by Dianne Hales | Oct 26, 2021 | autumn, Books, books on Italy, history, Italian, Italian folklore, Italian language, Italy, Language, Religion, Sayings and expressions, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Italy’s cimiteri (cemeteries) are coming alive this week as families prepare for November 2 (All Souls’ Day), which the Catholic Church dedicates alla commemorazione dei defunti (to the commemoration of the deceased). To celebrate Il giorno dei morti (the Day...
by Dianne Hales | Oct 12, 2021 | books on Italy, Dante, Florence, history, Italian, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Travel, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
This year the Settimana della lingua italiana nel mondo (week of the Italian language in the world), from October 18 to 23, celebrates “Dante, l’Italiano.“ It is a fitting tribute during the 700th commemoration of the poet’s death in 1321. Born in Florence in...
by Dianne Hales | Jun 8, 2021 | art, art history, Books, books on Italy, culture, Florence, history, Italian, Italian language, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo da Vinci, Religion, Roman history, Travel, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs, women
Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo (June 15, 1479 — July 15, 1542) My quest for the real Mona Lisa began years ago in Florence when I was doing research for LA BELLA LINGUA. An art historian who befriended me casually mentioned during a dinner at her home that the mother...
by Dianne Hales | May 25, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, Dante, Florence, history, Italian, Italian language, Italy, Language, literature, Sayings and expressions, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Although 756 years have passed since Dante Alighieri’s birth in Florence in May of 1265, his words live, not just in literature, but also on the tongues of contemporary Italians. On a swerving, heart-stopping ride through Rome, a taxi driver assured me that the...
by Dianne Hales | Apr 13, 2021 | art, art history, books on Italy, culture, history, Italian, Italian language, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, Renaissance, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
More than five centuries after his birth on April 15, 1519, Leonardo da Vinci and his Mona Lisa are still making headlines. A front-page article in the New York Times claims that the Saudi Cultural Ministry, which bought Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World)...
