History & culture
Brigands
August 2015 | Ben Lariccia
The first night of our 1992 family reunion in Montelongo, my paternal grandparents' village, Zia Mariannina and Zia Rita locked the door and then barred it with a two-by-four. I looked at my mother. Was this a movie set of the lawless Old West? The...
Italian Americans and World War I
July 2015 | Ben Lariccia
Though postwar U.S.A. experienced a depression that lasted until 1921, the severe economic and social upheavals that hit Italy in the wake of WWI had little parallel in the U.S. In fact, the period of the 1920s was one of general prosperity -the...
An Ivory from Amalfi
June 2015 | Stephen N. Fliegel
A popular tourist destination for travelers to Italy since the 19th century is the celebrated Amalfi coast of southern Italy. It was much beloved by the British upper class and aristocracy who flocked there in the 1920s and 30s. So unique and...
Maiolica
May 2015 | Stephen N. Fliegel
In the 1490s, the Italian humanist, Giovanni Pontano, extolled the virtues of dining as one of the most important social activities. In Italian households of the Renaissance, there was no place more suitable for expressing social aspirations,...
Italian American Project
April 2015 | Kyrie Whitsett
The Italian Americans Project: Angie Spitalieri from Kyrie Whitsett on Vimeo.
Both sides of Angela Spitalieri's family came from Italy and settled in the Cleveland area. As a young Italian-American who lives and works in the Little Italy...
A Masterpiece of Italian Goldsmithing
April 2015 | Stephen N. Fliegel
It is natural to focus upon sculpture and painting when visiting Italian museums. Italy's international reputation in the arts is rightly established by her artistic genius in these media, and she was, of course, the cradle of the Renaissance. Who...
Cartapesta
February 2015 | Lee Laurino
Do you remember art projects as a child that involved strips of newspaper and paste made from flour and water? The practice of the cartapesta (paper mache) has been an art form in Lecce, Italy for centuries.
Used as an inexpensive substitute...
An Altarpiece by Ugolino da Siena
January 2015 | Stephen N. Fliegel
Visitors to the Cleveland Museum of Art's Italian Trecento gallery will notice that it is dominated by a painting from Tuscany. An altarpiece painted by the Sienese artist, Ugolino di Nerio da Siena (about 1280-1349), forms a major sightline object...
Steel Museum Offers Youngstown's Italian Heritage Online
January 2015 | Ben Lariccia
Mention the "Steel Museum" and Youngstowners proudly point to the modern structure at 151 W. Wood Street. Officially known as the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, the institution is operated by Youngstown State University...