Enrico De Nicola - politician

Italy’s ‘reluctant’ first president

Enrico de Nicola

The man who was to become the first president of the Republic of Italy was born on this day in Naples in 1877.

Enrico De Nicola studied law at Naples University and went on to become one of the most esteemed criminal lawyers in Italy. He also worked as a journalist writing about legal issues.
He later joined the Italian liberal party and was elected to the Camera dei Deputati (Chamber of Deputies) in 1909.

He held minor government posts until the advent of Fascism when he retired from public life to concentrate on his legal career.

De Nicola took an interest in politics again after Mussolini’s fall from power in 1943.

At first King Victor Emmanuel III tried to extricate the monarchy from its association with the Fascists and his son Umberto became Lieutenant General of the Realm and took over most of the functions of the Sovereign. Victor Emmanuel later abdicated and his son became King Umberto II.

But after a constitutional referendum was held in Italy, the country became a republic in 1946.

Umberto went into exile and Enrico De Nicola was elected head of state on 28 June 1946 with 80 per cent of the votes.

He is remembered by his colleagues as a modest man who was unsure at the time whether to accept the nomination.

De Nicola was formally named President of the Italian Republic on 1 January 1948 after having guided Italy through the first difficult months of becoming a republic.

Rome's Palazzo del Quirinale, official residence of the
Italian President: Picture by Markus Mark

But when the first constitutional elections were held the following May he refused to stand for office again.

As a former Head of State he was made a Senator for life in 1956.

He died in October, 1959 at Torre del Greco near Naples.

Travel tip:

When in Rome, you can see the Palazzo di Montecitorio, where the Chamber of Deputies has met since 1871, not far from the Pantheon. You can also see the Palazzo del Quirinale, which became the President’s official residence in 1947, near the Trevi Fountain.

Travel Tip:

Torre del Greco, where De Nicola spent his last years, is south of Naples near Pompeii. Its name derives from an ancient watch tower and from the vineyards in the area which produce wine from a grape variety called Greco. The main trade for centuries was coral fishing and Torre del Greco is now famous for producing fine pieces of carved coral and other jewellery.

Home

Francis I of the Two Sicilies

Death of the king who failed to impress Lady Blessington 

An 1829 portrait of Francis I of the Two
Sicilies by Vicente López Portaña

Francis I died in Naples on this day in 1830 after having been King of the Two Sicilies for five years.

The Two Sicilies was the largest of all the Italian states before unification, originally formed as a union between the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples.

It lasted until 1860 when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia, which became Italy in 1861.

The Two Sicilies originated when the Kingdom of Sicily was divided in 1283. The King at the time lost the island of Sicily but kept control of his part of southern Italy, which was also referred to as Sicily. The Two Sicilies had capitals in Palermo and Naples.

After Francis succeeded his father Ferdinand I in 1825 he took little part in government and lived with his mistresses in constant fear of assassination.

He is remembered for getting the Austrian occupation force removed from Naples, where it had been billeted at the expense of the treasury, and for founding the Royal Order of Francis I to reward civil merit.

We are fortunate to have been left with an impression of him by Lady Blessington, an English aristocrat, who lived in Naples between 1823 and 1826 and kept a fascinating diary of her time there.

Living in Vomero, Francis would have enjoyed
spectacular views over Naples towards Vesuvius

In July 1823 she encountered Francis while he was still Prince of Salerno and heir presumptive to the throne.

She writes: “…(his) obesity indicates anything but health; and the stooping posture which he continually maintains, his head drooping over his chest, confirms the impression of helpless embonpoint which his countenance conveys. From this mode of holding his head, his glance has something disagreeable and sinister in it.”

In November 1824 she writes: “The air of Vomero is so salutary, that the Prince of Salerno, heir-apparent to the Neapolitan throne, who is in delicate health, has been induced to try its efficacy in preference to any of the royal palaces in the vicinity of Naples.”

After King Ferdinand died, Lady Blessington wrote about being taken to see him as he lay in state, remembering him as a ‘good-natured man’.

King Francis and the rest of the royal family moved to the palace of Capodimonte near where Lady Blessington was staying.

