In the movie “The Lady of the Lake” by Franco Rossellini and Luigi Bazzoni, there are love and scandals, disappearances, and mysterious appearances. In “Grand Budapest Hotel” by the visionary Wes Anderson, we can see the same guests from the decadent European aristocracy through flashbacks. “Lost in translation” is the story of an encounter in empty and silent rooms at night. We are talking about hotels, places of passage, business relationships, or what writers call “inspiration” with frescoed halls and panoramic views from their golden rooms.
One of the most dreamlike hotels in Italy is the Royal Hotel Sanremo, the exclusive luxury five-star hotel of the Città dei Fiori. The Royal Hotel is definitely the crown jewel in the colorful city of Sanremo. It is surrounded by the palms of the subtropical park of 16,000 square meters and it overlooks the Mediterranean Sea in a unique position, close to the sandy beaches and the city center with the renowned Casino and luxurious boutiques.
The hotel was inaugurated in 1872 to become home to the European Belle Epoque and high aristocracy. It is still today a destination of excellence on the Riviera dei Fiori. Frescoed halls evoke scenes of light conversations among ladies surrounded by a magical atmosphere. The big marble columns and portraits of men with pocket watch create a reading environment during breakfast that offers sweet and savory versions with delicious omelets freshly cooked by the chef.
As we all know, Italy is famous for the food quality. The Royal Hotel has a big dining room where it serves the local excellences. Its name is “Fiori di Murano” for the precious chandeliers made of glass flowers. The view is over the park and the sea, every window is framed by white curtains that let the light pass and by golden draped valances.
During summer nights, The Royal Hotel offers “Il Giardino” for romantic candlelight dinners on the terrace and “Il Corallina” with a pool bar by the swimming pool for informal lunches from June to October.
The Royal Hotel is a member of the prestigious organization of luxury accommodation “The Leading Hotels of the World”. It has 127 rooms, including 14 exclusive suites, such as the Sissi Suite, where the Empress of Austria resided, with a large terrace with a hot tub from which you can enjoy a wonderful view, sunbeds, and a gazebo to sunbathe in total privacy. It has a marble bathroom with the courtesy set signed Royal and a royal-style living room where you can drink champagne and eat fresh fruit.
For days by the swimming pool, Giò Ponti thought about a huge scenographic bath with a jagged shape that might recall the sea. Signed by the great architect, the swimming pool contains seawater at 27°C.
The Royal Wellness proposes exclusive treatments; there are a large hot tub, experience showers, a steam bath, and a relax area with a tea corner. The fitness room is for those who want to keep in shape even on holiday. Tennis matches, minigolf, and a small shop will make you feel at home and will delight your days.
The Royal Hotel Sanremo has maintained the charm of the most elite building of the Riviera dei Fiori for years. It’s no coincidence that the Rotary Club Sanremo was born in this place in 1931 thanks to Mario Bertolini. It is the ideal destination for those who look for the ancient meaning of elegance and accommodation and love comfort combined with refinement.
“If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountain”. That’s how we have reinvented ourselves because of Covid, and that’s what Milano Wine Affair did to introduce one of its customers, Ronco Calino Franciacorta. Located between Milan and Verona, it has been a land for winemaking for a long time. It is an oasis of peace where wine is produced with the method of secondary fermentation in the bottle.
The Ronco Calino winery, surrounded by ten hectares of organic vineyard, produces an accurate selection of Franciacorta: the iconic Brut, the textured Satèn, the particular Rosè Radijan, the classic Millesimato, and the Nature. Among the rarities, we can find mighty wines, aged for over ten years on the lees, including Sinfonia n.13, Centoventi, Càlinos. These are all bottles to celebrate important events, enclosed in precious caskets.
Milano Wine Affair leads us, remotely, to discover Ronco Calino’s secrets, taking us to the cellar where wine is aged in wood barrels that give additional peculiarities to the grapes (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir).
It is a full-fledged visit, surrounded by a verdant hilly landscape, which we hope to see first-hand soon. Today the experience entertains us with quizzes and a live wine tasting of Ronco Calino Franciacorta Satèn, the pride of the winery.
You can immediately notice itspale yellow color with greenish hues and its fine and elegant effervescence. You can smell floral aromas of white flowers, orange blossoms, and jasmine. At first taste, you perceive notes of fresh and young fruit, unripe pear and apple. At the second taste, the aftertaste becomes creamy, of butter, brioche, bread crust. However, this creaminess does not come from sugars because Ronco Calino Franciacorta is not a sweet wine, but a Brut. The creaminess results from a perfect balance between hard and soft parts; it is the proportion between acidity and sapidity and sweet notes.
Ronco Calino Franciacorta Satèn is the perfect sparkling wine because it goes well with everything; it is easy to match, pleasant for all palates, and with a particular touch given by the aging in French oak barrels. Well then, enjoy your wine tasting!
Chef in Town- a food and beverage column curated by
They call it <<heroic viticulture>> and Carlo Biasotto, founder of Foss Marai winery, tells it like this:
“We were children, and our parents used to order us to go and pick the grapes: that was the time to cry because we knew how hard and dangerous the work was.”
Land with a 45-degree slope, no terracing, the need to intervene by hand, limiting the use of machinery that would risk tipping over: this is why the work of winegrowers in Valdobbiadene is called <<heroic>>. The landscape is so suggestive, with hills that weave infinite shades of color, from clover green to fern green, as hard as it is for man to tame it.
It is in the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene area, today a Unesco World Heritage Site, that Foss Marai wines are born. Thanks to the respect of the “disciplinary regulations of the wines of controlled and guaranteed origin Conegliano Valdobbiadene – Prosecco” aimed at the full protection of prosecco, a wine symbol of Made in Italy quality, without forcing the plants and the cultivation system.
The Biasotto family is formed by Carlo, Adriana, and their children Andrea, Cristiana, and Umberto. They continue the tradition of respect for the territory: the company’s DNA, founded in 1986.
It is an agricultural model where the secret is know-how, craftsmanship, precision, and care with which complex selective and productive processes are managed. These processes are often long because they are based on manual labor and therefore expensive: any compromise would ruin the outcome’s quality.
In the use of autochthonous and indigenous yeastsof prosecco, especially the DOCG territory lies their strong point.
An accurate selection is done by the external state of grapes, called <<pruina>>. It is a wax that covers the berries. There is a multitude of types, and thanks to the collaboration with the University of Piacenza, a selection of yeasts suitable for alcoholic fermentation has been made: both for base wines, the result of the primary transformation from must to wine, and for fermentation in autoclaves. These yeasts guarantee the uniqueness, typicality, and varietyof the grape, and the original aroma is maintained, which would be lost if commercial yeasts were used, giving prevalence to fermentation aromas rather than varietal ones.
Mother yeasts are kept in small chemical vials. Every three/four months the brown part must be renewed, and a small portion of yeast (the white part) is taken, then re-inoculated in a new vial; at a temperature of 35/37 degrees Celsius, growth waited for a week until the yeast colony is in good health. Then the vial is placed in the refrigerator for storage and monitored.
