Speak the Culture Italy I BE FLUENT IN ITALIAN LIFE AND CULTURE HI S T ORY , S OC I E TY A N D L I F ES TY L E • L I T E R A T U R E A N D P H I LO S OP HY AR T A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E • C I N EMA A N D F AS H ION M US I C A N D D R AM A • FOO D A N D DR I NK • M E D I A A N D S PO R T The Italian Cultural Institute, London, supports and encourages understanding between people and cultures worldwide and endorses this book’s aim of contributing towards a greater cultural awareness of Italy www.icilondon.esteri.it Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of the authors and not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Italian Cultural Institute, London Speak the Culture Italy Speak the Culture Italy I B E F L UEN T IN ITA LIA N LIFE AND CUL TURE H I S T O RY, S OCI E T Y A ND L IF E S T Y L E • LIT E RATURE AN D PHIL OSOPHY A RT A ND A R C H IT E C T U R E • C INE MA AN D FASHION M U S I C A N D DR A M A • FO O D A ND D R IN K • MEDIA AN D SPORT www.thorogoodpublishing.co.uk www.speaktheculture.co.uk All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any material in this publication can be accepted by the author or publisher All has been done to trace the owners of the various pieces of material used for this book If further information and proof of ownership should be made available then attribution will be given or, if requested, the said material removed in subsequent editions A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 85418 628 / 978185418628-7 Thorogood Publishing Ltd 10-12 Rivington Street London EC2A 3DU Telephone: 020 7749 4748 Fax: 020 7729 6110 info@thorogoodpublishing.co.uk www.thorogoodpublishing.co.uk www.speaktheculture.net © 2010 Thorogood Publishing Ltd Publisher Editor in chief Design & illustration Acknowledgements Neil Thomas Andrew Whittaker Editorial Director Angela Spall Additional editorial contributors Lisa Kramer Taruschio David Banks Johnny Bull Amy Wilson Thomas Patrick Carpenter Jonathan Schofield Phylip Harries Richard Grosse falconburydesign.co.uk Special thanks to: Denise Bianchini John and Pauline Davis Matt Rendell, Mariella Scarlett Carlo Presenti at the Italian Cultural Institute Johnny Bull plumpState plumpstate.com iStockphoto Printed in the UK by Ashford Colour Press Rome, as seen from Castel Sant’ Angelo ebooksdownloadrace.blogspot.in Contents Art, architecture and design p87 3.1 Art and design p89 3.1.1 The eternal template: Ancient Italian art p90 3.1.2 Killing time ’til Giotto arrives: medieval art p93 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture p3 1.1 Geography p5 1.1.1 Italy: where is it and what does it look like? p6 1.1.2 Local colour: the Italian regioni p9 1.2 History p19 1.2.1 Did you know we used to rule the world? Ancient Italy p20 1.2.2 From the Dark Ages into the light p26 1.2.3 United in name at least: the making of modern Italy p33 1.3 Language and belonging p43 1.3.1 Speech patterns: language in Italy p44 1.3.2 Being Italian: identity and psyche p48 3.1.3 Master strokes: the Renaissance in Italian art p98 Literature and philosophy p53 2.1 Literature p55 3.1.4 Back to reality: the power of Baroque p107 2.1.1 A book shy nation p56 3.1.5 To the avantgarde and back: modern Italian art p110 2.1.2 Classically trained: the Roman authors p58 3.1.6 Style and substance: modern Italian design p113 2.1.3 The Three Crowns of the early Renaissance p61 3.2 Architecture p117 2.1.4 The anti-climax of the High Renaissance p65 3.2.2 Classical leanings: the medieval builds p121 2.1.5 Telling it like it is: literature in the modern era p68 3.2.3 Designing harmony: Renaissance architecture p124 2.2 Philosophy p79 3.2.4 The high drama of Baroque p128 2.2.1 The greatest hits of Italian philosophy p80 3.2.1 Built to last: Ancient architecture p118 3.2.5 In the shadow of greatness: modern Italian architecture p131 Music, theatre, dance and comedy p137 4.1 Music p139 4.1.1 The sounds of tradition: Italian folk music p140 4.1.2 Life in opera’s shadow: classical music p143 4.1.3 Italian by design: opera p148 4.1.4 Rock, pop, rap, hip hop, dance and the rest… p154 4.2 Theatre, dance and comedy p161 4.2.1 Dramatis personae: the key figures of Italian theatre p162 4.2.2 Italy on the dancefloor p169 4.2.3 Laughing matter: Italian comedy p173 Living culture: the state of modern Italy p271 Media and communications p209 Cinema and fashion p177 5.1 Cinema p179 5.1.1 The importance of Italian cinema p180 5.1.2 Epic tastes: from silent classics to noisy propaganda p182 5.1.3 Grit and determination: Neorealist cinema p186 5.1.4 The golden age of Italian cinema p188 5.1.5 The era of false dawns: modern Italian cinema p195 5.2 Fashion p201 5.2.1 Made in Italy p202 Food and drink p233 6.1 Media p211 7.1 Food p235 6.1.1 Best of the press: newspapers and magazines p212 7.1.1 Home advantage: the culture of Italian food p236 6.1.2 Thinking inside the box: Italian television p217 7.1.2 Regional tastes: the flavours of Italy p238 6.1.3 Radio: an Italian passion p220 7.1.3 Food rituals: eating and buying p246 7.2 Drink p253 8.1 Upsetting the old order: class, race, family and women p274 8.2 Issues of faith: religion in Italy p278 8.3 Rule benders: politics, the Italian state and green issues p282 8.4 Money matters: the economy, wealth and social security p288 6.1.4 New media: Italy online p222 7.2.1 The culture of Italian wine p254 8.5 Law and order: the police, the Mafia and the legal system p292 6.2 Communications p225 7.2.2 The Italian wine regions p257 8.6 Class struggles: the education system p297 6.2.1 Staying in touch: sending letters and making calls p226 7.2.3 Thirst for knowledge: beyond wine p264 8.7 Time out: holidays, festivals and free time p300 6.2.2 Italy on the move: transport types and habits p228 7.2.4 Drinking habits: when and where to indulge p268 8.8 Passion plays: Italian sport p303 Ripping yarns: three killing sprees The Monster of Florence He (or maybe she?) preyed on courting Florentine couples in cars between 1968 and 1985, shooting 16 lovers with a Beretta pistol before hacking off the women’s vaginas No one has been found guilty for the murders but theories abound, some featuring satanic gangs The killings inspired Thomas Harris’ chilling novel, Hannibal A bungled police investigation led to an innocent man (the first female victim’s husband) being imprisoned until, after six years, another murder took place Olindo Romano and Rosa Bazzi In 2006, the husband and wife were convicted of slaughtering their neighbours over a noise dispute in Rome The unremarkable couple stabbed and slit the throats of a two-year old boy, his mother, grandmother and a female friend During the investigation it emerged that the murders were planned over many months, carried out because Bazzi couldn’t stand the sound of the boy crying or the noise of his parents Roberto Succo He began in 1981 by stabbing his mother and strangling his father in the family home in Mestre, Veneto, when they refused to loan him the car Captured, he was then adjudged insane and was out on parole after five years He fled to France and went on a two-year spree of murder, rape and burglary Finally apprehended, he committed suicide in 1988 His life has inspired a book, play and film 296 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy 8.6 Class struggles: the education system The Italian education system isn’t without its problems Schools have the highest teacher-to-pupil ratio in Europe but those same teachers are often forced to take a second job to make ends meet Free education is guaranteed from the age of three but state school children spend their formative years in crumbling institutions in desperate need of repair and redecoration The nation’s falling birth rate has brought additional issues, sounding the death knell for many rural schools Typically, all of the problems surrounding Italian education are worst in the south of the country Finally, under initiatives introduced by Silvio Berlusconi’s government, the ailing system is undergoing major reform However, the restructuring, unveiled in 2008, is highly controversial Like its buildings, education’s policymakers appear stuck in the 20th century Schools are being offered greater autonomy from the traditionally rigid, centralised system, but the education budget is falling Jobs are being cut (by not filling vacancies) and conduct marks are being reintroduced, as is the old system of one teacher/one class in primary schools, whereby the tutor must teach across all subjects Teachers and students responded to the reforms with strikes and street protests; some 2.5 million people blocked the streets of Rome during the unrest Berlusconi’s sweetener of promising the best teachers performance-related bonuses of up to 7,000 euros failed to soften the anger Doing the maths Education expenditure in Italy is around 4.5 per cent of GDP (lower than in France, Germany and the UK, but higher than in Spain) Slow progress to literacy The Legge Casati (Casati education act), implemented in Italy in 1859, was heralded as the new education system for a progressive nation on the eve of Unification The priority of reducing illiteracy rates and making primary education compulsory was slow to take effect, but 70 years later, when the act was finally reformed, nine out of ten Italian children were in school The 80 per cent illiteracy rate that prevailed on Unification in 1861 was only halved 50 years later By 1951 it was down to around 13 per cent and today, officially, it sits at 1.5 per cent, although some claim it’s much higher, particularly in the south The most significant law in Italian education was enacted in 1923 with the Legge Gentile Reform Act Under Mussolini’s instruction, his education minister, the neo-idealist Giovanni Gentile, brought in compulsory education to the age of 14 in an effort to raise standards and to demonstrate the academic prowess of fascism 297 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy Oh Mum, I have to? Grembiuli, the traditional smocks worn by Italian schoolchildren, are making a comeback Government backed the reintroduction of the outdated school outfit in 2008, hoping it would bolster levels of discipline Many headteachers, who get the final say on uniform in their schools, feel the move will create a more egalitarian school environment How the schooling system breaks down Scuola materna (pre-school) With a growing number of Italian mums entering the workplace, the optional scuola materna is filling up with three to five-year-olds A free place is