She writes: “…the route is filled by the carriages of the ministers of state, officers of the palace and courtiers, hurrying to worship the new king and totally oblivious of the departed one.

Castel Sant' Elmo sits high above Naples

“Innumerable are the virtues, hitherto unsuspected, but now attributed to the King (Francis I) and the errors discovered in the late. It would seem that in new sovereigns, like brides, their good qualities are lauded, and their defects overlooked; for during a long residence at Naples, I never heard so many anecdotes in favour of Francesco, as in the last two days.”

Lady Blessington’s doubts about Francis’s health proved to be well founded. He died on 8 November 1830 aged only 53.  

Travel tip:

The Royal Palace of Capodimonte was the summer residence of the Kings of the Two Sicilies. The palace and park in Via Miano now house a museum and art gallery open to the public daily from 8.30 to 19.30 but closed on Wednesdays.


Travel tip:

You can take the funicular railway up the hill to Vomero for fine views over the city and the bay of Naples. It is well worth visiting the 14th century Castel Sant’Elmo for the views you will have from its vantage point.

Home

Niccolò Machiavelli

Enforced retirement gives public servant time to write about his ruthless ideas

Statesman and diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli, whose name has become synonymous with the words ‘cunning’ and ‘duplicity’, was dismissed from office in Florence on this day in 1512 by a written decree issued by the Medici rulers.

The Ponte Vecchio over the River Arno in Florence

Machiavelli was forced to withdraw from public life and retired to his home in the Chianti region of Tuscany, where he wrote his most famous work, The Prince, which was to give the world the political idea of ‘the ends justify the means’.

Had the Medici not distrusted him, Machiavelli might have continued to serve in Florence as a diplomat and military leader. 

He may never have passed on to mankind the ideas he had learnt from his work during the turbulent period in Italian history when popes and other European countries were battling against Italy’s city states for power.

In The Prince he was able to write with first-hand knowledge about the methods he had seen used by Cesare Borgia and his father Pope Alexander V1 to take over large parts of central Italy.

The ideas he put forward were to make the word ‘machiavellian’ a regularly used pejorative adjective and the phrase ‘Old Nick’ to become an English term for the devil.

The book put forward the idea that the aims of princes, such as glory and survival, could justify the use of immoral means.  

Machiavelli also advocated that it is safer to be feared than to be loved, if you can’t achieve both, and he recommended that if an injury has to be done to a man ‘it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared’.

His ideas were to exert a lasting, profound influence on western political thought and are still referred to today. But in modern times, people have begun to interpret them as pragmatic observations rather than as encouraging ruthlessness, cruelty and violence in people.

Machiavelli never got back into public office after the decree of 7 November 1512 and he died at his home in 1527 at the age of 58.

Travel Tip:

Machiavelli wrote ‘The Prince’ at his country home in Sant’Andrea in Percussina, south of Florence, in the heart of Chianti country near San Casciano Val di Pesa. The house where he is believed to have lived is now a Bed and Breakfast called La Fonte del Macchiavelli.

Travel Tip:

There is a monument to Machiavelli in the beautiful Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence, where many famous Florentines are buried. A marble structure by Innocenzo Spinazzi was erected in his memory in 1787. The Latin inscription on the front of the monument translates as: ‘No eulogy is equal to such a name’. 

More reading:

'The ends justify the means' - the life of Niccolò Machiavelli

Home

Vino Novello

Raise a glass to autumn in Italy

Italy’s new wine for 2015, Vino Novello, goes on sale in the shops and will be served in bars and restaurants from today.

The light, fruity, red wine, produced throughout Italy from different grape varieties, is enjoyable to drink and a bargain buy to take home with you.

Vino Novello on sale in Padova

Vino Novello is often similar in taste, body and colour to the French wine, Beaujolais Nouveau, which is exported to a number of other countries after its release in the third week of November.

Like Beaujolais Nouveau, Vino Novello has a low alcohol content and is meant to be drunk while it is still young. The wine should be consumed quickly after the bottle is opened and unopened bottles should be kept for only a few months.

In some parts of Italy there is a tradition that the last days to drink it are i giorni della merla (the days of the blackbird), which are traditionally the coldest days at the end of January.

