Stefano della Bella – printmaker

Artist sketched important events preserving them for posterity

Carlo Dolci's 1631 portrait of Stefano della
Bella, which currently resides in the Pitti Palace

Stefano della Bella, who produced hundreds of sketches of court festivities held by the Medici, as well as visual records of important public occasions, died on this day in 1664 in Florence.

Della Bella was a draughtsman and printmaker known for his etchings of military and court scenes. He left more than 1000 prints and several thousand drawings, but only one known painting.

He was born into a family of artists in Florence in 1610 and was apprenticed to a goldsmith. However he went on to become an engraver and studied etching.

Thanks to the patronage of the Medici family, Della Bella was able to study for six years in Rome living in the Medici Palace in the Villa Borghese area.

Della Bella produced views of Rome, drawings of antiquities and sketches of crowded public occasions in a series of sketchbooks, many of which were later turned into prints.

He also made trips to Florence to record Medici court festivities and during this period his style developed from Mannerist to Baroque.

A scene in Rome typical of those drawn by Della
Bella shows the Arch of Constantine

Della Bella captured major events of his time, just like a photographer does today, and his prints have enabled people to see in detail the lavish festivities held by the Medici family and what daily life was like in Rome - and also in Paris - in the first half of the 17th century.

While in Rome, Della Bella created a series of six prints, which formed a long panel measuring 2.5 metres, showing the Polish ambassador’s ceremonial entry into Rome. He also created many intricate prints showing views of Rome as they were at the time.

In 1639 Della Bella went to Paris, where he adapted his style to suit French taste. In 1641, Cardinal Richelieu sent him to Arras to make drawings for prints recording the siege and taking of Arras by the Royal Army. Then, in 1664, Cardinal Mazarin commissioned him to create four sets of educational playing cards for the young Louis XIV.

Della Bella also created views of Paris, including a very large print of the Pont Neuf, looking south from the entrance from the Place Dauphine, with accurate depictions of the buildings on the banks of the Seine and including more than 400 distinct figures, such as beggars, gypsies, children and animals. During this period Della Bella also travelled to Holland, where he was profoundly influenced by Rembrandt.

Della Bella's detailed print showing the Pont Neuf in Paris

On his return to Florence, Della Bella was granted a pension by the Grand Duke and was given the task of instructing his son, Cosimo III de' Medici, in drawing.

Della Bella continued to send plates to Paris publishers and is also known to have illustrated some of the discoveries of Galileo.

But he did little work after suffering a stroke in 1661 and he died three years later.

The Villa Medici, where Della Bella lived during his
time working for the Medici family in Rome

Travel tip:

The Villa Medici in Rome, where Della Bella lived during his time in the capital, is on the Pincian Hill next to the Church of Trinità dei Monti. The villa was founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1576. It became the principal Medici property in Rome, intended to assert the family’s importance and their permanent presence in Rome.

Travel tip:

Della Bella would have regularly visited Palazzo Pitti to give the future Cosimo III de' Medici drawing lessons. The child was born in the palace in 1642, on the south side of the River Arno in Florence, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. Palazzo Pitti was originally the home of Luca Pitti, a Florentine banker. It was bought by the Medici family in 1549, after which it became the chief residence of the ruling family of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

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Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo

The shocking fate of a Spanish noblewoman

Leonora, as depicted by the 16th century
portrait painter Alessandro Allori

The beautiful wife of Don Pietro de' Medici, Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo, was strangled to death with a dog lead on this day in 1576 in a villa near Barberino di Mugello in Tuscany.

The murder was carried out by her husband, Pietro, but he was never brought to justice. His brother, Francesco, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, gave out as the official line that his sister-in-law had died as a result of an accident.

Eleonora, who was more often referred to as Leonora, was born in Florence in 1553, the daughter of Garcia Alvarez di Toledo and Vittoria d’Ascanio Colonna. Her father and mother were living in Florence at the time because Garcia was in charge of the castles of Valdichiano.

When her mother died a few months later, the baby, Leonora, was left in the care of her aunt, Eleonora, the Duchess of Florence, and her husband, the Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, who raised her, preparing her for a life at the Medici court.

After the Duchess, Eleonora, died, her daughter, Isabella, took over the supervision of the young Leonora.

A marriage was arranged between Leonora and Cosimo’s son and Isabella’s brother, Pietro, with the approval of King Philip II of Spain.

Alessandro Allori's portrait of what is thought
to be Pietro de' Medici

The couple were married at Palazzo Vecchio in 1571 and it was reported that Pietro had to be forced to consummate the union. Leonora later gave birth to a son, Cosimo, but the marriage was not a great success. This was also the case with her mentor and sister-in-law, Isabella, who had been married off for political reasons to Paolo Giordano Orsini.

Isabella chose not to live at her husband’s castle, or in Rome, where Orsini conducted his political and amorous affairs, but remained in Florence at her own villa, cultivating an artistic salon and discreetly taking lovers.

Leonora was part of Isabella’s circle and followed her example in sponsoring the arts and charities and also in taking lovers.