guaranteed to all, although a fee-paying private sector version does exist Scuola primaria (primary) Compulsory education begins for children in their sixth year For the next five years, infants follow a broad range of subjects including English and social studies Primary is the best performing sector in Italian education Scuola media (lower secondary school) Between the ages of 11 and 14, students have 30 hours of weekly classes, rising to 40 if they opt in for extra lessons Exams are taken in the third year – if successful, students are awarded the diploma di licenza media The secondary school system in Italy performs well below the European average Scuola superiore (upper secondary school) When children reach 14 they’re faced with a wide range of further education options Academic students will choose a liceo, a college that specialises in one area of study, be it classics, science, arts, teacher training or another field Other students enrol in an instituto tecnico, which again divide themselves along certain lines of study, from agriculture to engineering or IT In common with liceo students, those at technical institutes spend two years following a standard school curriculum before moving on to three years of study in their specialist subject A third group of 14-year-olds head for the instituto professionale, vocational colleges that teach a trade, from car mechanics to carpentry, over a threeyear-course They can top up their qualifications with two years at a liceo or instituto tecnico, should they want to go on to university 298 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy Female in-tuition Free vs fee Italy doesn’t have the wealth or class-driven division between state and private education that affects some other nations Indeed, the state set-up is usually regarded as having a comparable (perhaps even better) standard of education to the private system Parents tend to send their children to an independent school because they’re struggling academically, for reasons of faith (many private schools are Catholic) or for the single sex environment (all state schools are co-educational) Whilst state education is free to all, parents are expected to buy exercise books and to provide cash for schools’ equipment Women dominate the teaching profession in Italy at primary level There are more male teachers in lower secondary schools but women still account for nearly 80 per cent of the teaching staff Despite that dominance, fewer than half of lower secondary school principals are female Drop out nation: higher education If they pass their diploma di maturità at scuola superiore, Italian 19-year-olds can apply for any course at university, irrespective of their specialist subject at secondary school Universities in Italy have a long and proud tradition – the University of Bologna is the oldest in the Western world, having taken its first students in 1088; Salerno (1173) and Padua (1222) weren’t far behind University education is free to all, and most institutions are filled to bursting point More young adults go to university in Italy than almost anywhere else in Europe, and yet far less than half of them graduate The prohibitive cost of accommodation dictates that the majority of Italian students attend university near or in their hometown or city, ensuring they can remain living with parents Investment in Italian higher education is among the lowest in the EU The poor pay dished out to lecturers is blamed for the ‘brain drain’ of qualified staff heading overseas to work, particularly to America Days in the sun 299 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy 8.7 Time out: holidays, festivals and free time Making the bridge Italian workers often save up saints’ days and bank holidays in pursuit of the threeday weekend, leaving businesses running a slimmed down staff on Fridays If the holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, some will fare il ponte, taking a day either side of the weekend to ‘make the bridge’ In a country where pleasure is one of life’s defining themes, time off is given its due Italy observes more bank holidays and saints’ days than any other country in Europe, and, to the consternation of northern Europeans, still manages the month-long shutdown in summer During la vacanza, Italians load up the car, abandon their homes and head for the seaside or the mountains The unfortunate family member who still has to work may even commute from the holiday home or campsite Rather than move up the housing chain, many Italians will persist with a city flat or modest house and spend any surplus money on a coastal or countryside property to escape to Of the Italians that venture abroad (most prefer to stay on home soil), one in five makes the short trip to France; outside Europe the most popular destination is Egypt Four state holidays Capodanno (New Year’s Day) January A day to recover from the previous evening, during which Prosecco will have been drunk, red underwear worn (for luck) and, in a few places, furniture thrown out of the window in preparation for a new start (as per an old tradition) Anniversario della Liberazione (Liberation Day) 25 April Commemorating the day in 1945 when Nazi Germany surrendered its claim to Italy Finds a balance between celebration