Roberta Reports From Italy

December, 2004

Click here to see what's new at In Italy

Online.

Christmas markets, a woman painter of the 1600s (do you know her
name?), and Michelin stars for Italian restaurants: we offer all of these
this month, along with Carpaccio in Venice – and, no, we are not talking
about something you eat. There are also books as gifts for you and
yours, or just for you if you prefer. We steal a march on the Marches, in
the company of Italian illustrator Tullio Pericoli. And, as for the rest, well,
you will just have to wait and see. Patience is a virtue, after all!

Let’s put you out of your misery straightaway, and talk about the painter
first. No, it is not Artemisia Gentileschi but, if you want more on her, click
here. The name I am referring to is Elisabetta Sirani and, opening on
December 7 and running to February 27 in
Bologna, is the first ever exhibition of the work
of this "local girl made good." More or less a
contemporary of la Gentileschi, Elisabetta Sirani
was born in 1638 in Bologna. She too, was a
“daughter of”. In this case, her dad’s name was
Giovanni Andrea and he was a pupil of Guido
Reni's, as well as being an art dealer. By the age
of 17, Elisabetta was a professional painter and
engraver, her first official commission coming
when she was a mere 20 – a Baptism for the
church of San Girolamo alla Certosa in Bologna.
Not only was she extremely talented, but she
also worked so fast that potential patrons came to watch her work to be
sure that it really was she, and not someone else, producing these
outstanding paintings in double-quick time. Apart from the religious
paintings, Elisabetta made a name for herself as a ritrattista (portrait
artist): royals, including the princes of Tuscany, the Duchess of Parma,
and the Dukes of Bavaria and Brunswick, clamored to have her paint their
portraits. As it was, by the time of her death at only 27 – of a banal
gastric ulcer perhaps brought on by her unrelenting pace – she had
completed approximately 170 paintings, 14 etchings, and a number of
completed approximately 170 paintings, 14 etchings, and a number of
drawings. These were documented in a ledger she had dubbed Nota delle
pitture fatte da me Elisabetta Sirani.

Apart from the works, some 80 of which

can be seen at the show in Bologna,
Elisabetta Sirani left her studio, the pupils
of which included her sisters Barbara and
Annamaria (who went on to paint altar-
pieces in many churches in Bologna), as
well as Ginevra Cantofoli, and Lucrezia
Scarfaglia.

If you are interested in seeing other paintings by

Elisabetta Sirani, try the Accademia Carrara in
Bergamo (a favourite of mine which I plan to discuss
some time soon). Her etching entitled The Holy
Family with St. Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist is in
the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, while the
painting Three Angels Making Music can be seen at
the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Self-Portrait

E lisabetta Serani is buried, along with Guido Reni, her maestro , in a

chapel off the north aisle of the church of San Domenico in Bologna. Click
here for more details about the show.

T he Marche were the focal point of an exhibition I went to see at the

Nuages graphic design gallery in Milan the other
day. The artist was Tullio Pericoli, and the show
consisted of watercolors and pastels of the
countryside around his native Colli del Tronto. As
the name suggests, this town – which has a
population of 2,900 and is in the province of
Ascoli Piceno – is a bit perpendicular. Indeed, the
altitude above sea level ranges from 34 metres to
193 metres. The centre of this pre-Roman
settlement is Piazza XXV Aprile. From here rises
an elegant flight of steps, built in travertine,
leading to the neo-Classical church of Santa
 Felicita. Tullio Pericoli, who is also a
scenographer, chose this flight of stairs as a backdrop for the second act
of the 1998 production of Donizetti’s Elisir d'Amore at La Scala in Milan.
The Pericoli exhibition is being held at Via Del Lauro 10; click here for
more information. Opening hours are 2-7pm, Tuesday-Friday, 10am-
1pm, and 2-7pm Saturdays. You have until January 29, 2005. A lot easier
to get to than La Scala, of course, where tickets are still a much sought-
after commodity. Click here to try your luck!

