On This Day in Italy
January
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January 1st
153 BCE: For the first time, Roman consuls begin their year in office on January 1st. 45 BCE: Introduction of the Julian Calendar, which would remain in effect until 1582 when it was modified by Pope Gregory XIII (r. 1572-85). 42 BCE: Roman Senate deified Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE). 1449: Birth of the Florentine banker and statesman Lorenzo de' Medici (d. 1492), also known as Lorenzo il Magnifico. 1793: Death of the Venetian painter Francesco Guardi (b. 1712). |
Statue of Julius Caesar, Rome
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January 2nd
553: Pope John II (r. 533-35) became the first pontiff to take a new name on election, regarding his birth name Mercurius to be an inappropriate name for a pope. 1557: Death of the painter Jacopo Carucci (b. 1497), better known as il Pontormo. 1953: Death of the fashion designer Guccio Gucci (b 1881). |
Self-portrait of Pontormo, Deposition fresco, Florence
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January 3rd
106 BCE: Birth of Marcus Tullius Cicero (d. 43 BCE). 1705: Death of the Neapolitan painter Luca Giordano (b. 1634). 1785: Death of the Venetian composer Baldassare Galuppi (b. 1706). Galuppi was born on the island of Burano and was known as il Buranello. |
Statue of Cicero, Palace of Justice, Rome
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January 4th
1710: Birth of the composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (d. 1736). 1975: Death, in Rome, of Carlo Levi (d. 1902), author of the book Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (Christ Stopped at Eboli). |
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January 5th
1932: Birth, in Alessandria, of the academic and novelist Umberto Eco (d. 2016), best known for The Name of the Rose. |
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January 6th
1537: Death, in Rome, of the painter and architect Baldassare Peruzzi (b. 1481), who is buried in the Pantheon. 1695: Birth, in Milan, of the oboist and composer Giuseppe Sammartini (d. 1750). |
Tomb of Baldassare Peruzzi, Pantheon, Rome
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January 7th
1655: Death of Pope Innocent X (r. 1644-55), who is buried in the church of Sant' Agnese in Agone. |
Funerary monument to Pope Innocent X by G.B. Maini
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January 8th
1324: Death of the Venetian merchant and explorer Marco Polo (b. 1254). 1337: Death, in Florence, of the painter and architect Giotto di Bondone. 1642: Death, in Florence, of Galileo Galilei (b. 1564). |
Plaque to Marco Polo, Venice
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January 9th
1522: Election of Adrian VI (r.1522-23), the last non-Italian to be elected pope for the next 450 years. He is buried in the church of Santa Maria dell' Anima. 1878: Death of Vittorio Emanuele II (r. 1861-78), the first king of Italy, who is buried in the Pantheon. |
King Vittorio Emanuele II, the Vittoriano, Rome
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January 10th
49 BCE: Caesar crossed the Rubicon, thus marking the start of the Civil War. According to the historian Suetonius, Ceasar declared, 'Alea iacta est' ('The die is cast'), as he led his armies across the river, which marked the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. |
Julius Caesar, Palazzo Senatorio, Rome
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January 11th
1494: Death of the Florentine painter Domenico Ghirlandaio (b. 1449). 1503: Birth, in Parma, of the painter Francesco Mazzola (d. 1540), better known as il Parmigianino (the little one from Parma). 1801: Death, in Venice, of the composer Domenico Cimarosa (b. 1749). |
Self-portrait of Domenico Ghirlandaio
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January 12th
1674: Death, in Rome, of the composer Giacomo Carissimi (b. 1605). |
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January 13th
86 BCE: Death, in Rome, of the general and politician Gaius Marius (b. 157 BCE). |
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January 14th
83 BCE: Birth, in Rome, of Marcus Antonius (d. 30 BCE), the general and politician, who is known in English as Mark Antony. 1678: Death, in Venice, of the composer Francesco Cavalli (b. 1602). |
Mark Antony, Vatican Museums
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January 15th
1623: Death of Paolo Sarpi, the Venetian prelate, historian and statesman. |
Statue of Paolo Sarpi, Venice
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January 16th
27 BCE: The Senate granted Octavian the title Augustus, which, in effect, established him as Rome's first emperor. |
Augustus of Prima Porta, Vatican Museums
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January 17th
1377: The French Pope Gregory XI (r. 1370-78) returned the Papacy from Avignon to Rome. |
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January 18th
1987: Death, in Rome, of the Sicilian painter Renato Guttoso (b. 1911). |
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January 20th
1920: Birth, in Rimini, of the film director Federico Fellini. 1922: Death of Pope Benedict XV (r. 1914-22). |
Pope Benedict XV
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January 22nd
1506: The Pontifical Swiss Guard was founded by Pope Julius II (r. 1503-13). |
Two Swiss Guards
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January 23rd
1881: Birth, in Milan, of the heiress, socialite and muse Luisa Casati (d. 1957), who was renowned for her outlandish dresses. For many years she lived at the Venetian Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal. |
Luisa Casati, 1922
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January 24th
41 BCE: Assassination of the Emperor Caligula (r. 37-41) by his Praetorian Guards. 1302: Death, in Pisa, of the Florentine painter Cenni di Pepo, better known as Cimabue (b. 1240). 1705: Birth of the celebrated castrato Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (d. 1782), better known as Farinelli. |
Farinelli (1734) by Bartolomeo Nazari
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January 25th
1708: Birth, in Lucca, of the painter Pompeo Batoni (d. 1787). |
Self portrait of Pompeo Batoni
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January 26th
1582: Birth, in Parma, of the painter Giovanni Lanfranco (d. 1647), who painted the frescoes in the dome of the church of Sant' Andrea della Valle. |
Sant' Andrea della Valle, Rome
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January 27th
1731: Death, in Florence, of the instrument-maker Bartolomeo Cristofori (b. 1655), who is credited with inventing the piano. 1901: Death, in Milan, of the composer Giuseppe Verdi (b. 1813). |
Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi by Boldini
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January 29th
1888: Death of the English 'nonsense' poet and painter Edward Lear (b. 1812), who is buried in the Ligurian city of San Remo. 1996: The Gran Teatro La Fenice, the elegant 19th century opera house in Venice, was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt and reopened six years later. |
Edward Lear's Grave, Cemetery Foce, San Remo
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January 30th
59 BCE: Birth of Livia Drusilla (d. 29 CE), who, as the wife of Augustus, reigned as empress from 27 BCE to 14 CE. |
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January 31st
1783: Death, in Naples, of the castrato Gaetano Majorano (b. 1710), better known as Caffarelli. 1788: Death of Charles Edward Stuart (b. 1720), better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, or 'the Young Pretender'. He is interred in St Peter's Basilica. |
Charles Edward Stuart (1775) by Hugh Douglas Hamilton
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