Bringing the latest news and trends from Florence, Tuscany, and Italy since 2011. Now powered by artificial intelligence
Today, at 8 am, a body monitoring (“Friends of the Earth”) in the Loggia dei Lanzi found the phalanx of a finger of the left hand of the sculpture by Pio Fedi depicting “The Rape of Polyxena” had been removed. All fingers of this hand are product additions made necessary by repeated acts of vandalism (the last in March 2009).
In the early afternoon the Prince Albert II of Monaco, along with his wife Charlene, after landing at the airport of Peretola and being greeted by the console of the principality Alessandro Giusti, Prefect Luigi Varratta and the Quaestor Francis Zonno, went to visit Palazzo Vecchio.
A lost, elderly tourist afflicted by Alzheimer’s helped police locate her husband by sketching monuments that retraced the couple’s path through Florence on Monday. The tourist, a 70 year-old Dutch woman who suffered memory problems, had arrived in Florence with a tour group to visit the city.
Researchers digging for the remains of Leonardo da Vinci’s model Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo, known as Mona Lisa, said Tuesday that one of the most important burdens of proof lies with the insects found in the tomb. Researchers have been digging in the basement of a former Ursuline convent in central Florence for months where they believe Mona Lisa was buried.
DRS Technologies Canada, teaming with SELEX Elsag – both Finmeccanica companies – were recently awarded a contract worth approximately $11 million CAD by the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada for the upgrading of the Canadian Navy’s Halifax Class Frigate Internal Communications System (ICS).
Every Saturday, from 6 October to 5 January, visitors to the Uffizi Gallery, the Palatine Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art, the Museo degli Argenti (The Medici Treasury) and the Medici Villa of Petraia will have the chance to take part in an initiative focusing on a work of art as part of the series of events called: “Close-ups”.
MSC Cruises confirm that the four MSC Orchestra crewmembers who landed in Livorno, Tuscany, yesterday have been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. The four, one of whom diagnosed as being in critical condition, are currently in hospital. MSC Cruises and maritime authorities have agreed to offer passengers antibiotic profligacies. No other member of the crew has reported symptoms of the infection.
Some Italian policemen with their American colleagues celebrated the anniversary of Columbus Day. This twinning was renewed for the eighth consecutive year. Arrived from Florence, Rome, Genoa (the birthplace of Christopher Columbus), Naples, Arezzo, Pescara, Avellino and Enna the Italian policemen were invited to numerous events organized by the Italian-American communities of New Jersey, New York and Boston.
Many flock from all over the world to visit the Basilica in Santa Croce to admire both the church itself, and the artwork inside. The famous “Il Cristo Crocifissio del Maestro di Figline” has finally returned to the church, after a long restoration project that began in 2009. The restoration could not have been a success without the help of the Friends of Florence Organization.
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Stevan Jovetic’s early goal earned Fiorentina victory at home to Bologna in Serie A. The win lifted Fiorentina to the verge of the European places with Bologna still in mid-table. Vincenzo Montella said: “We took the perfect approach to this game and showed maturity, even in doing things slightly differently to the way we had prepared them. Stevan Jovetic does better with Luca Toni.”