Culture of Italy

A collage of Italian culture showing: the original statue of "David", found in the Accademia di Belle Arti ("Academy of Fine Arts") in Florence in the centre, then the Venice Carnival on the top right, followed by the Trevi Fountain, a panorama of Naples, a dish of Spaghetti alla Carbonara, Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, a believed portrait of polymath and genius Leonardo da Vinci, and finally the Greek Theatre in Taormina.

From antiquity until at least to all the sixteenth century, the Italian peninsula was the central place of Western culture, fulcrum or origin of universal phenomena as the Roman Empire, Roman Catholic Church, Humanism and Renaissance.^[1][2] During these times, Italy produced some of the greatest painters, sculptors, poets, musicians, mathematical and architects in history. Both the internal and external facets of Western Civilization were born on the Italian peninsula, whether one looks at the history of the Christian faith, civil institutions (like the Senate), modern astrology, philosophy, law,^[3] art, science, nuclear energy or social customs and culture.

Italy did not exist as a political state until its unification in 1861.^[4] Due to this comparatively late unification, and the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the Italian peninsula, many traditions and customs that are now recognized as distinctly Italian can be identified by their regions of origin. Despite the political and social isolation of these regions, Italy's contributions to the cultural and historical heritage of Europe remain immense. Elements which are famous of the Italian culture are its opera^[5] and music, its iconic gastronomy and food,^[6] which are commonly regarded amongst the most popular in the world^[7] (with famous dishes such as pasta, pizza, lasagna, focaccia, espresso and Italian gelato), its cinema (with classic films such as 8½, Bicycle Thieves, Cinema Paradiso, La Dolce Vita, Life is Beautiful, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly etc.), its collections of priceless works of art and its fashion (Milan is regarded as one of the fashion capitals of the world).^[8]

Italy is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (44) to date.^[9] From the precepts of the Roman Catholic Church, the spirit of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, are events which greatly shaped Italy's architecture, culture and art. Italy also has the world's 8th highest quality of life index,^[10] 2nd best healthcare system^[11] and 19th highest life expectancy.^[12]

Etymology of the name

The origin of the term Italia, from Latin: Italia,^[13] is uncertain. According to one of the more common explanations, the term was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning "land of young cattle" (cf. Lat vitulus "calf", Umb vitlo "calf").^[14] The bull was a symbol of the southern Italian tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Samnite Wars.

The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy: according to Antiochus of Syracuse, it defined the southern portion of the Bruttium peninsula (modern Calabria). But by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name "Italia" to a larger region, but it was not until the time of the Roman conquests that the term was expanded to cover the entire peninsula.^[15]

Folklore

It is difficult to individuate an Italian folklore, because of the vast differences between regions.

In 1956, Italo Calvino selected and recorded a collection of folktales in Italian Folktales.

Education

Milan's Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

Italy's public education is free and compulsory from 6–14 years of age,^[16] and has a five-year primary stage and an eight-year secondary stage, divided into first-grade secondary school (middle school) and second-grade secondary school (or high school). Italy has a high public education standard, beating that of the United Kingdom and Germany.^[17] Italy has both public and private education systems.

Primary school lasts five years. Until middle school, the normal educational curriculum is uniform for all: although one can attend a private or state-funded school, the subjects studied are the same, except in special schools for pupils with different care requirements.

Secondary education (Scuole medie) is further divided in two stages: Medie Inferiori, which correspond to the Middle School grades, and Medie Superiori, which correspond to the High School level.

The lower tier of Scuole Medie corresponds to Middle School, lasts three years, and involves an exam at the end of the third year; Scuole Superiori usually last five years (even though Istituti Professionali might offer a diploma after only three years). Every tier involves an exam at the end of the final year required to access the following tier.

The secondary school situation varies, since there are several types of schools differentiated by subjects and activities. The main types are the Liceo, the Istituto Tecnico and the Istituto Professionale. Any kind of secondary school that lasts 5 years grants access to the final exam, called Esame di Stato conclusivo del corso di studio di Istruzione Secondaria Superiore or Esame di Maturità. This exam takes place every year in June and July and grants access to any faculty at any University.

Italy hosts a broad variety of universities, colleges and academies. Milan's Bocconi University, has been ranked among the top 20 best business schools in the world by The Wall Street Journal international rankings, especially thanks to its M.B.A. program, which in 2007 placed it no. 17 in the world in terms of graduate recruitment preference by major multinational companies ^[18]. Also, Forbes has ranked Bocconi no.1 worldwide in the specific category Value for Money ^[19]. In May 2008, Bocconi overtook several traditionally top global business schools in the Financial Times Executive education ranking, reaching no. 5 in Europe and no. 15 in the world ^[20]. Other top universities and polytechnics include the Polytechnic University of Turin, the Politecnico di Milano (which in 2009 was ranked as the 57th technical university in the world by Top Universities, in a research conducted on behalf of Times Higher Education ^[21]. This was a 6-positions growth from the 63rd position in 2008. In 2009 an Italian research ranked it as the best in Italy over indicators such as scientific production, attraction of foreign students, and others ^[22]), the La Sapienza (which in 2005 was Europe's 33rd best university^[23], and currently ranks amongst Europe's 50 and the world's 150 best colleges^[24]) and the University of Milan whose research and teaching activities have developed over the years and have received important international recognitions. The University is the only Italian member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), a prestigious group of twenty research-intensive European Universities. It also been awarded ranking positions as such: -1st in Italy and 7th in Europe (The Leiden Ranking - Universiteit Leiden).

Italy and the Western world's oldest college is the University of Bologna^[25]. The University of Padua is also one of Europe's oldest.

