On This Day in Italy

November

November 1st
1457: Death of Francesco Foscari, the longest-serving Doge (r. 1423-57) in Venetian history. 

1546: ​Death in Mantua of the Roman painter Giulio Pippi de' Jannuzzi (b. circa 1499), better known as Giulio Romano. 

1596: Birth in the Tuscan town of Cortona of the Baroque painter and architect Pietro Berrettini. Pietro da Cortona, as he is better known, died in 1667 and is buried in the Roman church of SS Luca e Martina, which he designed.  
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1757: Birth in Possagno of the sculptor Antonio Canova (d. 1822). 
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1972: Death in Venice of the American poet Ezra Pound (b. 1885), who is buried in the city's San Michele Cemetery.  
Funerary monument to Pietro da Cortona, church of Santi Luca e Martina, Rome
Funerary monument to Pietro da Cortona
November 2nd
1906: ​Birth in Milan of the film director Luchino Visconti (d. 1976). Visconti's movies include The Leopard and Death in Venice.  
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1975: Murder of the film director Pier Paolo Pasolini (b. 1922). 
November 3rd
​1500: Birth of the Florentine goldsmith, sculptor and writer Benvenuto Cellini. 

1584: Death of St Charles Borromeo (b. 1534), an Archbishop of Milan and a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation. 
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1801: Birth in Catania of the composer Vincenzo Bellini (d. 1835). 
Monument to Benvenuto Cellini, Ponte Vecchio, Florence
Monument to Benvenuto Cellini, Florence
November 4th
​1575: Birth in Bologna of the painter Guido Reni (d. 1642). 
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1918: An entente between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire came into effect, thereby ending the Italian campaign of World War I, in which 650,000 Italian soldiers died.

1966: Florence experienced its worst ever flood, with the floodwaters reaching as high as 6 metres in some parts of the city. 
Small cloister of Santa Croce during flood of November 4th 1966, Florence
Small cloister of Santa Croce, November 4th 1966
November 8th
1494: Death in Forli  of the painter Melozzo di Giuliano degli Ambrosi, better known as Melozzo da Forlì (b. Circa 1438).  
November 9th
324: Consecration of San Giovanni in Laterano, the Cathedral of Rome, by Pope Sylvester I (r. 314-35).

1778: Death of the Venetian print-maker and architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi (b. 1720), who is buried in the church of Santa Maria del Priorato in Rome.
Statue of Giovanni Battista Piranesi by Giuseppe Angelini, Santa Maria del Priorato, Rome
Piranesi by Giuseppe Angelini
November 11th
1417: Election of Pope Martin V (r. 1417-31). His election brought an end to the Western Schism (1378–1417). 
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1677: Death in Padua of the Venetian composer and singer Barbara Strozzi (b. 1619). ​
Portrait of Barbara Strozzi by Bernardo Strozzi
Portrait of Barbara Strozzi by Bernardo Strozzi
November 12th
1493: Birth of the Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli (d. 1550). 
Sculpture of Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli, Florence
Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli, Florence
​November 13th
1619: Death in Bologna of the painter Ludovcio Carracci (b. 1555). 
November 15th
1701: Birth of the Venetian artist Pietro Longhi (d. 1785), famous for his paintings of scenes of everyday life. 
Marriage by Pietro Longhi, Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia, Venice
Marriage by Pietro Longhi, Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia, Venice
November 16th
42 BCE: Birth of Emperor Tiberius (r. 14-37). Tiberius, son of Livia and Claudius Nero, was adopted by Augustus, Livia's second husband, to succeed him as emperor.  

1625: Death in Palermo of the painter Sofonisba Anguissola (b. circa 1532). 
Statue of Emperor Tiberius, Vatican Museums, Rome
Emperor Tiberius, Vatican Museums
November 17th
9 CE: Birth of the emperor Vespasian (r. 69 to 79). 
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1503: Birth of the Florentine painter Agnolo di Cosimo (d. 1572), who is better known as il Bronzino. 
Portrait of Eleonora di Toledo by Bronzino, Uffizi Gallery Florence
Eleonora di Toledo by Bronzino
November 18th
​1626: Consecration of St Peter's Basilica by Pope Urban VIII (r. 1623-44). 

