..read more

Back in 2015, Amazon launched a “made in Italy showcase”, which blossomed into a long-term collaboration with the Italian Trade Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Now, Made in Italy Days is an annual celebration that in 2023 takes place from May 29 to June 2nd, corresponding with the Italian Republic Day (June 2) which is also a holiday weekend in Italy. The collaboration is intended to assist Italian small and medium sized companies in adopting innovative solutions like e-commerce through training and promotion for the 2500 participating companies to date ..read more

..read more

Venice is a rare city that, despite being rather small and at the edge of a country, attracts international attention on a regular basis. Not only for its precarious ecological position and wealth of heritage to preserve, but for the presence of the modern cultural institution of the Biennale that regularly brings experts of art, architecture, theatre, dance, cinema and music to the lagoon. The first international art exhibition was held in 1895, and currently the years alternate between art (every two years), and architecture with all the other “arts” in the other years ..read more

..read more

..read more

I recently asked long-term expats in Italy – and a few Italians – to reveal their top hidden secrets near where they live. This was part of a chat on Clubhouse, the audio-only social network currently in Beta, where super-blogger Georgette Jupe and I have a regular chat on Sunday nights at 9pm CET called The Italy Club, and it was actually her idea to hit up our friends for travel tips to keep us dreaming ..read more

Laura Morelli has recently published The Giant, a book that, ostensibly, tells the tale of the creation of Michelangelo’s David. But it’s also the story of Jacopo Torni, a much less famous painter who was known to be friends with Il Divino – that’s the part I actually find more interesting. The Florence inhabited by the two artists and their many colleagues comes alive through the thoughtful and informed descriptions by Morelli, who has a PhD in art history from Yale and has already written numerous books set in this period. As a long time Twitter acquaintance, this latest book seemed the perf ..read more

“It often happens that we ourselves, although busy with completely different things, cannot prevent our minds and imagination from projecting some building or other.” Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), the celebrated 15th-century architect and quintessential Renaissance Man, understood well the lure of architecture. But even the most active imaginations fail to do justice to Alberti’s magnum opi, so prepare to make a pilgrimage, be it virtual or physical! The following itinerary offers an unforgettable, transcendental face-to-façade experience of some of the most important and iconic archite ..read more

The very mention of “Bolognese” may rouse your appetite with thoughts of spaghetti sauce, that classic Italo-American comfort food, so it may surprise you to learn that Bolognese is also a noble breed of dog with a much older and far more distinguished provenance (or pedigree, pun intended) than the beloved sauce. Detail of the dog in Goya’s painting “The White Dutchess” Aristotle wrote of little dogs brought by boat, where they served as the ships’ mousers, by Maltese sailors to Magna Grecia, the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy. Described as precious jewels, th ..read more