Demographics and immigration

Italian Argentines celebrating the Immigrant's Festival in Oberá, Misiones, Argentina

The Italian ethnic group shares a common Italian culture and descent, and speaks the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence, and are distinguished from people of Italian descent, and historically, from ethnic Italians living in the unredeemed territories of the Italian peninsula.

Because of a wide-ranging and long-lasting diaspora, over 70 million people of Italian or part Italian ancestry live outside of Italy. Nearly two-thirds of Italian descendants live in South America (primarily Brazil and Argentina). About 20 million live in North America and nearly one million live in Oceania. In the Americas, most descendants' origins go back several generations and they have assimilated into their respective national identities. Most do not speak the Italian language. Also, some Italians live in parts of Africa (especially in Libya, Ethiopia and Eritrea) where they emigrated at the time of the Italian colonial empire.

Starting in the late 19th century until the 1950s, the United States became a main destination for Italian immigrants, most settling originally in the New York metropolitan area, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. Many Italian Americans still retain aspects of their culture. This includes Italian-American cuisine, art, annual Italian American feasts, and a strong commitment to extended family. Italian Americans influenced popular music in the 1940s and as recently as the 1970s, one of their major contributions to American culture. In movies that deal with cultural issues, Italian American words and lingo are sometimes spoken by the characters. Although most will not speak Italian fluently, a dialect of sorts has arisen among Italian Americans, particularly in the urban Northeast, often popularized in film and television.

Italian communities once thrived in the former African colonies of Eritrea (50,000 Italian settlers in 1935),^[26] Somalia and Libya (150,000 Italians settled in Libya, constituting about 18% of the total population at the time).^[27]. A significant portion of the pied-noir community of French Algeria and French Tunisia was also of Italian descent, though much of this population naturalized as French citizens and most migrated to France after these countries' independence.

Literature

Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages. His epic poem The Divine Comedy ranks among the finest works of world literature. Critics have praised it not only as magnificent poetry, but also for its wisdom and scholarly learning.^[28]

Virgil (70 B.C - 19 B.C), regarded as the greatest Roman poet, known for his epic, the Aeneid (written about 29 B.C.E), which had taken its literary model from Homer's epic poems Iliad and Odyssey.^[29]

Italian literature began after the founding of Rome in 753 BCE. Roman, or Latin literature, was and still is highly influential in the world, with numerous writers, poets, philosophers, and historians, such as Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger, Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Ovid and Livy. The Romans were also famous for their oral tradition, poetry, drama and epigrams. Even though most of these were inspired or even copied from the Ancient Greeks, Roman epigrams were usually far more satyrical, sometimes using obscene language to give them an exciting effect. Most of the Roman epigrams were inscriptions or graffiti.

Italy also has a rich oral tradition. Characters of Italian folklore purvey cultural expectations as well as give credence to widespread beliefs. One such notable character is "Giufà" of the southern Italian and Sicilian oral tradition.

The basis of the modern Italian language was established by the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri, whose greatest work, the Divine Comedy, is considered amongst the foremost literary statements produced in Europe during the Middle Ages. There is no shortage of celebrated literary figures in Italy: Giovanni Boccaccio, Giacomo Leopardi, Alessandro Manzoni, Torquato Tasso, Ludovico Ariosto, and Petrarch, whose best-known vehicle of expression, the sonnet, was invented in Italy. Prominent philosophers include Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, Leon Battista Alberti, Marsilio Ficino, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Niccolò Machiavelli, Giordano Bruno, Giambattista Vico and Giacomo Leopardi. Modern literary figures and Nobel laureates are nationalist poet Giosuè Carducci in 1906, realist writer Grazia Deledda in 1926, modern theatre author Luigi Pirandello in 1936, poets Salvatore Quasimodo in 1959 and Eugenio Montale in 1975, satirist and theatre author Dario Fo in 1997.^[30] Regarding Italian theatre, it can be traced back to the Roman tradition which was heavily influenced by the Greek; as with many other literary genres, Roman dramatists tended to adapt and translate from the Greek. For example, Seneca's Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander. During the 16th century and on into the 18th century, Commedia dell'arte was a form of improvisational theatre, and it is still performed today. Travelling troupes of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide amusement in the form of juggling, acrobatics, and, more typically, humorous plays based on a repertoire of established characters with a rough storyline, called canovaccio.

Language

Italian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world.^[31] In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City.^[32] Standard Italian, adopted by the state after the unification of Italy, is based on Tuscan (in particular on the dialects of the city of Florence) and is somewhat intermediate between the Italo-Dalmatian languages of the South and the Gallo-Romance Northern Italian languages. Its development was also influenced by the other Italian dialects and by the Germanic language of post-Roman invaders. Italian is also spoken in parts of Slovenia, Malta, Monaco, Luxembourg, Croatia and France (especially Corsica). The language is also used in Eritrea, Libya and Somalia, all ex-Italian colonies, and is also spoken in some emigrants' communities, especially in the USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil and the UK.

