Sigismondo Coccapani | Baroque painter

Sigismondo Coccapani (1585-1643) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period.

Born in Florence, he studied under Ludovico Cigoli in Rome, before returning to his native city.

He at first studied literature and mathematics, but abandoned them for painting, becoming a pupil of Ludovico Cigoli in Rome where he assisted him on his work at Santa Maria Maggiore in 1610-13.

Using his scientific background he showed Cigoli, who was making a record of solar activity for his friend Galileo, how to observe and record sunspots through a method of projection.

Papa Francesco: "Cari poeti, aiutateci a sognare!"

Pubblichiamo la lettera di Papa Francesco pubblicata nel libro “Versi a Dio. Antologia della poesia religiosa". (in inglese)

Cari poeti,

so che avete fame di significato, e per questo riflettete anche su come la fede interroga la vita. Questo “significato” non è riducibile a un concetto, no. È un significato totale che prende poesia, simbolo, sentimenti.

Il vero significato non è quello del dizionario: quello è il significato della parola, e la parola è uno strumento di tutto quello che è dentro di noi.

Hermann Corrodi | Night on Mount Athos, 1905

Hermann David Salomon Corrodi (1844-1905) was an Italian painter of historical and orientalist scenes.

Corrodi received commissions for history paintings from the British royal family.

He was acquainted with most of the European royalty of the time, including a friendship with Queen Victoria, and traveled widely in the Far East, including Egypt, Syria, Cyprus and Istanbul, which provided the subject matter for many of his paintings.

Gabriele d’Annunzio | Aprile

Socchiusa è la finestra, sul giardino.

Un'ora passa lenta, sonnolenta,

ed ella, ch'era attenta, s'addormenta

a quella voce che già si lamenta,

che si lamenta in fondo a quel giardino.

Non è che voce d'acque su la pietra:

e quante volte, quante volte udita !

William Brymner | In the orchard spring, 1892

Salvatore Quasimodo: "19 gennaio, 1944"

Ti leggo dolci versi d'un antico,

e le parole nate fra le vigne,

le tende, in riva ai fiumi delle terre

dell'est, come ora ricadono lugubri

e desolate in questa profondissima

notte di guerra, in cui nessuno corre

il cielo degli angeli di morte,

Pablo Picasso | Guernica, 1937 | Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid

Luigi Cima | Verist painter

Luigi Cima (1860-1944) was an Italian painter, considered one of the most fortunate and appreciated representatives of the “verism” of the late nineteenth century, and in any case an absolute protagonist of the artistic world of Belluno.

Luigi Cima was born in Villa di Villa, current municipality of Mel (Belluno) on January 5, 1860.

After completing his technical studies in Feltre, he moved to Venice to enroll at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he attended the courses of Eugenio De Blaas.

Arturo Moradei | Genre painter

Arturo Moradei (1840-1901) was an Italian 19th Century genre artist.

Arturo Moradei was born in Florence in 1840 and after extensive study, he became a very popular painter of romantic figures indulging in everyday life.

His ability to catch expressions and to tell stories in his paintings ensured the popularity of his work during his lifetime.

He died in Italy in 1901.

Patrizia Cavalli | La primavera / The spring

You arrive like this, as always,

To spread the suspicion of paradise,

And before I open the window

I know you from the gentler light,

From the dust that hangs in the air,

From the bird’s obsessive performance,

Charles Courtney Curran | Summer, 1906