Author Archives: fiorentino
Manzoni in Florence and the national language issue
The florentine side of the Euro coins
Today I was thinking about money. But not about money in the trivial sense of making money, instead I was reflecting about the semantic aspect of money. More precisely which message does a coin carry with itself, apart from its … Continue reading
The insurrection of Florence (update)
There is an update about the liberation of Florence occurred on August 11 1944, during World War II. It is well known that the nazis, on the night of August 3 1944, mined all the five bridges (Ponte San Niccolò, … Continue reading
Enrico Fermi in Florence
Enrico Fermi (Nobel prize in physics 1938) is worldwide recognized as one of the greatest scientists of any time. After Galileo Galilei, Alessandro Volta and Guglielmo Marconi, he is without doubt the italian physicist who gave the most important contributions … Continue reading
The last days of Giacomo Puccini
Puccini was a heavy smoker of cigarettes and cigars. In February 1924, while composing his last opera Turandot in Viareggio, he began to suffer from sore throat, and in March it developed with cough and hoarseness. The previous summer, while … Continue reading
Florentine typical expressions (part 8)
It’s time for part eight of Florentine typical expressions! 1) ‘un se ne pòle più, it means we can’t take it anymore (it’s enough). Pole in florentine is the third singular person of the verb potére (can). Spèngi la televisione, … Continue reading
The birth of Dante
When Dante Alighieri was born? We have few informations about his life, but we can try to reconstruct the story from direct or indirect accounts. There is strong evidence that Dante was born in Florence, in the quarter of Porta … Continue reading
Monna Lisa update
It seems that, after a few days I posted my article on Leonardo’s Monna Lisa, the Louvre has changed the content of the web page that describes the painting, removing their statement about it (that I cited in the article): … Continue reading
The mystery of Monna Lisa
Who is the woman depicted in this painting? Who is the author of this painting? While we are quite sure about the answer to the latest question, the mystery remains for the first one. For a curious joke of the … Continue reading
La bella Simonetta (Vespucci)
The young woman of this portrait attributed to Sandro Botticelli, with wires perle braided hair, a cameo in the neck depicting Apollo, Marsyas and Olympus, and a ruby on the head with even pearls, is nowadays celebrated everywhere as the … Continue reading