Today special guided visits are taking place in Via Il
Prato 48 to see the Brindellone, the
ceremonial chart used for thetraditional Scoppio del Carro (Explosion of the Cart) on Easter morning in Piazza del Duomo.
It’s a tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages, associated with Pazzino
de’...
One of the symbols of Christmas in Italy is the poinsettia (in italian called Stella
di Natale, meaning “Christmas Star”) a plant that is actually native to
Mexico. There, it was called Cuetlaxochitl
("leather-petaled flower") since the 16th century, and the Aztecs
used it to decorate their temples, produce red...
We’re in 1327 Florence,
dominated by the Catholic Inquisition, and Florentines are about to witness
the execution of Cecco d'Ascoli, who
during his lifetime was a poet, physician, teacher, philosopher, astronomer and
astrologer. Unfortunately, it was precisely this last occupation that sealed
his fate and earned him a death sentence....
The Allegory of the Immaculate Conception by
Giorgio Vasari is a late Renaissance masterpiece housed in the ancient
Church of Santi Apostoli. A small replica is also on display at the Uffizi. The painting, dating back to around 1541, was
commissioned by Bindo Aldoviti, a banker and patron, for his...
Latin
origins
Italian, it is known, originally derives from
Latin, which was imposed as an official language by the Roman Empire. Although
there was a standard form of Latin, within the vast empire different types of
spoken Latin gradually emerged, changing from region to region. From the 5th
century AD,...
We don’t talk enough about illuminated
manuscripts, books of incredible beauty that monks would take years decorating.
The history of miniatures in Italy has its roots in the Early Middle Ages
(6th-11th centuries). This art form developed primarily in monasteries, true
hotbeds of culture and craftsmanship, where monastic scriptoria, rooms...
Autumn is the time for chestnuts, and in Tuscan cuisine there are many dishes based on this highly nutritious ingredient, once an important source
of sustenance for the poorest populations and especially for those who lived in
the countryside.Among the traditional
Tuscan recipes that use chestnuts, the most reknown is...
The pomegranate,
with its leathery skin, blood-red color, and sparkling ruby-like seeds, has
been a muse for countless artists around the world since ancient times. A
concentration of symbolism, it has left an indelible mark on the world of
visual art, from its depiction in Egyptian tombs to Renaissance masterpieces,...
The Museo della Specola, one of the most interesting
museums in Florence, houses invaluable collections though which it
promises to show visitors every aspect of nature, from the earth to the
sky.Inaugurated
on 21 February 1775 as the Imperial and Royal Museum of Physics and Natural
History at the behest...
The
Academia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence hosts the first major retrospective in
Italy dedicated to the Franco-Croatian artist Slavko Kopač,
a key figure in the intersection of Surrealism, Informel, and Art Brut.
Eighty years after his first solo exhibition in Florence, at the
Galleria
Michelangelo on Via Porta...
