On This Day in Italy
April
April 1st
1748: The ruins of Pompeii were discovered by Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre (1702-80), a Spanish military engineer, who was working for the king of Naples.
April 2nd
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1725: Birth of the Venetian adventurer and writer Giacomo Casanova (d. 1798).
2005: Death of Pope John Paul II (r. 1978-2005), the second longest-reigning pope in history. |
Monument to Pope John Paul II, Rome
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April 4th
896: Death of Pope Formosus (r. 891-896). Less than a year after his death his body was exhumed and put on trial at what came to be known as the 'Cadaver Synod'. The pope was found guilty of various crimes and his body was thrown into the Tiber. It was later retrieved and reburied.
1534: Birth of the architect Martino Longhi the Elder (d. 1591).
1566: Death of the painter Daniele Ricciarelli, better known as Daniele da Volterra (b. 1509). After Michelangelo's death, he was hired to cover the genitals in the fresco of the Last Judgment, which earned him the nickname Il Braghettone (the Breeches-maker).
1534: Birth of the architect Martino Longhi the Elder (d. 1591).
1566: Death of the painter Daniele Ricciarelli, better known as Daniele da Volterra (b. 1509). After Michelangelo's death, he was hired to cover the genitals in the fresco of the Last Judgment, which earned him the nickname Il Braghettone (the Breeches-maker).
April 5th
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1527: Birth in Milan of the painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo (d. 1593), best known for his imaginative depiction of people made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and books.
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Vertumnus by Giuseppe Arcimboldo
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April 6th
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1520: Death in Rome of the Renaissance painter Raphael, who is buried in the Pantheon.
1641: Death in Naples of the painter Domenico Zampieri (b. 1581), who was better known as il Domenichino, on account of his short size. |
Tomb of Raphael, the Pantheon, Rome
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April 7th
1883: Birth in Cortona of the painter Gino Severini (d. 1966).
April 8th
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1492: Death of Lorenzo de' Medici (b. 1449), de facto ruler of the Republic of Florence, and a major patron of the arts.
1848: Death in Bergamo of the composer Gaetano Donizetti (b. 1797). |
Monument to Donizetti, Bergamo
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April 9th
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1555: Election of Pope Marcellus II, who only reigned for 22 days. Marcello Cervini degli Spanocchi was the last pope retain his name on becoming pontiff.
1701: Birth of the architect and surveyor Giovanni Battista Nolli (d. 1756), best known for his ichnographic plan of Rome, the Pianta Grande di Roma. |
The Nolli Map of Rome
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April 11th
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1514: Death in Rome of the Renaissance architect Donato Bramante (b. 1444).
1987: Death in Turin of Primo Levi (b. 1919), chemist, writer and holocaust survivor. His most famous book is, perhaps, The Periodic Table. |
The 'Tempietto' by Bramante, Rome
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April 12th
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1484: Birth of the Florentine architect and engineer Antonio Sangallo the Younger (d. 1546). Sangallo designed and built St Patrick's Well in Orvieto, which is famous for its double-helix ramps.
1684: Death in Cremona of Nicolò Amati (b. 1596), who is acknowledged as the greatest of the Amati family of violin makers. 1710: Birth of the castrato singer Gaetano Majorano (d. 1783), better known as Caffarelli. |
St Patrick's Well by Antonio Sangallo the Younger, Orvieto
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April 13th
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1519: Birth of Caterina de' Medici (d. 1589), who, in 1547, married the French king Henry II.
1592: Death in Florence of the sculptor and architect Bartolommeo Ammannati (b. 1511). 1808: Birth in Florence of Antonio Meucci, who many credit with the invention of the telephone. 2006: Death in Florence of the Scottish novelist Muriel Spark (b 1918). |
Neptune by Ammannati, Fontana del Nettuno, Florence
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April 15th
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1446: Death of the Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi.
1452: Birth of Leonardo da Vinci (d. 1519). The great Renaissance polymath was born in the hamlet of Anchiano, which lies a short distance to the west of Florence. 1757: Death of the Venetian painter Rosalba Carriera (b. 1673), who was famous for her pastel portraits. |
Monument to Leonardo da Vinci, Milan
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April 18th
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1480: Birth in Subiaco of Lucrezia Borgia (d. 1519), the daughter of Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492-1503) and Vannozza dei Cattanei.
1506: Pope Julius II (r. 1503-13) laid the foundation stone of the new St Peter's Basilica. The basilica was consecrated 120 years later, on November 18th 1626. |
St Peter's Basilica, Rome
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April 19th
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1492: Birth in Arezzo of the poet, playwright and polemicist Pietro Aretino (d. 1556).
1588: Death of the painter Paolo Caliari, better known as Paolo Veronese (b. 1528). 1768: Death of the Venetian painter Giovanni Antonio Canal (b. 1697), better known as Canaletto. |
Birthplace of Canaletto, Venice
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April 21st
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753 BCE: Legendary foundation of the city of Rome, according to legend.
1397: Birth in Florence of the mathematician and astronomer Paolo del Pozzo Toscanelli (d. 1482). 1555: Birth in Bologna of the painter Ludovcio Carracci (d. 1619). 1574: Death of Cosimo I de' Medici (b. 1519), Grand Duke of Tuscany, who ruled Florence from 1537. |
Cosimo I de' Medici, Florence
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April 22nd
1658: Birth in Verona of the violinist and composer Giuseppe Torelli (d. 1709).
1909: Birth in Turin of the scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini (d. 2012), who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1986.
1909: Birth in Turin of the scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini (d. 2012), who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1986.
April 23rd
1857: Birth, in Naples, of the composer Ruggero Leoncavallo (d. 1919), best known for his opera Pagliacci .
April 24th
1859: Birth in Murisengo (in the region of Piedmont) of Luigi Lavazza (d. 1949), founder of the Lavazza Coffee Company.
April 25th
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1595: Death in Rome of the poet Torquato Tasso, who penned the epic poem Gerusalemme liberata.
1874: Birth in Bologna of Guglielmo Marconi (d. 1937), inventor and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. 1945: Surrender of the Nazi occupiers of northern Italy and the dissolution of the puppet government of Benito Mussolini. |
Portrait of Torquato Tasso
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April 26th
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121 CE: Birth in Rome of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-80).
1478: The Pazzi Conspiracy. A failed plot by members of the Pazzi family to displace the Medici family as rulers of Florence. |
Marcus Aurelius, Capitoline Museums, Rome
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April 27th
1937: Death in Rome of the left-wing intellectual Antonio Gramsci (b. 1891).
2014: Canonisation of Pope John XXIII (r. 1958-63) and Pope John Paul II (r. 1978-2005) by Pope Francis (r. 2013-).
2014: Canonisation of Pope John XXIII (r. 1958-63) and Pope John Paul II (r. 1978-2005) by Pope Francis (r. 2013-).
April 28th
1916: Birth of the car designer Ferruccio Lamborghini (d. 1993).
1945: Death of Benito Mussolini (b. 1883). Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci (1912-45) were summarily shot by partisans in the North Italian town of Giulino di Mezzegra.
1945: Death of Benito Mussolini (b. 1883). Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci (1912-45) were summarily shot by partisans in the North Italian town of Giulino di Mezzegra.
April 29th
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1380: Death of St Catherine of Siena (b. 1347), who is buried in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, in Rome.
1754: Death of the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (b. 1682). |
Tomb of St Catherine of Siena
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April 30th
1504: Birth in Bologna of the painter and architect Francesco Primaticcio (d. 1570), who spent most of his working life in France.