Which reminds me that, by the time you

read this, the much-anticipated season
at the newly-refurbished Scala will have
started. True to tradition, the work
chosen is Salieri’s Europa Riconosciuta,
which was the very same piece that
marked the original inauguration of the
Milan opera house in 1778. Not familiar
with this work? Well, not many people
are. And if you are wanting to find a © Marco Brescia,
recording, don’t bother looking. There Teatro alla Scala
isn’t one. Yet. Presumably, the Italian State Broadcasting company, if no
one else, will be making amends for this situation in the near future.

Another event in Milan that coincides with

the opening of the Milan opera season –
always December 7, or the feast day of
Saint Ambrose -- is the Bej, O Bej market in
the area around the church of – you
guessed it! – Sant’Ambrogio. This is just
one of what we might call Christmas
markets in Italy. Other notable ones in
Lombardy include Campodolcino, Madesimo, and Sondrio.

In the Piemonte, Asti’s Mercatino di Natale

takes place under the porticoes of the city
center between December 15 and 25. Lots
of stalls with local delicacies, Christmas
decorations, and toys. For further
information, call the town hall on 0141
3991. Still in the Piemonte, Casale
Monferrato, in the province of Alessandria,
holds its Mercatini Natalizi ed artigianato on
the third Saturday and Sunday in December. For info, call: 0142 457-789,
or e-mail mondosrl@tin.it. Casale also has a monthly antiques market
throughout the year. Except August of course. (But you knew that
anyway). In Turin, head for the Piazza del Maglio and along the Canale dei
Molassi.

Verona’s mercatino is held between

December 10 and 13 in Piazza Bra, which is
right in the centre of the city by the Arena.
There are over 400 stalls selling local
sweets, tree trimmings, gifts, and toys. For
further information, call: 045 807-8579.
Bologna, meanwhile, has stalls all along the Strada Maggiore, in the
portico of the church of Santa Maria dei Servi and in Via Ugo Bassi. As you
might imagine in this food-loving town, delectable delicacies of all sorts
are the order of the day. For more information, call 051 239-6699. Other
places in Emilia-Romagna that have particularly noteworthy Christmas
markets include Reggio Emilia and Cesenatico.

In the Marches, Ancona’s market oeprates

from December 7 to 24. Located in Piazza
del Plebiscito, which is also known as Piazza
del Papa, the market is open from 9am to
8pm. Some forty stalls ranging from
traditional crafts to local food and wine
specialities. The main part of the Christmas
market in Naples is located in and around
the Via San Gregorio Armeno. Check out the
figures for presepe (nativity scenes).

In Siracusa, in Sicily, through to December

21, you can visit Natale in Fiera , which
promises to be quite a big event. Among
the offerings are cooking courses, where
you can learn how to make Sicilian
Christmas specialties. For something a little
more traditional, try the Santa Lucia
quartiere of the city where, from December
13 to 20, the patron saint is commemorated
with processions, feste, and a mercatino.

T he Republic of San Marino, too, has its Christmas market. This is open
daily through to December 12, and then on the weekend of December
18/19, on December 24 and 26, and then December 31 through to
January 6, afternoons through to 7pm on weekdays and from 10am on
Sundays and holidays. If you are there before December 12, check out the
Il Mercato di Natale di San Pietroburgo in the Giardino dei Liburni. If you
thought the stallholders of the Forte dei Marmi market near Lucca,
mentioned last month, were making a huge effort to come and bring their
wares to Milan and thereabouts during the run-up to Christmas, then
how about these guys, who came all the way from Russia’s northernmost
city? For more information about Christmas markets, click here.

T he Michelin guide to Hotels and

restaurants in Italy 2005 has just been
published. If you are looking for stellar
performance in the kitchen, then pay
attention. The three-stars in Italy are: Al
sorriso , Soriso (Novara), Dal Pescatore,
Canneto dull’Oglio (Mantua), Le Calandre ,
Rubano (Padua), and Enoteca Pinchiorri, Florence.