The meticulousness of the process is necessary to make sure there are no bacteria because it is predominant to maintain freshness and vivacity. The pride of Foss Marai, in this step, are the innovative technological tools used: from machines with an infrared laser to “enzymatic” implements for the examination of alcohol and sugar.
While other producers use commercial yeasts, mostly selected by multinationals, often from the Netherlands, Foss Marai has been selecting and working with its yeasts for 20 years, producing 20,000 bottles per day, for a total of about 2 million per year. The result is a particular and unique timbre. In years that are not particularly favorable, it is possible, thanks to the 30 indigenous yeasts, to give the same results as in happier vintages, with the same aromas and scents, reducing to a minimum the gap between one harvest and the next.
Many reflections arise knowing the history of this family, which has put the love for its territory before everything else, which has made life itself become <<work>>. Jean Giono, a French writer, born into a family of Piedmontese origin, would sum up the thought in a sentence, taken from his essay <<Letter to the peasants on poverty and peace>>, written in 1938:
“One cannot know what the work of the peasant is: whether it is plowing, sowing, mowing, or whether it is at the same time eating and drinking fresh food, having children and breathing freely, for all these things are intimately united, and when he does one thing he completes the other. It is all work, and nothing is work in the social sense of the word. It is his life.”
Chef in Town- a food and beverage column curated by
Essentiality: this is the aesthetic signature of the MGC cuvée, an acronym for Mumm Grand Cordon.
This is the value that marks our contemporary life.
Maison Mumm reconfirms its role as a pioneer and innovator with MGC, the new cuvée created from a sustainable perspective of 835 grams for a 1 liter of bubbles, the lightest champagne bottle in the world. Ross Lovegrove, an acclaimed and visionary Welsh designer, realizes MGC Mumm in recycled glass, therefore a hand to eco-sustainability. An avant-garde design makes it stylish, essential and expressive, which gives back to the artistic gesture its functional aspiration. No label: logo and gold emblem are directly hot printed on the glass. The unmistakable engraved Cordon Rouge identifies it: it is a red scratch, which instills grit and power telling the strength of pinot noir, Maison’s characteristic grape.
The bottle’s elegance can be noticed thanks to its elongated and slender neck: an aesthetic choice that adapts to the need for accompanying aroma. Finally, the careful passion for quality has determined the use of cork: Mitik Diam, which, among other things, avoids the annoying inconvenience of <>.
A curiosity. Maison Mumm believes so strongly in the urgency of an eco-sustainable perspective and the need to strive for the essential that it invented a new remuage program, adapted to the new MGC cuvée, in both form and content.
Ross Lovegrove
Ross Lovegrove is an artist and industrial designer. His style and designs are instantly recognizable, a mix of technology, material science, and organic intelligence. His work represents the new aesthetic of the 21st century.
Born in 1958 in Cardiff (Wales), Ross Lovegrove graduated with honors in Industrial Design from Manchester Polytechnic in 1980, and in 1983 received his Master of Design from the Royal College of Art in London.
Lovegrove has participated in some projects that have become true icons such as the Walkman for Sony and the Computers for Apple. He has worked on numerous projects for British Airways, Kartell, Cappellini, Hernes; Moroso, Artemide, Driade, Renault, Issey Miyake, Vitra, Tag Heuer, Herman Miller, Japan Airlines, and Toyo Ito Architects in Japan.
His work has been published in numerous magazines and exhibited in prestigious museums worldwide, such as the MOMA and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Axis Centre in Japan, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and the Design Museum in London.
MGC Mumm Grand Cordon
Pinot Noir, Maison’s signature grape, defines the personality of Mumm Grand Cordon. Representing 45% of the assemblage, it is the engine that offers power and structure in contrast to the freshness and elegance of the Chardonnay (30%). The softness and fruity notes of Pinot Meunier (25%), and reserve wines from five different vintages (up to 30%) are added to the whole, as a guarantee of consistency of style. 30 months of aging.
Refined bubbles of a brilliant straw yellow testify to the elegance and dynamics of the champagne.
Mumm Grand Cordon reveals aromas of yellow tropical fruits, including pineapple, vanilla, and caramel. The taste is round with a precise freshness which testifies the complexity of the wine. The finish is persistent but never sharp.
Chef in Town- a food and beverage column curated by
Two Cocktails recipes to do at home perfect for Valentine’s Day
The most elegant angel of the cinema used to sip it with boredom, touching it with long satin gloves: yes, we are talking about Audrey Hepburn of <<Breakfast at Tiffany’s>> and the cocktail is the <<White Angel>> a mixture of vodka and gin in equal parts. You need a personality to drink it without hesitation, and the weird Holly had plenty of it to spare!
In <<The Blues Brothers>> during the concert at the Palace Hotel, surrounded by police, the boys perform, and the sheriff, played by John Candy, enjoys the show by ordering an <<Orange Whip>>, a mix of dry vodka, amber rum, orange juice, and cream. A show for the palate!
The <<Blonde Atomic>> played by Charlize Theron has launched the <<Lorraine vodka>> an anarchic drink in which add to the cup vodka and ice to taste! For true rebels!
And in the funniest season of the series of all time, <<Peaky Blinders>> a sparkling countess named Petrovna upsets the balance. She enters forcefully in the life of the protagonist, Thomas Shelby, involving him in parties to the sound of vodka and women of dubious morality.
In short, vodka wants to be heard in the cinema in addition to bars, changing tastes and preferences of lovers of fine drinks. But if until now the collective imagination has always remembered vodka as a distillate useful for mixing other ingredients, there is someone who changes its fate: Belvedere Vodka! The first brand in the world to introduce the concept of “terroir” in the world of vodka! It is a concept that fits well with the history of champagne but is new in the vodka distillate.
Belvedere Vodka has the appellative of <<Polska Vodka>>, similar to the DOC extended to wines. They use rye cultivated exclusively in Poland and spring water owned by Belvedere Vodka. They don’t use added sugars and additives.
What makes Belvedere Vodka, not a distillate like any other, odorless and tasteless, is the rye that gives a natural aroma to the liquid. It gives it an aftertaste of white pepper and vanilla, thanks to which it can be also be used as a tasting alcoholic beverage.
Lastly, the package is an elegant transparent bottle that allows seeing the distillate and the three-dimensional effect of the design: the Royal Palace from which it takes its name. Belvedere Vodka is defined as the luxury vodka to be sipped alone or to make your drinks precious.
1 – Miriam’s Cosmopolitan
It is Carrie Bradshaw’s favorite cocktail. In Sex and the City, she orders it at every party.
The original recipe includes cranberry juice, the American cranberry, a classic vodka’s base, and lime juice.