Italian derives diachronically from Latin and is one of the closest languages to Latin. Unlike most other Romance languages, Italian has retained the contrast between short and long consonants which existed in Latin. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive. In particular, among the Romance languages, Italian is considered to be the closest to Latin in terms of vocabulary.^[33] Lexical similarity is 89% with French, 87% with Catalan, 85% with Sardinian, 82% with Spanish, 78% with Rhaeto-Romance and 77% with Romanian.^[31][34]

Architecture

The Cathedral of San Giorgio, Modica. This cathedral is a perfect example of Sicilian baroque architecture

Italy boasts a long period of different architectural styles, from Classical Roman and Greek, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Art Nouveau to Modern. Italian architecture began with Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and Etruscans, when both civilizations built temples, basilicae, columns, fora, palaces, aqueducts, walls and public baths^[35]. After these classical civilizations, Italian developed a renowned Gothic architecture^[36], especially towards the 12th century. Cities such as Venice, Vicenza, Florence, Siena, Assisi and Pisa^[37] were mainly affected by the Gothic and Romanesque architectural periods. Then, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Italy became the birthplace of the Renaissance^[38], with Florence^[39] and Rome as its main centres. Examples of renowned Renaissance buildings include St Peter's Basilica, the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace. Italy then became a main European centre for the baroque, with diverse baroque architectural styles emerging, especially in Sicily (see Sicilian baroque). Later, in the 18th and 19th centuries neo-classical style buildings began to appear in Rome, Milan, Turin and all around Italy. Currently, modern Italian architecture and design is considered world-class and is very renowned^[40], with Milan as the country's capital. Numerous modern Italian architects, such as Renzo Piano, are famous worldwide^[41].

Italian Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture appeared in Italy in the 12th century. Italian Gothic always maintained peculiar characteristics which differentiated its evolution from that in France, where it had originated, and in other European countries. In particular, the architectural ardite solutions and technical innovations of the French Gothic cathedrals never appeared: Italian architects preferred to keep the construction tradition established in the previous countries. Aesthetically, in Italy the vertical development was rarely important.

Italian Renaissance architecture

The House of Borromeo's Renaissance house in the Isola Bella (Lago Maggiore).

Italy of the 15th century, and the city of Florence in particular, was home to the Renaissance. It is in Florence that the new architectural style had its beginning, not slowly evolving in the way that Gothic grew out of Romanesque, but consciously brought to being by particular architects who sought to revive the order of a past "Golden Age". The scholarly approach to the architecture of the ancient coincided with the general revival of learning. A number of factors were influential in bringing this about.

Italian architects had always preferred forms that were clearly defined and structural members that expressed their purpose. Many Tuscan Romanesque buildings demonstrate these characteristics, as seen in the Florence Bapistry and Pisa Cathedral.

Italy had never fully adopted the Gothic style of architecture. Apart from the Cathedral of Milan, largely the work of German builders, few Italian churches show the emphasis on vertically, the clustered shafts, ornate tracery and complex ribbed vaulting that characterise Gothic in other parts of Europe.

The presence, particularly in Rome, of ancient architectural remains showing the ordered Classical style provided an inspiration to artists at a time when philosophy was also turning towards the Classical.

Palaces and Palazzi in Italy

The Palazzo Grimani in Venice.

Italy boasts a wide variety of palaces, in various cities, mainly Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Turin, Bologna and Naples, built in a wide variety of different styles, from Roman, Byzantine, Romansque, Medieval and Gothic, to Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-Classical and Fascism. In Italian, the word "Palazzo" is more broadly used in Italy than its English equivalent “palace”. In Italy, a palazzo is a grand building of some architectural ambition that is the headquarters of a family of some renown or of an institution, or even what the British would call a “block of flats” or a tenement. In Venice, most palaces are referred to as "Ca'", which is short for "Casa", meaning "house" in Italian, for example Ca' Pesaro or Ca' Rezzonico. However, the word "palazzo" has started to be used abroad, for instance, The Palazzo in Las Vegas.^[42] Examples of major and famous Italian palaces include Palazzo Spada, Palazzo Laterano, Palazzo Quirinale, Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti, Palace of Caserta, Royal Palace of Turin, Royal Palace of Capodimonte, Royal Palace (Naples), Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi, Palazzo Litta, Palazzo del Te, Ca' d'Oro, Ca' Foscari, Doge's Palace and Ca' Rezzonico, to name a few.

Italian Renaissance Gardens and Villas

A view of the Villa Capra "La Rotonda".

The Italian Renaissance garden was a new style of garden which emerged in the late 15th century at villas in Rome and Florence, inspired by classical ideals of order and beauty, and intended for the pleasure of the view of the garden and the landscape beyond, for contemplation, and for the enjoyment of the sights, sounds and smells of the garden itself.

In the late Renaissance, the gardens became larger, grander and more symmetrical, and were filled with fountains, statues, grottoes, water organs and other features designed to delight their owners and amuse and impress visitors. The style was imitated throughout Europe, influencing the gardens of the French Renaissance and the English garden.

Politics

Giorgio Napolitano was elected President on 10 May 2006. He is the current President of the Italian Republic

The politics of Italy take place in a framework of a parliamentary, democratic republic, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised collectively by the Council of Ministers, which is led by the President of the Council, in jargon referred to as "premier", "primo ministro" or "prime minister" in English. Legislative power is vested in the two houses of parliament primarily, and secondarily on the Council of Ministers. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislative branches. Italy has been a democratic republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum (see birth of the Italian Republic). The constitution was promulgated on 1 January 1948.

The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law modified by the Napoleonic code and later statutes. The Supreme Court of Cassation is the court of last resort for most disputes. The Constitutional Court of Italy (Corte Costituzionale) rules on the conformity of laws with the Constitution and is a post-World War II innovation.

The current President of the Italian Republic is Giorgio Napolitano, and he was described by US President Barack Obama "as somebody who has the admiration of the Italian people because of not only his longstanding service but also his integrity and his graciousness. And I just want to confirm that everything about him that I had heard is true. He's an extraordinary gentleman , a great leader of this country, and the fact that he has been such a gracious host is something that we all greatly appreciate."^[43].

The Chamber of Deputies, Palazzo Montecitorio.

The current Italian Prime Minister is Silvio Berlusconi. With a net worth of US$ 9.4 billion^[44], Berlusconi is the Western world's and Europe's richest head of state.

