Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Vittorio Umiltà Anzen was a lawyer who passed away in 2012. He loved Palermo and was proud of his house, which he shows us complete with private chapel and rooftop garden.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
A visit to a sumptuous palace in Palermo which incorporates a variety of styles, from the Gothic to the Baroque.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
We can see that the battle against using "Lei," the common, formal, second-person form of address, was taken very seriously by the fascists. In fact they went too far when it came to a popular women's magazine called "Lei" (she, her).
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Mussolini continues to get rid of any traces of foreign words, and even mounts an exhibit against the use of the common formal second person singular address "Lei" (you) in favor of "Voi." See this lesson about "Voi" to get some background.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
A great deal of effort went into purging foreign words from the Italian language under the fascist regime. Newspapers, magazines, and book publishers were at the forefront of the effort and were tasked with finding Italian replacements for foreign words and expressions. Many fascist-era terms have fallen by the wayside, but some succeeded and are still in use today. As an example, the word manifesto [poster] was successfully introduced to replace the French term affiche.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The segment looks at how Mussolini patterned his fiercely nationalist rhetoric after poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, while harkening back to the glory of Imperial Rome. The song in the segment refers to Balilla, an 18th century Genoese boy. In 1746, Balilla threw a stone at an Austrian official of the occupying Hapsburg Empire, which led to the War of the Austrian Succession.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Mussolini forbade the use of dialects and the minority languages that were spoken in the regions bordering the countries to the north in favor of one language for all. Italians were bombarded by fascist propaganda and Mussolini's very frequent speeches.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Me Ne Frego [I don't give a damn], was one of the mottoes of Fascism, coming originally from the writings of Gabriele d'Annunzio and employed by storm troops during World War One as a war cry for courage and daring, with the meaning, "I don't mind dying for freedom." The motto gives the title to this documentary about the influences of Italian Fascism on the Italian language. It was produced by the Istituto Luce Cinecittà, with materials from the historical Luce archives, and narrates the obscure attempt by the Fascist regime to create a new and unique language, a new “Italian” that fit the dogma of the dictatorship.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Éric de Chassey, Director of the French Academy, details the mission of the institution.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The segment concentrates on two richly frescoed rooms that are set apart from the villa. Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici used these secluded rooms for trysts.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
We visit the French Academy's gallery devoted to plaster casts of antique sculptures and the large park, which was once used by Ferdinando de' Medici for hunting.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The segment focuses on Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius, who owned a villa on the site of Villa Medici. We catch a glimpse of tunnels and rooms beneath the villa, which were used by Ferdinando de' Medici to imprison Asian slaves when they weren't at work on a garden meant to evoke Mount Parnassus.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The tour of the Abruzzo Region concludes with sights near l'Aquila, the region's capital.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
We get a look at the plaster casts of Roman and Greek statues in the French Academy's storage rooms, sculptures such as the Venus de Milo. Fellows have made use of these casts to draw inspiration for their own works.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The segment features the Oratory of San Pellegrino and the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption in Bominaco. These, together with the Marian church in nearby Fossa, are considered the finest examples of Medieval art and architecture in the Abruzzo Region.
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