Miriam’s Cosmopolitan revisited:
Belvedere Vodka Pure 50ml
Orange Liqueur 20ml
Pink Grapefruit Juice
Ice
Utensils:
1 Shaker (or jar)
1 Jigger (or cup)
1 Citrus Squeezer (or hand squeezer)
1 Cutting board
1 Knife
1 Strainer
One spoon
1 Potato peeler
Serving glass: Martini Cup
Procedure:
After arranging the station with all the ingredients, it is time to prepare the pink grapefruit juice: cut the grapefruit in half and, with a citrus squeezer, obtain the juice.
Pour the ingredients into the shaker: first the fresh pink grapefruit juice, then the orange liqueur, and finally Belvedere Vodka. Now fill the shaker with ice, close it and shake vigorously. Pour the liquid into a martini glass previously cooled with a passage in the freezer and proceed with a double filtration (strainer of the shaker + strainer). As decoration, we can make a peel of pink grapefruit with a potato peeler and knife.
Belvedere Vodka, made from rye, makes the drink with even more character.
2 – Belvedere Vodka Sour flavored with Basil
In the world of mixing, “sour” alludes to the use of a sweet part (sugar syrup) and an acid part (citrus).
Curiosity: whisky made this type of drink famous, with the drink whisky sour. Today, any alcoholic base mixed with lime juice and sugar syrup is considered a <<Sour>>.
Here is the Vodka Sour version with Belvedere Vodka.
Original Recipe: Vodka, lime juice, and sugar syrup.
Basil revisited:
Belvedere Vodka 50ml
Lime juice 15ml
Homemade basil syrup
Fresh Basil
Ice
Utensils:
1 Shaker (or jar)
1 Jigger (or cup)
1 Citrus squeezer
1 Cutting board
1 Knife
1 Colander
1 Spoon
Serving glass: Low Tumbler
Procedure:
After setting up the station with all the ingredients, prepare the fresh lime juice. Cut the lime in half, squeeze it and pour the liquid into the shaker together with the basil syrup and Belvedere Vodka.
Fill the shaker with ice and shake vigorously for at least 10 seconds, then pour the liquid into a low tumbler, making a double filtration with a filter. Fill the glass with ice and garnish with a basil leaf.
Basil Syrup Preparation:
1KG Sugar
500ml Water
10/15 basil leaves
Procedure:
In a pot, bring the water to heat. As soon as the water begins to heat, pour in the sugar. Stir continuously to prevent the sugar from sticking to the pan. Bring to a boil. Let it boil for at least 2-3 minutes and turn off the heat. With the heat off, place the basil leaves in the pot and stir well to release all the flavors. Then remove the basil leaves once the syrup has cooled.
Enjoy!
Chef in Town- a food and beverage column curated by
Earth Day today turns 50, a half-century of love and union to save the earth.
“Mother Earth Day” was born on April 22, 1970, after a huge environmental disaster that caused the death of 10,000 animals: in 1969 a drilling platform in the Santa Barbara canal had caused an oil spill, almost 100,000 barrels of crude oil were poured into Californian waters. Thus the common duty was felt to call the whole world together to awaken consciences and urgently ask for environmental reforms.
All took to the streets to demonstrate and the rumors reached the peace activist John McConnell, the Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson and the University student Denis Hayes, the trio that sowed the land of Earth Day. On that distant April 22, 1970, around 20 million American citizens responded to the appeal of Democratic Senator Nelson and mobilized in a demonstration in favor of the planet; marches with a “green” motto, conferences dedicated to environmental issues, educational and training messages for empowerment; from then until today, the people are proving sensitive to the cause.
But it is not enough, and now more than ever, closed in our homes to have exploited the environment and nature to our only and selfish advantage (isn’t this pandemic a warning?), we must demonstrate a serious behavioral change and celebrate Earth Day in digital format.
192 other countries around the world will coordinate for the event, scientists are giving us ultimatums with the warning that we will have just over 10 years to halve emissions and avoid the devastating effects of climate change.
Our country has created an exceptional schedule for the day, from Italy Earth Day which will be broadcast on Ray Play from 8.00 to 20.00 on April 22, 2020: 12 consecutive hours in which scientists, journalists, artists, institutional representatives and anyone who wants to participate will exchange tips and messages of hope and deepening in direct streaming.
All viewers will be able to interact via social media and the web platform (https://onepeopleoneplanet.it) using the hashtags of the day #OnePeopleOnePlanet, #CosaHoImparato, # EarthDay2020, #iocitengo, #VillaggioperlaTerra, #focolaremedia.
On the occasion of such an important event, we at Manintown, close and attentive to the theme of sustainability, environmental protection and love for the Earth, have collected a series of images taken by photographers and internationally renowned artists who have told, each with their own unique and recognizable style, the concept of beauty and man/nature relationship. The photographic project aims to be a space, a voice, a help, in line with the world event, aimed at human awareness towards Mother Earth, the womb from which we are born and arms in which we swim our life, a unique, immense gift, and valuable.
Pietro Lucerni
“I believe that from the human and personal suffering and tragedies that Coronavirus has caused, we should learn. We should (re)learn to listen to the signals that nature sends us. We should be aware of the fact that we are guests on this planet and that we are not the masters and that, as Pope Bergoglio says, “we cannot be comfortable on a planet that is bad.” If we take this opportunity, then we will have a good chance to start again towards a better future for us and our planet”.
The snowy and icy landscapes of Pietro Lucerni are silent expanses in which nature acts undisturbed, they are desolate and cold views waiting for the light to warm them up.
Mariavittoria Backhaus
“Beauty was supposed to save the world and instead the world stopped. But nature doesn’t. We are frozen and she goes very fast on an Earth that blooms and grows relentlessly.”
Maria Vittoria Backhaus makes the plants of the earth, still life of stems, buds and leaves in black and white speak, a beautiful negative that waits to be colored and saved by a man.
Maurizio Galimberti
A photographer known for his landscape and portrait decompositions made of Polaroid, Maurizio Galimberti takes us to deserted cities, made up of silences and headless men, where only the sheets dance freely. They look like the places of Covid-19, desolate nostalgic environments, the result of our imagination, places of memories made even more melancholic by the vintage effect of photography; cars on fire that warn us of the environmental disaster, blurred images as if they were going to vanish at any moment.
Emilio Tini
“Life and beauty can never be separated from real sensitive and deep listening to the world around us.”
This is how Emilio Tini, a fashion photographer who works daily with the human figure, describes his images.
In this series, man and nature are brought into a relationship, in harmonious and complementary coexistence, nature mixes with the body and becomes an extension of an arm, a hand. It is on the face of a woman that flowers bloom, in a complex, natural and essential relationship.
Piero Gemelli
A continuous line that forms two worlds, that of man and woman, which come together in an infinite kiss. This is the world that Piero Gemelli would like; known and unknown worlds that have the common intent to love and respect each other. In the strong image of a naked woman, Piero Gemelli’s heart is made of earth, the one we come from.
If the culture is not a good for all, now, more than ever, countries come together to say that it is accessible to everyone.
