~Italian proverb
Today's post of Italian art is inspired by the Italian government's "culture bonus" to people turning 18, who, as of this September, will be given 500 euro to spend on books, concert tickets, theatre tickets, cinema tickets, museum visits and trips to national parks. Awesome! *
After the attacks in Paris last year, Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, said the government would increase defence and security spending by a billion euros, but match the sum with another billion euros to be spent on culture.
Mr Renzi, announcing the culture bonus: “This is a bonus for kids coming of age, to give them the symbolic awareness of what it means to be an adult in Italy ... We will not give in to terror … we have centuries of history that proclaim the fact that culture will beat ignorance, that beauty is more tenacious than barbarism.” (from The Telegraph)
Angelica
By Juana Romani
Bucentaur's return to the pier by the Palazzo Ducale
by Giovanni Antonio Canal, il Canaletto
Allegory of Time Governed by Prudence
by Titian and workshop (1490–1576)
Coronation of the Virgin, circa 1420
by Gentile da Fabriano (1370–1427)
St Jerome
by Caravaggio
Gallery of Maps, Vatican Museum
photo by Владимир Шеляпин
Saint Elisabeth, detail
Sculpture in wood by Rudolf Moroder polychromed by Christian Delago, 1900
Sphere within Sphere
by sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, Vatican Museum
photo by Lim Ashley
* I put together this post before the Italy earthquake. My thoughts are with those suffering.
It's like a tribute of their culture, Tabatha, before this recent tragedy. What a wonderful thing for the government to think of those new "adults" in this way.
ReplyDeleteYep, a cultural bonus for those coming of age is a sign of a civilized country. You have to be safe, surely, but you should never forget the beauty around you. Let's just hope these young adults spend their euros on culture.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm thinking of those suffering from the earthquake, too.
You picked wisely when selecting the wonderful art items in Italy, by the way.