Under Cosimo I de' Medici such behaviour was tolerated as long as discretion was maintained. But when he died and was succeeded by his son, Francesco, things changed. Although he had a mistress himself, Francesco was less tolerant than his father. Crucially, he was less willing to turn a blind eye to the behaviour of Isabella and Leonora and to ignore the complaints of their husbands.

However, neither woman realised the danger posed to them by the new regime.

On 11 July 1576 Pietro sent a note to his brother, the Grand Duke Francesco, saying that Leonora had died as the result of an accident.

Isabella suffered the same fate as Leonora

Francesco passed on the news that she had been found dead in bed, having apparently suffocated.

But, in fact, Leonora’s death at the age of 23 was not an accident. She had been strangled by her own husband.

Six days later, Isabella was also strangled by her husband at a remote villa in Cerreto Guidi in Tuscany.

Word soon got out in Florence that both women had been murdered in cold blood by their husbands.

The Spanish were outraged at the treatment of Leonora and eventually Francesco admitted the truth to Philip II of Spain, on whose favour his title depended.

Pietro was never brought to justice for Leonora’s murder, despite the protests of her brother, Pedro Alvarez de Toledo y Colonna. Pietro was eventually exiled by Francesco and died in 1604, heavily in debt because of his gambling.

The Villa Medicea di Caffagiolo, outside
the Tuscan town of Barberino di Mugello

Travel tip:

The Villa Medicea di Caffagiolo, where Leonora was strangled, is near the Tuscan town of Barberino di Mugello, 25 kilometres north of Florence. The villa was reconstructed following the designs of the Renaissance architect Michelozzo in the 1450s and became a meeting place for many Renaissance intellectuals. Pietro had summoned his wife to the villa and strangled her with a dog leash after letters from Leonora’s lover had fallen into the hands of the Grand Duke, Francesco.

Travel tip:

Cerreto Guidi, where Isabella was strangled in a remote villa, is about 30 kilometres west of Florence. The Grand Duke, Francesco, announced that his sister’s death was an accident. The 16th century Medici villa is in the centre of the village. It is claimed that the ghost of Isabella still roams the villa seeking peace. The legend attracts many visitors who want to see the bedroom where the murder took place.

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The death of Hadrian

Legacy of emperor famous for wall across Britain

A bust of Hadrian from the Farnese
Collection in Naples

The Roman emperor Hadrian, famous for ordering the construction of a wall to keep barbarians from entering Roman Britain, died on this day in 138 AD.

Aged about 62, he is thought to have been suffering from heart failure and passed away at his villa at Baiae – now Baia – on the northern shore of the Bay of Naples.

Hadrian was regarded as the third of the five so-called "Good Emperors", a term coined by the political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli, who noted that while most emperors to succeed to the throne by birth were “bad” in his view, there was a run of five - Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius – who all succeeded by adoption, who enjoyed the reputation as benevolent dictators. They governed by earning the good will of their subjects.

It is accepted that Hadrian came from a family with its roots in Hispania. His birthplace is thought to have been the city of Italica Hispania – on the site of what is now Seville.

His predecessor, Trajan, a maternal cousin of Hadrian's father, did not designate an heir officially and it is thought that his wife, Plotina, signed the papers of succession, claiming that Trajan had named Hadrian emperor immediately before his death.

Hadrian’s rule was just and largely peaceful. Immediately on his succession he withdrew from Trajan's conquests in Mesopotamia, Assyria and Armenia. Paradoxically, he spent a lot of time with his soldiers, usually dressed in military attire and ordered rigorous military training.

Although much of Hadrian's Wall has been dismantled
over the years, some sections remain.

During his reign, Hadrian travelled to almost every corner of the empire but was a particular admirer of Greece. He wanted Athens to be the cultural capital of the empire and constructed many opulent temples in the city.

In 138, shortly before his death, Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius and named him as his heir on the condition that he in turn adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as his own heirs.

Hadrian’s building projects are perhaps his most enduring legacy. He established cities throughout the Balkan Peninsula, Egypt, Asia Minor, and Greece.  The city of Antinopolis in Egypt was founded in memory of Hadrian’s gay lover, a young Greek man called Antinous, who drowned in the River Nile.

In Rome he rebuilt the Pantheon, which had been destroyed in a fire, and Trajan’s Forum as well as funding the construction of other buildings, baths, and villas. He commissioned the construction of Hadrian’s Wall in 122 AD following a major rebellion against Roman occupation that lasted two years.

The ruins of the imperial complex at Baia, where Hadrian
was probably living at the time of his death

The wall was originally three metres (10 feet) wide and 6m (20 ft) high, stretching 120km (73 miles) from east to west, from Wallsend in Newcastle to Bowness-on-Solway, just west of Carlisle. Linking 14 forts, it formed a barrier between the northern limits of Britannia and the barbarian lands of Scotland. The Roman legions stationed in Britain took six years to build it and it became the most famous Roman defensive fortification in the world.

