History & culture
How Did Your Italian Family Get Its Name (Cognome)?
April 2016 | Roslyn Torella
If you are like me, you may have wondered how your family got its surname or cognome in Italian. I find the sound of Italian family names very melodious, particularly here in America, where they are often butchered in both pronunciation and...
The Power of Relics
April 2016 | Stephen N. Fliegel
During the 1300s, the Italian peninsula was occupied by numerous independent kingdoms, communes and city states that did not always live in harmony. The period saw the generally sustained growth of thriving urban centers teeming with mercantile...
Steamship Ticket to the United States: November 22, 1911
March 2016 | Ben Lariccia
A. Name of steamship company: Navigazione Generale Italiana. Headquarters in Rome and offices in Genoa, Palermo, Naples. and Venice.
B. Control number issued by Emigration Office in Naples. Ticket good for one passenger in 3rd class.
C. Name...
A Rock Crystal Cross from Venice
March 2016 | Stephen N. Fliegel
It is commonly known that Venice has a long history for glass production extending back through the Middle Ages. Even today, the city is still highly-renowned for its glass studios as any visitor to the city can attest. Her glass furnaces,...
The Italian American Podcast
February 2016 | Dolores Alfieri
Growing up in my hometown, just outside of NYC, in the 1990s, there weren't many, if any, other kids at school - unless they were my cousins - whose parents were born and raised in Italy. There were a lot of Italian American kids, but usually that...
The Legend of St. Valentine
February 2016 | Prof. Philip DiNovo
Legend has it that the Valentine takes its name from a young Christian priest who lived during ancient Roman times. During that period, Christians were jailed because of their faith and so it was with Valentine.
Often he thought of his loved ones...
Filippino Lippi's Holy Family
January 2016 | Stephen N. Fliegel
Within the collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art will be found one of Fillipino Lippi's great works representing "The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Margaret." Lippi's sophisticated composition overlaps five figures in a...
Music for Christmas Mass
December 2015 | Stephen N. Fliegel
A variety of liturgical manuscripts were needed during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance for the celebration of the Mass and offices. These included missals, gospel lectionaries, choir psalters, breviaries, graduals, and antiphonaries. Without...
The Splendor of the Doge
November 2015 | Stephen N. Fliegel
Venice, one of the most beautiful and exotic of Italian cities, is renowned for its geographical setting, its architecture and the many important works of art housed within its churches and palaces. With its canals and bridges, Venice possesses a...
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