The period in Europe known as the Renaissance
began in Italy during the 14th and 15th centuries and the literary
works of that time, such as the poetry of Petrarch, Tasso, and Ariosto
and the prose and poetry of Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, and Castiglione,
had a lasting influence on the subsequent development of Western civilization,
together with the painting, sculpture, and architecture contributed
by giants such as da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, Fra Angelico and
Michelangelo.
The musical influence of Italian composers, Monteverdi,
Palestrina, and Vivaldi set the base for the composers of the 19th
century and Italian romantic opera flourished under composers Gioacchino
Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, and Giacomo Puccini, Gaetano Donizetti
and Vincenzo Bellini. Contemporary Italian artists,
writers, filmmakers, architects, composers, and designers still
contribute significantly to Western culture, and well-known to film-goers
are the directors and producers such as Sergio Leone, Roberto Rossellini,
Federico Fellini, Bernardo Bertolucci and Vittorio De Sica.
Italian style and Italian design interior décor
is world-famous, not just for kitchens and bathrooms but for terracotta
designs dating from Roman and even Etruscan
times. Throughout Italy are the many museums that highlight the
art and culture of Italy and many famous monuments and buildings,
including the leaning tower of Pisa and
the Roman Colosseum.
Football, although a sport, also is a part of
popular culture, as it is the main national sport for which the
Italians are well-known for their passion. Dancing also, as in many
other countries, has a central role in Italian popular culture.
The folkdance to the music of the Tarantella, which dates back to
the Middle Ages, is said to be the most well-known song and dance
of all the Italian folkdancing music. An essential part of the traditional
Italian wedding,
the Tarantella varies according to the part of Italy and can be
heard, if not danced to, in restaurants and pizzerias
throughout the country.
But Italian cultural officials are speaking
of a deepening crisis in the preservation of the Italian heritage.
Floods and looting, and builders who have quarried ancient marble
for homes, have all taken their toll of the cultural heritage of Italy
- and now cultural officials say they are worried about simple neglect
and lack of public money. One of Rome's most important buildings,
Castel Sant'Angelo, the grand papal refuge, is said to be on the verge
of "collapse" and the government has been forced to arrange
emergency money quickly for its preservation.
According to the Culture Ministry, the nation's
inventory of cultural pieces is 4.7 million, spread out over 600,000
sites around the country. One study shows that Italy's entire cultural
budget, including its funds for personnel and restoration, was less
than half of what was needed just for adequate physical upkeep of
its cultural sites and objects. One idea is to ask the Italian people
to begin to donate beyond what they already pay in taxes and a series
of advertisements are being aired on television showing the David
with leg amputated and Jesus rubbed out of de Vinci´s Last Supper.
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