ItalyUpdate

All over the Italian peninsula, people are confined to home to avoid spreading further infection. How do they cope without the customary daily passeggiata, the gathering of friends for Happy Hours in cafes and pubs, the convivial evenings in pizzerie and restaurants?

Filming of the Italo-Chinese production of the movie The Italian Recipe is to go ahead as planned despite the problems of the current Coronavirus epidemic, according to the film company press office.

Meletti, the exclusive liqueur of Ascoli Piceno (Marche) chalks up its 150th birthday this year.

Latin is generally supposed to be a dead language and, in fact, it is not longer taught in many schools, especially in Northern Europe.

The American pop artist Keith Haring was a lover of Italy and left many works in various Italian towns and cities. On the 30th anniversary of his death he is being honoured in several places where he left his distinctive mark.

The great neo-classical sculptor Antonio Canova is honoured in both Rome and Milan with major exhibitions of his work. In Rome, Canova.

The Stag Man (Gl' Cierv) performs his eerie Carnival ritual on Sunday 23rd February 2020 in the remote Mainarde mountain town of Castelnuovo di Volturno in Molise.

L'Accademia di Arte Sanitaria (Academy of Sanitary Art) in Rome has announced the first results of the Pliny Project, coordinated by a group of experts from the universities of Rome, Florence, Macerata and the Rome Institute of Geological Environment and Geo-engineering (Igag-Cnr).

Il Fuggiasco (The Fugitive), Le 7 Mandate (7 Turns of the Lock), Quarto di Luna (a Touch of Madness) may seem rather odd names for wines until you learn that they are produced by the Casa Circondariale (the Prison) of Velletri, in the Castelli Romani near Rome.

Another major anniversary this year! Federico Fellini, author of the landmark film La Dolce Vita was born in Rimini on the 20th January 1920.