Italian entertainment: Waiting for a movie about Dante
2021 has just started and it will be surely remembered in the history for various facts and events. Among them, there is a noteworthy one which stands out for its undisputed nobility and prestige, especially for Italy: the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri. Dante Alighieri is considered the father of the Italian language and his “Di...
Italian little Italies: Subiaco, the first monastery of St. Benedict
The only remaining monastery of the thirteen founded by St. Benedict of Norcia in the Aniene valley is that of St. Scholastica, the oldest in the world of the Benedictine order. The structure develops around three cloisters: the Cosmatesque cloister (13th century), the Gothic one (14th century) and the Renaissance one (16th-17th century). The Roman...
Italian innovation: Houston, we have an innovation
The year is 1969. The Cold War has moved into space and the United States has decided to write history with Neil Amstrong's first lunar step. Proud advertisements and posters of that event spread throughout the nation in the form of blow-ups, newspapers and flyers. Giancarlo Zanatta is in New York. Nine years earlier, he and his brother Ambrosiano...
Italian wine: Starting the New Year off Right with Chianti Classico
I love Italian wine for a reason because I really enjoy them all from northern to southern Italy. Sangiovese was my first love and even as I traveled the map of Italian wine it still remains my favorite. We're not just talking Chianti because if I really had to narrow it down to a singular wine it would be Brunello di Montalcino. Sangiovese is th...
Italian design: Idarica Gazzoni, the designer who unrolls enigmatic flowers and birds on the walls
Who doesn't remember those ‘70s rooms wallpapered with geometric patterns, between delicate and faded, almost afraid to be noticed? Then all of a sudden you come across the wallpaper collection by Murals Wallpaper that transforms the stylized motifs of the most famous building on the Manhattan skyline, the Chrysler Building, into patterns. Or you c...
Italian language: Welcome to the very first Museum of the Italian Language in Italy
This month I am going to take a little break from our normal articles and talk to you about something new that is happening with the Italian language. If you are familiar with Italian, you probably know that the language is way older than Italy as a country. What you probably don’t know is that Italian does not have an official institute stating wh...
Italian gardens: Marganai Forest
The state-owned forest of Marganai covers an area of 9.020 acres, in the province of Carbonia-Iglesias; this forest can be actually found within the Monte Linas-Marganai Park (55.000 acres), in the territories of Domusnovas, Fluminimaggiore, Gonnosfanadiga, Iglesias, and Villacidro. Mount Marganai area is north-east of the park and borders with Mou...
What's up with WTI: Editorial # 134
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays! It's a pleasure and a relief to write the December editorial, the last one, of this horrendous unforgettable year. As our cover explains well, we can kick and chase away this 2020, and welcome a 2021 that will still be very difficult, but at least born under the good auspices of the vaccine. We are happy to end this...
Italian culture and history: The works by Caravaggio in Rome
The pieces created by Michelangelo Merisi known as Caravaggio will always leave an impression: realistic, dramatic and provocative, they reflect the myth of a proud and exuberant character. The scenes depicted are able to engage us in a direct manner, as if we were witnesses to events which seem to be taking place here and now. During the course o...
Italian cuisine: Casoncelli
Casoncelli, also known as casonsei in the local dialect, is a typical first course of Lombardy, in particular in the cities of Bergamo and Brescia. Casoncelli is a kind of stuffed fresh pasta, shaped like a wrapped candy. The filling varies depending on where you are: in Brescia, it’s traditionally made of leftover beef and fresh salami (pasta di s...
Italian art: The urban material
That the urban landscape is a source of inspiration for artists has been known for more than a century: cities and their movement, living and changing have been recorded in various forms already by the impressionists of the mid-nineteenth century. With progress and contemporary means, artists sensitive to vibrations, panoramas and metropolitan deco...
Italian sport: Pablito, the symbol of a winning Italy
He was more than a soccer player for Italy. He was a symbol for entire generations and thanks to an unforgettable summer, that of 1982, he was the man who, more than many others, succeeded in uniting Italy and the Italians. On December 9, Paolo Rossi passed away: for the Italians he was "Pablito", for the Brazilians the "carrasco do Brasil" (the ex...