Florence

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Secret Room Used for Coal May Hold Michelangelo Art

Visitors will soon be allowed in long-hidden space in Florence's Medici Chapel to view wall drawings

(Newser) - Just four at a time, visitors soon will be allowed access to a long-hidden space inside Florence's Medici Chapel, where delicate charcoal drawings sketched on the walls have been attributed by some experts to Michelangelo. The secret room—a 10-by-33-foot space—was discovered in 1975, when officials were searching...

Police: German Tourists Vandalized 1565 Landmark

Italian officials call for more severe punishment than foreigners usually receive

(Newser) - Another Italian historic site has been defaced, this time the Vasari Corridor in Florence, bringing calls to punish such attacks more severely. Police identified the vandals as two German men, ages 20 and 21, who are part of a group of 11 students, CNN reports. Soccer-related graffiti was left on...

Ousted Florida Principal Sees David in Person
Ousted Principal Sees David
Apr 30, 2023 3:00 PM CDT

Ousted Principal Sees David

Florida educator goes to Florence to view Michelangelo's masterpiece in person

(Newser) - When Hope Carrasquilla and her family arrived in Florence on Friday, they went straight to the Accademia Gallery. The Floridians had traveled to Italy to see the museum's main attraction: Michelangelo's David, who was sculpted without clothes—an artistic decision that, more than 500 years later, cost Carrasquilla...

David's Duster Says She Has the 'Best Job in the World'

Eleonora Pucci says her work can bring out emotion and admiration for Michelangelo

(Newser) - Six times a year, Eleonora Pucci spends her Monday morning dusting. She climbs scaffolding in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, Italy, until she can look Michelangelo's David in the eye, the New York Times reports. Then she takes photos used to check for wear and tear on the...

Virgin Mary Work Is Only Surviving Leonardo Sculpture
'New' Da Vinci Work Is Unveiled
Mar 10, 2019 3:38 PM CDT

'New' Da Vinci Work Is Unveiled

It's called 'The Virgin with the Laughing Child'

(Newser) - A smile, a laugh, a few folds, and presto—you have the only existing sculpture by Leonardo da Vinci. That's pretty much the takeaway after The Virgin with the Laughing Child was presented this week at an exhibition in Florence, NPR reports. An Italian academic and a Leonardo scholar...

6 Trapped Dogs Rescued Just in Time in North Carolina

Video out of Leland goes viral

(Newser) - Not all the news in the wake of Florence is grim. A viral video posted by freelance reporter Marcus DiPaola shows him and another person rescuing six dogs from rising water in a locked kennel, reports the Daily Dot . The dogs are clearly thrilled with the development. "We got...

Secret Room Where Michelangelo Hid, Sketched to Be Opened

It has been closed since its discovery in 1975 to keep the artwork safe

(Newser) - For two months in 1530, Michelangelo hid in a secret underground room beneath the Medici Chapels, "fill[ing] the walls with drawings" to forget his fears, as he later recalled. He had been commissioned by the Medicis, the most powerful family in Florence, to build the chapels—a mausoleum for...

Tourist Killed by Falling Chunk of Famous Church

Florence's Basilica of Santa Croce will be closed indefinitely

(Newser) - A 52-year-old tourist from Spain was killed Thursday by falling masonry in one of Florence's most famous churches, the Basilica of Santa Croce. The church, a top tourist attraction, is where Italian luminaries Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, and Niccolo Machiavelli are buried. The fatal accident raises questions about the state...

Florence Brainstorms 'Elegant' Solution for Rude Tourists

Prepare to get wet if you picnic at city churches

(Newser) - The mayor of Florence says some tourists have no "decorum" these days—something he hopes to fix with a water hose. Mayor Dario Nardella says a small number of the Italian city's 12 million annual tourists—particularly day-trippers from cruise ships—have taken to "camping out" on...

5 Best Cities in the World for Culture

Kyoto tops the list

(Newser) - Looking for some culture in the new year? Travel + Leisure lists the 10 best world cities offering just that. The top five:
  1. Kyoto, Japan
  2. Rome, Italy
  3. Jerusalem
  4. Florence, Italy
  5. Paris, France
Click for the complete list , which does include two US cities.

