Since the August/October 2016 seismic shake-ups in the four regions of central Italy – Latium, Abruzzo, Umbria and the Marches – I have a new mantra: “No, art is NOT eternal.” I…
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No, art is not eternal. No, Italy’s artistic patrimonies are not inviolable. The earthquake this August with beastly aftershocks in October have taught us this. But earth trembles keep underscoring the point.…
I still remember the colorful, lyrical charm of Preci – not far from Norcia and close to the epicenter of the October 30, 2016 earthquake – when I visited there a few…
I’ll visit the Assisi cemetery this afternoon as I always do around la Festa dei Morti (“Feast of the Dead”, i.e., All Souls’ Day, November 2nd). In late October/early November, Italian cemeteries…
I wonder if next year, the kaleidoscopic splendor of the early summer wildflowers will still draw visitors to the Piano Grande (“Great Plain”) fanning out below medieval Castelluccio di Norcia? After all,…
No, art is not eternal. (This has become my mantra). The seismic activity in Italy since August 24, 2016 has affirmed that for us. Again and again. The strongest tremor of all…
Heart-breaking updates of the continuing losses of our rich artistic patrimony come to us in waves – like angry swells breaking on a rocky beach. Mother Earth is still in a rage.…
Today while telling my tour guests about the restoration of the Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi after the 1997 earthquake, I added “and feast your eyes on this splendor, remembering that…
The day following the Amatrice/Accumuli earthquake on August 24th (my birthday), Pino and I were enroute home to Assisi after yet another memorable vacation on the island of Ventotene. Although Ventotene, too,…
Yesterday afternoon in the main square of Ventotene, a police car and a couple cars of local officials were parked in front of the crenellated ochre Municipio. A group of firemen gathered…