Word: bibi
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...hurried, with staccato steps, to the center of a long table. There, Italy's Minister of Education Guido Gonella presented him with two bronze medals, one four centuries old, the other struck especially in his honor. After the minister's speech, cheers broke out anew; and "Il Bibi," clutching his gifts in small, gloved hands, bowed and beamed his thanks...
Sassetta on the Wall. I Tatti is more a court than a residence. At 83, Il Bibi still begins his day at 6, reading or writing or receiving visitors even before he has left his canopied bed. A fine Sassetta Madonna hangs on the wall. Each morning a vase of fresh flowers is brought to Berenson; and each morning his butler must warm his wrist watch to body temperature, lest Il Bibi jump when he straps...
...Bibi is as much a part of Florence as the Pitti Palace-and, to the art world, as widely known. For almost 50 years "B.B." has been an authority respected above all others. Millionaire collectors have sought him out for merely an approving nod of some new purchase-and paid well for the nod. His theories on tactile values have become a part of the stock in trade of art experts and connoisseurs. His meticulous researches into Italian masters have influenced a whole generation's tourist guides and scholars' volumes...
...volume library ("It's open to all, even those many who speak ill of me"). Later, there are simple, fastidious luncheons, served on fine Italian embroidered mats; teas, and candlelit dinners. At all these, a rug thrown over his knees (for he is always cold), Il Bibi holds forth in several languages on art or literature or politics. His cutting opinions make their appointed rounds, at other teas and dinners, for days after...
...Bibi seldom speaks of modern art: "I think nothing of it," says he sternly. "It's merely playing infant, kicking, screaming and smashing, or daubing and kneading with paint and clay. As long as man has two eyes and ears, one set of vital organs, he will tend to return to the classical...