Roberta Reports From Italy

Roberta Reports From Italy
January, 2005

Click here to see what's new at In Italy Online.

Buon anno! Happy New Year! As in many other countries, Italy’s celebrations to mark the start of 2005 were more subdued than usual. Many city councils decided to forego the traditional firework display and, instead, donated the money to the tsunami relief effort in Southeast Asia. Those who did not held a one-minute’s silence for the victims at 11pm on New Year’s Eve. As you read this letter, the holidays continue, since January 6 marks the Epiphany, or the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem. And that means another festa. In Italy, this is also the day when all good children get presents in their stocking from La Befana, while bad ones get a lump of coal. And who is La Befana? Well, she’s a curmudgeonly old woman who, deep-down, must really have a heart of gold. I come to that conclusion because most of the children I know get presents, not coal. Or, perhaps I only know good children. Well, if you want to read more about her, click here.

I have been staying just outside Varese and will be heading back to Milan soon. Indeed, I have an invitation to the inauguration of a major retrospective of the work of Mario Merz (Milan, 1925 – Turin, 2003) at the Galleria dell’Arte Moderna in Turin on January 10 – the first official working day of the new year -- but I do not think I can make it. The show is surely worth seeing, so I hope to catch up with it before it ends on March 27. A self-taught painter, Mario Merz exhibited his first works – in Abstract-Expressionist style – in 1953. He later became one of the prime movers of the Arte Povera movement, before abandoning painting in favor of installation art. In this period, he used neon and experimented with basic forms of housing, such as the igloo. At the end of the 1970s, Merz returned to figuration, creating many images of animals. Mario Merz exhibited widely, his work being seen in 1971 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, in 1984 at the Mole Antonelliana in Turin, and in 1990 at the Castello di Rivoli, near Turin, as well as at the Venice Biennale and Documenta at Kassel, in Germany. For information about the show, please click here.

One date that I definitely will make is on January 20 -- the press conference organized by the Associazione Circuito Città d'Arte della Pianura Padana. I am not sure why, but I am tempted to think that an association of the cities of the Po Valley that are particularly renowned for their artistic heritage means just the Lombardy region. Wrong. For, while Brescia, Cremona, Lodi, Mantua and Pavia are surely part of Lombardy, Alessandria is in Piemonte, Verona is in the Veneto, and Modena, Bologna, Parma, Piacenza, and Reggio Emilia are in Emilia-Romagna. That is all the news I have right now: the press release is to follow, but it will surely arrive past deadline time. However, I thought it was worth mentioning, and I will provide details next month.

Although the carnevale at Putignano, near Bari in Puglia, may or may not be the oldest – records start in 1394 – it is surely the longest, with events beginning on December 26. Since Martedi’ Grasso is February 8 this year, and most places only begin their festivities ten days beforehand, Putignano will definitely outdistance the other celebrations. As with all carnevale traditions, those in Putignano have their typical maschera, or figure, called Farinella, who wears a multi-colored patchwork costume. The name derives from a typical food of the area, which is a bread-like substance made of toasted chick-peas and barley. This is served in a tomato sauce, or can be eaten with fresh figs. If you are thinking of heading for Putignano, take note that there will be a procession of floats on the three Sundays leading up to carnevale. In other words, January 23 and 30, and February 6 as well as, of course, on Martedi’ Grasso itself, or February 8. For a grandstand view of the floats, please call 001 39 080 4056290 (www.carnevalediputignano.it). For more on carnevale, along with lots of suggestions for where to see how the Italians celebrate the run-up to Lent – including, of course, Venice which is perhaps the best-known of all – please click here.

If Venice is too packed for you at carnevale time, a visit later in the spring will give you the chance to see -- in addition to peaceful streets (or calli, as they’re called in Venezia) -- the new exhibition Paolo Veronese: miti, ritratti, allegorie. Held at the Museo Correr in Piazza San Marco, this show opens on Sunday February 13 and runs to Sunday May 29 2005. Curated by Giandomenico Romanelli and Claudio Strinati, Paolo Veronese: miti, ritratti, allegorie is organized in association with the Musée du Luxembourg, and features the masterworks of a “lay” (profano, in Italian) painter, or one who did not paint only religious images. Along with Titian and Tintoretto, Veronesi was a major player on the art scene in Venice during the Cinquecento. The exhibition consists of 30 paintings, ranging from portraits to mythological scenes. These have been loaned by public and private collections from all over the world, and many have not been seen in Italy for many years. The exhibition space too, holds many surprises. Open to the public very rarely, the first floor of the Museo Correr, along with the Salone delle Feste, forms part of the neo-classical reggia in Piazza San Marco. The exhibition is open from 10am to 7pm daily. Tickets cost 9Euro and the ticket office closes at 6pm. The catalogue is by Skira. For further information, please click here.