Italy was a founding member of the European Community—now the European Union (EU). Italy was admitted to the United Nations in 1955 and is a member and strong supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Council of Europe. Its recent turns in the rotating Presidency of international organisations include the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), the forerunner of the OSCE, in 1994; G8; and the EU in 2001 and from July to December 2003.

Italy participated in and deployed troops in support of UN peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Mozambique, and East Timor and provides critical support for NATO and UN operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania. 1,000 Alpini troops were deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in February 2003. Italy also supported international efforts to reconstruct and stabilize Iraq through its military contingent of some 3,200 troops, as well as humanitarian workers and other officials. The troops remained in Iraq until December 2006 when they were retrieved by the Prodi-government.

In August 2006 Italy sent about 3,000 soldiers to Lebanon for the ONU peacekeeping mission UNIFIL.^[45] Furthermore, since 2 February 2007 an Italian, Claudio Graziano is the commander of the UN force in the country.

The Italian government seeks to obtain consensus with other European countries on various defense and security issues within the EU as well as NATO. European integration and the development of common defense and security policies will continue to be of primary interest to Italy.

In February 2007, Italy, Britain, Canada, Norway and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them.^[45]

Media and censorship

The first form of televised media in Italy was introduced in 1939, when the first experimental broadcasting began. However, this lasted for a very short time: when fascist Italy entered World War II in 1940 all the transmission were interrupted, and were resumed in earnest only nine years after the end of the conflict, in 1954. There are two main national television networks responsible for most viewing: state-owned RAI, funded by a yearly mandatory licence fee and Mediaset, commercial network founded by current Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. While many other networks are also present, both nationally and locally, these two together reach 80% of the TV ratings, as detailed further below.

As with all the other media of Italy, the Italian television industry is widely considered both inside and outside the country to be overtly politicized^[46]. The public broadcaster RAI is, unlike the BBC which is controlled by an independent trust, under direct control of the government; the most important commercial stations in the country are, in turn, owned by the current prime minister. According to a December 2008 poll, only 24% of Italians trust television news programmes, compared unfavourably to the British rate of 38%, making Italy one of only three examined countries where online sources are considered more reliable than television ones for information.^[47][48]. Also, along with Turkey, Italy has one of the lowest levels of press freedom in Europe, even falling behind some ex-communist countries, such as Poland and the Czech Republic^[49].

Society

Italy has been nominated 2009's sixth most internationally valued country,^[50] coming ninth in export branding 2008, first in tourism branding, second in cultural branding, third in people branding and ninth in immigration branding.

Healthcare

A hospital in Lombardy.

Healthcare spending in Italy has accounted for more the 9.0% of the country's GDP, slightly above the OECD countries' average of 8.9%,^[51] however, this has resulted in Italy having the world's 2nd best healthcare system,^[52] 19th highest life expectancy,^[53] and the world's 3rd best healthcare performance.^[54] Italy's life expectancy at birth was in 2004 80.9, two years above the OECD average.^[55]

Nevertheless, in Italy, just like in virtually all OECD countries, there has been an increase in the proportion of overweight and obese people. This figure rose from 7.0% in 1994 to 9.9% in the year 2005. There are now also in hospital structures in Italy for this group of people.

On addition to this, the proportion of daily smokers fell in the same period from 1990 to 2005 from 27.8% to 22.3% (OECD: 24.3%). Since 10 January 2005, there is also a general smoke ban on all public buildings. Anyone who violates this law must pay a fine from €27.5 to €275.

Social class

Italian society is often divided into different ranks of social class. The Romans' society was largely as hierarchical, with slaves (servi) at the bottom, freedmen (liberti) above them, and free-born citizens (cives) at the top. Free citizens were themselves also divided by class. The broadest, and earliest, division was between the patricians, who could trace their ancestry to one of the 100 Patriarchs at the founding of the city, and the plebeians, who could not. Today, Italian society is divided between the Bourgeosie, the white collar middle class, the petit urban bourgeosie, the petit rural bourgeosie, the urban working class and the rural working class.^[56]

Women

Elena Piscopia, an Italian mathematician and the first woman in the world to achieve a University doctorate at the University of Padua.^[57]

The treatment towards women has changed dramatically in Italy over the ages. Women in Ancient Rome who were nobles were citizens, but could not run for political office or vote.^[58] After ancient Rome and up to the 1950s and 60s, women were not usually mistreated or abused, but had far less rights than men, and since Italian society up to the middle-20th century was mainly sexist and patriarchal. There were some distinguished women in Italy before the fifties, such as Elena Piscopia (the world's first female laureate), Maria Gaetana Agnesi (scholar, mathematician and philosopher) and Maria Montessori (educator), but women in Italy were rarely well-educated and would probably end up being a housewife,^[59] washer or a nun at most. Today women have equal rights as men, and have mainly the same job, business and education opportunities. Some, more traditionalist (especially in the South) people in Italian society still tend to treat women as slightly inferior, but female rights in Italy are just as one would expect of a G8 and a developed country.^[59]

LGBT rights

Italy legally accepts homosexuals and transgenders, however they may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Italy, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.

Italian opinions have changed in the past and people now tend to be more supportive and liberal of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights, but tend to be more repressive than other European nations. Tolerance is seen in a peculiar way that is due to the religious influence of the Roman Catholic Church, which has been ingrained in Italian society for 1,700 years. Conservative Italian politicians such as Silvio Berlusconi have often been opposed to increasing gay rights.^[60] A Eurobarometer survey published on December 2006 showed that 31% of Italians surveyed support same-sex marriage and 24% recognise same-sex couple's right to adopt (EU-wide average 44% and 33%).^[61] A recent 2007 poll asking whether they supported the civil partnership law for gays. Support for the measure was at 45% support, with 47% oppose. 8% said they were unsure.^[62]. Homosexuals are also allowed to fully serve in military service.

