Culture archives: Cultural Italian news in English

The Commodus Paasage at the Colosseum is now open to the public. Colosseum and other museums open ferragosto 2022

Secret Commodus Passage opens to the public at the Colosseum

October 12, 2025October 12, 2025Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

A once-hidden passageway inside Rome’s Colosseum, known as the Commodus Passage — named after the notorious emperor immortalised in the film Gladiator — opened to the public for the first time this week.

Piedmont exhibits culinary excellence in Japan

October 4, 2025October 4, 2025Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

Alba’s white truffle, Piedmontese rice, Fassona beef, and celebrated wines were showcased at the Piedmont Gala Dinner in Osaka. The event, held in the Great Room of the W Hotel, gathered over 150 Japanese stakeholders and institutional guests.

On this day in history: birth of painter Mario Berrino

September 22, 2025September 22, 2025Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

Mario Berrino, the Ligurian painter and colourful entrepreneur, was born on this day in 1920 in Alassio, the coastal town where he would spend almost all of his life. Best remembered for capturing the atmosphere of the Italian Riviera in his paintings, Berrino also left an enduring mark on Alassio through his entrepreneurial ventures and […]

Ig Nobel winners on theory of cacio e pepe pasta sauce. https://www.google.com/imgres?q=cacio%20e%20pepe&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F0%2F0d%2FSpaghetti_cacio_e_pepe_%2528creamy_as_it_should_be%2529.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcommons.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3ASpaghetti_cacio_e_pepe_(creamy_as_it_should_be).jpg&docid=lk73sBZ4j7D5NM&tbnid=QnFympEkiTcp-M&vet=12ahUKEwjUyovn2uSPAxVnRaQEHR-KNOoQM3oECBgQAA..i&w=3008&h=2000&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjUyovn2uSPAxVnRaQEHR-KNOoQM3oECBgQAA

Italian physicists win Ig Nobel for perfecting pasta sauce

September 19, 2025September 19, 2025Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

A group of Italian physicists have been awarded the 2025 Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for a study that tackles one of the country’s most cherished yet challenging dishes: cacio e pepe. Their work, carried out with colleagues from Austria, Germany and Spain, explores why the sauce sometimes turns creamy and delicious while other times […]

The Agony in the Garden painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 - 1506 CE). Tempera on panel, c. 1460 CE. (National Gallery, London)

On this day in history: death of artist Andrea Mantegna

September 13, 2025September 13, 2025Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

Andrea Mantegna, born around 1431 in Isola di Carturo near Padua, was one of the foremost painters of the Early Renaissance, whose strong sculptural sense and daring perspective helped shape Italian art in the 15th and early 16th centuries.

Italian ire as Carpaccio altarpiece returned to Slovenia

September 11, 2025September 11, 2025Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

Allies of Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni have condemned the return of a Renaissance masterpiece to Slovenia, calling it a betrayal of Istrian exiles. The Carpaccio altarpiece has been in the Basilica of Sant’Antonio in Padua since 1943.

Kevin Spacey will be honoured at the Lucca Film Festival

Kevin Spacey to Open Lucca Film Festival

September 11, 2025September 11, 2025Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

Kevin Spacey will open the 21st edition of the Lucca Film Festival, which runs in the Tuscan city from 20 to 28 September 2025.

Stefano Benni, Master of Satire and Imagination, Dies at 78

September 9, 2025September 9, 2025Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

Stefano Benni, one of Italy’s most beloved satirical writers, playwrights, and journalists, has died at the age of 78 after a prolonged illness, the Feltrinelli publishing house confirmed on Tuesday.

Andrea Camilleri at 100 and the island of Sicily

September 6, 2025September 6, 2025Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

Andrea Camilleri would have turned one hundred today, 6th September 1925, born in Porto Empedocle, Sicily. His name is synonymous with Inspector Salvo Montalbano, but to regard him merely as a crime writer is to diminish a vast, multifaceted literary legacy.