Alessandro Michele’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection, ‘Vertigineaux,’ marked his first haute couture debut for Maison Valentino. The collection brought together a representation of history, fairy tales, and art, drawing inspiration from Italian philosopher Umberto Eco’s “The Infinity of Lists”. Michele’s collection was presented at the Palais Brongniart in Paris, France. The title ‘Vertigineaux’—meaning ‘dizzying’ in French— reflected […]
Beginning in 2004, a restoration project on the Duomo di Parma began to reveal a 16th-century fresco that had been hidden for centuries. This fresco, found within the walls of the cathedral’s crypt, is a depiction of the “Madonna of Graces with the Child and Saints”. The subjects of this piece, though a common theme […]
Etruscan artifacts, worth about 8.5 million euros have been recovered just 40 miles north of Rome in the Umbria region of Italy by Italian authorities. Found at an illegal excavation site, these artifacts include Etruscan urns, sarcophagi, and beauty tools and accessories. The illegal excavation site, dug up adjacent to a preexisting excavation site discovered […]
IAF Vice President Claudia Palmira presented a talk at Palazzo Braschi (Rome) about the unique process of the making of Laudato sie – from the first meetings with Pope Francis and the St Francis Day Foundation with the IAF, to witnessing the process of restoration of the manuscripts at the Abbey of Praglia, to the […]
Maria Laurino’s book, originally published in Italian under the title, “Il prezzo degli Innocenti”, was presented in New York University’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò. “The Price of Children” is an exploration into the deep, complex history of the power dynamic of church and state over women’s bodily autonomy in Italy. Although Laurino’s book finds its roots […]
In October 2024, one of New York’s newest institutions,; the Italian American Museum, opened in Little Italy. This museum, resting upon decades of work towards its existence, brings to fruition the presence of Italian American history in the New York City museum sphere. The founder, Joseph V. Scelsa, began his push for a museum displaying […]
For the past 80 years on Columbus Day in New York City there is a celebration of the presence of Italian culture within the United States. The day includes a wide range of events, including a large breakfast and parade, attended by many individuals of Italian-American heritage. Events are organized by the Italian American Action […]
The New York Institute of Culture is now displaying works of Allegra Hicks inspired by the prose of Giacomo Leopardi, a prolific Italian poet from the early nineteenth century. Leopardi wrote a wide breadth of poetry and prose that encapsulated themes focusing on different aspects of humanity. The poet, struggling his entire life with a […]
Palazzo Braschi, Rome, is the initial location of the exhibit entitled Laudato sie; nature and science, which will subsequently be on display in Assisi in 2025. The exhibit, sponsored by the Saint Francis Day Foundation and the Italian Academy Foundation, displays a wide breadth of 800-year-old restored Franciscan manuscripts, notably the famed Canticle of Creatures. […]
The Spanish Steps, one of Rome’s most popular tourist sites, are now at the center of a dispute over their ownership. The building of the steps, designed by Italian architects Francesco De Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi in the 1700s, were both commissioned and funded by France. In addition to the Spanish Steps, France, having been […]