Italian people

Leonardo Da Vinci, one of history's greatest geniuses.^[63]

Over the centuries, Italy has boasted numerous people of excellence in many fields,^[64] including some of the most renowned geniuses, architects, actors, polymaths, artists, personalities, entrepreneurs, and politicians of all time.

Daily life and leisure

Isola Bella, popular beach and recreational resort in Sicily.

Italians' social customs and daily lives have profoundly changed since World War II, transforming the nation from a highly traditional, agricultural-based society, into a progressive and modernized one.^[65] This is especially reflected in the fact that women play a far greater role today in politics and higher education than they did before.

Most Italians currently favour doing activities such as going to the cinema, reading newspapers, watching the television and listening to the radio; reading books and playing sports has proven to be less popular.^[65] According to some surveys, Italians are generally highly satisfied with social relations and family, healthcare, daily life and friendship relations; however, Italians find economic status and job opportunities generally less satisfying, especially with the fact that Southern Italy still suffers from relatively high unemployment.^[65] Also, meeting up and socializing with friends in the country's abundant piazzas, going to bars, discos, pizzerias and restaurants and finding other forms of entertainment remain popular with Italians, especially the younger generations.^[65] Automobiles still hold a strong part of Italian daily life, however this results in many cities being congested.^[65]

Science

Galileo Galilei, the founder of modern experimental science.^[66]

Enrico Fermi, the father of the atomic bomb.^[67]

Through the centuries, Italy has given birth to some notable scientific minds. Amongst them, and perhaps the most famous polymath in history, Leonardo da Vinci made several contributions to a variety of fields including art, biology, and technology. Galileo Galilei was a physicist, mathematician, and astronomer who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and support for Copernicanism. The physicist Enrico Fermi, a Nobel prize laureate, was the leader of the team that built the first nuclear reactor and is also noted for his many other contributions to physics, including the co-development of quantum mechanics. A brief overview of some other notable figures includes the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who made many important discoveries about the Solar System; the physicist Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electric battery^[68]; the mathematicians Lagrange, Fibonacci, and Gerolamo Cardano, whose Ars Magna is generally recognized as the first modern treatment on mathematics, made fundamental advances to the field; Marcello Malpighi, a doctor and founder of microscopic anatomy; the biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani, who conducted important research in bodily functions, animal reproduction, and cellular theory; the physician, pathologist, scientist, and Nobel laureate Camillo Golgi, whose many achievements include the discovery of the Golgi complex, and his role in paving the way to the acceptance of the Neuron doctrine; and Guglielmo Marconi, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of radio^[69].

In terms of impact factor, Italy has an above-average record in physics (+24 points above the world-average), psychology and psychiatry (+21 points), and space science (+18); the academic disciplines in which Italy scores a lower impact factor related to the world average include economics and business (-23 points below world-average), biology and biochemistry (-21 points), microbiology (-20), and molecular biology (-20).^[70]

Cuisine, food and drink

The window of a delicatessen in Imola, showing traditional Italian meats and dishes.

Brunello di Montalcino, a famous type of Tuscan wine.

Italian cuisine as a national cuisine known today has evolved through centuries of social and political changes, with its roots traced back to 4th century BC. Significant change occurred with discovery of the New World which helped shape much of what is known as Italian cuisine today with the introduction of items such as potatoes, tomatoes, bell pepper and maize, which are all central parts of the cuisine but not introduced in scale until the 18th century.^[71]

Ingredients and dishes vary by region. There are many significant regional dishes that have become both national and regional. Many dishes that were once regional, however, have proliferated in different variations across the country in the present day. Cheese and wine are also a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many variations and Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) (regulated appellation) laws.

Italy's cuisine is widely regarded as amongst the most popular in the world^[72], and is mainly made up of traditional dishes, meals and deserts, such as pasta, spaghetti, pizza, focaccia, bruschette, arancini, granita, lasagna, risotto, gnocchi, polenta, and zampone, to name a few. Basil, mozzarella, garlic, olive oil and tomatoes are examples of ingredients which are used frequently in Italian cuisine.

A chocolate gelato ice cream dessert.

Also, Italy exports and produces the highest level of wine^[73][74], exporting over 1,793 tonnes. Italy currently is responsible for producing approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005^[75]. Some parts of the country are home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Etruscans and Greek settlers produced wine in the country long before the Romans started developing their own vineyards in the 2nd century BC. Roman grape-growing and winemaking was prolific and well-organized, pioneering large-scale production and storage techniques like barrel-making and bottling.^[76]

An example of caffè macchiato or coffee with a slight addition of milk.

Famous and traditional Italian wines include Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino, Barbera, Dolcetto, Corvina, Nero d'Avola, Pinot Grigio^[77] and Moscato, to name a few.

Italy is also famous for its gelato, or traditional ice-cream often known as Italian ice cream abroad. There are gelaterias or ice-cream vendors and shops all around Italian cities, and it is a very popular dessert or snack, especially during the summer. Sicilian granitas, or a frozen dessert of flavored crushed ice, more or less similar to a sorbet or a snow cone, are popular desserts not only in Sicily or their native town of Catania, but all over Italy (even though the Northern and Central Italian equivalent, the gratta checca, commonly found in Rome or Milan is slightly different to the traditional granita Siciliana). Italy also boasts an assortion of several different desserts. The Christmas cakes pandoro and panettone are popular in the North (pandoro is from Verona, whilst panettone is Milanese), however, they have also become popular desserts in other parts of Italy and abroad. The Colomba Pasquale, or the Italian Easter cake is eaten all over the country on Easter day, and is a more traditional option to chocolate Easter eggs. Tiramisu is, on addition, a very popular and symbolic Italian dessert from Veneto which has become famous worldwide. Other Italian cakes and sweets include cannoli, the cassata Siciliana, marzipan-shaped fruits and the panna cotta.