Because of the COVID-19 emergency, also museums and places of worship closed the doors, but luckily not the virtual access; the most beautiful thing is that you can comfortably lay on your couch and at the same time take an imaginary plane and fly up to New York or St. Petersburg to visit the MOMA or the Hermitage. No queues, no crowd in front of the pictures and no silly comments of people… you can enjoy them and study them forgetting about the time, focusing on the details as much as you like, exploring the works in HD and walking to the empty rooms.
Here some of the national and international museums which offer an online service.
MUSEO DEL PRADO
One of the most significant works of European figurative art is “Saturno devorando a su hijo” by Francisco Goya (1821-23), kept at the Museo del Prado in Madrid. According to Greek mythology, Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, the main character of the picture, knew that he would be deprived of the power by one of his sons, so that, very angry, began to devour them all one-to-one. The enthusiasm, madness, cannibalism of Cronus is in sharp contrast to the weakness of the small, disfigured and bloody body. It is a crude work and the ferocity is read in the hard and nervous hands of Saturn. The scene could mean the conflict between old age and youth or the return of absolutism in Spain which restricted all forms of intellectual freedom.
LINK
“Saturno devorando a su hijo”-Francisco Goya
2. PINACOTECA DI BRERA – MILAN
“Il Bacio” by Francesco Hayez is the picture that gave the Italians more hope. It’s an ode to joy, a symbol of hope and patriotism and an icon of Pinacoteca di Brera. It’s the most copied and reprinted masterpiece in history, it was created in 1859, time in which Italy was divided into small states under the dominion of Austrian Habsburg. A time in which Italians created groups and small secret societies in order to restore dignity to their country. I think there’s a strong similarity to the time we are living. A nation that sings the Italian anthem during these days of forcible confinement, a nation that hugs from afar and with songs and music gives hope, despite everything.
LINK
“Il Bacio” – Francesco Hayez
3. BRITISH MUSEUM – LONDON
LINK
4.ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM – ATHENS
LINK
5.MUSÉE D’ORSAY – PARIS
“Le Bassin aux nymphéas, harmonie verte”by Claude Monet describes a series of bridges where the painter went to paint at different times of day. In fact, according to the painter, in order to identify the right light, it was necessary to study it night and day. The bridge he built in the garden of his house was in the midst of sky and water. Those water lilies with pastel tones recall the traditional Japanese gardens and their representations. They seem capable to give hope and joy.
LINK
“Le Bassin aux nynphéas, harmonie verte” – Claude Monet
6. LOUVRE – PARIS
LINK
7. LE GALLERIE DEGLI UFFIZI – GIARDINO DEI BOBOLI – FLORENCE
Who was lucky enough to visit Giardino dei Boboli in Florence, knows that a virtual tour it’s not the same. I visited it for the first time 12 years ago. In front of Palazzo Pitti there was an Internet Point, where I went to update my Facebook status and tell my solo-journey in Florence. One of the guys in the shop, gave me a precious piece of advice: to take the side streets of the garden and immerse myself totally in the green. I listened to him and if I could track him down, I’ll thank him because that stroll in the art gave me many emotions. “Il viale dei cipressi” is a thick tunnel of shrubs that starts from the ground and gathers above your head. While I was walking there, a black cat appeared behind me. He was staring at me motionless. When I started to walk again, he followed me and then stopped when I turned around. I don’t know what that strange presence meant but sometimes we don’t need questions and we don’t want answers, but there’s one thing I know: that experience gave birth to a series of solo-journeys of which I have a very beautiful diary and a photo of me in tears with that mysterious cat with yellow eyes and black hair.
LINK
“Giardino dei Boboli” – Firenze
8. NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART – WASHINGTON
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9. NATIONAL GALLERY – LONDRA
LINK
10. MUSÉES ROYAUX DES BEAUX-ARTS DE BELGIQUE
On Google Arts and Culture a strange video exists and it represent the picture “La Chute des anges rebelles” painted by Pieter Brueghel l’Ancien in 1562. It is an augmented reality that brings us face to face with the worst monsters of the history of painting. This picture tells a biblical episode, the falls of the angels who rebelled to God for their thirst of power. We can see the angels who play the triumph, blond as children, paradise birds, dressed putti without any vice. In the middle there is the Archangel Gabriel who fights the seven-headed dragon from the book of Revelation. On the bottom of the picture, instead, there are monsters: half fish and half poultry, they have their bellies torn showing rotten eggs; they’re gigantic and disproportionate. It’s a scary scene which represents on the one hand the faith and on the other hand the greed. The picture is kept at Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique.
LINK
“La Chute des anges rebelles”-Pieter Bruegell il Vecchio
Rome is the city of the four seasons, it is always loved by people, and even if it murmurs of voices, the reflections of the shadows on the majestic Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi of Piazza Navona gives a religious inner silence, where you can see all the eyes that have crossed it during Roman history.
Rome is a simple man with a distinct and elegant suit, the museums and palaces that pass through it speak for themselves, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes touched by time, but always retaining some virile dignity. To be able to look into Rome you need a thousand eyes and a lot of heart; the straight line that connects one’s gaze to space must rise to the sky, where solemn columns rise to form what were once the homes of Roman emperors. The more you open, the more Rome gives beauty, but also for those who have little time, to take it in pinches and bites, Rome gives small goodies where you can stop for a two-day full immersion.
Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi
MAXXI Museum – National Museum of the 21st Century Arts
“About the spiritual matter of art” is the collective present at MAXXI, the National Museum of XXI century arts, in which nineteen internationally renowned artists participate, called to tell the theme of the spiritual through their contemporary gaze. Yoko Ono, among these, responds with a project in which spirituality is sharing and asks us to create the work with her, a common search, with different answers and paths.
The search for spirituality is a reflection that has long been followed in the history of art, which has almost always seen the attempt to represent the unrepresentable through the abstraction of art; Yoko Ono instead puts the material element at stake, asks to transform a thought, a dream, a word, into something visible, and then the white space takes shape, shows up, and to do so we have colors and brushes available and all our creativity.
The exhibition is open until March 15, 2020
Yoko Ono work of art at the museum of Rome
Palazzo Barberini
Palazzo Barberini is located in via Quattro Fontane and houses the important National Gallery of Ancient Art where the greatest masterpieces of pictorial art are kept together with Palazzo Corsini. Until 1949 the palace was the historic home of the Barberini family and was then sold to the Italian State; the famous helical staircase by Borromini connects the floors of the current museum where the famous fresco painted between the end of 1632 and 1639 by Pietro da Cortona, the “Triumph of Divine Providence“, extends to the main floor. 400 square meters of ceiling with a vortex of figures, natural and architectural elements that involve the viewer in an extraordinary visual and emotional adventure. The theme was elaborated by the court poet Francesco Bracciolini from Pistoia under the pontificate of Urban VIII, and tended to exalt the Pope, his family and the Church.
In the first rooms, a “Female Nude of the Back” by Pierre Subleyras (c. 1740) welcomes us; we are not given the name of the subject, nor can we recognize it or sense it, as often happened with the clothes, tinsel, symbols or iconography; identity is a mystery but the presence of this woman, in the complete nakedness of the body, makes one feel and anticipate by a century the embarrassment that another Frenchman, the painter Eduard Manet, will cause more sensation with the portrait of Olympia.