Hadrian’s foreign policy was “peace through strength” and the wall, alongside which was a ditch 6m wide and 3m deep, symbolised the might of the Roman Empire.

After his death, Hadrian was buried first at Puteoli, near Baiae, on an estate that had once belonged to Cicero. Not long afterwards, his remains were transferred to Rome and buried in the Gardens of Domitia. On completion of the Tomb of Hadrian by his successor Antoninus Pius, his body was cremated, and his ashes were placed there together with those of his wife Vibia Sabina and his first adopted son, Lucius Aelius, who also died in 138.

A submerged Roman statue at Baia 

Travel tip:

For many years, Baiae – now Baia – was something of a party capital for the rich and powerful Roman elite. It was famous for its healing medicinal hot springs and the emperors Nero, Cicero, and Caesar had holiday villas there.  Sacked by the Saracens in the eighth century it fell into disrepair and the abandoned remains were gradually submerged as water rose through the volcanic vents that were the source of its springs. Today, those ancient remains can be visited in one of the world’s few underwater archeological parks. Visitors can view the crumbled structures and statuary of the city through glass-bottomed boats and scuba divers can actually swim among the ruins.

Castel Sant'Angelo - the Mausoleaum of Hadrian - viewed
from the Ponte Sant'Angelo at night

Travel tip:

The Mausoleum of Hadrian is better known as Castel Sant'Angelo, the towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, on the banks of the Tiber. Commissioned by the Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family, the building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. It was once the tallest building in Rome.  Hadrian also built the Pons Aelius – now Ponte Sant’Angelo – which provides a scenic approach to the mausoleum from the centre of Rome across the Tiber. Baroque statues of angels were later added, lining each side of the bridge.

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Adriano Panatta – tennis player

French Open champion was most at home on the clay

Adriano Panata was at the peak of his career in 1976

The only tennis player ever to defeat Bjorn Borg at Roland Garros in Paris, Adriano Panatta was born on this day in 1950 in Rome.

A successful singles player, Panatta reached the peak of his career in 1976 when he won the French Open, gaining his only Grand Slam title, defeating the American player, Harold Solomon, in the final 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.

Panatta learnt to play tennis as a youngster on the clay courts of the Tennis Club Parioli in Rome, where his father was the caretaker.

He won top-level titles at Bournemouth in 1973, Florence in 1974 and at Kitzbuhel in Austria and Stockholm in 1975.

In the same year that he won the French Open, Panatta won the Italian Open in Rome, beating Guillermo Vilas in the final 2-6, 7-6, 6-2, 7-6. In the first round of the competition he had saved 11 match points in his match against the Australian Kim Warwick.

Panatta ended 1976 by helping Italy capture its only Davis Cup title, winning two singles and a doubles rubber in the final against Chile. He also reached his career-high singles ranking of World number four that year.

Adriano Panatta aged 20 in 1970 - the
 year he beat Nicola Pietrangeli

The only player to have defeated Bjorn Borg in the French Open, Panatta had the distinction of achieving this feat twice, in the fourth round in 1973 and in the quarter finals in 1976.  

Panatta’s most notable performance at Wimbledon was in 1979 when he reached the quarter finals. 

In all, he won 10 tournaments in singles and 17 in doubles. He is one of only four Italian players to have won a Grand Slam tournament, the others being Nicola Pietrangeli, who won the French open in 1959 and successfully defended his title in 1960, Francesca Schiavone, who won the French in 2010, and Flavia Pennetta, who was US Open champion in 2015.

It was by defeating Pietrangeli in five sets at the Italian International championships in Bologna in 1970 that Panatta first gave notice of his potential to reach the top.

As wells as helping Italy win the Davis Cup in 1976, Panatta assisted his country to reach the final in 1977, 1979 and 1980.

Since retiring as a player in 1983, Panatta has served as captain of Italy’s Davis Cup team and as Tournament Director of the Rome Masters.  For a while, he pursued an interest in speedboat racing and also served on Rome City Council as councillor in charge of sports and major events. For a number of years he worked as a television commentator.

The Parioli district is a pleasant Rome suburb with
bars and pavement cafes

Travel tip:

The Tennis Club Parioli, where Panatta learnt to play, is in Largo Uberto De Morpergo in the Parioli district, a northern suburb of Rome. The name comes from Monti Parioli, which are a series of hills. During the Fascist regime, many high-ranking party officials had residences in the Parioli district. Nowadays it is one of Rome’s most elegant residential areas and a number of foreign embassies are located there.

The Italian Open attracts large crowds to the Foro Italico

Travel tip:

The Italian Open, which Panatta won in 1976, is one of the most prestigious clay court tournaments in the world. It takes place each year at the Foro Italico, formerly known as Foro Mussolini, which was built between 1928 and 1938. Foro Italico is considered a prime example of Italian Fascist architecture, which was encouraged by Mussolini. The purpose was to bring the Olympic Games to Rome in 1944, however London won the bid. In the event, the 1944 Olympic Games had to be cancelled because of the Second World War.

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