Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
For art historians, it is so interesting to try to figure out, with the materials at hand, what Piero wanted his work to finally look like, but it's a challenge, as the artist's initial sketches have been lost.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Vera's daughter was a teenager when Giuliano began courting her mother. Giuliano tells some stories about World War II and how crazy things were.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
It's rare for a work of art to become the symbol of a city and even be part of its coat of arms, but this did indeed happen in Borgo Sansepolcro. Piero's Resurrection may be thought of as a fresco, but it's much more complicated than that, as we learn in this segment.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Vera talks about her parents and how they met and fell in love. Her mother was a stage actress and her father a military commander.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
The last stop on the trip to Castellammare di Stabia is the seafront, called il lungomare in Italian. There's a great panorama, a lovely sea breeze, and it's a great place to just walk around. Marika mentions the famous natural spring water of Castellammare, both for thermal baths and for drinking.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Piero was not just a painter; he was a member of an important family in Borgo Sansepolcro. There is a fresco painting attributed to him that might have alluded to the family business, which was producing and selling leather goods.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
The three highschoolers answer questions about what time they eat and go to bed, what they like or miss about where they live, and much more.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
The name of the villa was inspired by the story of Dionysus who watched Ariadne while she slept. It was excavated first by the Bourbons but was buried again. Later in the 50s, digs were resumed and now, it can be visited in all its glory.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
The restorers take us through the meticulous cleaning process involving Japanese rice paper, a gel made from marine algae, and a solvent.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Restoring the Resurrection was a lengthy and complex process, consisting of reinforcement, cleaning, and the retouching of the painting itself.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
After Stabiae was razed to the ground in a war, the Romans decided to build some luxury villas in the area. Luckily, some archeological digs led by archeologist Libro D'Orsi were effectuated in the 1950s, and 3 villas came to light.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
The host describes the fascinating story of a British army captain who, during World War II, happened to have read Aldous Huxley's words (quoted in the previous segment), and remembered them just in time.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Borgo Sansepolcro is an out-of-the-way Tuscan city. But, as this video sets out to explain, it boasts one of the most beautiful paintings in the world, so it is well worth the journey. The video begins with some passages from a 1925 essay by Aldous Huxley: “The Best Picture.” We have translated the Italian translation back into English, for learning purposes, but you can find the original English version here.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
People often wonder where the name ferragosto comes from, as well as the holiday itself. Marika fills us in with its fascinating history and evolution.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
This is a kind of trailer, not for a movie, but for a book about the Calabrian mafia-like organization called the 'Ndrangheta, and the investigation into its crimes, called Operazione Crimine-Infinito (Operation Infinite Crime). Coming soon: the author reading some extracts from the book.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment? You will not be able to recover it.