A major area for production is the Veneto, with the merlot grape being the one most used by wine makers to make Vino Novello. Many wine producing areas hold feste to celebrate and will serve local specialities to eat with the new wine.

Vino Novello is produced using carbonic maceration, which involves accelerating the fermentation process.

Whereas 100 per cent carbonic maceration is used to produce Beaujolais Nouveau, only 30 per cent is required for Vino Novello.

However, one Italian Vino Novello that is produced using 100 per cent carbonic maceration is Bardolino Novello, which is made in the area around the resort of Bardolino on Lake Garda in the Veneto.

According to the Bardolino wine consortium (Consorzio Tutelavino Bardolino Doc), 100 per cent carbonic maceration is used in order to produce an excellent wine.

A wine bar on Bardolino's main street

Vino Novello has a vibrant colour, a fresh bouquet and goes well with chestnuts and dishes made from chestnut flour, such as castagnaccio, a popular cake served in the autumn.

Travel tip:

In 1987, Bardolino Novello was the first Vino Novello to receive DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) status. To celebrate this achievement a wine festival is held every year in the first week of November in Piazza del Porto in Bardolino.

Travel tip:

Bardolino is just a short boat ride away from Desenzano del Garda. After disembarking, walk down the main street, which is lined with shops, restaurants and bars where you can sample Bardolino by the glass. Make a point of visiting the church of San Severo, which dates back to the 11th century and the small church of San Zeno, which dates back to the eighth century and still contains traces of its original frescoes. If you want to learn more about Bardolino wine and the history of wine making, visit the museum run by the Zeni family of winemakers at Via Costabella 9. For opening hours visit www.zeni.it

Home

Pietro Longhi - painter

Painter who allowed us to see inside 18th century Venice

The painter Pietro Longhi, who was renowned for his accurate scenes of every day life in Venice in the 18th century, was born on this day in 1702.

The Correr Museum can be found in
Piazza San Marco

Longhi was originally called Pietro Falca and was the son of a silversmith in Venice, but he changed his name after he began painting.

He started with historical and religious scenes but his work evolved after a stay in Bologna where he encountered Giuseppe Maria Crespi, who was considered one of the greatest Italian painters at the time.

Longhi’s son Alessandro later wrote that his father had a ‘brilliant and bizarre spirit’, which led him to accurately paint people in conversation and show us the love and jealousy going on in the background.

His paintings vividly depict Venetian life and show wonderful details of the clothes and possessions of the upper and middle classes.

For example, Longhi’s painting of The Hairdresser and the Lady, which is in the Correr Museum in Venice, shows a wealthy Venetian lady having her hair dressed by a man, while a maid stands to one side holding a child.

Longhi faithfully shows us how the clothing of each subject reflects the rank of the person wearing it and allows us to see the various objects scattered on the lady’s dressing table.

In The Duck Hunt, which is in the museum of Palazzo Querini Stampalia in Venice, Longhi depicts an archer in a smart coat and powdered wig being rowed out on the lagoon by people in their work clothes.

Longhi's The Charlatan is one of many
scenes depicting Venice's ridotti

He also painted many scenes of masked couples gambling or flirting in ridotti, the gaming salons that were popular in Venice at the time, allowing us to see the behaviour that went on.  The Charlatan, which is kept in the Ca' Rezzonico museum in Venice, is one such scene.

Longhi died in Venice in 1785. He has been compared to his English contemporary William Hogarth but his paintings are ironic rather than satirical and he shows us a more cheerful, prosperous society than the one painted by Hogarth.

While the great Canaletto has allowed us to see what Venice looked like on the outside in the 18th century, Longhi gives us the chance to see what went on indoors.

The Museo Correr occupies the upper floors
at the southern end of the Piazza San Marco

Travel Tip:

The Correr Museum (Museo Correr) is in St Mark’s Square, Venice and is a great place to learn about the art and history of Venice. The museum, which occupies the upper floors of the Procuratorie Nuove at the southern end of the square, originated with the collection bequeathed to the city in 1830 by Teodoro Correr, from a noble Venetian family, who had dedicated most of his life to collecting works of art and documents or individual objects that reflected the history of Venice. Correr also left funds to be used in conserving and extending the collections and in making them available to the public. Other pieces have since been given to the museum by other wealthy Venetians. It is open daily from 10 am to 7 pm.

