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. |
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. |
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. |
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). |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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). |