T here are 23 Michelin two-star restaurants

in Italy. Piemonte boasts just one. This is
Flipot at Torre Pellice, close to Turin.
Lombardy, on the other hand, has no fewer
than seven. Two are in Milan: Sadler and
Cracco-Peck, and another is at
Abbiategrasso, some twenty kilometers
away. This is the Antica Osteria del Ponte.
Bergamo has one: Da Vittorio , while there
are two just near Brescia: Gualtiero Marchesi’s eponymous place is at
Erbusco, while L’altro Concesio is located at Miramonti. Quistelli near
Mantua is where you will find the last: Ambasciata.

If you are looking to focus your vacation on Michelin two-star

restaurants, then be sure to head for Verona, where
there are three: Il Desco in the city itself; Perbellini at
Isola, a short distance outside; and a new one this
year: Arquade at San Pietro in Cariano. In Emilia
Romagna, the addition of Il Rigoletto, Reggiolo near
Reggio Emilia, brings the total number of Michelin
two-star restaurants in that region to three. The
other two are La Frasca at Castrocaro Terme (province
of Forli’), and San Domenico at Imola, which is close
to Bologna. In Tuscany, there are four two-stars:
Arnolfo in Colle di Val d’Elsa (province of Siena), Da
Caino, at Montemerano near Grosseto, the Gambero
Rosso at San Vincenzo (province of Livorno) and La
Tenda Rossa in San Casciano Val d’Elsa, which is a short distance from
Florence. The Umbria region has just one two-star Michelin restaurant:
it’s Vissani, at Baschi near Terni. In Rome, seek out La Pergola at the
Cavalieri Hilton Hotel. Campania boasts the Don Alfonso 1890 at
Santa’Agata sui due Golfi, while Ravello’s Rossellini has just graduated to
the two-star category. In Sicily, there’s the Mulinazzo Villafrati in
Palermo.
In the Michelin one-star category, Italy has 197. No space to go into
detail here, but let’s just look at one of the novità : Onice Restaurant,
within the Hotel Villa La Vedetta in Florence. Chef Andrea Accordi hails
from Mantua, and undertook his early
training in London, latterly at Toto's
Restaurant in Knightsbridge under Anthony
Genovese. He then moved to the Regent
Hotel in Bangkok as consultant Italian chef,
but took advantage of the locale to acquire
an in-depth knowledge of Thai cuisine. And
it is indeed his skill at melding the best of
Tuscan ingredients with the herbs and
spices of the Orient that earned him his
star. Examples for antipasto course include a fantasia di scampi. One is
marinaded, one is fried in a crispy batter and comes with Jerusalem
artichoke, while one is grilled with citronella and is served with a porcini
mushroom salad. Or try the goose liver with a marmellata of Tropea
onions, with a side of cauliflower mousse topped with cocoa beans.
Among the temptations of the pasta options, there's potato gnocchi with
river shrimp, artichokes, porcini mushrooms and a coulis of spinach with
extra-virgin olive oil. Or how about the risotto with lime and scampi,
coconut and green curry? For main course, the beef cooked in an
aromatic brodetto sounds appealing, as does the duck with the tamarind
caramel, served with celery root and apple. The sweets range from spicy
pear cake to sfogliatine with Darjeeling tea, with a compote of tangerines
and honey. The whole is served against the exquisite backdrop of the
neo-classical style Villa La Vedetta, just below Piazzale Michelangelo in
Florence. This delightful hotel is surrounded by its own ample grounds
featuring laurel bushes, cypresses, and olive trees. Beyond, is an
extremely privileged view of the city. Villa La Vedetta is at 78 Viale
Michelangiolo in Florence.