The church of Santa Maria
Formosa is close to the palazzo

Travel Tip:

The Museum of the Querini Stampalia Foundation in Venice contains several paintings by Pietro Longhi, as well as works by Bellini and Tiepolo, in the beautiful setting of a Venetian palazzo close to Campo Santa Maria Formosa in Castello.  Founded founded in 1869 at the behest of  Count Giovanni Querini, the last descendent of the Querini family, it was designed by architect Carlo Scarpa, who  designed the interior and exterior of the palace. The Foundation is open to the public for academic research.

Also on this day:

1666: The birth of composer Attilio Ariosti

1702: The birth of painter Pietro Longhi

1754: The birth of explorer Alessandro Malaspina

1777: The birth of dancer and choreographer Filippo Taglioni

1778: The birth of archaeologist Giovanni Battista Belzoni

1898: The birth of double world war veteran Francesco Chiarello

Home

First night at Teatro di San Carlo

Oldest opera house in the world opens its doors in Naples

Teatro di San Carlo in Naples was officially opened on this day in 1737, way ahead of Teatra alla Scala in Milan and Teatro La Fenice in Venice.

Teatro di San Carlo opened on 4 November 1737 with
a performance of Mestastasio's Achille in Sciro

Built in Via San Carlo, close to Piazza del Plebiscito, the main square in Naples, Teatro di San Carlo quickly became one of the most important opera houses in Europe and renowned for its excellent productions.

Originally known as the Real Teatro di San Carlo, the theatre was designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano for the Bourbon King of Naples, Charles I, and took just eight months to build.

Medrano was primarily a military architect, but he was advised by Angelo Carasale, the former director of the Teatro San Bartolomeo, which the San Carlo was to replace. 

Incorporating 184 boxes plus a 10-seater royal box, the theatre had a capacity of more than 3,000 people, although modern safety regulations limit today's theatre to 1,386 seats. 

The official inauguration was on the King’s saint’s day, the festival of San Carlo, on the evening of 4 November. There was a performance of Achille in Sciro by Pietro Metastasio with music by Domenico Sarro, who also conducted the orchestra for the music for two ballets.

This was 41 years before La Scala and 55 years before La Fenice opened. San Carlo is now believed to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest, remaining opera houses in the world.

Both Gioachino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti served as artistic directors at San Carlo and the world premieres of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Rossini’s Mosè were performed there. 

Teatro di San Carlo is a short walk from the
Piazza del Plebiscito in the heart of Naples

In the magnificent auditorium, the focal point is the royal box surmounted by the crown of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. 

It is a lasting demonstration of the power of the Bourbon King Charles I in Naples at the time, which, thankfully, he used to give the city, and the rest of the world, a magnificent opera house.

Since then, San Carlo has suffered partial destruction in a fire in 1816 and was damaged by bombing raids in World War Two, although not too severely. It was open for business again within two months of Naples being liberated by the Allies in October 1943, relaunching on 26 December of that year with a performance of Puccini's La bohème.

Ironically, the great Neapolitan tenor, Enrico Caruso, did not enjoy a good relationship with San Carlo. From 1901 onwards, after being booed by a section of the audience during a performance of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Caruso refused to sing there again.

The Caffè Gambrinus has a long and illustrious
history as a meeting place in the heart of Naples

Travel Tip:

Close to Teatro San Carlo in the centre of Naples, Galleria Umberto I, Caffè Gambrinus, the church of San Francesco di Paola and Palazzo Reale are all well worth visiting.  The Gambrinus is an historic coffee house situated next to the start of Via Chiaia.  It was was founded in 1860 by Vincenzo Apuzzo, whose dream was to make his cafe the most important of the newly unified Italy. The next owner, Mario Vacca, began a refurbishment programme and commissioned numerous contemporary artists to provide decoration. Their artwork still graces the elegant Art Nouveau interiors. Later, the Gambrinus became known as a meeting place for intellectuals and artists, among them Gabriele D'Annunzio and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway and Jean Paul Sartre.

