On This Day in Italy
July
July 1st
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1592: Death in Cremona of the composer Marc'Antonio Ingegneri, the teacher of Claudio Monteverdi.
1610: Birth of the Roman sculptor Cosimo Fancelli (d. 1688). 1871: Transfer of Italy's capital from Florence to Rome. |
Angel with Veronica's Veil by Cosimo Fancelli
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July 3rd
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1643: Birth in Bologna of the composer Alessandro Stradella (d. 1682).
1756: Death in Rome of the architect and surveyor Giovanni Battista Nolli (b. 1701), best known for his ichnographic plan of Rome, the Pianta Grande di Roma. |
The Nolli Map of Rome
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July 4th
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1807: Birth of Giuseppe Garibaldi (d. 1882). Garibaldi was born in Nizza, which since 1860 has been the French city of Nice.
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Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi, Piazzale Garibaldi, Rome
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July 6th
1533: Death in Ferrara of the poet Ludovico Ariosto (b. 1474).
July 7th
1901: Birth in Sora of the film director Vittorio de Sica (d. 1974). Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) is perhaps his most famous movie.
July 8th
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1593: Birth of the Roman painter Artemisia Gentileschi.
1822: Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned in the Gulf of Spezia, when his boat sank in a violent summer storm. The poet was less than a month short of his thirtieth birthday. His ashes are interred in the 'Protestant' Cemetery in Rome. |
Grave of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Protestant Cemetery
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July 9th
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1563: Baptism in Pisa of the painter Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (d. 1639).
1737: Death of Gian Gastone de' Medici, the last member of the Medici family to reign as Grand Duke of Tuscany. 1856: Death in Turin of the scientist Amedeo Avogadro (b. 1776). |
Gian Gastone de' Medici, Santa Maria Nuova, Florence
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July 10th
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138 CE: Death in Baiae of the emperor Hadrian (r. 117-38).
1510: Death in Venice of Caterina Cornaro (b. 1454), the last Queen of Cyprus. |
Head of Emperor Hadrian, Vatican Museums
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July 11th
1593: Death in Milan of the painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo (b. 1527), best known for his imaginative depiction of people made entirely of objects, such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and books.
July 12th
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1643: Death in Livorno of François Duquesnoy (b. 1597), a Flemish Baroque sculptor, who was active in Rome for most of his career.
1884: Birth in Livorno of the painter and sculptor Amadeo Modigliani (d. 1920). |
St Andrew by François Duquesnoy, St Peter's Basilica
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July 13th
1814: Creation of the Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali (Carabinieri Royal Corps), the oldest of Italy's two national police forces.
July 14th
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1902: Collapse of the ancient bell tower of St Mark's Basilica, in Venice.
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Collapse of the Bell Tower of St Mark's Basilica
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July 15th
1542: Death in Florence of Lisa del Giocondo (b. 1479), the model for Leonardo da Vinci’s painting the Mona Lisa.
1823: The ancient church of San Paolo fuori le Mura (St Paul Outside the Walls), in Rome, was nearly destroyed by fire.
1823: The ancient church of San Paolo fuori le Mura (St Paul Outside the Walls), in Rome, was nearly destroyed by fire.
July 16th
1194: Birth of St Clare of Assisi, one of the first followers of St Francis and the founder of the Order of Poor Clares.
1228: Canonisation of St Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226) by Pope Gregory IX (r. 1227-41).
1228: Canonisation of St Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226) by Pope Gregory IX (r. 1227-41).
July 17th
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1486: Birth of the Florentine painter Andrea del Sarto (d. 1530).
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Self-portrait
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July 18th
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1610: Death of the painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (b. 1571).
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Caravaggio (c. 1621) by Ottavio Leoni
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July 20th
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1304: Birth in Certaldo of the poet Francesco Petrarca (d. 1374), known in English as Petrarch.
1609: Death of the painter Federico Zuccari (b. 1539). 1890: Birth in Bologna of the painter Giorgio Morandi (d. 1964). 1903: Death of Leo XIII (r. 1878-1903), one of only three popes to have reigned for twenty-five years or more. 1937: Death of Guglielmo Marconi (b. 1874), who is credited with the invention of radio. In 1909 Marconi won the Nobel Prize for Physics. |
Photograph (1898) of Pope Leo XIII
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July 21st
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1515: Birth in Florence of St Philip Neri (d. 1595).
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St Philip Neri
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July 23rd
1373: Death in Rome of St Bridget of Sweden.
July 24th
1686: Birth of the Venetian composer Benedetto Marcello (d. 1739).
1739: Death in Brescia of the Venetian composer Benedetto Marcello (b. 1686).
1739: Death in Brescia of the Venetian composer Benedetto Marcello (b. 1686).
July 25th
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1654: Birth in Castelfranco Veneto of the composer Agostino Steffani (d. 1728).
1943: Dismissal and arrest of the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), who had ruled Italy since 1922. |
Benito Mussolini
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July 26th
1684: Death in Padua of Elena Cornaro Piscopia (b. 1646), the first woman in the world to be awarded an academic degree.
July 27th
1498: Death in Florence of the humanist and book-seller Vespasiano da Bisticci (b. 1422).
1835: Birth of the poet Giosuè Carducci (d. 1907), the first Italian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
1835: Birth of the poet Giosuè Carducci (d. 1907), the first Italian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
July 29th
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1644: Death of Pope Urban VIII (r. 1623-44).
1883: Birth of Benito Mussolini (d. 1945), who founded and led the Partito Nazionale Fascista. Mussolini ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943. 1900: Assassination in Monza of Umberto I (r. 1878-1900), the second king of Italy. |
Pope Urban VIII by Bernini
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July 30th
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1511: Birth in Arezzo of the painter and writer Giorgio Vasari, whose book The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, first published in 1550, led to him being hailed as the world's first art historian.
1549: Birth in Florence of Ferdinando I de' Medici (d. 1609), the third Grand Duke of Tuscany. 2007: Death in Rome of the film director Michelangelo Antonioni (b. 1912). |
Monument to Giorgio Vasari, Arezzo
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July 31st
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1556: Death of St Ignatius of Loyola (b. 1491), the founder of the Jesuits, who is buried in the Chiesa del Gesu in Rome.
1598: Birth in Bologna of the Baroque sculptor Alessandro Algardi (d. 1654). 1919: Birth in Turin of Primo Levi (d. 1987), chemist, writer and holocaust survivor. His most famous book is, perhaps, The Periodic Table. |
Tomb of St Ignatius of Loyola
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