One Italian City Has Declared War on McDonald's

Florence says its Duomo is beautiful enough without a set of golden arches

(Newser) - “It would be as if a beautiful woman, dressed perfectly, decided to go out with one finger stuck up her nose." That's the take of one resident in Florence, Italy, where the Telegraph reports McDonald's is fighting to open a restaurant near the city's famous...

Unrestorable Renaissance Painting Proves Them Wrong

Giorgio Vasari's 'The Last Supper' is restored 50 years after flood

(Newser) - Renaissance artist Giorgio Vasari's The Last Supper was so badly damaged by floodwaters a half-century ago that it was considered beyond repair. Today, however, it is once again on display in all its glory, the Art Newspaper reports. The 96-square-foot painting, commissioned by a cloister of Italian nuns in...

10 Best Places to Visit in the World

See the Great Barrier Reef before it's gone

(Newser) - Visited New York City? Then you've already hit one of the top travel destinations in the world, according to US News & World Report . NYC sits at the No. 9 spot on its list, based on votes from editors and users, though it's actually No. 6 on this...

Suspect Says Dead Expat Treated Him 'Like a Dog'

'He did not want to kill her or hurt her,' says lawyer

(Newser) - The man accused of killing American expatriate Ashley Ann Olsen says he last saw her alive. His lawyer, Antonio Voce, says Cheik Tidiane Diaw met Olsen at a nightclub, then visited her apartment in the early hours of Jan. 8 where the pair had consensual sex while drunk and high...

Italy Makes Arrest in American Expat's Murder

Alleged killer is man Olsen met in nightclub

(Newser) - Police in Italy say they have made an arrest in the murder of American expatriate Ashley Ann Olsen—and there doesn't appear to be any link to her unsettling Instagram posts . Authorities in Florence announced early Thursday that Tidiane Cheik Diaw, a 25-year-old man from Senegal, was arrested on...

On Dead American Expat's Instagram, 'Sorry' Graffiti

Ashley Ann Olsen was strangled with cordlike object: cops

(Newser) - Ashley Ann Olsen's boyfriend allegedly compromised the crime scene when he found her naked body in her Florence apartment on Saturday, reports the Daily Beast by way of local media. Federico Fiorentini, 42, says he and Olsen argued on Wednesday; his calls to her went unanswered, and he ultimately...

In Dead American Expat's Instagram, Eerie Hashtags

Hashtags include: #Ihaveastalker, #creeperpic and #stalkeralert

(Newser) - American expat Ashley Ann Olsen, who was found dead Saturday in her apartment in Florence, Italy, left behind an Instagram account that could possibly shed light on how she died. Some two months before she was killed, Olsen, 35, posted photos on Instagram with hashtags, such as #Ihaveastalker, #creeperpic and...

American Woman Killed in Italy, Cops Open Murder Probe

Ashley Olsen's death raises fears of Amanda Knox-esque murder saga

(Newser) - Police questioned the friends of an American found dead in her Florence apartment as Italy's expat community expressed hope that the case won't turn into another Amanda Knox-style, headline-grabbing legal saga. Police opened a murder investigation Saturday after 35-year-old Ashley Olsen of Summer Haven, Florida, was found dead,...

Kardashian, Kanye Wed in Florentine Fortress

Reality star and rapper say 'I do' in private ceremony

(Newser) - Reality star Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West wed today in a Renaissance fortress in Florence, the TV network that carries Keeping Up With the Kardashians confirmed. The city's mayor's office had said a week earlier that the couple rented Belvedere Fort for a wedding to be performed...

Downfall of Michelangelo's David : Weak Ankles?

 Downfall of 
 Michelangelo's 
 David: Weak 
 Ankles? 
in case you missed it
May 4, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Downfall of Michelangelo's David: Weak Ankles?

Researchers: Masterpiece could collapse

(Newser) - Michelangelo's David has two bum ankles—and surgery isn't helping the masterpiece. Despite plastering over micro-fractures that have appeared over the years, David's ankles are so bad researchers fear the marble Golaith-slayer could soon collapse under his own massive 5.5-ton weight, reports the BBC by way...

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