On This Day in Italy
December
December 1st
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1455: Death in Florence of the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti (b. 1378).
1521: Death of Pope Leo X (r. 1513-21). |
Pope Leo X by Raphael, Uffizi Gallery, Florence
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December 2nd
1946: Birth in Reggio Calabria of the fashion designer Gianni Versace (d. 1997).
December 3rd
1596: Birth in Cremona of Nicolò Amati (d. 1684), who is acknowledged as the greatest of the Amati family of violin makers.
December 4th
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1154: Nicholas Breakspear becomes Pope Adrian IV (r. 1154-59), the only Englishman ever to be elected pontiff.
1798: Death in Bologna of the scientist Luigi Galvani (b. 1737), who, in 1780, discovered that the muscles of dead frogs' legs twitched when struck by an electrical spark. |
Luigi Galvani
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December 5th
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1687: Birth in Lucca of the composer Francesco Geminiani (d. 1741).
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Statue of Francesco Geminiani, Lucca
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December 6th
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1485: Birth of the courtier and diplomat Baldassare Castiglione (d. 1529), who penned Il Cortegiano (The Courtier), a hugely influential book that deals with the etiquette and manners of the ideal courtier.
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Baldassare Castiglione by Raphael
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December 7th
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43 BCE: Death of the lawyer, statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (b. 106 BCE), who was beheaded on the orders of Mark Antony. Cicero's right hand was also cut off and nailed, along with his head, on the speakers' platform in the Forum Romanum.
1598: Birth in Naples of the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (d. 1680). |
Bust of Cicero, Capitoline Museums, Rome
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December 8th
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65 BCE: Birth in Venosa of the poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus (d. 8 BCE), known in English as Horace.
1854: Pope Pius IX (r. 1846-78) proclaimed the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which declared Mary to be free from the stain of original sin. |
Column of the Immaculate Conception (Photo, 1890-1900), Rome
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December 9th
1565: Death of Pope Pius IV (r. 1559-65).
1669: Death of Pope Clement IX (r. 1667-69).
1669: Death of Pope Clement IX (r. 1667-69).
December 10th
1475: Death in Florence of the Renaissance painter Paolo di Dono (b. 1395), better known as Paolo Uccello.
1618: Death in Florence of the composer Giulio Caccini (b. 1551).
1618: Death in Florence of the composer Giulio Caccini (b. 1551).
December 11th
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1513: Death in Siena of the Perugian painter Bernardino di Betto Betti (b. 1452), better known as il Pinturicchio (the Little Painter).
1913: Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Mona Lisa, which had been stolen from the Louvre on August 21st 1911, was recovered in a hotel room in Florence. |
Self-portrait of Pinturicchio
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December 12th
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1793: Death in Naples of the sculptor Giuseppe Sanmartino (b. 1720).
1889: Death of the English poet Robert Browning (b. 1812). Browning died while he was staying at Ca' Rezzonico in Venice, the home of his son Pen and his wife, the American heiress Fannie Coddington. |
Plaque to Robert Browning, Ca' Rezzonico, Venice
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December 13th
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1466: Death in Florence of the sculptor Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, better known as Donatello (b. 1386).
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David by Donatello, Museo del Bargello, Florence
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December 14th
867: Election of Adrian II (r. 867-72), the last married pope, who died exactly five years later.
December 15th
37 CE: Birth of the Emperor Nero (r. 54-68).
December 16th
1631: Mount Vesuvius erupted killing between 3,000 and 6,000 people, making it the worst volcanic disaster in the Mediterranean in the past 1800 years.
December 17th
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1749: Birth in Aversa of the composer Domenico Cimarosa (d. 1801).
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Plaque to Cimarosa, Palazzo Duodo, Venice
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December 18th
1737: Death in Cremona of the luthier Antonio Stradivari (b. 1644).
December 19th
1742: Death in Genoa of the painter and sculptor Domenico Parodi (b. 1672).
December 20th
69 CE: Death of the Roman Emperor Vitellius, who only reigned for eight months.
December 21st
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1401: Birth of the painter Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone. Masaccio, as he was better known, died in Rome in 1428.
1737: Death in Rome of the Florentine architect and mathematician Alessandro Galilei (b. 1691). 1788: Birth in Bologna of the sculptor Adamo Tadolini (d. 1868). |
Self-portrait of Masaccio
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December 22nd
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1858: Birth, in Lucca, of the composer Giacomo Puccini (d. 1924).
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Giacomo Puccini by Vito Tongiani, Lucca
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December 23rd
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1896: Birth of the Sicilian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (d. 1957), author of Il Gattopardo (The Leopard).
1978: Death of the American art collector and socialite Marguerite 'Peggy' Guggenheim (b. 1898), who lived for the last three decades of her life in the Venetian Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal. The palazzo is now home to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. |
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
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December 25th
800: Pope Leo III (r. 795-816) crowns Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor in St Peter's Basilica.
December 26th
1559: Election of Pope Pius IV (r. 1559-65).
1911: Birth of the Sicilian painter Renato Guttoso (d. 1987).
1911: Birth of the Sicilian painter Renato Guttoso (d. 1987).
December 28th
1908: An earthquake devastated the cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria, killing an estimated 200,000 people.
December 29th
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1720: Opening of the Caffe Florian in Venice. It was originally called Alla Venezia Trionfante, but soon came to be known as Florian’s, after the owner Floriano Francesconi.
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Caffe Florian, Venice
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December 30th
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39 CE: Birth in Rome of the emperor Titus (r. 79-81).
2012: Death in Rome of the scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini (b. 1909), who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1986. |
Bust of Titus, Galleria Borghese, Rome
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December 31st
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335: Death of Pope Sylvester I (r. 314-35). In Italy, New Year's Eve is known as the Festa di San Silvestro, in honour of Pope Sylvester I.
2022: Death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (r. 2005-13). |
Coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI
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