Mary Therese Burns De Francesco

Mary Therese Burns-De Francesco, contributing writer, Rome, Italy

Leopardi, Italy's timeless poet

April 2013
Long recognized as Italy's greatest poet of the Romantic age, Giacomo Leopardi (Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi,1798-1837) has never ceased to inspire generations of readers with his classically written stanzas. His...


The Motorvalley Region

November 2010
Click here or scroll down for article in Italian This month I interviewed Duccio Campagnoli, the Assessor of the "Motorvalley" -- the motor industry pole that is home to Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and Ducati -- who has just concluded his...


Rome's New Maxxi

October 2010
On May 30, 2010, Italy's Cultural Heritage Minister, Sandro Bondi, inaugurated Rome's new museum, the Maxxi National Museum of 21st Century Arts, a sprawling contemporary art complex built on the former site of a barracks in Rome's Flaminio...


A touch of "retro"

February 2010
Piera Crivelli, an affirmed Roman fashion designer, shares a famous last name with Carlo Crivelli, the Venetian Renaissance artist, and definitely has the same creativity in her blood. I interviewed Piera during her December show near Rome's Cestia...