Word: signoria
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...Italy an authoritarian state? Of course not. We are too anarchic to allow anyone to tell us what do for long (they all failed, from Caesar Augustus to Benito Mussolini). Berlusconi has won three elections, lost two, and democracy is alive and (almost) well. Italy is like a postmodern signoria - think the Sforza in Milan, the Medici in Florence - led by a benevolent elder well-liked by his subjects...
...Friends' first big project: the restoration in 2002 of all 10 pieces of marble statuary in the Loggia of Piazza della Signoria?an outdoor room of the Uffizi. This year, patrons were allowed to choose their favorite among 22 16th century paintings in the Accademia's Tribune (home of Michelangelo's David), and have their names appear on a plaque below the painting as the major donor for its restoration. Mel Gibson and his wife chose Alessandro Allori's Madonna Enthroned. Says Brandolini: "There was an explosion of color because these are all Mannerist paintings. It was the first time...
...addition to Michelangelo, there were lesser but still extraordinary sculptors waiting pliably at Cosimo's beck and call. There was the fabulously eloquent Giambologna. There was Bartolommeo Ammannati, who made the Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria, designed the courtyard of the Palazzo Pitti and created the exquisite curve of the Sta. Trinita bridge over the Arno. Benvenuto Cellini did for Cosimo the bronze Perseus decapitating Medusa that still stands in the Loggia dei Lanzi, an allegory of the triumph of Virtue over Cosimo's enemies. Medusa's gore, solidified in bronze streams, is one of the most...
...addition to Michelangelo, there were lesser but still extraordinary sculptors waiting pliably at Cosimo's beck and call. There was the fabulously eloquent Giambologna. There was Bartolommeo Ammannati, who made the Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria, designed the courtyard of the Palazzo Pitti and created the exquisite curve of the Sta. Trinita bridge over the Arno. Benvenuto Cellini did for Cosimo the bronze Perseus decapitating Medusa that still stands in the Loggia dei Lanzi, an allegory of the triumph of Virtue over Cosimo's enemies. Medusa's gore, solidified in bronze streams, is one of the most...
...frigidarium, or cold room, almost intact. And smack on top of that are the remnants of a tower dating from the 13th century era of the Ghibellines. With 86,000 sq. ft. of past at his feet, archaeologist Giuliano De Marinis, director of the dig, is exultant: "Piazza della Signoria is a unique occasion for reading the story of Florence. It's the first time that anyone has dug a Roman and medieval town in such a big area...