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Italy

  • 6/2/19

    Remembering Rome's Liberation

    by Gregory Sumner

    Amid the anniversary of the D-Day invasion, it is important to note, too, the anniversary of an event that unfolded just two days earlier: the Allied liberation of Rome. 

  • SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor
    10-25-17

    Italy uses Anne Frank's diary to combat anti-Semitism at sports games

    After anti-Semitic stickers were strewn around Italian soccer club Lazio's stadium, the team and the Italian soccer federation are taking steps to combat racism and anti-Semitism at games, including reading a passage aloud from Anne Frank's diary before matches.

  • SOURCE: The Conversation
    7-28-17

    Can Italy deal with its fascist past?

    by Sabina Loriga

    Politicians hope that a "museum of fascism" in Benito Mussolini's hometown can help the country face its demons. Historians aren't so sure.

  • SOURCE: New Historian
    1-14-15

    700 Year Old Murder

    By analysing mummified faecal matter, researchers have discovered a medieval warlord was poisoned.

  • 10-3-13

    The Italian Job

    by David Vine

    How the Pentagon is using your tax dollars to turn Italy into a launching pad for the wars of today and tomorrow.

  • SOURCE: The Art Newspaper
    8-19-13

    Part of Vasari Corridor roof collapses in Florence

    Emergency restoration work started today on a section of Florence’s famous Vasari Corridor, after some plaster and tiles fell from the roof on Friday. The damage occurred in the section of the raised corridor that passes next to the church of Santa Felicita, just over the Ponte Vecchio, on the south side of the river Arno.It is reported that no one was hurt, and museum professionals are already establishing the best course of action to restore the damage to the building. Around ten portraits have been removed from the walls as a precaution while restoration work begins, but the popular tourist site will remain open.Coincidentally, the same portion of the corridor was due to be closed most of next month while curators install a series of self-portraits of 20th-century and contemporary artists for an exhibition that is scheduled to open at the end of September....

  • SOURCE: The Local
    8-9-13

    2,000-year-old Roman ship found off Genoa

    The discovery was made by police divers off the coast of Porto Maurizio, Liguria, Il Secolo XIX reported.At least 50 Roman vases were found in the ship, 50 metres below sea level, which remains completely intact.“This is an exceptional discovery,” Lieutenant Colonel Francesco Schilardi told the newspaper.“Now it’s a matter of protecting the ship and keeping the grave...

  • SOURCE: Toronto Globe and Mail
    8-9-13

    Florence tomb opened in search for identity of Mona Lisa

    Researchers opened a centuries-old Florence tomb on Friday in a search for remains that could confirm the identity of the woman whose enigmatic smile Leonardo da Vinci immortalized in the Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous paintings.A round hole, just big enough for a person to wriggle through, was cut in the stone church floor above the family crypt of Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, whose wife, Lisa Gherardini, is thought to have sat for the Renaissance master in the early 16th century....

  • SOURCE: The Art Newspaper
    8-1-13

    Italian police seize huge haul of illicit antiquities

    Police in southern Italy have seized a large haul of well-preserved artefacts that were illegally excavated between the two southern towns of Benevento and Foggia, near Naples. A total of 584 antiquities were recovered, estimated to be worth around €2m and intended for sale on the black market.Investigations are ongoing, but so far 21 tombaroli, or graverobbers, have been identified by police, while a 46-year-old man from the area has reportedly been charged with handling stolen archaeological objects after investigators searched his property in the nearby town of Castelpagano.The artefacts are reportedly in very good condition and range from a large ancient Greek krater estimated to be worth around €150,000 to small pieces valued at around €1,500. The collection includes other Greek objects, including a group of fourth-century BC ceramic bowls decorated with red figures, various Etruscan and Corinthian objects, a set of 340 rare coins, many Roman lanterns and a particularly well-preserved helmet....

  • SOURCE: BBC News
    7-29-13

    Unrepentant Nazi criminal Priebke chills Rome

    There has been a renewed call in Italy for one of the oldest surviving Nazi war criminals to repent.It came on the eve of the 100th birthday of Erich Priebke, who has never expressed remorse for his part in a World War ll massacre at the Ardeatine Caves, on the outskirts of Rome.The former SS officer is actually still in the Italian capital.He lives under house arrest in what some in the city regard as conditions that are far too comfortable and lenient....