We now shift to the other end of the country – the Basilicata, which lies between Campania, Apulia, and Calabria. Here, on the weekend of January 22, they will be offering a tour of many of the historical and artistic treasures of the area. I thought it was worth reporting the route so as to give you a better idea of what to see in this relatively neglected (tourism-wise, I mean) part of southern Italy. The first stop on the two-day trip is Irsina, a small town about 35 km from Matera. The cathedral has a fine campanile with mullioned openings. One of the highlights inside is the only painted wood sculpture ever executed by Andrea Mantegna. Note that this piece will form part of the major exhibition planned next year in Mantua to mark the 600th anniversary of the artist’s death.

The visitors then move on to Grassano, which is the town described by Carlo Levi in his book Cristo si è fermato ad Eboli, which tells of his period in internal exile during the Fascist regime. By the way, I always feel that the English translation of that book title, Christ stopped at Eboli is misleading. I don’t know about you but, to me, this implies that Jesus’ breaking of his journey at the town of Eboli was because the place itself was important. However, if you read the book – or see Francesco Rosi’s 1979 film version, starring Gianmaria Volontè – you understand that it means that Christ never got any further than Eboli. For information on this book, please click here.

Getting back to the tour, next morning, there is a visit to the Chiesa Madre at Miglionico. In addition to the 15th-century 18-panel polyptych by Cima da Conegliano, to be seen is the early-17th century wooden crucifixion. Apparently, the sight of this artefact provided Mel Gibson with the inspiration for his film The Passion, which was made in and around Matera, some 25 km away, and which we will come to in a moment.

Montescaglioso is the next stop, where a visit is scheduled to the 16th-century Abbazia di San Michele. Consisting of 365 rooms on three levels, one of them underground, this Benedictine monastery has two cloisters, a church with a 17th-century interior, and a bell-tower. The town also boasts a museo della civiltà contadina, or Museum of Peasant Life, pictured below.

This weekend visit provides the practical side to a conference entitled "Non solo Sassi: tesori di Basilicata", the objective of which is to show that this area, formerly known as Lucania, has plenty more to boast in terms of artistic heritage than the section of the town of Matera known as I Sassi. Which are? Well, an entire settlement, some of which is built into – but most of which is carved out of – the rock. Until 1950, some 60% of the population lived in these caves. Most have now been rehoused elsewhere, and the area has been on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites since 1978. For more details about this fascinating town, please click here.

Italy has countless entries on the UNESCO list which, at this point, is much too long to recite, but you can see it by clicking here. Whether you are planning your first or your nth trip to Italy, it is worth having a look to check out what to see, and also to see what you have missed so far. How about some of these? Many are obvious, others less so. There’s the archeological area of Agrigento in Sicily; the Trulli at Alberobello in Apulia; the Amalfi coast; Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata; the reggia at Caserta; Castel del Monte in Apulia; the textile factory and workers’ village at Crespi d’Adda in Lombardy; the Renaissance city of Ferrara; the center of Florence; Portovenere, the Cinque Terre and the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto, in Liguria; Santa Maria delle Grazie and Leonardo’s Last Supper in Milan; the cathedral, the Torre Civica, and the Piazza Grande in Modena; the center of Naples; the botanical garden in Padua; the Villa del Casale at Piazza Armerina in Sicily; the palaces of the royal house of Savoy in Piedmont; the center of Pienza in Tuscany; the Piazza del Duomo in Pisa; the mosaics in Ravenna; the center of Rome; the Vatican; the centers of San Gimignano and Siena in Tuscany; the cave paintings of the Val Camonica near Brescia, in Lombardy; Venice and the lagoon; and Vicenza and Palladio’s villas.

Just to conclude, we visited one of the most recent additions to the UNESCO list last Sunday – the Sacro Monte in Varese. There are a number of these 3-D representation of the Stations of the Cross, throughout Italy. The first was constructed at Varallo in the province of Vercelli in Piemonte. The idea originated with a friar called Bernardino Caimi. Having returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1481, he felt sorry for those who would not have the chance to trace the twelve Stations of the Cross. So he decided to build a copy locally, a kind of “religious Disneyland” avant la lettre, if you will. The forty-four chapels of the Varallo Sacro Monte feature the work of, among others, Gaudenzio Ferrari, Francesco Mazzucchelli (il Morazzone), and Giovanni D’Errico. The walk to the top of the “sacred mountain” in Varallo (608 meters) takes about half an hour.

