by Dianne Hales | Jan 12, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, comics, culture, Dante, Florence, history, Italian comic books, Italian language, Italy, Language, literature, Travel, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
It was dislike at first sight. Everything about Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) put me off. As artists traditionally portrayed him, the medieval poet seemed a ferocious grump with a big beak, jutted chin, petulant sneer, and hooded eyes. Although writers like William...
by Dianne Hales | Dec 1, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, Christmas in Italy, creche, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, Nativity scene, Religion, saints, Sicily, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Italy’s Christmas season begins with the celebration of San Nicola on December 6 and Santa Lucia on December 13. The son of a wealthy Christian family, Nicola grew up in a Greek-speaking colony of the Roman Empire, now part of Turkey, and became bishop of the city of...
by Dianne Hales | Sep 15, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, culture, Dante, Florence, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, literature, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
As a boy, Dante Alighieri, born in Florence in 1265, glimpsed a lovely girl named Beatrice in a local chapel. Despite Dante’s unrequited, undying crush, the two rarely met and barely spoke. Both wed others in marriages arranged by their families, but Beatrice would...
by Dianne Hales | Aug 25, 2020 | african American history, Books, books on Italy, history, Italy, Travel, Tuscany, Uncategorized, Web/Tech, Weblogs, worldwarII
In 1975 Solace Wales and her husband, both artists, began living part of every year in Sommocolonia in the coastal mountains of Tuscany. There she learned about her neighbors’ harrowing experiences in World War II and about the African American troops who had been...
by Dianne Hales | Jul 28, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, history, love in Italy, Social behavior, Travel, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Monte Argentario “I want to come back here every year for the rest of our lives.” I made this declaration to my husband thirty years ago on our first trip to Monte Argentario on Tuscany’s western coast. We did indeed return annually—until this Covid-cursed year. When...
by Dianne Hales | Jun 9, 2020 | art, art history, Books, books on Italy, coronavirus, culture, Italian language, Italy, Language, Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, Renaissance, Travel, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs, women
Leonardo’s muse, Mona (Madame) Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, was born 541 years ago on June 15, 1479. Few art works have experienced more adventures—and misadventures—in and out of the frame. The Florentine matron has shed her stately robes and appeared in...
