ItalyUpdate

UMBRIA'S SURPRISING CONTEMPORARY ART

The region of Umbria, “Green Heart of Italy”, famed for its saints, historic abbeys and palaces, ancient townships and tranquil countryside, is currently projecting a surprising and little known face as a treasure house of contemporary art.

In an effort to conquer the prestigious 2026 title of Italian Capital of Contemporary Art, two historic towns - Spoleto and Foligno – have joined forces to present a united candidature.

Both towns have histories reaching back to the Middle Ages, but they are also centres that have attracted many contemporary artists over the last half century.

The late composer Giancarlo Menotti brought international fame to the small 12^th century town of Spoleto with his acclaimed vanguard Festival of Two Worlds. During the Vth edition in 1962, it was decided to expand the theatre and ballet programme to incorporate contemporary urban art. The resulting “Sculpture in the City” event attracted 53 international sculptors, transforming the historic centre into an open air museum. Six of these works, donated by the artists, still remain in their original place, including the gigantic “Teodelapio” by Alexander Calder, “the Gift of Icarus” by Beverley Pepper, the “Stranger III” by Lynn Chadwick and the “Traveller's Column” by Gio Pomodoro.

Foligno makes an impressive contribution to the Spoleto-Foligno bid with its colossal “Calamita Cosmica” (Cosmic Magnet), commonly known as the “Great Skeleton”, by the late mystical artist Gino De Dominicis.

The 24m-long sculpture fills the entire floor space of the Church of the SS Trinita in Assumption and attracts crowds of fascinated visitors who speculate about the meaning of the gilded rod in the skeleton's hand and the pointed beak in place of its nose.

Info: https://www.umbriatourismo.it

CASTELPORZIANO – FROM ROYAL RETREAT TO RESEARCH CENTRE

The Presidential Residence of Castelporziano, a 60 km oasis of ancient original Mediterranean forest land on the Mediterranean coast some 25 kms from Rome, and once the royal retreat of Italian kings, is now an important nature reserve and ecological research centre.

A primaeval paradise of natural wood and swamp lands, it hosts not only native species like the Maremma wild boar, wild goats, deer herds, foxes, badgers, hare, weasels and so on that live undisturbed in the tangled and impenetrable undergrowth, (a lone wolf is a recent spontaneous arrival) but also flocks of migratory birds, insects and several endangered aquatic species. The estate also contains the original manor house, an archaeological site and the relative Archaeological Museum, a Museum of History and Nature, a coach house with a collection of antique vehicles, and an important research centre on biodiversity and air pollution levels.

In addition to the protected native species, the Residence also supports herds of endangered domestic animals, like the Maremma buffalo and the Maremma wild boar, as well as retired working horses.

Special research projects include reforestation of pine and holm oak, native species both under threat from invasive foreign insects and pests encouraged by the favourable conditions created by global warming. An important monitoring project is the ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) station, part of the European network of over 170 measuring stations spread over 16 European countries that measures and documents levels of air pollution and global warming effects. The 20m - high tower installed in the heart of the Castelporziano forest collects and transmits vital data on the reactions of the surrounding forest and the defence mechanisms of trees in counteracting emissions of harmful C2O gases.

Tracking the movements of migratory birds is another important study area. The capture and ringing birds of passage with ID tags provides scientists with vital information on the movements, survival rates and population dynamics of various bird species. Part of the Castelporziano visitor tour normally includes a demonstration of the ringing technique carried out by a skilled operator, and the subsequent release of the bird into the wild.

The Archeology Museum contains antiquities found during excavations of the group of Roman villas situated in the Capocotta area of the estate. It is recorded that Pliny the Younger had his villa here, although archaeologists have been unable to identify it. Most striking are the fragments of ceiling frescos in vivid Pompeii red, with the decorations as vivid and fresh as when they were first painted.

The estate manor house is also open to visitors with memorability of the short-lived Savoy dynasty, that ended its reign when Italy became a Republic at the end of WWII. The estate itself has a long history of changing ownership dating back to the Medieval era. The manor (or “Castello” as it is called) knew its period of maximum splendour in the mid 19^th century when it was owned by the Grazioli family, who ceded it in 1872 as a private residence and hunting reserve for the new monarch. Royal control lasted until 1948 when the estate became the property of the Italian government and, accordingly, the state. Subsequently, an area bordering on the sea shore was ceded to the Italian people, and transformed into the popular free beach zone known as “I Cancelli”.

The Castello contains a portrait gallery of three generations of the Savoy royal family, a formal banqueting room, porcelain displays and a hunting trophy gallery (this includes an elephant head over the fireplace). This room is now used to host visitor groups. Special attention is paid to non-profit and community service organizations which are often welcomed personally by the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, who takes a personal interest in the work of community support groups. Every summer, the estate hosts a summer retreat for over a thousand disabled people, in addition to regular visits from school children and scout groups.