“Female nude from the back” by Pierre Subleyras 1740
In the hall dedicated to Caravaggio, there are three fundamental works of the great artist: Giuditta cuts off the head of Holofernes, Narcissus and San Francesco. The first, circa 1600, depicts the killing of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the hand of Judith, as narrated in the Old Testament among the Deuterocanonical texts (Judith, 13.9-10). For those unfamiliar with history, Giuditta is a young Jewish widow who lives in Betulia, a city attacked by Assyrian troops, led by Holofernes. To save her country Giuditta boldly decides to seduce the man and then kill him in a moment of weakness, while drunk he falls asleep, beheading him. In the painting, Caravaggio perfectly describes the features that animate the heroine, the same emphasis that pushes the brush to draw fear into Holofernes’ eyes. In the background of the scene, a fiery red cloth accentuates the theatricality of the gesture, amplifies the sensationalism of a surprise attack, an object that Caravaggio will often use in his other works.
Identical scene seen by the hand of Francesco Furini (Giuditta and Oloferne 1630-1635), with the addition of ambiguous and sensual details, framed under a tent in the middle of the night, such as Giuditta’s bare leg and the foot that indicates the sandals at the bottom loose, as the biblical text says: “his sandals kidnapped Holofernes’ eyes” and with these weapons, the conqueror was conquered.
Since 2011, the second floor of the building has hosted some works from the frivolous 18th century, such as “The little gardener” by Francois Boucher and “Girl out of bed” by Jean Frédéric Schall.
Madeleine, Via Monte Santo, 64
Madeleine is a belle époque style bistro located in the Prati district of Rome; to pronounce it immediately comes to mind that French dessert savored by Proust who brought it back to involuntary memories. But not only madeleine, the restaurant welcomes guests from breakfast to dinner, it starts with a pain au chocolat, tarts, Saint Honorè, saffron macarons, cassis and pistachio, tarte citron meringuée, millefeuille with chantilly and berries, and we move on to the art of mixology with a five-piece arrondissement made of gin, elderberry, lime, simple syrup and red wine, to conclude with a stuffed rabbit roll, mushrooms, parmesan and puntarelle. On the walls could not miss the portraits of the great writer who inspired them, Proust precisely, and a collection of teapots that would drive Csaba dalla Zorza crazy. Downstairs, chinoiserie-style wallpaper and butterfly collections, useful as an excuse to invite a gentle lady to dinner.
PACIFIC Restaurant
At Palazzo Dama, one of the 5-star hotels in the capital, the second “Pacifico” has opened, a restaurant with Peruvian-Nikkei cuisine, after the success of the first Milanese space. Jaime Pesaque, PACIFICO Corporate Chef, is considered among the best Peruvian chefs in the world and is the creator of the rich and delicious menu called “the highest expression of Nikkei cuisine in Italy”, dominated by ceviche, revisited tiradito, tacos and anticuchos, raw Italian-Japanese and a wide selection of Dim Sum accompanied by Peruvian sauces.
The ocean, as an element of union between countries, has taken on the intense blue color of the draperies and armchairs; the large chandeliers illuminate the rooms with a perfect light for a tête-à-tête dinner, soft and warm, so it must be; the lacquered glass tables, the brass details, majestic palm trees and the view of the swimming pool surrounded by a fruity garden, give the room an elegant and exotic air. Until late in the evening, for nocturnal animals, the Palazzo Dama bar becomes the Pisco Bar, where you can enjoy the homonymous cocktail with dance steps.
Hotel Lord Byron, via Giuseppe De Notaris, 5
Ancient patrician residence in the elegant Parioli district, the 5-star Hotel Lord Byron is the most exclusive and reserved place to stay during your stay in the capital.
Close to the splendid Villa Borghese and a few minutes from Piazza del Popolo, this historic Art Deco-style villa offers the impeccable and discreet service of a hotel and the warm and caring welcome of a private home.
Once the illustrious characters of the aristocracy used to stay here, today, in secret, politicians, actors and the jet set of Italian and international cinema gather in the halls of the restaurant.
Suites, lounges, common areas are linked by a common denominator: the woman. Delightful female portraits accompany the halls of Lord Byron in a march that is a hymn to the woman. They are women in dresses with an elegant and refined feature, with cute hats and 1930s dresses; all ages of life pass, we are not given their identity, but we know that among these is hidden the face of the owner, who occasionally wanders around the walls of the villa, in disguise.
The Panoramic Suite offers a wonderful view of the Villa Borghese park; it is furnished in the Art Deco style of the early 1900s with fine mahogany and rosewood furniture, marble bathrooms, a complete courtesy set for Etro‘s body and hair, fine fabrics for bed linen and it is illuminated by day. A rich glass fruit bowl welcomes you to the room, overflowing like a sparkling Caravaggesque still life.
Jerry Thomas, speakeasy
A dark wooden door is waiting for you secretly to be opened, to do so you will need a password that you will find on the site of the restaurant (obviously hidden), having crossed the threshold, after having pronounced it in a low voice, the 1930s await you in full Prohibition, when alcohol is banned. Here there is only one rule: drink well. Jerry Thomas is, in fact, the first Italian “speakeasy” that falls within the “50 World Best Bar” ranking; it takes its name from the greatest American bartender who, thanks to his creative spirit, has been nicknamed “the father of the art of mixing cocktails”.
Mixology is the graduation of the components of this “secret bar“, an oasis of peace and ecstasy where you can ask for the scenic “Blue Blazer“, a preparation by the historic Professor based on Scotch whiskey and boiling water, the drink icon, the absolute king, a fiery rainbow that passes from one mug to another five times to be well mixed, a perfect dose of exercise and spectacularization.
Jerry Thomas is not a simple place, it is an experience to live, you are greeted with a mini glass of champagne with two drops of bergamot bitters and you feel immediately pampered; it is no coincidence to find starred chefs at the counter who refresh themselves with a Martinez cocktail and faithful compañeros who return for “the usual”. The clientele is international, talking in a low voice; the staff is trained and speaks five languages, I highly recommend an evening at the counter for those interested in the magical world of mixology; to taste a dish without knowing what you are eating you only enjoy it halfway.
The light is suffused and accompanied by the warm light of the candles; on the red walls, the portraits of the greatest gangsters in history; the famous “Professor’s Vermouth” is due to the founders of the restaurant, the first product of a long series, the result of a creative laboratory between the brand and the Quaglia distilleries. Jerry Thomas is the ideal place to turn the tide of an evening!
I’m writing down on the first page of every book I read, the date I will never forget, I’m writing down COVID-19, and I’m sure my memory in the future won’t need any explanation.
