The use of lapis lazuli for the manufacturing of ornaments or worship objects has a very long tradition. Already in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, this stone was appreciated and sought after, as its ore deposits were very rare.   The main one, and also the oldest, mentioned by Marco Polo, is located in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan...

My last name is Italian. Unfortunately, that's all I really knew about the Italian side of my family. Most of my Italian ancestors died a long time ago, and my family wasn't in touch with those still living.   My father once tried to research our family tree, but reached a dead end with my great-grandparents, who both died before 1950. &nb...

'Buongiorno papà' di Edoardo Leo, film sui quarantenni single in Italia, interpretato da Raul Bova, vince il 23/o Nice Festival in Usa, la manifestazione che porta il cinema italiano emergente all'estero, assegnato dal pubblico americano. Il Festival si è svolto a New York e a San Francisco dall'11 al 17 novembre.   Il film sarà proiettato n...

In the mid-1400s, Florence was a main destination for artists, goldsmiths, silversmiths and engravers. The presence of the Medici family, committed to protect artists and to commission precious objects, gathered talents from all over Italy and the rest of Europe. Their presence contributed into making Florence the most important center for art prod...

October 27, 2015 - Tuesday 7:30 PM - Mount Prospect Public Library - Meeting Room A room 154 - 10 South Emerson Street - Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056   Works by Botticelli, Leonardo, Cimabue, Titian, and Caravaggio, among others from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, represent the world's greatest collections...

by Hugo Mc Cafferty   If you want to spend All Souls' Day among the dead, there is nowhere better to do so than Italy. With such a complex and rich spiritual history, it is no wonder that Italy is home to some of the world's most hauntingly beautiful cemeteries. Here are 10 to visit on All Souls' Day.   English Cemetery, Florence...

La grande bellezza non è solo perduta e grottesca, sguaiata e svilita. La grande bellezza d'Italia sopravvive anche nei piccoli gesti inattesi e sorprendenti, che l'America magari nemmeno sospetta più, pensando all'Italia dei film. Ma la realtà può essere molto più edificante e consolatoria dei film, almeno in alcuni momenti e in alcuni luoghi.&nb...

by John Hooper   The last casualty of the devastating Florence flood of 1966 has been reassembled, raising hopes of a full restoration before the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest cultural disasters of modern times.   Giorgio Vasari's Last Supper, painted on five wooden panels and measuring about 2.5 metres by 6.5 metres (8ft by...

Work to expand the Uffizi Gallery's exhibit space has unearthed an ancient cemetery with dozens of skeletons archaeologists say might have been victims of the plague or some other epidemic that swept through Florence during the 4th or 5th century.   Archaeologists and art officials showed reporters Wednesday the excavation at the renowned mu...

In 2016, Friends of Florence and Save Venice Inc. will sponsor the conservation treatment of a group of 48 drawings by the Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1692–1770), held in the Horne Museum of Florence. Forty-four of the drawings are bound in an album and an additional four from the same album are mounted separately.   The drawi...