St. Agnes is the patron saint of girls, and legend has it that virgins may see their future husbands in their dreams during the night of St. Agnes’s Eve on January 20. For the ritual to work, the young girl was to go to bed without supper, and undress completely before climbing into bed naked. Lying on her back, with ... Read More »
Italian, yes, but also fiercely independent, the Mediterranean island of Sicily has a rich and complicated history, one that blends an international mix of influences. Its beautiful vistas, quaint towns, sultry atmosphere, and longstanding traditions have inspired countless directors to film here, on location. Discover Sicily through cinema as we tour three of its historic towns, and check out Museyon’s ... Read More »
It’s one of the holiest sites in the Catholic church—and one of the most sacred spots in the history of art. It’s the Sistine Chapel, and it was inagurated 500 years ago on October 31, 1512 by Pope Julius II. All those centuries ago, the pope led mass under Michelangelo’s still-wet masterpiece. Today, 20,000 people a day admire the artist’s ... Read More »
In the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley, Matt Damon plays Tom Ripley, a man who heads to Italy to force rich American playboy Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) to return to his family. Along the way, his infatuation with Greenleaf and his girlfriend, Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow), takes a dark turn—all among the backdrop of 1950s Rome. From the ancient ... Read More »
A clothing store, an art gallery, a cafe and most recently, a three room hotel, 10 Corso Como is synonymous with cutting edge art and fashion in Milan. In an era that has seen the importance of Milanese fashion severely downgraded, 10 Corso Como is keeping the flame alive and roaring. Founded by gallerist Carla Sozzani, sister of ... Read More »
Leonardo da Vinci was an impatient genius who often went after projects with unbridled voracity only to abandon them when new ideas caught his attention. Or in the case of the fresco, Battle of Anghiari, when irritating difficulties presented themselves. In 1504, Leonardo was commissioned to paint a fresco in the Hall of Five Hundred in the Palazzo ... Read More »
From Discovery News comes a report from Italy that a dinosaur skull dating from about 190 million years ago has been found been found in the Cathedral of St. Ambrose in Vigevano, 20 miles from Milan. The dinosaur was discovered in the pink, marble slabs that support the balustrade by Andrea Tintori, a paleontologist from the University of ... Read More »
Musica dei Popoli means music of the people in Italian and every year, for the past 30 years, this music festival has striven to bring folk music from around the world to Florence, into a culture that can be quite insular. Hosted by the Florentine Center for Folk Traditions, this festival is one of the most popular on ... Read More »
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