A Pandemic was declared by the WHO (World Health Organization), we are all forced to stay at home, to go out only to obtain essential goods or for medical emergencies; some people think it’s a plot, they believe that Covid-19 is a biological weapon, instead other people believe in science. Of course we know that nature is rebelling, it is stopping us in its own way, the global pollution is decreasing, we can read it in the maps by NASA; there are no cars around the cities, the industrial plants are closed together with the factories and the workplaces. The impact of this forced quarantine showed in few weeks a clear climate improvement. It is like a punishment from above to which we must obey. A chain which passes also in the houses and among the relatives, we feel the lack of people that we could see before and now we are not allowed to see, no hugs, no kisses, only virtual images which we will begin to hate after too much time of addiction. We dream about a coffee with a friend, a journey with a mate, a walk in the city center; we start desiring people who are dear to us, finally giving them the right weight because before we were too busy to run from an office to another.
Now we have a great opportunity and resource: time. It allows us to know ourselves and elevate to noble things. So, let’s start learning.
Here a small list of the endless things we can do during this bittersweet quarantine.
Ten things to do during this bittersweet quarantine:
1. Read the tale “Voce di bambù fiori di pesco” by Yasunari Kawabata. There are no more suitable words in this moment to narrate the relationship between man and nature. A tale-hope to the illumination. Kawata is certainly an author who is able to describe this indescribable. Read this tale in the silence of your rooms. It will help you.
2. Train your mind with “il giro della mente in 80 test”, a scientific book with nice psychological tests which will measure your intelligence. If you are lucky you can do it with your relatives, and you will have fun to nourish your brain health.
3. Cook good and healthy things, and if you are unable, it’s the moment to learn! In “Il grande ricettario” by Gualtiero Marchesi, the chef’s bible, you will find more than 1200 Italian recipes revisited by the great Master of Culinary art. You are always in time to cook “trippa alla Fiorentina” and play and vote with the diners like in “4 ristoranti”.
4. Speaking of cooking, Philippe Daverio, popular art critic but also good eater, shows and explains us the birth of good habits at the table in “A pranzo con l’arte” by Rizzoli. Did you know that the habit to eat outdoor comes from the golden age of King Louis XV? He picnicked during the game hunting and he ate the food which was cooked before by the chefs of the Court, such as Arancino, an invention of the chef Federico II of Svevia in Sicily. With Philippe Daverio you never stop learning while having fun.
5. Write a sort of “logbook”, pages that tell your mood and the events of these days. Take some of your time to go down to the darkest and most hidden side of yourself and turn on a light. With each passing day, you will illuminate the whole house.
6. Write a letter to the person you love. Love has infinite forms, the recipient can be a friend, your mother, your sister; turn your thoughts into words because words have a strong force. Everything you don’t say because of your shyness or cultural legacies, color it on a blank sheet with lovely and kind words. It will be good for you, for your relationships, it will be honey for your heart.
7. Start a course on calligraphy. The volume “Lettering creative ma non solo” introduces you to the art of calligraphy. You will come back to the ABC as the first day of primary school but with the objective to turn your “doctor writing” into a “geisha writing”. Only then you will be able to bag the poetry of desperate love and stamp it with a sealing wax (obviously red and with your initials). Writing in a silk robe, with a quill on the coiffeuse of your bedroom will inspire you a lot.
8. Do something you always postpone. Very often we find excuses because we are lazy, insecure, listless, because we don’t think we can do it, because we are scared of changes, results and judgments. Let Covid-19 and fears outside your door and abandon your own dreams: the book you have never written, the photo you have never taken, the words you have never pronounced. Let yourself go and follow the wave of impulsivity, at least now. Do it.
9. Taking care of your body helps the mind to be freer and more reactive; never take it for granted. Prepare a warm bath with half a cup of bicarbonate and ten drops of Oil31, a miraculous mixture which is good for every ailment. Bicarbonate is anti-fatigue, relaxing and tonifying; Oil31 instead is antibacterial, painkiller and antirheumatic. While you are immersed, you can listen to “Tristano e Isotta” by Wagner and sip that 2012Barolo Docg which you were guarding for a special moment. That moment has come.
10. Watch all the filmography of Wong Kar-wai. A lesson of grace, sublime photography and Chinese poetry. Master of erotic art and romantic sentimentalism his women are beautiful and ambiguous. The atmospheres of his movies, nocturnal and dreamlike, hot like an oil lamp, the main characters, slippery as paper lamps. In my opinion, one of the greater filmmakers alive.
He is the internationally renowned Tuscan master perfumer: Sileno Cheloni, known for his “nose of truth”.
He is the creator of “tailor-made” perfumes famously desired by the likes of Oscar-winner Hellen Mirren and the politician Matteo Renzi, and praised for his collaborations with Gucci, Lamborghini, Richard Ginori amongst a collection of soaps and cosmetics.
Sileno Cheloni makes perfume an art that he believes “elevates to the divine”, which puts us in touch with our spiritual side. The perfume gives man an ancient magnetism, a position of power, because he is able to attract and seduce. Perfume can also induce a wake of memories, gestures, fantasies, or can be a criterion of elective affinities.
For the first time at Pitti Uomo, Sileno Cheloni presents “Il Profumoir”, a real perfumery bespoke experience, from 7th to 10th January on the lower floor of the central pavilion. For the occasion there will be the opening of the new OL’Factory in Via San Niccolo ‘95R, a space where everything is special, a living room where everything is magnificent, and rooms that are full of a thousand rarities.
Atmospheric essences will circulate the air in a place so well-conceived that it will feel as if it is under a spell. Because perfume can define one’s identity, even before the dress, it has the ability to tell a story, to express amiability, refinement, rarity, kindness, energy, seduction and pride.
Precise qualities can be materialized through essences that on this night be a gift to audiences who understand the importance of personalised perfumes over the commercialised scents chosen and shared by millions of other people. Sileno Cheloni opens his magical world to us in this exclusive interview.
In which part of the world is research more interesting?
The east, where the path of incense, and therefore of perfumes, begins.
What are the secrets of the trade?
Passion and creativity, then a little training, but nothing too obsessive. I did my training in the best places possible: when traveling around the East and in France.
Why did you choose Florence?
Because if the East is the origin of perfumes, Florence has been the cradle of it for a long time.
What does perfume represent for you? Based on which characteristic of the person do you combine a perfume?
A mood to be achieved. The perfume is a characteristic of the soul, so very deep and not perceivable at a first glance, it must be discovered over time.
Where do you wear perfume to make it more persistent?
Where the pulsations of our blood are felt.
Why did you choose to take up this job?
I didn’t choose, I jumped on it! My job is pure energy.
What is PERFUME absolutely? What you might have wanted to create.
The incense that the Three Wise Men brought as a gift to Jesus Christ.
Is there a living character you would like to create a perfume for? And a historic one?
Claudio Baglioni wrote the song of the century, I would like to make the perfume that the protagonist wore on those clear summer evenings. I wanted to do it for the lawyer Gianni Agnelli, I was a fan of his.
How important is it to have a “tailor-made” perfume and why?
The important thing is to be aware that perfume is our invisible dress. The nose is the organ with which we make the most unquestionable decisions: yes or no! In many professional fields, in love, in the choice of a partner or a collaborator. You should then get the importance of having one made to measure.
