On This Day in Italy
June
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June 1st
1846: Death of Pope Gregory XVI (r. 1831-46). |
Pope Gregory XVI by Rinaldo Rinaldi, San Paolo fuori le Mura
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June 2nd
1882: Death of Giuseppe Garibaldi (b. 1807). 1946: Italy becomes a republic. |
Giuseppe Garibaldi
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June 3rd
1977: Death of the film director Roberto Rossellini (b.1906). Rossellini was one of the most prominent directors of Italian neo-realist cinema.
1977: Death of the film director Roberto Rossellini (b.1906). Rossellini was one of the most prominent directors of Italian neo-realist cinema.
June 4th
1944: Liberation of Rome by the allied forces.
1944: Liberation of Rome by the allied forces.
June 5th
1898: Birth of the shoe-designer Salvatore Ferragamo (d. 1960).
1898: Birth of the shoe-designer Salvatore Ferragamo (d. 1960).
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June 6th
1861: Death, in Turin, of Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, the first prime minister of the Kingdom of Italy. Cavour, as he is generally known, was fifty years old when he died; he had been PM for less than three months! |
Statue of Cavour, Rome
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June 7th
1422: Birth of the condottiero Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (d. 1482), one of the most famous mercenaries of his age.
1422: Birth of the condottiero Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (d. 1482), one of the most famous mercenaries of his age.
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June 8th
1625: Birth of the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini (d. 1712). 1671: Birth of the Venetian composer Tomaso Albinoni (d. 1751). 1768: Death, in Trieste, of the German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann (b. 1717). |
Johann Joachim Winckelmann by Anton von Maron
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June 9th
68 BCE: Death of the Emperor Nero (r. 54-68). Nero was thirty-years old when he committed suicide. With his death, the Julio-Claudian dynasty came to an end. |
Bust of Nero, Capitoline Museums, Rome
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June 10th
1654: Death, in Rome, of the sculptor Alessandro Algardi (b. 1595). 1940: Italy entered the Second World War. |
Pope Innocent X by Algardi, Capitoline Museums, Rome
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June 11th
1591: Death, in Rome, of the architect Martino Longhi the Elder (b. 1534), who designed, inter alia, the bell tower of Palazzo Senatorio. |
Bell tower, Palazzo Senatorio, Rome
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June 12th
The monarchy of the House of Savoy formally ended and Umberto II, Italy's fourth and final king, left the country and went into exile. He had reigned for little more than a month!
The monarchy of the House of Savoy formally ended and Umberto II, Italy's fourth and final king, left the country and went into exile. He had reigned for little more than a month!
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June 13th
1231: Death of St Antony of Padua (b. 1195). St Antony was born in Lisbon but he died in Padua, where he is buried in the basilica that bears his name. |
Stained glass window, Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi, Rome
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June 15th
2019: Death, in Rome, of the film director Franco Zeffirelli (b. 1923).
2019: Death, in Rome, of the film director Franco Zeffirelli (b. 1923).
June 16th
1313: Birth, in Certaldo, of the writer Giovanni Bocaccio (d. 1375), who penned the Decameron.
1313: Birth, in Certaldo, of the writer Giovanni Bocaccio (d. 1375), who penned the Decameron.
June 18th:
1964: Death, in Bologna, of the painter Giorgio Morandi (b. 1890).
1964: Death, in Bologna, of the painter Giorgio Morandi (b. 1890).
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June 19th:
1373: Birth of Francesco Foscari, the longest-serving Doge (r. 1423-57) in Venetian history. |
Doge Francesco Foscari by Lazzaro Bastiani
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June 21st
1527: Death of the Florentine diplomat, historian and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli (b. 1469), author of Il Principe (The Prince). 1547: Death of the Venetian painter Sebastiano Luciani, better known as Sebastiano del Piombo (b. 1485). |
Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito
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June 22nd
1633: The Holy Office of the Catholic Church found Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) guilty of heresy and sentenced him to imprisonment. The following day, this was commuted to house arrest, which he remained under for the rest of his life. 1805: Birth, in Genoa, of Giuseppe Mazzini (d. 1872), politician and leading activist for the unification of Italy. |
Monument to Giuseppe Mazzini, Genoa
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June 23rd
79 BCE: Death of the Emperor Vespasian (r. 69-79), who commissioned the building of the world's most famous amphitheatre, namely the Colosseum. |
The Colosseum, Rome
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June 24th
1519: Death, in Ferrara, of Lucrezia Borgia (b. 1480), the daughter of Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492-1503) and Vannozza dei Cattanei.
1519: Death, in Ferrara, of Lucrezia Borgia (b. 1480), the daughter of Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492-1503) and Vannozza dei Cattanei.
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June 27th
1574: Death of the painter and writer Giorgio Vasari (b. 1511), whose book Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori (The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects), which was first published in 1550, led to him being hailed as the world's first art historian. |
Monument to Giorgio Vasari, Arezzo
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June 28th
1607: Death, in Naples, of the architect and engineer Domenico Fontana (b. 1543), who, in 1586, was in charge of moving and re-erecting the ancient Egyptian obelisk in St Peter's Square. 1867: Birth of the Sicilian writer Luigi Pirandello (d. 1936), who, in 1934, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Pirandello's most famous work is, perhaps, the play Six Characters in Search of an Author. |
Obelisk, St Peter's Square, Rome
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June 29th
1861: Death of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (b. 1806), who is buried in the 'English' Cemetery, in Florence. |
Tomb of Elizabeth Barrett Browning
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