LIGHT MODE
DARK MODE
In over half a century since his last book appeared, only vestiges of the Florence that novelist, playwright and poet Vasco Pratolini described in his books remain, but that in ...
Situated on the right bank of the Arno river is one of the most elegant squares in Florence: piazza Ognissanti. It is home to two of the city’s finest hotels, the St. Regis and the Excelsior, and Palazzo Lenzi, now home to the Honorary French Consulate and the
If, like me, you are a fan of the British costume drama series Downton Abbey, you were probably pleased to read in the newspapers recently that the show has generated enough money to pay the 11.75 million pounds so desperately needed for the repairs at Highclere Castle in Berkshire,
The bankruptcy of the dairy products multinational corporation Parmalat in December 2003, sent shock waves throughout global financial markets. In what was to prove the biggest corporate fraud so far in European history, Parmalat finished up in a black hole of 14 billion euro of debt, eight times more than
Across the Atlantic, Filippo Mazzei should rightly be considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, together with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. But he is hardly a household name. Filippo Mazzei (1730-1816) met Franklin in London, where he arrived in 1754 to
Even though the age-old debate about whether cooking is an art or a science rages on, when Italian chef and restaurant owner Gualtiero Marchesi, founder of Italy's nuova cucina (‘new cuisine'), says it is both, you can believe him. The first non-Frenchman to receive the coveted
A large whitewashed villa named La Rondinaia (‘Swallow's Nest'), wedged on a sheer cliff face in Ravello, overlooking the Amalfi coast, was the place where prolific American novelist, playwright, essayist and pundit Gore Vidal, lived and worked for more than 35 years. From this lofty perch high above
It probably isn't that much fun coming second at anything, but when, over the past several years, the prestigious American business magazine Forbes has ranked you as the second richest man in Italy, with an estimated worth of 11.5 billion dollars, you can't complain all that much.
There are plenty of Italophile Englishmen to study, but, if you find yourself passionately craving information about the Arts and Crafts movement, historic-house museums or early twentieth-century men's moustaches (all of which are perfectly reasonable), you might very well turn to Herbert Percy Horne (1864-1916) to
American writer and patron of the arts Mabel Dodge (also known, in recognition of her four husbands, as Mabel Evans Dodge Sterne Luhan), was born Mabel Ganson on February 26, 1879. She was the only child and heiress of a wealthy but unloving family in Buffalo, New York. After a
Inspired by a Florentine itinerary linked to Palazzo Strozzi's city-wide cultural and artistic extravaganza, the exhibit, American's in Florence: Sargent and the American Impressionists, The Florentine’s culture editor, Jane Fortune, shares her ‘gems,’ treasures that spotlight the importance of international artists and intellectuals
Economist and diplomat John Kenneth Galbraith maintained that ‘in central banking as in diplomacy, style, conservative tailoring, and an easy association with the affluent count greatly and results far much ...
During 2012, The Florentine and the city of Florence are celebrating the sesquicentennial of Amerigo Vespucci's death. But what of the famed woman who also carried this last name? In the middle of the sixteenth century in Florence, a group of scholars, philosophers and artists-actors in the
There is a charming drawing, Leaving Montepulciano, in the current exhibition, Americans in Florence: Sargent and the American Impressionists, at Palazzo Strozzi (see TF 159). One of the eight works in the show by American printmaker, illustrator and writer Joseph Pennell, it depicts the artist and his wife, writer Elizabeth
On the occasion of Palazzo Strozzi's exhibition Americans in Florence. Sargent and the American Impressionists (see review in TF 159), Kevin Huizenga, a leading American comic artist and graphic novelist, has created a graphic novel, Alla Prima, based on the experience of the young American painters whose work is
The portrait of American author Henry James is amongst the paintings by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) currently at Palazzo Strozzi in the exhibition Americans in Florence: Sargent and the American Impressionists (see TF 159). James was a close friend of Sargent and instrumental in promoting the artist's career
About the exhibit Americans in Florence: Sargent and the American Impressionists, private donor Maria Manetti Farrow writes, ?My life has been shaped by two countries and two cultures. My world is not split by this fact but has been deeply enriched on every level. To support speaks directly
Anglo-American biographer and author Iris Origo took up writing after the untimely death of her seven-year-old son in 1933.
For all of 2012, which has been declared Vespucci Year in Florence, events, exhibitions and conferences will commemorate the Florentine explorer. With this debut article, TF will be publishing a monthly column focused on Vespucci and U.S.-Italy relations for the rest of the year. In seeking
When he appears on stage, frequently wearing a velvet top hat or some other eccentric headgear, Adelmo Fornaciari, in art Zucchero (‘Sugar'), looks more like a snake-oil salesman in a Wild West travelling show than one of Italy's most popular singer-songwriters. An artist whom the great
Her majesty’s secret servant, James Bond, would certainly not be happy, but I really don’t mind whether they are shaken or stirred, just as long as my martinis are ...
Marguerite Guggenheim, known to all as Peggy, was one of the most important collectors of modern art of the twentieth century. With a sharp and refined eye, she collected ...
The pursuit of knowledge and business acumen appear not to be mutually exclusive. Consider Giovan Pietro Vieusseux, the man whose scientific and literary gabinetto (?reading rooms') in Florence not only linked Italian and European culture but were also an important resource for those pursuing Italy's unification over a century
The life of publishing magnate and cinema mogul, Angelo Rizzoli, reads like the story in the melodramas regularly found in the magazines he published. Rizzoli was born in Milan on October 31, 1889, to an impoverished family. Despite their circumstances, however, his family lived in one of the most affluent