President Sergio Matarella leads part of
the ceremony in Rome in 2018

Travel Tip:

National Unity and Armed Forces Day (Giorno dell’Unità Nazionale e Festa delle Forze Armate) is a day of celebration held in Italy on or close to 4 November each year. Originally conceived as a way to to commemorate the victory over Austria-Hungary in 1918, which to many marked the completion of Italian unification, it was somewhat hijacked as a celebration of military strength under Mussolini, who renamed it as the Anniversary of Victory. After World War Two, there was a reassertion of the sense that the celebration was about unity rather than a battlefield triumph. A national holiday until 1976, it became a moveable celebration after that and declined in importance for a while in the 1980s and '90s before being revived by former president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. You may still see parades and celebrations of the day, which was marked with particular ceremony on the centenary of the end of World War One in 2018, with events held in Trieste and Trento, two cities at the forefront of the victory in 1918, as well as in Rome.

More reading:

Pietro Metastasio - from street entertainer to leading librettist

Teatro di San Carlo partially destroyed by fire

Caruso still regarded by some as the greatest tenor of all time

Also on this day:

1448: The birth of Alfonso II of Naples

1575: The birth of painter Guido Reni

1964: The birth of novelist Sandrone Dazieri

1333 and 1966: Florence hit by catastrophic floods

(Picture credits: Teatro di San Carlo by Radomil Binek; Piazza del Plebiscito by Baku; Caffè Gambrinus by Armando Mancini; Sergio Matarella by Quirinale.it; via Wikimedia Commons)

Home

Villa Giusti armistice

Talks held at villa in Padova end First World War in Italy

The Villa Giusti, owned by Count Giusti del Giardino, just
outside Padua, was the scene of the historic treaty signing

An armistice signed between Italy and Austria-Hungary at Villa Giusti near Padua ended World War I on the Italian front on this day in 1918.

After the Allied troops were victorious in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the Austria-Hungary commanding officers asked for a ceasefire and for peace talks.

They were invited to Villa Giusti at Mandria just outside Padua, which was owned by Count Giusti del Giardino, a former mayor of Padua and an Italian senator.

The principal signatories on the Italian side were Tenente Generale Pietro Badoglio and Maggior Generale Scipione Scipioni. Leading the Austria-Hungary delegation was General Viktor Weber Edler von Webenau.

During the war, the Villa Giusti had been the temporary residence of King Victor Emmanuel III when he was away from the front.

The signing of the armistice came after the commanders of the Austro-Hungarian Army sought a ceasefire. Their troops were fatigued, while at home the Austro-Hungarian Empire was tearing itself apart under ethnic lines. If the empire were to survive, it would have to withdraw from the war.

As the Battle of Vittorio Veneto reached a near-stalemate, the Austro-Hungarian force started a chaotic withdrawal. While a truce was being negotiated, the Italians reached Trento and Udine and landed in Trieste.  The Austro-Hungarians at first threatened to pull out of the talks, but on November 3 they accepted the armistice.

The armistice was seen by many Italians as the final phase of the Risorgimento, the movement started in 1815 to unify Italy. The bells of a nearby church rang out when news came from the villa that the armistice had been agreed.

Travel tip:

Villa Giusti in Via Armistizio, Mandria, is just outside Padua. Guided visits can be made to the villa by arrangement. The furniture in the room where negotiations were conducted remains just as it was on that day. Visitors can even see the round table on which the armistice was signed. Tel: +39 049 867 0492.

Vittorio Veneto's present day Piazza del Popolo, with the
city's Municipio (Town Hall) in the background

Travel tip:

Two separate towns in the Veneto region, Ceneda and Serravalle, were merged and renamed Vittorio in 1866 in honour of King Vittorio Emanuele II. After the last, decisive battle in the First World War had taken place nearby, the city was renamed Vittorio Veneto. Franco Zeffirelli shot some of the scenes for his film version of Romeo and Juliet against the backdrop of 15th century buildings in Seravalle.

Also on this day:

1560: The birth of painter Annibale Carracci

1801: The birth of composer Vincenzo Bellini

1810: The premiere of Rossini's first opera, La cambiale di matrimonio

1908: The birth of former president Giovanni Leone

1931: The birth of actress Monica Vitti

(Picture credit: Municipio at Vittorio Veneto by Mauro)

Home