Roberta Reports From Italy

Roberta Reports From Italy
October, 2004

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If living in Italy means coming to expect the unexpected, then this month’s report is right on the button. A few days ago, my computer started playing up, and I have no idea what it is about to do next. So bear with me as I endeavor to write my piece against a back-drop of strange sounds and even stranger behaviors on the part of my significant other (in terms of work, anyway).

Last time I promised that I would talk about places other than Milan and Florence, and I aim to stand by that undertaking. How does Rimini grab you? Fellini, you say? Yes, indeed. This is the city where he was born and which he came back to annually, to stay at the Grand Hotel. And where did I stay? Why, the Grand Hotel, of course. And when they say Grand, they are not kidding. Built in 1908, this handsome Art Nouveau building was constructed for another kind of tourism altogether. Everything is on a grander scale, if you like. There’s reception rooms galore, a lovely garden, as well as a private beach. All very Marcello Mastroianni. If you want to do things in truly grand style, you can actually stay in Fellini’s suite, which is on the third floor if I am not much mistaken. Alternatively, you could always stay in RK’s suite, which was 216, and which was not at all shabby. If nothing else, it was about the same size as my apartment here in Milan, albeit it only consisted of two rooms, and a bathroom. Which is not the way you experience it when you are there. You enter another dimension entirely (and no, I had not just attended another of those wine-tasting sessions!). It was all larger than life. The furniture was antique and had a kind of hard-to-describe but very pleasing, lived-in look. The bed was massive and exceedingly comfortable. There was a TV in both the bedroom and the sitting room, just in case you could think of nothing better to do. The bathroom goodies were by Etro (whose delicious little fragrance store is in Via Verri in Milan). Oh, yes, I was forgetting: don’t bother looking for the closet if you want to hang your clothes. There isn’t one. There’s an entire room dedicated to this purpose. The rail takes up the length of this room, and – in case you were concerned – there’s lots of shoe racks too. The great thing about staying in a place like that is that you get excellent value for money! You stay one night, and you keep remembering the event for days, even weeks, afterwards.

Apart from the outstanding overnight accommodations, we had a stunningly memorable dinner at the restaurant called Marinelli in Piazzale Vannoni. I don’t care if a picture is worth a thousand words, what use are words or pictures when you have such delicious things put in front of you? They say the British are good at understatement. I would say that the guys at Marinelli are no slouches in this department either. What they refer to, on the menu, as Antipasti freddi was actually about six choices of fish – little ones, bigger ones, even bigger ones, and they just kept coming. All local, and all delicious. After those, we moved on to the pasta dish which was passatelli al ragù di coda di rospo, which again was totally – you add your own superlative at this point. I am running out. We followed with rombo al forno con patate and frittino misto dell'Adriatico. Some lovely leaves made up the insalatina offering, and I am sure the dessert was delectable. But all I recall is the fish.

The evening ended with an unscheduled visit to the old part of town. And when we talk about old in Rimini, we are talking pretty ancient. Including the Ponte di Tiberio. Which, as the name implies, has to do with stuff that happened a long, long time ago. In fact, the bridge was finished by Tiberius in 21AD. What we see is not the original because it was rebuilt after the Goths demolished it. That was much more recently: 552AD. Not that the rampaging holidaymakers who usually populate Rimini, in search of the proverbial four “S”s, are all that concerned with these kinds of dates, but we need not bother about them. That Rimini is a fun factory in the summer months can safely be ignored, because there is so much else to see.

