his old position as maestro di cappella at Brescia Cathedral, as well as for the position of organist. He was to hold both these appointments until his death at the age of 86 in 1775 in Brescia, where according to his wishes, he was buried in the Church of San Giorgio. 

Brescia's Duomo Vecchio, also known as the 
Rotonda, where Gnocchi was maestro di cappella

His treatise on memorial tablets in and around Brescia, and his history of ancient Greek colonies, were bought by Prince Faustino Lechi of Brescia, who was a student of Gnocchi, and later became his friend and patron. Many of Gnocchi’s manuscripts are still preserved in the Bibliotheca Civica Queriniana di Brescia.

Gnocchi influenced Italian music through teaching other musicians in Brescia and passing on Venetian traditions to them. The pupils he mentored adopted his musical style and went on to occupy key ecclesiastical roles themselves, continuing to evoke the atmosphere of choral music, as it was performed in St Mark’s Basilica, throughout Lombardy.

Scholarly interest in Gnocchi’s music has grown in the 20th and early 21st centuries and studies have been written comparing Gnocchi’s sonatas and concertos with those of Vivaldi, noting the shared Venetian traits as well as the differences.

Ensembles specialising in Baroque music have played Gnocchi’s sonatas using period instruments and released recordings of his works, which have also enabled contemporary listeners to make comparison with the music of Vivaldi. A CD of sacred music written by Gnocchi for the churches of Brescia, performed by the Coro Claudio Monteverdi, is currently available. 

Brescia is a mix of Renaissance architecture
and ruins from its Roman past

Travel tip:

Brescia, the birthplace of Pietro Gnocchi, is a town of great artistic and architectural importance but, although it is the second city in Lombardy after Milan, and has Roman remains and well-preserved Renaissance buildings, it is not well-known to tourists.  Brescia became a Roman colony before the birth of Christ and you can still see remains from the forum, theatre, and a temple. The town was fought over by different rulers in the middle ages but came under the protection of Venice in the 15th century. There is a distinct Venetian influence in the architecture of the Piazza della Loggia, an elegant square in the centre of the town, which has a clock tower remarkably similar to the one in Saint Mark’s square in Venice. The Santa Giulia Museo della Città covers more than 3000 years of Brescia’s history, housed within the Benedictine Nunnery of San Salvatore and Santa Giulia in Via Musei. The nunnery was built over a Roman residential quarter, but some of the houses, with their original mosaics and frescoes, have now been excavated and can be seen while looking round the museum.

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Brescia's Cattedrale di Santa Maria Nuova,
known also as the Duomo Nuovo

Travel tip:

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Brescia, known as the Duomo Nuovo (new cathedral) stands next to the Duomo Vecchio (old cathedral) in Piazza Paolo VI in the centre of the city. The unusually shaped Duomo Vecchio, also known as la Rotonda, is open to the public.  Designed by architect Giovanbattista Lantana, who took over the commission after it was originally given to Andrea Palladio, the Duomo Nuovo, which has a Baroque facade in Botticino marble, was built on the remains of the old basilica of San Pietro de Dom starting from 1604. Financial constraints caused the construction of the new cathedral repeatedly to be delayed. It was not completed until 1825, with the addition of Luigi Cagnola’s dome, at 80 metres (262ft) the third tallest in Italy.  The present dome was rebuilt after destruction during the Second World War. The interior contains a monument to the Brescian Pope Paul VI, found on the left transept. The circular Duomo Vecchio, on which construction began in 1100 and where Gnocchi was maestro di cappella, is regarded as a Romanesque triumph.  Brescia was named as a Capital of Culture, along with the nearby city of Bergamo, by the Italian Government as a symbol of the hope and rebirth following the devastating effects on both cities caused by the volume of death during the Covid 19 pandemic. 

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More reading:

How Brescia businessman Giovanni Treccani used his wealth to encourage learning and culture 

Alessandro Bonvicino, the Brescia painter acclaimed for outstanding altarpieces 

Success and sadness in the life of Antonio Vivaldi

Also on this day:

1935: The birth of soprano Mirella Freni

1950: The birth of fashion designer Franco Moschino

1964: Italy's appeal for help with Leaning Tower

1973: The birth of singer and actress Chiara Iezzi

1978: The birth of dancer Simone di Pasquale

(Brescia photographs by Wolfgang Moroder via Wiki Commons)

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