On This Day in Italy

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August

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August 1st

1464: Death of the Florentine banker and politician Cosimo de' Medici (b. 1389). 

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August 2nd

216 BCE: Battle of Cannae, in which Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, inflicted one of the worst ever defeats on the Roman army.  

1921: Death in Naples of the tenor Enrico Caruso (b. 1873).  
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1980: A terrorist bomb exploded at Bologna's railway station killing 85 people and injuring 200. The attack was the deadliest in the period known as 'gli anni del piombo' ('the years of lead'), which lasted from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. 

Head of Hannibal

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August 3rd

​1546: Death of the Florentine architect Antonio Sangallo the Younger (b. 1484). 
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1667: Death in Rome of the Baroque architect Francesco Borromini (b. 1599), who is buried in the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. Borromini was honoured in 1652 by Pope Innocent X (r. 1644-55) and made a knight of Christ. 

Borromini, San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome

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August 4th

1525: Death of the Florentine sculptor Andrea della Robbia (b. 1435).  

Alessandri Crucifixion by Andrea della Robbia

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August 6th

1221: Death in Bologna of St Dominic (b. 1170), founder of the Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans.  
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1619: Baptism of the Venetian composer and singer Barbara Strozzi (d. 1677). 

1623: Election of Pope Urban VIII (r. 1623-44).  ​

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August 7th

​1616: Death in Venice of the architect and writer on architecture Vincenzo Scamozzi (b. 1548). 

1960: Death in Florence of the shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo (b. 1898). 

Vincenzo Scamozzi by Paolo Veronese

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August 9th

1173: Work began on what would become the world-famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

​1776: Birth in Turin of the scientist Amedeo Avogadro (d. 1856). 

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August 11th

1253: Death of St Clare of Assisi, one of the first followers of St Francis and the founder of the Order of Poor Clares.

​1614: Death in Rome of the painter Lavinia Fontana (b. 1552).   

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August 12th

​1612: Death of the Venetian composer and organist Giovanni Gabrieli (b. 1557), who is buried in the church of Santo Stefano. 
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1633: Death in Florence of the composer Jacopo Peri (b. 1561), who is often credited with the invention of opera. 

1752: Death in Naples of the Venetian sculptor Antonio Corradini (b. 1688). 

Modesty by Corradini, Cappella Sansevero, Naples

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August 13th

​1608: Death in Florence of the Flemish sculptor Jean de Boulogne (b. 1529), who is better known as Giambologna. 

Abduction of a Sabine Woman by Giambologna

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August 14th

1464: Death in Ancona of Pope Pius II (r. 1458-64).

​1988: Death in Modena of Enzo Ferrari (b. 1898). 

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August 15th

​1483: Consecration of the Cappella Sistina by Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471-84) , who dedicated the chapel to the Madonna of the Assumption. 

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August 16th

1972: Discovery of two ancient Greek bronze statues (5th century BCE) in the seabed off Porto Forticchio di Riace Marina. The Riace Bronzes, as they are known, are on display in the Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria.

A detail of one of the two Riace Bronzes

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August 17th

1686: Birth of the Neapolitan composer and teacher of singing Nicola Porpora (b. 1768). His most famous students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. 

1740: Election of Pope Benedict XIV (r. 1740-58). 

1750: Birth in Legnago of the composer Antonio Salieri (d. 1825). 
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1916: Death in Verona of the Futurist painter and sculptor Umberto Boccioni (b. 1882). ​

Nicola Porpora

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August 18th

1559: Death of Pope Paul IV (r. 1555-59), who created the Jewish Ghetto in Rome. Paul IV is buried in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. 
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1642: Death in Bologna of the painter Guido Reni (b. 1575). 

Funerary monument to Pope Paul IV

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August 19th

14 CE: Death in Nola of Augustus (b. 63 BCE), Rome's first and longest-reigning emperor. 

1580: Death in Maser of the architect Andrea Palladio (b. 1508). 

Head of Augustus, Vatican Museums

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August 20th

1561: Birth, in Rome, of the composer Jacopo Peri (d. 1633), who is often credited with the invention of Opera. Peri is buried in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. 

Tomb of Jacopo Peri, Santa Maria Novella

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August 21st

1609: Galileo demonstrates his first telescope to the Doge of Venice, Leonardo Donati (1606-12), at the top of the bell tower of St Mark’s Basilica. The telescope had a magnification of eight or nine. 
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Plaque to Galileo, St Mark's Bell Tower, Venice

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August 24th

410: Sack of Rome by the Visigoths led by their king, Alaric.
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1540: Death in Casalmaggiore of the painter Francesco Mazzola, better known as il Parmigianino (b. 1503). 

1552: Birth in Bologna of the painter Lavinia Fontana (d. 1614).   

Self Portrait of Parmigianino

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August 25th

1691: Birth in Florence of the architect and mathematician Alessandro Galilei (d. 1737), who designed the facade of San Giovanni in Laterano. 

1960: Opening of the Summer Olympics in Rome. 

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August 27th

1576: Death in Venice of the painter Tiziano Vecellio, known in English as Titian, who is buried in the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.  

Tomb of Titian, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

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August 30th

1585: Death of the Venetian composer Andrea Gabrieli (b. 1510).

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August 31st

12 CE: Birth in Antium (modern-day Anzio) of Caligula (r. 37-41), the third emperor of Rome. 
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161: Birth of Commodus, son of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-80) and Faustina. Commodus (r. 180-93) was the first Roman emperor to be born to the purple, in other words he was born during the actual reign of his father. 

​1870: Birth in Chiaravalle of Maria Montessori (d. 1952), the physician and educator.

Commodus as Hercules

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