Year of Italian culture in the U.S. opens in Washington. Italy’s foreign affairs minister will inaugurate The Year of Italian Culture in the United States event Wednesday with the loan of a Michelangelo sculpture to a major American gallery. Giulio Terzi will open the year-long event at Washington’s prestigious National Gallery of Art by unveiling the famous David-Apollo sculpture by Michelangelo.
Category: Arts
Raphael drawing, $48 million at auction
A drawing by Italian High Renaissance master Raphael has sold for 29.72 million pounds, or $47.9 million – a record for a work on paper in art history – after a dramatic bidding war at a Sotheby’s auction in London. The winning bid came after a 17-minute duel on Wednesday.
The Incredible Voyage of Enaiathollah Akbari
Syracuse University in Florence is pleased to invite you to the lecture: L’incredibile viaggio di Enaiathollah Akbari (“The Incredible Voyage of Enaiathollah Akbari”), Wednesday, November 28 at 6:15pm. Syracuse University, Piazza Savonarola 15, Florence.
Tribute to Italo Calvino at the Alinari Museum
Presented last July at the Rencontres d’Arles 2012, the exhibition is curated by Christophe Berthoud who, inspired by the work of one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century, Italo Calvino, has drawn from and used the Alinari Archives as an inexhaustible reservoir of stories and imagery. The exhibit will run until January 6, in Florence, Italy.
Cimabue to return to Santa Croce
A painted crucifix by medieval master Cimabue is ready to be returned to Florence’s Santa Croce Basilica after it was damaged in the Great Flood of 1966. The painted crucifix, executed in 1280, came to heightened fame when muddy waters, which swelled the banks of the Arno and inundated the entire city, swept into the church and wiped most of the paint off.
Uffizi smartphone app puts collection in context
Visitors to Florence’s hugely popular Uffizi Gallery will soon be able to access information about the origins of the artworks contained in the collection on their mobile phones thanks to a project aiming to better contextualise the local cultural heritage. Le Vie degli Uffizi (‘The Roads of the Uffizi’) is an initiative of local culture authorities, in conjunction with the cultural and environmental foundation Florens.
Michelangelo, Donatello, Brunelleschi crosses united
Famed Florentine Renaissance crucifixes by Michelangelo, Donatello and Filippo Brunelleschi will go on show together for the first time in the Florence Baptistery from November 2 to 11. The crosses are being united for a heritage biennial organised by the Fondazione Florens.
The art of scagliola, alchemy of colors
Alchemy of colours, an exhibition dedicated to the particular scagliola technique, all to be admired this autumn. What is scagliola? It is made from a mineral called selenite, which gives life to incredible artifacts. Scagliola has been known since ancient times as it was used to embellish architectural elements in sacred art and has become part of Florentine handicrafts.
Gearing up for Florens 2012
The International Week for Cultural and Environmental Heritage, Florens 2012, is scheduled to take place in Florence from November 3 to 11. Cultural directors include Mauro Agnoletti, Andrea Carandini and Walter Santagata, with Davide Rampello as artistic director.
Palazzo Strozzi, a great house in Florence
The Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi has set up this small permanent exhibition to give the public insight into the history of the Palazzo where the Foundation is housed. Eight panels give an account of the fortunes of the Strozzi from the fourteenth century to the present day while a genealogical tree helps the visitor understand the complexity of the family’s various noble connections.