Given what we have been talking about, you would be forgiven for
thinking of food if I say “Carpaccio.” But on this occasion, it just happens
we are talking about a painter called Vittorio
Carpaccio (1460?-1525?). An exhibition of his work
has just opened at the Galleria dell’Accademia in
Venice and goes on until March 13, 2005. This is
the first comprehensive exhibition of this artist’s
work since 1963, partly because of the kind of
paintings in which he specialized. As the
exhibition’s subtitle tells us, Carpaccio was a pittore
di storie, which means that each of his works
consisted of more than one canvas. These, over
time, have come to be separated and have ended up
in different parts of the world. Bringing them back
together has been a major challenge. Thus for
example, exhibiting the six canvases depicting the Storie della vita della
Vergine (executed in about 1504 for the Scuola degli Albanesi), and the
four narrating the Storie della vita di Santo Stefano (created between
1511 and 1520), involved the Venetian Galleria Franchetti at Ca’d’Oro, the
Milanese Brera Gallery, Bergamo’s Accademia Carrara, the Louvre in Paris,
the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, and the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence. Also
on display will be the nine paintings that make up the cycle entitled
Storie di Sant’Orsola (1490-1495), as well as the telero that includes il
Miracolo dell’indemoniato al ponte di Rialto which was commissioned in
1494 by the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista. This was part of a work
called the Ciclo dei miracoli della reliquia della croce that involved many
of the major painterly names of the day. The exhibition is dedicated to
Rona Goffen, the American art historian; the catalogue is by Marsilio. For
reservations please call (051) 520-0345.

Meanwhile, have you ever wondered why

very thin slices of fillet steak, salmon, or
other prized meat or fish served with oil
and flakes of parmesan cheese are called
carpaccio? Well, it is because the dish was
invented by Giorgio Cipriani, owner of
Hemingway’s beloved Harry's Bar, on the
occasion of – you guessed it! – the last
Carpaccio show.

Looking for Christmas presents for foodies? You

could do a lot worse than look at the tasty offerings
from the Il Gusto collection from Gribaudo Editore.
I love the one on bread, for example. Each chapter
of this 200-page book covers one bread-eating
opportunity. Thus the first chapter is breakfast
breads. Then we go on to breads to set off
aperitivo , antipasto , soup, meat and fish, cheese,
and – believe it or not – dessert. One example of
the latter? Bread with ricotta and cherries, There
are recipes for 54 types of Italian bread in all, each
accompanied by a recipe for something to serve
alongside them. In the case of the abovementioned
ricotta/cherry concoction, it would be a fruit compote. Something for
main course? Bread with thyme, apple, and scallions served with a
chicken salad. Not just any old chicken salad, though. This one is made
with celery, grapes, and almonds. Click here if you’d like to order this
book.
OK, so the book is in Italian only, but the pictures make the whole thing
good enough to eat. Indeed, it might well provide a stimulus to learn the
language. Perhaps someone should write a companion volume entitled
something like Italian for Readers of Italian Cookbooks . Me? Don’t be
silly. No time. I’m much too busy trying these recipes.

Let me mention one last book idea, even if

it is not due to be published until May
2005. I found out about it after visiting
Palladio’s villas in the Veneto, which I told
you about last month. The book is called
Palladian Days , and recounts the life of Mr.
and Mrs. Carl I. Gable of Atlanta, Georgia
at Villa Cornaro in the village of Piombino
Dese about 30 kilometers from Venice.
They have lived there since 1989, and are only the sixth family to occupy
the villa in its almost 450-year history. Click here for more information.

Now that I have whetted your appetite for all sorts of Italian delights, all
that remains is for me to wish you happy holidays and a happy new year.
I have enjoyed bringing you my reports throughout the year, and hope to
have the pleasure of your company again in 2005.

By Roberta Kedzierski, Milan

Click here to see what's new at In Italy

Online.

Looking for previous issues of Roberta

Reports?
We have some.. click on the months below
to see them!
November-03 | July-04 | August-04 |
September-04
October-04 | November-04 | January-05
February-05 | March-05 | April-05 | May-05 |
June-05

© Text copyright 1993-2009, Words in Pictures, Inc. All rights reserved.