Milano’s Palazzo Reale is hosting an exhibition dedicated to the 17th Century painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Until recently Gentileschi was better-known for her life story than as a prolific and talented painter. The daughter of the painter Orazio Gentileschi, Artemisia was raped by a colleague of her father’s and later went through a humiliating rape trial. The show gathers together 52 of her paintings, many of them graphic and bloody depictions of biblical and mythological scenes. The show also focuses on this painter’s life: included are documents pertaining to the trial and a collection of eloquent, if ungrammatical, love letters that Artemisia wrote to a Florentine nobleman. These biographical elements humanize the painter and put her work into context.
Category: News (page 14 of 24)
From September 13 to 16 Barilla, the pasta company, is sponsoring an Italian food festival that will take place in a temporary structure in Central Park. There will be cooking demonstrations and food to sample. Tickets are $5 and the proceeds will be donated to the Food Bank for New York City. Barilla is also sponsoring Andrea Bocelli’s Sept. 15 concert in the Park.
In recent years the dessert that has become the most associated with Italy is tiramisù. The original version is made with savoiardi – similar to ladyfingers – soaked with espresso and rum and layered with a mascarpone custard. The top is dusted with cocoa. Good versions are deceptively light: mascarpone is not exactly diet food. The original custard is made with raw eggs; modern versions often cook the eggs at least a little. The newest trend is variations on tiramisù, such as adding fruit or chocolate instead of coffee. Dolce Vizio Tiramisù, serving various flavors of the dessert (or you can build your own), is now open at 131 Christopher Street. Definitely worth a visit – followed by a long walk to burn off the calories.
With recent budget cuts in Italy there was talk (later contradicted) that funding for the Accademia della Crusca would be cut, thus threatening this institute’s continued existence. The Accademia della Crusca, founded in Florence in 1582, is a leading institution dedicated to the study of and research on the Italian language. The founding members of the society, a group of intellectuals known as the Crusconi, gathered for convivial meetings reciting playful but highly literary discourses. Their intention was to set themselves apart form the overly pompous discussions of the Accademia Fiorentina. In 1583 the stated direction of the Crusca evolved into that of conserving the Florentine vulgar tongue. In 1612 the Crusca was the first institution in Europe to produce a national language “Vocabolario.” Today the Accademia della Crusca’s activities involve supporting research in Italian linguistics and philology and also sustaining the diffusion and knowledge of the Italian language both in Italy and elsewhere.
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