Tiramisù is a traditional Venetian dessert which has become internationally acclaimed.

An assortion of Italian pizzas. Pizza is one of the most symbolic and famous Italian dishes worldwide.

Coffee, and more specifically espresso, has become highly important to the cultural cuisine of Italy. Espresso is a highly drunk coffee-drink in Italy, and a good number of Italians drink it in the morning before going to work, or starting the day in general. Espresso is served in small cups and has a dark, almost black appearance, and a strong, sour taste. Cappucino is also a famous Italian coffee drink, which is usually sweeter and less dark than espresso, and can be served with foam or cream on top, in which chocolate powder and sugar is usually sprinkled. Cappucino is, today, not only common in Italian cafes, or caffes, but also in restaurants and bars abroad. Caffelatte coffee is a mixture of coffee and milk (latte= milk), and is usually drunk at breakfast time (unlike most other Italian coffee-types, children and adults drink it alike, since it is lighter and more milky than normal coffee). Caffè macchiato is a stronger form of caffelatte, which, unlike caffelatte, which has an equal amount of coffee and milk, only contains a tiny portion of milk or whipped cream (latte macchiato is the lighter version of caffè macchiato, which is often drunk by children as well, which instead, only has a small addition of coffee or espresso to give it a slight coffee-like taste). The Bicerin is Turin's own coffee. It is a mix between cappucino and normal hot chocolate, and is made with equal amounts of drinking chocolate, coffee and a slight addition of milk and creamy foam.

Religion

St. Peter's Basilica from St Peter's Square

Roman Catholicism is the major religion of Italy. There are mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim community, the latter made up primarily of new immigrants. All religious faiths are provided equal freedom by the constitution. Before the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the state, in the 4th century, the country was officially pagan and worshipped the Roman gods, although there was great religious tolerance. As Edward Gibbon said in his The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, "The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful."^[78]

The adoption of Christianity by Constantine in the 4th century led to its becoming the majority religion of the Roman Empire and Italy. The head of the Roman Catholic Church, the bishop of Rome, known as the pope, resides in Vatican City, in Rome but not a part of Rome.

Islam, though historically present in Sicily during the Arab occupation in the Middle Ages, was almost entirely absent in Italy from the time of that country's unification in 1861, until the 1970s, when the first North African immigrants began to arrive. These North Africans, mostly of Berber or Arab origin, came mainly from heavily Islamic Morocco, though they have been followed in more recent years by Tunisians, Albanians and to a lesser extent, Libyans, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Middle Eastern Arabs, and Kurds.

Most Italians believe in God. According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005:^[79]

• 74% of Italian citizens responded that "they believe there is a God";
• 16% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force";
• 6% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".

Roman Catholicism

Milan Cathedral, one of the most important Roman Catholic cathedrals in the country.

The Italian Catholic Church is part of the global Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, curia in Rome, and the Conference of Italian Bishops. In addition to Italy, two other sovereign nations are included in Italian-based dioceses, San Marino and Vatican City. There are 225 dioceses in the Italian Catholic Church, see further in this article and in the article List of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Italy. Even though by law the Vatican City is not part of Italy, it is in Rome, and along with Latin, Italian is the most spoken and second language of the Vatican^[80]. Italy has a rich Catholic culture, especially due to the fact that numerous Catholic saints, martyrs and popes were Italian themselves. Roman Catholic art in Italy especially flourished during the Middle-Ages, Renaissance and Baroque periods, with numerous Italian artists, such as Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Caravaggio, Fra Angelico, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Sandro Botticelli, Tintoretto, Titian, Raphael and Giotto, to name a few. Roman Catholic architecture in Italy is equally as rich and impressive, with churches, basilicas and cathedrals such as St Peter's Basilica, Florence Cathedral and St Mark's Basilica, to name a few. Currently, Roman Catholicism is the largest religion and denomination in Italy, with around 87.8% of Italians considering themselves Catholic. Italy also is home to the greatest number of cardinals in the world^[81].

Other Christian denominations

Even though the main Christian denomination in Italy is Roman Catholicism, there are some minorities of Protestant, Waldensian, Eastern Orthodox and other Christian churches.

In the 20th century, Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostalism, non-denominational Evangelicalism, and Mormonism were the fastest-growing Protestant churches. Immigration from Western, Central, and Eastern Africa at the beginning of the 21st century has increased the size of Baptist, Anglican, Pentecostal and Evangelical communities in Italy, while immigration from Eastern Europe has produced large Eastern Orthodox communities.

In 2006, Protestants made up 2.1% of Italy's population, and members of Eastern Orthodox churches comprised 1.2%. Also, currently other Christian groups in Italy include more than 700,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians including 180,000 Greek Orthodox,^[82] 550,000 Pentecostals and Evangelicals (0.8%), of whom 400,000 are members of the Assemblies of God, 235,685 Jehovah's Witnesses (0.4%),^[83] 30,000 Waldensians,^[84] 25,000 Seventh-day Adventists, 22,000 Mormons, 15,000 Baptists (plus some 5,000 Free Baptists), 7,000 Lutherans, 4,000 Methodists (affiliated with the Waldensian Church).^[85]

Islam

The Rome Great Mosque.

The history of Islam in Italy dates back to the 9th century, when wars of expansion by North African states brought Sicily and some regions in Peninsular Italy into the Ummah. There were Muslim domains in these parts of Italy from 828 (Muslim conquest of Sicily) to 1300 (destruction of the last Islamic stronghold of Lucera in Puglia). Thereafter, until the 1970s Islam was almost entirely absent in Italy.