Coming back now to the one in Varese, this dates from the 17th century and consists of 13 chapels. To be honest, we did not walk the walk – which takes about an hour – but drove straight to the top, and the village of Santa Maria del Monte. Apart from the church of Santa Maria, which was remodeled in the 16th and 17th centuries, there are some lovely little streets typical of hill-top villages, and a splendid view of the valley around, as well as the chance to see all the walkers puffing and panting as they reach the end of the trail! Seriously, though, Santa Maria is a lovely place to visit, even if you do not take the ambulatory route. Indeed, it has long been a holiday resort for those seeking clear air, and peace and quiet. It was the beginning of January, but coffee was being served on the terrace of the Borducan hotel and restaurant. Well worth 1.5 Euro, I think. There are several more restaurants, including Montorfano, and Milano, as well as the one at the Colonne hotel. We will be back. We will perhaps taking the path next time. Perhaps. If you’re up for an armchair tour of the Sacro Monte, click here.

I see from the papers that the Sacro Monte is not the only place of which there are two. If you see what I mean. Apparently a town in New Jersey has just changed its name from South Belmar to Lake Como. Seems they wanted to make sure people did not confuse them with common-or-garden Belmar. Not much of a possibility of any further confusion, I would say.

On the subject of nomenclature, I read an interesting item the other day about Italian last names (or cognomi as they are called around here.) I don’t know if you have noticed but there are lots of family names that have to do with numbers. Apparently, the most common is Quaranta, followed by Cinque, Sette, Trenta, Cento, Tredici, Venticinque, Venti, Cinquanta and Quarantotto. It is also possible to find quite a few people called Quattro, Dieci, Dodici, Sedici, Ventisette, Trentanove, and Mille. When it comes to Sei, Otto, Nove, Quattordici, Dicotto, Diciannove, Ventiquattro, Ventisei, Ventotto, and Ventinove, however, there are not that many of them. If you have an Italian last name and want to check out how many more of them there are, click here, then click on “servizi e curiosita” and then “contacognomi”. Even if you do not have a name you are interested in finding out about, look at the fun facts the Italian phone company has assembled for you. That Italy is a “noble” country is explained by the fact that there are dozens of people called “Nobile” or “Nobili”, as well as “Re”, “Conte”, “Barone”, and so forth. When you have finished with that section, click on “facciamo nomi e cognomi” which would translate roughly as “naming names”. Here you will find the longest Italian last name consists of 18 letters, and is Tschurtschenthaler. There are three with 17 (Pasquadibisceglie, Di Francescantonio, and Stampachiacchiere), another three with 15 (Monterubbianesi, Mastrofrancesco, Mastroberardino), and four with 14 (Abbracciavento, Castrogiovanni, Canavacciuolo, and Colafranceschi). At the other extreme, the shortest Italian last names have two letters, and are: Bo, Pe, Mo, Po, Re, Wu, My, Hu – the latter three providing evidence – if any was needed – that Italy is well on its way to becoming a multi-cultural society.

Another example of mixing cultures – Mantua will be providing a home for an outpost of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. As well as being the venue for a major exhibition from the Hermitage collection every two years, the center will offer information on all the Italian works held in the museum to scholars and researchers.

I don’t know if you saw the news about the chapel at the Bargello in Florence re-pening after extensive restoration work. The chapel contains some outstanding frescoes, including a portrait of Dante. This fact is documented in the first chapter of the Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari, who states that the work was executed by Giotto. Modern-day scholars are not unanimous on that, even if it is true that the artist was in Florence at that time, overseeing the construction of the campanile of the Duomo, and the chapels at Santa Croce. If you’d like to visit while you’re in town, click here.

And now I really do have to go. I have lots to get organized before I take off on the night of January 5. I need to polish up my broomstick, and get out my pointy black hat, along with my travelling cloak – rigorosamente nero – and then I have to get those stocking-fillers. Quick, what’s the Italian for “She’s making a list/checking it twice/she’s gonna find out/who’s naughty or nice/La Befana’s coming to town”?

By Roberta Kedzierski, Milan

Click here to see what's new at In Italy Online.