Anyway, back to our nocturnal sightseeing tour. This started at the Tempio Malatestiano, which was a building I had heard of and was the main reason I ever wished to visit Rimini. Although considered one of the most honorable works of the Renaissance, it is in fact a 14th-century Romanesque-Gothic church that has been, well, wrapped in marble. The person commissioned to do the wrap job was Leon Battista Alberti, he of the façade of Santa Maria Novella and of the Rucellai chapel in Florence, among others. The idea was Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta’s. What he wanted was something between a religious edifice and personal monument to himself and to Isotta Atti, his third wife. Indeed, what looks like a dollar sign in much of the decoration in the church is, in fact, his initial crossed by hers. The decoration of the Tempio took its cue from a number of sources, many of them having little to do with religion. There is a chapel featuring carvings showing the arts and crafts, while another displays the signs of the Zodiac. All very secular. Then there are the putti. These lovely little cherubs, also called amorini in Italian, can be seen in the frieze on the entrance arch. There are more, sculpted this time, on the balustrade of the first chapel on the north side of the Tempio. Not that we saw the inside that evening. But we were told, and then I came back in the morning to get another look. There is also a fresco by Piero della Francesca showing our Siggie kneeling and praying to Saint Sigismund of Burgundy. This reminds us that Rimini is on the road to Piero’s hometown of San Sepolcro. So perhaps some time when you are in the Arezzo area, you might like to head north in the direction of the Romagna region, and take a peek at Rimini. It’s surely worth it.

I know I promised, but I couldn’t resist. That Milan is a really cool place comes as no surprise to anyone. Hot off the press is news about absolutely the very coolest place in town. Opening on October 14, will be Absolut Vodka ice bar. The first outside Sweden, which is located at the Ice Hotel Stockholm, and the first of what will be a maximum of ten worldwide, the bar – which is in Piazza Gerusalemme, in the Corso Sempione area -- is now taking reservations. If you want to be one of the 60 or so people admitted each evening, prepare for a chill-out session like no other. Don't worry about being under-dressed for the occasion. They supply fur coats (don't panic, they're fake!) and there is also a heated section if you don’t warm to the idea of this innovative approach to breaking the ice. Why 60? Well, any more and the place would start to melt.

Another place that is a world exclusive is the brand-new Gucci café in the brand-new Gucci store in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. If you have not been into the Galleria for some time, take note, things are a-changin’. Prada used to be the only designer label to have a store (and what a store! Love those black and white marble floors in the upstairs, and the handsome wooden display cases downstairs). The rest were interesting enough but nothing in the same league. Since early-September, though, Louis Vuitton has taken over one of the corners of the central Ottagono area (where the CIT travel agency used to be). Another new addition is Tod’s, which is about to open in the part that borders on the Via Silvio Pellico (by the Hyatt Hotel, if that means anything).

So far, so good. The computer has been cooperating. I probably did not tell you that I am under a strict deadline because I am going to London this week. Apart from catching up with friends and doing some shopping, I want to see the exhibition Still Life in 20th-century Italy at the Estorick Gallery in Islington. Italian artists’ response to this genre varied. The Futurists considered it a Northern European ‘export’ that was fundamentally alien to Mediterranean culture, while Giorgio Morandi is surely one of the outstanding exponents of natura morta painting, not just in terms of Italy -- but worldwide. The exhibition follows the fortunes of still life painting in works by, among others, Giacomo Balla, Carlo Carrà, Felice Casorati, Giorgio de Chirico, Filippo de Pisis, Ottone Rosai, Gino Severini, and Fausto Pirandello (who was the son of the playwright Luigi, if you are at all interested).

Britain’s only gallery devoted to modern Italian art, the Estorick brings together some of the finest and most important works created by Italian artists during the first half of the twentieth century. These include the Futurists such as Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Gino Severini, and Giacomo Balla. There are also works by Modigliani, Giorgio de Chirico, as well as Giorgio Morandi, and -- my particular favourite -- Mario Sironi. The earliest work on display is Medardo Rosso’s wax and plaster sculpture Impressions of the Boulevard: Woman with a Veil (1893). The museum is at 39a Canonbury Square, London, N1 2AN. The nearest tube station is Highbury and Islington on the Victoria Line. For more information, click here.

Going to the bank after-hours is something a lot of people engage a lot of ingenuity in arranging. It seems to be an activity that exercises minds all over the world. Experts are called in, ingenious plans devised and put into practise, even if success is not always guaranteed. On Saturday, October 2, for those who do not have the time -- or the inclination -- for all that digging and tunneling, the Italian Banks Association (ABI) will be showing just how easy the whole operation can be. For a third-time around, the Invito a Palazzo allows the general public to visit over 100 bank buildings in 70 cities. On the weekend. Through the front door.