The Presidential Estate of Castelporziano is open to the public at weekends in specific

periods of the year. Prior booking essential through the Presidential Quirinale Palace, Rome.

M.STENHOUSE

Info: Tel. 06.42012191 https://palazzo.quirinal.it/visita

CORTONA ETRUSCANS & JAZZ

Cortona, the Tuscan town celebrated for its Etruscan past, launches the 7^th edition of its highly successful international Jazz Festival, starring world famous performers and music experts.

The four-day Festival programme lists evening concerts by top international musicians plus morning laboratory sessions of experiments and brain storming involving young musicians from different countries and backgrounds.

The event will also be a showplace for the local Sirah grape wine, as well as locally produced spirits and liqueurs.

The old Etruscans who, judging by their tomb decorations, also valued the good life, would certainly have approved!

Cortona was also the setting for the highly successful film “Under the Tuscan 'Sun” (2004), based on the bestseller by American writer Frances Mayes.

Info: Tel. +39.0575.637274 www.cortonajazz.org

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI DAY

St. Francis of Assisi is at last to be honoured with an official National holiday. The day of annual commemoration will be the 4^th October, the date of his death. Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, President of the Italian Episcopal Congress (CEI) has announced that from this year onwards, the 4^th October will be officially commemorated in Italy as a national holiday.

St. Francis, the most popular and best loved of all the Roman Catholic saints listed on the churches' calendar died on the 4^th October 1226, eight hundred years ago, but his message of peace, love and respect for the environment is as fresh and valid as ever.

The 800^th annioversary of his death is marked by a month-long series of events, including art exhibitions, concerts, costumed processions, readings and debates.

Info: Tel. +39.0758138680 iat@comune.assisi.pg.itST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI DAY

VISIONARY PARISH PRIEST TRANSFORMS DEGRADED QUARTER OF NAPLES

RAI, Italy's state TV, is soon to launch a new series on the work of Don Antonio Loffredo, the charismatic and visionary parish priest of the Rione Sanita, one of Naples's most degraded areas.

When he took up office in 2001, he found a desperate situation of chronic unemployment, poverty, crime and Mafia intervention in this area in the very heart of Naples, practically cheek by jowl with the city's other face – the bustling city of tourism, shops and tourist attractions.

Father Loffredo found a revolutionary solution. The quarter was full of historic churches, monuments and art – all in a state of total degradation. No visitors ventured into this ill-famed area to see any of its neglected jewels. He therefore began with the ancient monumental Catacombs of San Gaudioso under the Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanita, dating back to the Greco-Roman period, engineered a grant for restoration work and enrolled a team of local teenagers to help clean and restore the fascinating sequence of cavernous underground cemeteries. Twenty years later, they are now one of Naples top tourist attractions run by a local cooperative called “La Paranza” (the name of a typical Neapolitan trawling fishing boat)

The initiative has not only guaranteed work and earnings for local youth. But has expanded into other areas, such as the restoration of the Church of Santa Maria della Maddalena dei Cristallini, badly damaged by bombing during the last war. La Paranza has turned the building into a centre of contemporary art, with blue the predominant colour of the interior.

The nearby abandoned Church of Sant'Aspreno ai Crociferi, instead, has become a show place for the works of the celebrated artist Iago and is also open to the public.

Father Loffredo transferred from the parish in the Rione Sanita three years ago, but his work has been carried on by La Paranza, the group he founded.

M.STENHOUSE

Info: https://catacombedinapoli.it

TAORMINA SHOWS THE CONTROVERSIAL FEMALE DAVID

The third century BC Greek Theatre of Toarmina (Sicily) is the unexpected setting chosen for “Gesti Scolpiti” (Sculptured Gestures), an exhibition of works by controversial contemporary artist Jacopo Cardillo. Known as Iago, the Naples-based sculptor is known for his interpretations of classical works of art, re-elaborated and re-presented in a new and sometimes startling form.

The exhibition comprises four highly symbolic pieces. Three of those centre around the theme of the human hand: “Impronta Animale” (Animal Imprint)), “Memorie” (Memories) and “Prigione” (Prison) all symbolizing the profound and lasting impact made by the human race on the world around them.

The star of the show, however, is Iago's interpretation of Michaelangelo's celebrated “David” in which he reproduces in gilded bronze the life-size figure of the biblical hero king, poised with sling dangling at the ready to attack the giant Goliath. In Iago's controversial version, however, the David has the body of a woman. Last year, the sculpture sailed the seven seas as part of the “Made in Italy” promotional world tour on board the show piece of the Italian navy – the majestic full-rigged ship “Amerigo Vespucci”.