Islam is not formally recognized by the state in Italy despite being the second largest faith after Catholicism ^[86]. Other religions including Judaism and smaller groups such as the Assemblies of God, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Seventh-Day Adventists do enjoy official recognition in the form of signed agreements with the Italian government. Official recognition gives an organized religion a chance to benefit from a national "religion tax", known as the Eight per thousand.^[87] In 2005, the Council for Italian Islam was founded by Italian Minister of the Interior^[88]; the Council is composed by Muslim people. Strong disagreement between Council members stands its work^[89][90]. Today, some 825,000 Muslims^[91] (1.4% of the total population) live in Italy.

Judaism

Jews are Italy's oldest non-Christian religious group, having been in the country since Ancient Rome. Italy has seen many formidable Italian-Jews, such as Luigi Luzzatti, who took office in 1910, Ernesto Nathan served as mayor of Rome from 1907 to 1913 and Shabbethai Donnolo (died 982). Over the centuries, Jews, just like in many other nations, were persecuted, killed and expelled, especially under Pope Innocent III (1198–1216). Also, during the Holocaust, Italy took in many Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. However, with the creation of the Nazi-backed puppet Italian Social Republic, about 15% of Italy's Jews were killed, despite the Fascist government's refusal to deport Jews to Nazi death camps. This has only left a small community of around 45,000 Jews in Italy today.

Sikhism

Italian Sikhs are a religious minority in Italy. Italy has the second biggest Sikh population in Europe after United Kingdom. They number more than 70,000 ^[92] (about 0.12 % of total Italian population). There are about 22 gurdwaras across the country ^[93] - the oldest one being in Reggio Emilia in central Italy where many members of the community are engaged in agriculture.^[94]

Hinduism

There are approximately 75,000 Hindus in Italy. There are numerous Hindu-related organizations present in Italy, such Unione Induista Italia (UII), (Italian Hindu Union), led by Swami Yogananda Giri and ISKCON also has extensive presence in the country. Hindus are pressing for official recognition in Italy. UII has signed in 2007 an Intente with the Italian government. The document is now waiting for approval by the Italian Parliament.

Buddhism

Buddhism has about 50,000 adherents in Italy (0.1% of the population).^[95] Buddhism is a religious minority in the country

Visual art

The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, possibly one of the most famous and iconic examples of Italian art.

Leonardo da Vinci's Annunciation, held in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

Italian art describes the visual arts in Italy from ancient times to the present. In Ancient Rome, Italy was a centre for art and architecture. There were many Italian artists during the Gothic and Medieval periods, and the arts flourished during the Italian Renaissance. Later styles in Italy included Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, and I Macchiaioli. Futurism developed in Italy in the 20th century. Florence is a well known city in Italy for its museums of art, with the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi receive about 1.6 million tourists a year.^[96] Also, the Vatican Museums in Rome are Italy's first and the world's 37th most visited site, with over 4.2 million visitors a year^[96].

Italy did not fully exist as a state until the country's unification in 1861. Due to this comparatively late unification, and the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the Italian Peninsula, many artistic features that are now recognized as distinctly Italian can be identified by their regions of origin. This gives a great variety in Italian art. Despite these regions' political and social , Italy's contributions to Europe and the world's art is immense. Italy is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Site (44) to date, and is believed to contain over 70% of the world's art and architecture.

Italian painting is traditionally characterized by a warmth of colour and light, as exemplified in the works of Caravaggio and Titian, and a preoccupation with religious figures and motifs. Italian painting enjoyed preeminence in Europe for hundreds of years, from the Romanesque and Gothic periods, and through the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the latter two of which saw fruition in Italy. Notable artists who fall within these periods include Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Bernini, Titian and Raphael^[97]. Thereafter, Italy was to experience a continual subjection to foreign powers which caused a shift of focus to political matters, leading to its decline as the artistic authority in Europe. Not until 20th century Futurism, primarily through the works of Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla, would Italy recapture any of its former prestige as a seminal place of artistic evolution. Futurism was succeeded by the metaphysical paintings of Giorgio de Chirico, who exerted a strong influence on the Surrealists and generations of artists to follow.

Communications

Italy has modern, advanced, well-developed, fast, and fully automated telephone, telex and data services^[98]. The country has the world's 4th greatest internet hosts, that of 17.702 million^[98], 10th greatest number of internet users (32 million), 11th greatest number of mobile cellular users (88.58 million) and 17th greatest number of telephone users (20.031 million)^[98]. Italy has high capacity cables for domestic usage of phones, and numerous international connections to foreign nations^[98].

The nation's Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is .it and is sponsored by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states. Broadband Internet access reaches 18.1% of the population, under the European average (22%)^[99] and 31% of Italian homes has a Broadband Internet Access, under the European average (48%).^[100]

Cinema and theatre

Commedia dell'arte troupe Gelosi in a late 16th-century Flemish painting (Musée Carnavalet, Paris).

The Teatro Massimo Vincenzo Bellini of Catania, one of the most important theatres in Sicily and Italy on the whole.

The history of Italian cinema began a few months after the Lumière brothers began motion picture exhibition. The first Italian film was a few seconds long, showing Pope Leo XIII giving a blessing to the camera. The Italian film industry was born between 1903 and 1908 with three companies: the Roman Cines, the Ambrosio of Turin and the Itala Film. Other companies soon followed in Milan and in Naples. In a short time these first companies reached a fair producing quality and films were soon sold outside Italy too. The cinema was later used by Benito Mussolini as a form of propaganda during World War II.

After the war, Italian film was widely recognised and exported until an artistic decline around 1980. World-famous Italian film directors from this period include Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Dario Argento. Movies include world cinema treasures such as La dolce vita, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo and Ladri di biciclette.

