The captain of the cruise liner Costa Concordia that ran aground on a Tuscan island in January killing 32 people was fired in July, the Costa Crociere company said Wednesday, confirming a press report. Schettino apologised in July for being “distracted” on the night of Italy’s worst maritime disaster since World War II.
The weather alert is coming to Florence. Atlantic perturbations brought rain to the Alps and the northern regions. Other perturbations will briefly pass through the north-eastern and central-souther areas of the country, bringing with them sudden storms. The city mobility commissioner, Massimo Mattei, urges people to be careful and to reduce as far as possible the movements.
The book “From Florence to New England Renato Poggioli’s Journey Across Cultures” was presented yesterday at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York. Renato Poggioli (Florence 1907-1963) was an Italian literary critic and specialist in Russian literature. He is known for his book Teoria dell’arte d’avanguardia of 1962, translated into English as The Theory of the Avant-garde.
Certaldo city of art, where Boccaccio was born. Inhabited since the Etruscan times, the name Certaldo derives from the Latin phrase “cerrus altus” or from the Germanic, “cerrus aldo,” meaning ‘a rise covered in oaks. In 1164, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa conceded an area of ruins to the Alberti Counts in Prato, thus allowing them to take possession of the area where Palazzo Pretorio now stands.
The largest film festival in Italy? It’s the 50 Days of International Cinema in Florence, which will take place this year from October 25 to December 14 at the Odeon Cinema in Florence. The mega program is composed of nine international festivals which are based in Florence, as well as reviews, previews, events and meetings with authors.
The following is a city-by-city guide to some of Italy’s art exhibitions of the week. Palazzo Blu in Pisa: Wassily Kandinsky, From Russia to Europe; until February 3; Lucca Center of Contemporary Art: David LaChapelle, 53 photos; until November 4. Galleria dell’Accademia (Florence): Art Returns Art; contemporary masters including Bacon, Klein, Burri, Kounellis, Picasso and Warhol; until November 4.
Most Italian cities have higher levels of pollution than regulations permit, said an environmental report released Tuesday. Airborne pollution – made up of dust, smoke and hazardous substances in liquid form – exceeded legal limits in many cities, according to 2010 data collected by researchers. That included Florence, Prato, Rome, Milan, Pescara, Naples, Palermo and Siracusa.
Aldo Pinchera, internationally renowned endocrinologist, is died last night in his home in Pisa. He died for heart problems. Professor of Endocrinology and director of the first school of specialization in Endocrinology and parts of the University of Pisa was 78 years old.
Restorers say they will need two years to undo botched efforts of the past on Leonardo da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery. But when their work is finished, the painting will be luminous, they say. The first step for the restoration team from the Opificio delle Pietre Dure is to eliminate the debris left by numerous earlier attempts to restore the famous work.
Speaking to students FIAT CEO and ACEA president, Sergio Marchionne said Matteo Renzi “is a poor copy of Obama, but he thinks he is Obama, the mayor of a little and poor city.” The classification of “little and poor” related to Florence has sparked anger in Florence. Political, trade associations and even churchmen criticized Marchionne.