The smell that conveys happiness and one that instead reminds you of grey moments.
Each perfume makes me happy, just because I can smell it. For me, grey moments are the cold moments that keep me away from the truth.
How persistent is a perfume in memory?
A perfume is forever, but the magic lies in the fact that we don’t know. Until the day we smell it again, the moments are confused within the years.
How important is packaging?
As fundamental as a tunic for a monk.
The notes of Queen Elizabeth and those of Marilyn Manson.
If you are planning a trip dedicated to culture and good food, Naples is certainly the destination for you; after a first gastronomic tour of which we recommend the stages here, and after the visit of the Capodimonte Museum, the destinations not to be missed are these and we tell them to you with the heart:
San Severo Chapel Museum
Neapolitan incarnation of Dr. Faust, Prince Raimondo di Sangro is certainly to be counted as the son of mysterious Naples. Grand Master mason, writer, alchemist, inventor, devout and curious scholar, the figure of Raimondo di Sangro is hovered by legends fueled by himself. Eccentric personality and intellectual Enlightenment, the prince dedicates himself to “anatomical machines”, a testimony kept in the chapel of San Severo: two skeletons (a man and a woman) that reproduce in detail the arteriovenous system, created in the mid-eighteenth century by Giuseppe Palermo, a doctor from Palermo. The prince would have obtained the metalization of blood vessels thanks to the injection of mercury, found diabolical that leaves rumors of an alleged implementation when the two bodies were still alive. In reality, the exemplary reconstruction is due to the use of beeswax and dyes.Neapolitan incarnation of Dr. Faust, Prince Raimondo di Sangro is certainly to be counted as the son of mysterious Naples. Grand Master mason, writer, alchemist, inventor, devout and curious scholar, the figure of Raimondo di Sangro is hovered by legends fueled by himself.
Star of the Chapel of San Severo, the “Veiled Christ” by Giuseppe Sanmartino, a marble work dated 1753, commissioned by the Prince Raimondo di Sangro, who puts his hand on the umpteenth legend around the sculptural masterpiece. Followed by the fame of a well-known alchemist, the prince would have taught the sculptor the calcification of the fabric in marble crystals, it was believed then that the incredible transparency of the shroud was the result of an alchemical marbling process; subsequent studies have instead confirmed that the work was carved from a single block of marble. The illusion of that lightness and the intangibility of the fabric, made Antonio Canova fall in love that he declared:
“I would be willing to give ten years of my life just to be the author of this similar wonder”.
Napoli, Cappella Sansevero
Royal Palace of Naples
Dwelling of the Bourbon dynasty from 1734 to 1861, the Royal Palace of Naples is a symbol of the magnificence and beauty of an unparalleled Italian heritage. Located on the beautiful Piazza del Plebiscito, it contains within it a grand staircase defined by Montesquieu as the most beautiful in Europe.
The monumental staircase was designed by the architect Gaetano Genovese during the renovation of the building after the fire of 1837 and completed by Francesco Gavaudan in 1858. It preserves the ancient piperno staircase, built by Francesco Antonio Picchiatti at the time of the viceroy count of Onate between 1651 and 1666.
The walls are covered with pink marble: portovenere, Trapani lumachino, mondragone, red of Vitulano, breccia rosata of Sicily, on a base of breccia from Gargano. They are alternated with Carrara marble bas-reliefs, with ornaments and figures: on the right “The victory between the genius of fame and Value”, by Salvatore Irdi; on the left “The glory among the symbols of Justice, War, Science, Art and Industry”, by Francesco Liberti.
On the sides, there are four niches with monumental plaster sculptures: the Fortress of Antonio Calì and the Justice of Gennaro Calì; the Clemenza by Tito Angelini and the Prudence by Tommaso Scolari. The pavilion vault is decorated with white stuccoes on a white-gray background, with coats of arms of the kingdom of Naples and Sicily.
The First Anteroom of the Palace is dominated by Baroque ceiling, the doors are large decorated pictures, painted in tempera on a gold background and date back to 1774; the Throne Room, from the Empire style and Napoleonic furnishings, presents an imperious seat destined for authority and dates back to the XVIII century, the eagle resting on it is of the Savoy era.
Interesting and bizarre is the Retrostanza with nineteenth-century Neapolitan furniture, in neo-baroque style where the protagonist is the rotating lectern of the library of Queen Maria Carolina (1791), a piece of curious machinery, prototype of the monastic libraries, which allows consulting several volumes simultaneously on the tops of the wall units using a crank.
Made on the occasion of the wedding between Ferdinand I and Maria Carolina of Habsburg-Lorraine, the very velvety “court theater”, where he takes the gold of the stage and stuccoes and the purple-red of the hall.
Gambrinus coffee
He is a member of the Cultural Association of Historical Places of Italy, the “sciantose” gathered before a concert at his tables to sip the historic coffee, the “always on a diet” Princess Sissi ordered the delicate violet ice cream, the curious nobility Neapolitan outlined its contours as a literary salon, and great artists and writers such as Wilde, Sartre and D’Annunzio let themselves be inspired by the opposite beauty of the Royal Palace and Piazza Plebiscito: it is the Gran Caffe Gambrinus of Naples. An elegant café from the end of the 19th century, the Gambrinus welcomes you with a marvelous poem by the Marquis Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis of Byzantium [2] (briefly Antonio de Curtis), known as the great comedian Toto’:
A CUNZEGNA
‘A sera quanno ‘o sole
se nne trase
e dà ‘a cunzegna a luna
p’ ‘a nuttata,
Ile dice dinto ‘a recchia
“I’ vaco ‘a casa:
t’arraccumanno
tutt’ ‘e nnamurate”.
Bourbon Gallery
Of all the Naples Underground routes, the most complete is certainly that of the “Bourbon Gallery”. Prepared staff and member of the Association of volunteers (I was accompanied to the group led by Gianluca Lamon) will take you below the city level up to 40 meters deep, bring a sweater with you even in summer because the temperature drops and it’s quite wet; the tunnel dug by hand with chisel, picks and hammers, was built in 1853 under the direction of King Ferdinand II of Bourbon, in order to create a haven in case of danger during the revolutionary uprisings of 1848. During the Second World War, the former cisterns were used as a wartime shelter for the citizens, who took refuge in these underground stone streets during the German bombings. Today it is possible to see the various historical finds including pitali, potties, baby carriages, games and the first coffee makers, because the true Neapolitan, to relive the moments of serious difficulty and anxiety, could not renounce the coffee ritual, as if the magic propitiatory action was amulet against misfortunes, panacea for all ills, convivial meeting and the fraternal embrace of those who live the same misery. But it was an anomalous coffee, made of chicory and chickpeas, which recalled only the color of coffee.
After the war, the gallery became a Municipal Judicial Deposit, pieces of taxis and seized motorbikes form a strange puzzle, a means of transporting the new work invented by the brilliant Neapolitan who is not sitting on his hands: the ice transporter. A small cart tied to a scooter with a saddle is the medium of Neapolitan intelligence.
