L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 11 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Dear Readers, September, the month we celebrate Labor Day, is a good time to look back at who labored in diverse fields from astronomy to empire building and recall their accomplishments: *** Galileo Galilei (1565-1642), born outside of Pisa in Italy, has been called the father of modern physics, the father of modern astronomy and the father of modern science. A short list of his accomplishments includes the invention of the compound microscope, the discovery of moons around Jupiter, designs for the first pendulum clock, and the invention of a telescope that could see deeply into space. His scientific experiments laid the groundwork for modern scientific methods, and his concept of inertia directly inspired Newton's laws of motion. As a boy, Galileo's father discouraged him from studying mathematics as he wanted him to become a doctor. Galileo's greatest accomplishment may be the stand he took against Roman Catholic Church of the Renaissance. At the time, it was considered an act of rebellion to teach that the sun was the center of the solar system, a theory that had originated with Copernicus. In the keeping with the literal interpretation of the Bible, the theory condoned by the church was that the sun and planets revolved around the earth. In his treatise Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Galileo used the observations he made with his new telescope to defend Copernicus. During the Inquisition, the sixty-nine-year- old Galileo's book was banned, and he was ordered to appear before the court in Rome. He was found guilty of defying church doctrine and sentenced to life in prison. His sentence was commuted to house arrest, and he died eight years later in his home near Florence, under the watch of Inquisition guards. In 1992, 359 years after Galileo's trial, Pope John Paul II formed a commission that recognized Galileo's bravery and formally apologized for his punishment. *** Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) was a Roman general who rose to prominence in the first century B.C. conquering what is now France, Belgium and western Germany. The Roman Senate, led by Pompey, was threatened by Caesar's growing popularity and ordered him to disband his army. Caesar refused. He marched his legions on the Capitol, crossing the Rubicon River— and started a civil war. He chased his enemies across Europe and ultimately to Egypt where Pompey was killed. Before leaving Egypt, Caesar fell in love with Cleopatra and installed her as queen. When Caesar returned to Rome, he ruled as dictator. An early poster boy for the double standard of morality in 62 BC, when Caesar was climbing through Rome's political ranks, a scandal erupted. A patrician named Publius Clodius was discovered at a religious ritual where men were prohibited. The ritual was held in Caesar's house and a rumor soon spread that Clodius was there because he was having an affair with Caesar's wife, Pompeia. Caesar knew the rumors weren't true and said so. Nevertheless he divorced her, noting that Caesar's wife and family must be above suspicion. Caesar was declared dictator by the Senate in the midst of his civil war against Pompey. It was a time of crisis, and the leader was thought to require decisive, emergency powers. But the emergency never passed. The Republic was not to be restored. Caesar was declared dictator, but he was largely careful to maintain the appearance of consulting the Senate—staked with his supporters—and respecting the Republic's traditions. However, in the final years of his life, he grew careless, allowing his Asian subjects to worship him as a god, and coins with his images were minted, the first time a living roman was honored. They bore the inscription, "Perpetual Dictator". These gratuitous honors are thought to have fueled the resentment that culminated in his overthrow and murder. After a successful military campaign Caesar famously declared, "Veni, vidi, vinci." (I came, I saw, I conquered.) Caesar was assassinated on the Ides (the fifteenth day) of March in 44 BC by a conspiracy that included his best friend, Brutus. *** Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) represents one of the two schools of opera: German and Italian. In contrast to the German school, Verdi captures a style and an overall sensibility—soulful, personality-driven and nationalistic— that is the perfect embodiment of the Italian operatic tradition. Verdi was initially rejected from the Milan Conservatory for "lacking musical talent". He had to take private lessons instead. Born to an illiterate innkeeper in Parma, Italy, Verdi had early success. When he was twenty- six, his first opera, Oberto, was performed at La Scala, Milan's most famous theater, and the Holy Grail for Italian singers and composers. After a flop or two, he re-won the hearts of Milan with Nabucco (1842), a monumental tale about Nebuchadrezzar's invasion of Jerusalem. Over the eight years that followed, Verdi wrote thirteen operas and earned a massive fortune. In the following decade, he slowed his pace, but he wrote some of his most famous operas: Rigoletto (1853), Il Trovatore (1853) and La Traviata (1853) Aida (1870) commissioned by the Khedive of Egypt in 1869 to coincide with the opening of the Suez Canal. Until Verdi came along, Gioacchino Rossini had been the most lauded composer of Italian opera. Rossini's works were mostly light-hearted caprices with lots of passages that highlighted the solo voice. In addition to Verdi, Italian opera was rounded out by Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti and other composers of the bel canto, beautiful singing style, which flourished in the 1830s. Verdi wrote operas full of soulful monodies and character- driven plots that dealt with love, loss and tragedy, but remained lighter than the German operas. Where Richard Wagner and his imitators dealt in abstractions and wallowed in huge, audacious productions, Verdi focused on very direct, realistic emotional expression and lifelike characters singing their hearts out. One of Verdi's greatest contributions is the Verdian baritone, a tradition of writing the most expressive arias for the sonorous baritone part, rather than the tenor, which traditionally served that purpose. *** Leonardo da Vinci (1452- 1519) is universally recognized as one of history's great creative geniuses. Excelling in a variety of disciplines painting, sculpture, architecture, music, engineering, and the physical sciences. He is often deemed the quintessential Renaissance man. Born in 1452 in Vinci, Italy, da Vinci was the illegitimate son of Piero da Vinci. Throughout his life he referred to himself simply as Leonardo; da Vinci means "From Vinci". He began his artistic career in Florence as an apprentice to the sculptor and painter Verrocchio, from whom he worked from 1470 to 1477. Da Vinci left Florence in 1481 in order to work fro Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. During his years in Milan, he worked on a variety of projects. He designed fortifications, made models of equestrian statues and painted The Last Supper. Although he never completed any of the equestrian statues, he did make a full-scale model of one that was later smashed to bits when French troops used if for target practice. In 1999, two full-scale recreations of da Vinci's model for a huge equestrian statue were erected, one in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the other in Milan. Da Vinci returned to Florence in 1499, where he worked on a number of paintings, most notably the Mona Lisa. Between 1513 and 1516, he resided in Rome, lured there by the papal court. Next he moved to France, where he had been invited to live at the estate of the French King, Francis I who had just recaptured Milan. He died at the Chateau of Cloux in 1519. Although da Vinci is most famous for painting the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, he is also known for his voluminous sketchbooks in which he compiled drawings and annotations on a wide range of subjects, from the physical of flight to human anatomy. In more recent times, he has appeared as a character in a wide range of fiction, from the television series Star Trek to the best selling novel The Da Vinci Code. Then in the mid 1980's parents from California to China thought their children were taking a sudden interest in Italian Artists only to learn of the worldwide success via Television and comics of the sewer dwelling Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) that without question became a full-fledged social phenomenon. Just about anyone who knew young people heard of Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo. In January 205 a series of sealed-off rooms were discovered in a monastery next to the church of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence. Some believe that these were the site of Leonardo's secret workshop.

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