On This Day in Italy
February
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February 1st
1690: Birth of the Florentine violinist and composer Francesco Maria Veracini (d. 1768). |
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February 2nd
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
1609: Death, in Florence, of Ferdinando I de' Medici (b. 1549), the third Grand Duke of Tuscany. |
Ferdinando I de' Medici by S. Pulzone, Uffizi Gallery
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February 4th
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. |
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February 6th
1577: Birth, in Rome, of Beatrice Cenci (d. 1599), who was executed for the crime of parricide. |
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February 7th
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). |
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February 9th
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. |
Pope Gregory XV (1621) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
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February 10th
1482: Death of the Florentine sculptor Luca della Robbia (b. 1400), who is noted for his colourful, tin-glazed terracotta statuary, a technique that he invented. |
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. |
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February 12th
1923: Birth, in Florence, of the film director Franco Zeffirelli (d. 2019). |
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February 13th
1571: Death of the Florentine goldsmith, sculptor and writer Benvenuto Cellini (b. 1500). 1883: Death of the German composer Richard Wagner (b. 1813) in Venice. Wagner and his family were living in Ca' Vendramin-Calergi. |
Plaque to Richard Wagner, Ca' Vendramin Calergi
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February 14th
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
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 17th
1652: Death of the Roman composer Gregorio Allegri (b. 1582), who he is most famous for his Miserere. 1653: Birth, in Fusignano, of the Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli (d. 1713). |
Arcangelo Corelli (1697) by Hugh Howard
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February 18th
1455: Death 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
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
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 ). |
Pope Martin V by Jacopino da Tradate, Duomo of Milan
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February 21st
1513: Death of Julius II (r. 1503-13), the pope who commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. |
Pope Julius II by Raphael
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February 23rd
1447: Death of Pope Eugenius IV (r. 1431-47). 1821: Death of the young English poet John Keats (b. 1796), 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. |
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February 25th
1707: Birth of the Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni (d. 1793). |
Statue of Carlo Goldoni
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February 26th
1815: Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the island of Elba. |
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February 28th
2013: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI (r. 2005-13). |
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February 29th
1592: Death, in Mantua, of the composer Alessandro Striggio (1540). 1792: Birth, in Pesaro, of the composer Gioachino Rossini (d. 1868). |
Rossini (1865) by Carjat
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