Iago also hit the headlines in 2019 when his marble sculpture “First Baby” went into space with the European Space Agency's Space Mission Beyond.

The exhibition runs until the 3^rd May 2026.

Info: glicineassociazione@gmail.com and also Instagram and Facebook page

FESTIVAL REVIVES ROME'S PREHISTORY

The ancient Latin League has a full emersion revival on the 20^th -21^st September 2025 when the annual feast in honour of Jove will be recreated on the wooded slopes of the sacred mountain Monte Giove (now known as Monte Cavo) some 30 kms south of Rome.

The Lega Latina (the Latin League, composed of a cluster of small pre-Roman city-states) met each year to cement alliances and bonds of mutual collaboration until they were defeated and absorbed into the Roman empire.

The present Festival aims to recreate the joyous atmosphere of the ancient event with dance rituals, performances, games and crafts, including an exhibition of Ancient Roman football, a costumed procession with priests, dancers, vestal virgins and Roman soldiers in formation.

However, the 21^st century is also represented with a spectacular exhibition of sky diving (presented by the Societa Sportiva Lazio, 2025 champions of Wind Suit and Speed Skydiving).

The event is organized by the local Arco di Diana Association, active in exploration of pre-Roman sites in the area, as well as adventure trekking and social activities.

The two-day event takes place in the fields of the Dakota Ranch riding school situated in the wooded territory once the home of the ancient Latin League.

M. STENHOUSE

Info: +39.346.5151929 Facebook ARCO DI DIANA APS

PAESTUM TEMPLES FROM A NEW ANGLE

The celebrated archaeological site of Paestum offers an exciting new viewing experience between the 27^th Sept – 9^th October 2025 with the 14^th Festival della Mongolfiera (Balloon Festival) in which visitors can soar air-bound over the tops of the three 2,500 year old Greek Temples.

The hot air balloons are assembled in the Balloon Park next to the archaeological site, surrounded by street performers, children's side shows and a display of giant kites.

Two kinds of flights are available: the Volo Vincolato (Captive Flight) is geared towards families and the less daring tourists. It is tethered to the ground by a 120m- long cable that allows the balloon to hover over the treetops and the temples. The “Free Flight” instead is for the more adventurous: it allows passengers to float off freely in the company of a pilot who guides it back to earth at some designated spot.

Info: Tel. +39.333.5601504 www.paestumballoon.it

STAR GAZING WITH THE VATICAN

The recent visit of Pope Leone XIV to the Specula Vaticana during his summer sojourn in the hilltop town of Castelgandolfo on Lake Albano has rekindled interest in the historic papal astronomical observatory situated in the palace precincts.

The observatory is one of the oldest astronomical institutions in Europe, linking its history to the scientific research facility set up in 1578 by Pope Gregory XIII, who also substituted the inaccurate Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar still in use today.

The Vatican observatory was in use until the 1930s when the light pollution of the city of Rome began to limit the range of star viewing and Pope Pius XI decided to have it transferred to Castelgandoldo. In 1981, a corresponding research laboratory (the Vatican Observatory Research Group VORG) was set up in collaboration with the Mt. Graham observatory in Tucson Arizona USA.

Meanwhile, the historic Specula Vaticana continues to operate under the supervision of a team of Vatican scientists. It also runs a summer school every second year for international astronomy students, now into its 19^th edition.

Guided tours are available that include the historic viewing cupola in which the Schmidt star viewing telescope is installed, the meteorite collection and the “carte du ciel” camera used in the international mapping project of the stars to which the Vatican contributed between 1910 and 1921.

Info: prenotazione polomusealecastelgandolfo@scv.va

WHEN FAIRYTALES BECOME TRUE

The Museum of Civilization (MUCIV) in Rome's EUR district is offering an exclusive exhibition of Italian traditional folklore and traditions with the title “Le Fiabe Sono Vere” (Fairytales are True) with over 5000 exhibits ranging from processional masks, Sicilian puppets, magic potion cups and containers, books of spells, historic paintings and illustrations, costumes and amulets, toys, musical instruments, ex votos and so on, all pertaining to the enchanted world of the collective imagination when country people struggled to come to terms with their environment and the caprices of Nature.

The exhibition aims to present the symbolic structure of traditional fairytales and their relationship to the environment in different geological areas, such as the wilderness and forest, the sea and the village.

The ground floor has been set up like a traditional village piazza, with live performances and visual aids.

“Le Fiabe Sono Vere” runs until the 1^st March 2006

Info: Tel. +39.06.549521 www.museodellecivilta.it