In recent years, the Italian scene has received only occasional international attention, with movies like La vita è bella directed by Roberto Benigni and Il postino with Massimo Troisi.

Italian theatre can be traced back into the Roman which was heavily influenced by the Greek tradition, and, as with many other literary genres, Roman dramatists tended to adapt and translate from the Greek. For example, Seneca's Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander. During the 16th century and on into the 18th century Commedia dell'arte was a form of improvisational theatre, although it is still performed today. Travelling teams of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide amusement in the form of juggling, acrobatics, and, more typically, humorous plays based on a repertoire of established characters with a rough storyline, called Canovaccio

Music

Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti

Giuseppe Verdi, one of Italy's greatest opera composers. Portrait by Giovanni Boldini, 1886^[101]

Music has traditionally been one of the great cultural markers of what it means to be “Italian” and holds an important position in society, in general, and even in politics. Italy is also widely regarded as the birthplace of sheet music, after Guido d'Arezzo was responsible for arranging musical notes on sheets of paper^[102]. The music of Italy range across a broad spectrum, from her renowned opera to modern experimental classical music; and from the traditional music of the many ethnically diverse region to a vast body of popular music drawn from both native and imported source. Historically, musical developments in Italy in the Middle Ages and Renaissance helped create much music that spread throughout Europe. Innovation in the use of musical scales, harmony, notation, as well as experiments in musical theater led directly not just to opera in the late 16th century, but to classical music forms such as the symphony and concerto, and to later developments in popular music. Today, the entire infrastructure that supports music as a profession is extensive in Italy, including conservatories, opera houses, radio and television stations, recording studios, music festivals, and important centers of musicological research. Musical life in Italy remains extremely active, but very Italian-centered and hardly international. The only main international Italian pop-singers include 1970s pop-diva Mina, who sold 76 million records worldwide in her lifetime^[103], and singer Laura Pausini, who has sold 45 million albums^{[104][105][106]} and has been dubbed the 'Queen of Italian Pop'^[107].

Italy is widely known for being the birthplace of opera^[108]. Italian opera was believed to have been founded in the early 17th century, in Italian cities such as Mantua and Venice^[108]. Later, works and pieces composed by native Italian composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini, are amongst the most famous operas ever written and today are performed in opera houses across the world. La Scala operahouse in Milan is also renowned as one of the best in the world. Famous Italian opera singers include Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli, to name a few.

Holidays and climate

Lake Garda from Riva del Garda. A perfect example of a popular tourist destination during good weather

Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco), the highest mountain in Italy and Western Europe.

The Strait of Messina.

List of Public holidays in Italy:

Weather and climate in Italy usually follows a traditional European pattern of climates, similar to countries in the Mediterranean and which also have an Alpine mountain range (i.e. France)^[109].

The inland northern areas of Italy (for example Turin, Milan, and Bologna) have a continental climate typically classified as Humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa), while the coastal areas of Liguria and the peninsula south of Florence generally fit the Mediterranean climate stereotype (Köppen climate classification CSa).

Between the north and south there can be a considerable difference in temperature, above all during the winter: in some winter days it can be -2 °C (29 °F) and snowing in Milan, while it is 12 °C (54 °F) in Rome and 22 °C (72 °F) in Cagliari. Temperature differences are less extreme in the summer.

Fashion

Fashion is another important part of Italian society. Italian designers such as, Armani, Prada, Gucci, Versace, Valentino, Moschino, Ferragamo, Trussardi, Laura Biagiotti, Fendi, Max Mara, Miu Miu, Emilio Pucci, Missoni, Roberto Cavalli and Gianfranco Ferré are considered to be some of the finest in the world. The city of Milan takes its place amongst the most prestigious and important centers of fashion in the world. Accessory and jewelry labels, such as Bulgari and Luxottica are also internationally acclaimed, and Luxottica is also the world's largest eyewear company. Currently, Milan, (Italy's center of design) and Rome annually compete with other major international centres, such as Paris, New York, London and Tokyo. Also, the fashion magazine Vogue Italia, is considered the most important and prestigious fashion magazine in the world.^[110]

Design

"The Tube Chair", a piece of furniture by Italian designer Cesare "Joe" Colombo.

Italy is prominent in the field of design, notably interior design, architectural design, industrial design and urban design. The Italian style is known globally for the quality of its interior design, and has produced some well-known furniture designers, such as Gio Ponti and Ettore Sottsass, and Italian phrases such as "Bel Disegno" and "Linea Italiana" have entered the vocabulary of furniture design.^[111] Examples of classic pieces of Italian white goods and pieces of furniture include Zanussi's rigorous, creative and streamlined washing machines and fridges,^[112] the "New Tone" sofas by Atrium,^[112] and the innovative post-modern bookcase by Ettore Sottsass, inspired by Bob Dylan's song Memphis Blues. The particular bookcase became huge a cultural and design icon of the 1980s.^[112] Today, Milan and Turin are the nation's leaders in architectural design and industrial design. The city of Milan hosts the FieraMilano, Europe's biggest design fair.^[113] Milan also hosts major design and architecture-related events and venues, such as the "Fuori Salone" and the "Salone del Mobile", and has also been home to the designers Bruno Munari, Lucio Fontana, Enrico Castellani and Piero Manzoni^[114]

See also

• List of cultural icons of Italy
• Architecture of Italy

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Northern Italy. APA Publications. 2004. ISBN 9812349030. 
• Miller, Judith (2005). Furniture: world styles from classical to contemporary. DK Publishing. ISBN 075661340X. 

External links

• Tricolore.Net Italian cultural links
• Italy Law Articles in English