1678: Death in Modena of the composer Giovanni Maria Bononcini (b. 1642).
St Peter's Basilica, Rome
St Peter's Basilica
November 19th
1523: Election of Pope Clement VII (r. 1523-34). 
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1665: Death in Rome of the French painter Nicholas Poussin (b. 1594), who is buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina. 
Monument to the French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome
Monument to Nicolas Poussin
November 20th
 1978: Death in Rome of the painter Giorgio de Chirico (b. 1888), founder of the Scuola Metafisica. He is buried in the church of San Francesco a Ripa. 
Burial place of Giorgio di Chirico (1888-1978), church of San Francesco a Ripa, Rome
Burial place of Giorgio di Chirico
November 21st
1681: Inauguration of the Venetian church of Santa Maria della Salute, which was commissioned to give thanks to the Virgin Mary, following the cessation of a devastating plague (1630-31) that  killed 46,000 people. 
November 22nd
 1533: Birth of Alfonso II d'Este (d. 1597), the last duke of Ferrara. 
November 23rd
 1572: Death in Florence of the painter Agnolo di Cosimo (b. 1503), who is better known as il Bronzino. 

1682: Death in Rome of the French painter Claude Lorrain (b. 1600), who is buried in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi. 
Monument to the French painter Claude Lorrain, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Monument to Claude Lorrain
November 24th
​1826: Birth of the Florentine writer Carlo Lorenzini (d. 1890), the creator of Pinocchio. Lorenzini wrote under the name Carlo Collodi. 
Pinocchio by Enrico Mazzanti, the first illustrator
Pinocchio by Enrico Mazzanti
November 25th
1454: Birth, in Venice, of Caterina Cornaro (d. 1510), who would become the last queen of Cyprus. 
November 27th
​8 BCE: Death in Rome of the Latin poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus, known in English as Horace. 
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1570: Death in Venice of the architect and sculptor Jacopo Sansovino (b. 1486). Jacopo Tatti (his real name) designed the Libreria Sansoviniana, also known as the Biblioteca Marciana, in Venice, which was praised by the architect Andrea Palladio as ‘the finest building erected since antiquity’.
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1602: Birth in Milan of the composer and Benedictine nun Chiara Margarita Cozzolani (d. 1678). 

1758: Death in Siena of the castrato Francesco Bernardi (b. 1686), better known as il Senesino. 
Biblioteca Maricana, Venice
Biblioteca Maricana, Venice
November 28th
​1632: Birth in Florence of the composer Giovanni Battista Lulli, who, at the age of fourteen, moved to France, where he would later change his name to Jean-Baptiste Lully (d. 1687).
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​1680: Death in Rome of the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (b. 1598), who is buried in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. 
Tomb slab of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome
Tomb slab of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
November 29th
1516: Death of the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini (b. circa 1430).

​1643: Death of the composer Claudio Monteverdi (b. 1567), who is interred in the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, in Venice. 

1797: Birth in Bergamo of the composer Gaetano Donizetti (d. 1848). 
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1902: Birth in Turin of Carlo Levi (d. 1975), author of the book Cristo si è fermato a Eboli  (Christ Stopped at Eboli). 
Plaque to Claudio Monteverdi, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice
Plaque to Claudio Monteverdi
November 30th
​1508: Birth in Padua of Andrea di Pietro della Gondola (d. 1580), much better known as Andrea Palladio, one of the most influential architects in history. 

1642: Birth in Trento of the painter, architect Andrea del Pozzo (d. 1709). 
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1647: Death in Rome of the painter Giovanni Lanfranco (b. 1582), who painted the frescoes in the dome of the church of Sant' Andrea della Valle. 
Villa Rotondo by Andrea Palladio
Villa Rotondo by Andrea Palladio
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