and sombre reflection Festa del Lavoro (Labour Day) May The trade unions get their banners out and go marching, not least to a huge free concert in Rome’s Piazza di San Giovanni Most people simply enjoy a day off with a picnic in the park Festa della Repubblica (Festival of the Republic) June The military and the police force go out on parade to celebrate the republic, as chosen by public vote in 1946 The biggest display marches down Rome’s Via dei Fori Imperiali 300 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy Any excuse for a festival Wherever you are in Italy, at whatever time of year, you won’t be far from a festival Any event will usually be loud, colourful, occasionally dangerous and will last late into the night Aside from state and religious dates (see section 8.2 for the main religious holidays), each commune in Italy celebrates the day of their particular saint (some towns even have more than one) Venice, for example, takes a day off to commemorate St Mark on 25 April, while Turin, Genoa and Florence pay homage to St John the Baptist on 24 June In Rome everything stops for Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June Not all local festivals have this religious base; some observe the changing of the seasons – and the attendant foodstuffs – or a long-held rivalry with the next commune, either of which may involve a protracted historical re-enactment Local colour: five Italian fests Scoppio del Carro in Florence Reaches a climax on Easter Sunday when a mechanical dove plummets through the cathedral and out of the front doors, igniting a golden carriage packed with fireworks The resulting explosion of colour symbolises the Resurrection Festa del Redentore in Venice On the third Saturday of July, boats form a bridge to Palladio’s Redentore Church, while Venetians row out into the Giudecca Canal to picnic and watch a vast firework display The fest began in the 16th century, held in thanks that the plague had receded Carnevale d’Ivrea The streets of Ivrea, north of Turin, run with juice in February when nine teams of 3,000 braying fighters fling oranges at each other Every one gets a free meal of beans to help build strength before the battle The food fight may originate from a revolt of 1194 when locals expelled the Marquis of Monferrato Masochists take note: in particularly cold years the oranges can freeze 301 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy Festival drama The Macerata opera festival was even more exciting than usual in 1995 A faulty bullet from the Tosca firing squad left the tenor playing Cavaradossi with a bloody hole in his leg (for more on opera see section 4.1.3) It’s not how often, it’s how well… Maybe Italians had more time for love in the days of Giacomo Casanova, the 18th century Venetian adventurer said to have slept with more than 120 women In a blow to national pride, a recent Durex Sex Survey placed Italy 20th in terms of frequency, at 106 times a year – way behind the winners Greece at 138 times Guardia Sanframondi’s Riti Settennali di Penitenza Mercifully, the August penitential festival held in Guardia Sanframondi, Campania, only occurs once every seven years It commemorates the discovery of a Madonna and Child statue in a nearby field with pious processions and self-flagellation, in which penitents beat their chests with a cork containing spikes to draw blood Marostica Scacchi A biennial game of ‘living chess’ that takes place in Marostica, north-west of Venice, in September It commemorates the day in 1454 when two noblemen fought for the love of beautiful Lionora by having a chess-off Today, a large cast in medieval costume acts the game out on a giant board at the foot of the town’s 14th century castle Italians and their hobbies Italians don’t pursue hobbies with quite the intent of other Westerners Spare time is often simply spent with other people: chatting, eating and maintaining the bonds of friendship and family When Italians partake in more orchestrated pastimes, they the things you might imagine of a country with such fine food and produce (garden and cook), rich heritage (visit galleries and museums – Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage sites than anywhere else) and culture (go to the opera or, more often, watch TV) Another Italian faithful, la bella figura, ensures they spend a significant amount of time in clothes shops And then there’s the passeggiata, the still popular evening stroll through town; a chance to chat, flirt, gossip or simply parade around looking good Cultural stimulation During April’s settimana della cultura, culture week, all state-run sights and museums in Italy are free to enter In Rome the authorities have also initiated an annual notte dei musei, a day in May when museums open until 2am 302 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy 8.8 Passion plays: Italian sport It’s not life and death… it’s more important than that Bend it like Totti Sport is as important to modern Italian culture as art, music or literature For spectators it can generate a passion bordering on hysteria, an expectation of success that inevitably brings despair in defeat With its animation, temperament, corruption and weakness for the aesthetic (why head the ball when an overhead kick is on?), sport