On This Day in Italy
February
February 1st
1673: Birth of the Venetian composer Alessandro Marcello (d. 1747).
1690: Birth of the Florentine violinist and composer Francesco Maria Veracini (d. 1768).
1945: Women’s suffrage was finally introduced in Italy.
1690: Birth of the Florentine violinist and composer Francesco Maria Veracini (d. 1768).
1945: Women’s suffrage was finally introduced in Italy.
February 2nd
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1594: Death in Rome of the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
1831: Election of Pope Gregory XVI (r. 1831-46). |
Statue of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
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February 3rd
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1609: Death of Ferdinando I de' Medici (b. 1549), the third Grand Duke of Tuscany.
1865: Florence became the new capital of the Kingdom of Italy. |
Ferdinando I de' Medici by S. Pulzone, Uffizi Gallery
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February 4th
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1498: Death in Rome of the Florentine painter and sculptor Antonio del Pollaiuolo, who is buried in San Pietro in Vincoli. His younger brother, and fellow painter, Piero del Pollaiuolo (1443-96) is also buried in the church.
1787: Death in Rome of the painter Pompeo Batoni (b. 1708). |
Funerary monument to Antonio and Piero Pollaiuolo
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February 5th
1578: Death in Bergamo of the painter Giovanni Battista Moroni (b. 1520), one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century.
February 6th
1515: Death in Venice of the printer and humanist Aldo Manuzio (b. 1449).
1577: Birth in Rome of the noblewoman Beatrice Cenci, who was executed on September 11th 1599 for the murder of her father Count Francesco Cenci. Beatrice, who has been the subject of numerous literary and musical works, was interred in the Roman church of San Pietro in Montorio.
1577: Birth in Rome of the noblewoman Beatrice Cenci, who was executed on September 11th 1599 for the murder of her father Count Francesco Cenci. Beatrice, who has been the subject of numerous literary and musical works, was interred in the Roman church of San Pietro in Montorio.
February 7th
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1550: Death of the Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli (b. 1493).
1878: Death of Pius IX, the longest-reigning pope in history. Pius IX (r. 1846-78) is buried in the church of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura. |
Tomb of Pope Pius IX
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February 8th
1709: Death in Bologna of the violinist and composer Giuseppe Torelli (b. 1658).
February 9th
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1621: Election of Gregory XV (r. 1621-23), who was the last pope to be elected by acclamation. This consisted of all the electors present at a conclave unanimously proclaiming one of the candidates Supreme Pontiff without the formality of casting votes.
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Pope Gregory XV (1621) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
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February 10th
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1482: Death of the Florentine sculptor Luca della Robbia (b. 1400), who is famous for his tin-glazed terracotta polychrome statuary, a technique that he invented.
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The Annunciation by Luca della Robbia
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February 11th
1929: The Lateran Treaty was signed in Rome, an agreement between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See that recognised Vatican City State as a sovereign entity.
February 12th
1923: Birth in Florence of the film director Franco Zeffirelli (d. 2019).
February 13th
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1571: Death in Florence of the goldsmith, sculptor and writer Benvenuto Cellini (b. 1500). Cellini is interred in the church of Santissima Annunziata.
1682: Birth of the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (d. 1754). 1883: Death in Venice of the German composer Richard Wagner (b. 1813). |
Plaque to Richard Wagner, Ca' Vendramin Calergi
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February 14th
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1549: Death in Siena of the painter Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, better known as il Sodoma.
1602: Birth in Crema of the composer Francesco Cavalli (d. 1676). |
Self-portrait of il Sodoma
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February 15th
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1564: Birth in Pisa of the scientist Galileo Galilei (d. 1643).
1775: Election of Pope Pius VI (r. 1775-79). |
Galileo by Justus Sustermans, Uffizi Gallery
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February 16th
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1868: Death in Rome of the sculptor Adamo Tadolini (b. 1788).
1907: Death in Bologna of the poet Giosuè Carducci (b. 1835), the first Italian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. |
King David by Adamo Tadolini
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February 17t
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1652: Death in Rome of the composer Gregorio Allegri (b. 1582), who is buried in the Chiesa Nuova. Allegri is best known for his Miserere for two choirs.
1653: Birth in Fusignano of the composer Arcangelo Corelli (d. 1713). |
Arcangelo Corelli (1697) by Hugh Howard
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February 18th
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1455: Death in Rome of the Florentine painter Fra Angelico, who is buried in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
1564: Death in Rome of the sculptor, painter, architect and poet Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (b. 1475), better known simply as Michelangelo. 1682: Death of the Venetian architect Baldassare Longhena (b. 1598). 1898: Birth in Modena of Enzo Ferrari (d. 1988). |
Michelangelo (c. 1545) by Daniele da Volterra
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February 19th
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1743: Birth in Lucca of the composer Luigi Boccherini (d. 1805).
2016: Death of the writer Umberto Eco (b. 1932), best known for his novel The Name of the Rose. |
Statue of Luigi Boccherini, Lucca
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February 20th
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1431: Death of Pope Martin V (r. 1417-31), who is buried in San Giovanni in Laterano.
1816: Premiere in Rome of Rossini's opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville). 1993: Death of the car designer Ferruccio Lamborghini (b. 1916 ). |
Plaque to Rossini, Rome
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February 21st
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1513: Death of Julius II (r. 1503-13), the pope who commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
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Pope Julius II by Raphael
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February 23rd
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1447: Death of Pope Eugenius IV (r. 1431-47).
1507: Death in Venice of the Venetian painter Gentile Bellini (b. circa 1429). 1821: Death of the English poet John Keats (b. 1795), who is buried in the 'Protestant' Cemetery in Rome. |
Plaque to John Keats, Rome
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February 24th
1607: Premiere in Mantua of the opera L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi. It is the oldest opera to be still regularly performed.
February 25t
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1682: Death in Genoa of the composer Alessandro Stradella (b. 1643).
1707: Birth of the Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni (d. 1793). 1873: Birth in Naples of the tenor Enrico Caruso (d. 1921). |
Statue of Carlo Goldoni, Venice
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February 26th
1770: Death in Padua of the composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini (b. 1692).
1815: Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the island of Elba.
1815: Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the island of Elba.
February 28th
2013: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI (r. 2005-13).
February 29th
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1592: Death in Mantua of the composer Alessandro Striggio (b. circa 1537).
1792: Birth in Pesaro of the composer Gioachino Rossini (d. 1868). |
Rossini (1865) by Carjat
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