The House-Museums are the homes in which famous Tuscans were born or lived. Among them are the former homes of internationally renowned Tuscan figures of the Risorgimento, such as Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Mazzini, among others like medieval writers and poets Giovanni Boccaccio and Dante Alighieri.
Francesco Schettino, the captain of the cruise liner Costa Concordia that ran aground on a Tuscan island in January killing 32 people, appeared in court Monday as hearings to decide whether to indict him and others for the shipwreck began. The judge who oversaw preliminary investigations, Valeria Montesarchio, will preside over hearings.
“Cleopatra”, a Mediterranean cyclone, will usher autumn into Italy. Generated by the clash between the cold air moving southwards from the Arctic to Spain and Morocco and the warm air from the Saharan hinterland, Cleopatra will become strongest between Monday evening and Tuesday morning.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan will be the guest of honour at the 12th River to River Florence Indian Film Festival in Italy, Zee News reported. The festival, which will start from December 7, is directed by Selvaggia Velo. It is the only festival in Italy entirely devoted to Indian cinema.
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.