reveals much about Italian life One in five Italians regularly partake in sport and 60 per cent of the population will get involved on an intermittent basis Men are more likely to play than women Participation is popular, although rarely invested with the aggressive passion of spectating Towns and villages across the country have gyms, stadiums, tennis courts and swimming pools, often thanks to Mussolini The dictator ploughed vast amounts of cash into sport in the 1930s in his quest to prove the athletic prowess of fascism Winter sports are also popular with participants, taking full advantage of ski resorts in the Alps and the Apennines The clamour for success in Italian sport, fanatical when it comes to football, brings its problems In Italy, the beautiful game (and they it more beautifully than most) has often been dogged by corruption, an affliction that reached new depths with the match-fixing scandals of the 2005/06 season, when the web of deceit between club owners, managers and referees saw champions Juventus, the Vecchia Signora (Old Lady) of Italian football, relegated from Serie A and deducted nine points while Milan, Reggina, Lazio and Fiorentina all received lesser penalties And it isn’t just football that suffers from the win-at-all-costs mentality – numerous Italian cyclists have been banned for drug taking in the Giro d’Italia (Tour of Italy) bike race 303 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy Football scandals are nothing new in Italy Mussolini was passionate about football, especially the fortunes of his own team Bologna Numerous titles came their way during his time in power, accompanied by bizarre score lines and refereeing decisions However, Mussolini’s investment in the national game paid off when Italy won World Cups in 1934 and 1938 – even Il Duce couldn’t influence that competition The Fascists’ wider funding for sport also achieved second and third place respectively in the medals table at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics The key sports in Italy Football Football is a religion in Italy and everyone worships their particular club, although the fervent partisanship (at its most extreme with the Ultras, the diehard, flare-lighting and sometimes violent ‘firms’ of supporters) is briefly put aside when the national team play Only Brazil have won more World Cups than the Azzurri, named for their azure blue shirts; the most recent win of four came in 2006 At club level, professional Italian football comprises a national league, the Lega Calcio, of two divisions, Serie A and Serie B, with 20 and 22 teams respectively Below this, the Lega Pro has two regional Prima Divisiones and three Seconda Divisiones Italian teams, the old guard of Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Roma and Lazio at their heart, have won more European titles than any others on the continent Cycling The Giro d’Italia is second only to the Tour de France in world cycling, and the Italians watch it in their millions You can spot the leader by his pink jersey Some of Italy’s most iconic sportsmen have been cyclists The vitriolic duels between Gino Bartelli and Fausto Coppi in the 1940s and 50s are still discussed with passion by cycling fans, no doubt inspiring the millions of amateur cyclists 304 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy who power over the hills and mountains of Italy each weekend Even the frequent doping scandals in the Giro don’t seem to dent the sport’s popularity Motorsport The love affair began with the Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles), an open-road endurance car race held in the years between 1927 and 1957 Drivers died by the dozen (often taking spectators with them), but legends like Clemente Biondetti were born behind the wheel of the two most successful teams, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari In the years since, Italian cars have been a major force in motor sport, from Lancia and Fiat in the World Rally Championships to Ferrari in Formula One On two wheels, the brilliant, controversial Valentino Rossi has dominated modern MotoGP Rossi hasn’t let pit lane punch-ups or allegations of tax evasion hold him back, achieving 153 podium finishes – just a handful behind Giacomo Agostini who won 15 world titles back in the 1960s and 70s Perhaps the greatest Italian racer of all was Tazio Nuvolari or Il Mantovano Volante (The Flying Mantuan), a legend of both car and bike Thanks to the English The cross of St George features in the badges of two Italian Serie A teams thanks to English workers who brought football to Italy in the 1890s James Richardson Spensley established Genoa in 1896 and Alfred Edwards founded AC Milan three years later Rugby A sport growing in popularity (both for participants and spectators), boosted by the nation’s entry to the Six Nations Championship in 2000 and, more recently, with the proposed acceptance of two Italian club sides into the prestigious Celtic League of Irish, Welsh and Scots teams 305 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy The crash that ended a dream When the Fiat G-212 aeroplane carrying the all-conquering Torino football team crashed into a Turin hill in 1949, Italian football was torn apart All 18 players perished At the