One of the most intriguing is surely Palazzo Salimbene in Siena, seat of the Monte dei Paschi, which was established in 1472 and is acknowledged to be the world's first bank. In Rome, the baroque Palazzo Altieri in Piazza del Gesù, which is the ABI headquarters, is surely one of the highlights. In Genova, meanwhile, you can see a bank that is in a church. It's Banca Carige which is housed in what used to be the Chiesa di Santa Sabina, in the Piazza of the same name. If you think that is a one-off, then you would be wrong. Ferrara, too, boasts a branch of its local Cassa di Risparmio in the Chiesa dei Santi Simone e Giuda at 17, Via Belfiore. Better not make a reference to rendering up to Caesar what is Caesar's when you're in there, I guess. What better place to get your assets frozen than the sportello of the Banca Popolare di Sondrio in Bormio. It's located at 3,500 meters -- on the Stelvio pass! And there's more.

Anyone hoping to see the strong rooms and the vaults during their visit is, I am afraid, going to be disappointed. For those who are determined to do so, I guess you make an appointment in banking hours. Or if it’s the spirit of adventure you crave, it's a question of casing out the joint and ... get digging!

I wonder if I will be able to get to see the exhibition Véronèse profane at the Musée National du Luxembourg. It runs to January 30, 2005 so it may well happen. The exhibition invites us to think about the fact that Veronese (Paolo Caliari, 1528-1588) may be considered a precursor of Abstract painting. Even though the artist was born in Verona, as his nom de paintbrush tells us, Venice was where he did much of his best work. Indeed, the thirty-two paintings that make up the exhibition have the city on the lagoon as their backdrop. Again in Paris, this time at the Louvre, through to January 3, we can see Primatrice, maître de Fontainebleau and Rosso Fiorentino, Le Christ mort. These two exhibitions focus on the Italian influence on painting at the French court.

Responsible for the magnificent frescoes at the royal palace at Fontainebleau, Rosso Fiorentino (1494-1540) is explored by means of the only authenticated painting of his executed in France -- the Death of Christ. The other exhibition examines Primaticcio (1504-1570), another of the Italian painters attracted to the court of Francis I at Fontainebleau, where he did some of his best work. The exhibitions are open 09.00-19.45 on Monday and Wednesday, and until 18.00 from Thursday to Sunday. Closed on Tuesday. For more details see the Louvre website.

I have not come across much in the way of music this month. Not that there isn’t much, but that I did not find it. However, I thought I would let you know that the XI triennial Violin-making competition is due to take place in 2006. So there is plenty of time to perfect your craft, if you are so inclined. It all happens in Cremona. This is, of course, where Stradivari was born, not to mention Guarnieri and the others. So they know a few things about fiddle-construction in these parts.

Actually, I was in fact due to go to Cremona to the opening of an exhibition on the Ancient Egyptians. I missed it but hope to get there sometime before March 28. Entitled Egitto-- dalle piramidi ad Alessandro Magno, the exhibit is being held at the Museo Civico Ala Ponzone (4, Via Ugolani Dati), as well as in Palazzo Stanga (36, Via Palestro). One objective of the exhibit is to showcase some of the 90-odd Italian collections of Egyptian remains. How these collections came about is interesting.

The so-called collezione di Firenze, for example, was the outcome of the expeditions led by Jean-François Champollion and Ippolito Rosellini, along with the work of the Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli. The collezione di Napoli derives its origins from the artefects collected by the Farnese family of nobles, as well as those of Cardinal Stefano Borgia, to which were added items acquired by Giuseppe Picchianti. Meanwhile, the collections from the north of Italy mainly consist of small private holdings, acquired by enthusiasts.

Thinking about this exhibit reminded me of a place I have yet to visit: the Egyptian Museum (or Museo Egizio to give it its proper name) in Turin. Located at 6, Via Accademia della Scienze, this is considered to be among the top three repositories of things ancient Egyptian, after the British Museum in London and the Cairo Museum. The museum is open 08.30-19.30, Tuesday to Sunday, and is closed on Monday. For more information, click here.

If you are reading this, it means the computer has seen its way clear to letting me get this letter written (thank you, dear). So I will sign off and I look forward to bringing you more news next month.

By Roberta Kedzierski, Milan

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