time, Torino were the best team in Europe and had won the Serie A title for five consecutive seasons The national team was made up almost entirely of Il Grande Torino players A year later, still traumatised, the surviving Azzurri refused to travel to the 1950 World Cup in Brazil by plane and so embarked on a long Atlantic sea voyage Without their best players, the return trip came swiftly As for Torino, they’ve only won the Scudetto (Serie A title) once since, in 1976, and have to live with the agony of seeing city rivals Juventus take all the glory The tragedy of Marco Pantani Bald, diminutive Marco Pantani was revered as a cyclist who could ride every other competitor off the road In 1998, he won both the French and Italian tours – an incredible achievement When his face was on a newspaper, sales soared; streets were named after him; monuments built in his honour; and his sponsors saw turnover triple Loved for his intellect as much as his athleticism, he once explained what drove him to be king of the mountains: “I love the mountains, but in the moment of exertion, I’m filled with a deep hatred So I try to shorten the suffering.” And then, in 2004, he was found dead in a cheap Rimini hotel room surrounded by empty booze and medicine bottles and evidence of the cocaine addiction that, it transpired, had plagued his life The nation was plunged into despair Three Italian sporting legends Pietro Mennea was one of the great track athletes of the 20th century In 1979 he ran the 200m in 19.72 seconds, a record that stood until 1996 He won gold in the same event at the 1980 Moscow Olympics Mennea later became an MEP and vociferous anti-doping advocate Roberto Baggio, Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail), scored more than 300 goals in his football career When Fiorentina sold him to Juventus for a record fee in 1990, there were riots in Florence A committed Buddhist, Baggio shunned the trappings of football stardom preferring to meditate after a game He’s the only Italian to score in three World Cups: if only he hadn’t missed a penalty in the 1994 final against Brazil… 306 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy Alberto Tomba or Tomba la Bomba (Tomba the Bomb) to his fans, was a slalom skier Perhaps best described as ‘hulking’, he was a policeman in a suburb of Bologna before skiing to three Olympic golds, two World Championships and nine World Cup season titles He described himself as the ‘Messiah of Skiing’, had a reputation for partying and once crossed the finish line screaming “Sono una bestia” (I am a beast) “H I S LEG EN D H A S B EEN B U I LT N O T O N T ITLES B U T O N M O M E N TS ” Sports Illustrated on Roberto Baggio Two traditional Italian sports Calcio Fiorentino Originally played by aristocrats in the 1600s, teams of 27 proved their physical supremacy by getting the ball from one end of a huge sand pit to the other It made a comeback in the 1930s and still draws huge crowds in the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence each June These days, head butting, elbowing, mild choking and the odd punch all seem allowed, although convicted criminals aren’t permitted to play The winning side gets a cow Bocce Every country seems to have its version of bowls or pétanque; in Italy, competitors traditionally play on a court of crushed oyster shells (although gravel will do), throwing their metal balls underarm to gain prime place next to the jack In the 20th century, the sport had its own legend – Umberto Granaglia, world champion on 13 occasions 307 Identity: the foundations of Italian culture Literature and philosophy Art, architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy Speak the Culture Series Take the cultural grand tour “No publisher has attempted anything quite like this, and the publishers Thorogood are to be much applauded for their ingenuity and achievement.” Barry Forshaw, Travel Journalist OTHER SPEAK THE CULTURE BOOKS AVAILABLE Speak the Culture: France “…this book shines with intelligent analysis and astute observation If you want to unravel French DNA, read this book.” France Magazine Speak the Culture: Spain “ a tapas menu with bite-size chunks on everything from history to film.” Daily Telegraph Speak the Culture: Britain “Visitors and locals alike will enjoy these key facts, insights and anecdotes about Britain.” Britain Magazine C O MI N G S O O N Speak the Culture: Germany www.speaktheculture.net Every effort has been made to trace the owners of the various pieces of material in this publication If further proof of ownership should be made available then attribution will be given, or if requested the said material removed, in any subsequent editions ... grain imports, and, with nowhere else to go, flooded from the land into Rome and its insulae (apartment blocks), expanding the plebeian ranks and creating the biggest city in Europe Life in the. .. architecture and design Music, theatre, dance and comedy Cinema and fashion Media and communications Food and drink Living culture: the state of modern Italy Something in the water The Ligurian... and Puglia remained loosely in Byzantine and Greek hands while other regions, notably Benevento, a mountainside duchy inland from Naples, were kept by the Lombards Kings, dukes and lords in the