You can choose the type of route, from standard to adventure, it is really worth going into the darkness of the stone caves that will force you to pass along the wall, with only a torch and lots of courage, but always in the company of your tour guide!
Just in Naples, during the cleaning of the cave and of the cisterns, an inscription on the walls carried a name that belonged to an elderly Neapolitan gentleman, called to retrace that descent after 70 years. The men who accompanied him tell us that the man was looking upwards for his writing, forgetting his stature as a child and that he stopped his gaze at the memory of those objects found, with tears of pain in his eyes.
The path of the Borbonic Gallery is not only passage in the meanders of history, but it is a very hard path towards the depth of one’s conscience.
Caffè Libreria Berisio
Should I imagine a magnetic, magical way in which I would like to walk night and day, it would have 90% bookshops and 10% pastry shops. In Naples it exists, but alas each of these shops has closed, failed, disappeared in the destruction of the intellect, in the darkness of a country that evidently loves culture, which bears the stamp of Luciano De Crescenzo, Antonio De Curtis and the great Neapolitan intellectuals, but that times have made them dark, making them fail. Only one has resisted, turning then into a trendy place, a place where you can enjoy excellent drinks, with the noble goal of selling also unique pieces, vintage books, little gems, leafing through them between a chat with friends and the other. Fascinating setting, a predominance of reds, speak easy lights, shelves that touch the ceiling, grand pianos lit by old-fashioned lamps, a unique place to have an aperitif before dinner, then strolling along the closed windows with the rusty signs but still worthy of their presence, and end up under the statue of Dante who watches, perhaps a little saddened.
Mercato di Pugliano, Ercolano
If you are a fashion addict and you love vintage, the reason that will take you to this place every weekend available to you is the Pugliano market! A destination for stylists who come from all over the world and a place of worship for cinema and TV costume designers, the Mercato di Pugliano offers period costumes, signed vintage, 80s denim, a vast selection of used and sought-after furs, bags in crocodile 40s at very affordable prices. You will be called in a loud voice by local merchants, who once used to sell their goods on stalls, while now they cram it in small shops where you will have to rummage, patience in hand, but you will be more than satisfied because the deal, if you know how to treat, it’s around the corner!
Tissot, the watch brand that represents the modern gentleman, presented a new capsule collection of watches for an exclusive event at Terrazza Martini in Milan. A unique event attended by modern men, lovers of the bien vivre who were able to preview the new collection with iconic pieces, such as the “Tissot Gentleman”.
Dedicated to elegant and contemporary men, the “Tissot Gentleman” is refined in detail, making the brand a trademark and leader in fine watchmaking: steel, 40 mm diameter, ring of applied indexes, rounded, satin and burnished, enhanced by faceted Dauphine hands and coated with a luminescent white material; date window at 3 o’clock which reveals the subtle elegance of the dial; a very thin second hand that allows you to read the time accurately.
Available in six versions, the “Tissot Gentleman” is refined and sober at the same time, it is the versatile watch par excellence because it is perfect for the casual style of the weekend or “business” for the days of business meetings. Inspired by his predecessor from the 1960s but reinterpreted in a trendy way, the “Tissot Gentleman” has an exceptional caliber, the famous Powermatic 80 in the version with silicon balance spring, a spring that guarantees the timepiece greater longevity, a more precise operation and greater resistance to magnetic fields, with 80 hour reserve.
At MANINTOWN we have attended the event with our two ambassadors, Nicolò Zaffarano, style coach and personal shopper, passionate about watches, and Giorgio Giangiulio, style storyteller (as he likes to define himself) as well as an authoritative amateur of the watch world. Two young men who have cultivated an innate sense of elegance and who have interpreted the style of the “Tissot Gentleman” with their aesthetic.
And as Giangiulio himself says: “The true weapon of a gentleman is his elegance. And Tissot has embraced this philosophy with great skill and ability, marking modern times with a collection that accompanies the gentleman with style in everyday challenges. I was very impressed by the “Powermatic 80” with a self-winding movement, a 40mm steel case and a blue dial. A versatile and refined watch that I’ve immediately felt mine, in total agreement with what I look for when wearing a watch: quality and discreet beauty.
According to Nicolò instead “It is an honor to represent Tissot, a centenary brand that makes quality and elegance its strengths. The piece of the collection that struck me the most is “the Gentleman” in steel with a blue dial because it fits perfectly both under the cuff of the shirt with an elegant dress and with a polo shirt in his spare time. The event in Terrazza Martini confirmed the originality of the brand, a presentation from the Italian tasting, excellent drinks and casino theme, vices and pastimes of the modern gentleman!”
And the Terrazza Martini, with a view of the pulsating heart of Milan, could only be the most suitable location to present the Tissot Gentleman calibers.
Marco Ferri, class ’88, former competitor of the 2018 edition of “Isola dei Famosi” and son of the historic Inter linebacker Riccardo Ferri, has a degree in Communication Sciences from the IULM University of Languages and Communication (Milan) and obtained a Master in International Marketing from the European School of Economics (London). He began his modeling career at the age of 18, before landing in Chile and Spain in 2014 with the participation in reality shows. Today he ties the role of influencer marketing to volunteering, a project that is very close to his heart. His greatest passion? Travels.
White 4 pocket suit
with satin lapels: Thomas Pina
Purple clutch bag: Valentino
Tshirt: Own Talent
Flowers suit: Thomas Pina
Black sneakers: Puma
Own talent white t-shirt
Red shirt: Alessandro Gherardi
Black ivory striped jacket: Tagliatore
Ivory white trousers: Drumhor
Red shirt: Alessandro Gherardi
Black ivory striped jacket: Tagliatore
Ivory white trousers: Drumhor
Dark green suit: Maurizio Miri
White shirt: Boggi
Full black double fabric:
Isabel Benenato
White sneakers: Stokton
Own talent t-shirt
Full black double fabric:
Isabel Benenato
White sneakers: Stokton
Own talent t-shirt
Our meeting is at his house and I think he does this to protect himself, to play in a family camp, to “stay safe”. Then, I enter on tiptoe, because interviewing is a bit discover, and as the psychologist “rummages, investigates” with a question, so the interviewer “digs” to bring out the person and let the character rest. He greets me with a big smile in the room with the poker table, one dedicated to evenings with friends, he will reveal me later. A thin console houses two whiskey glasses, a Bombay, a Ramazzotti and other liqueurs; on the walls, vintage Vogue covers are framed: they tell of his passion for fashion. On the table in front of the sofa there is “Valentino, at the Emperor’s Table”, the book signed by the same couturier, known at his birthday in 2018. We begin our talk to retrace the history and passions of Marco Ferri, son of the footballer Riccardo Ferri from which he inherited his passion for sports; a face that has made itself known to the general public thanks to its participation in the Island of the famous 2018. After television successes and gossip, Marco is now committed to his career and growth in the world of social media as an influencer and digital marketing specialist.
The home of this modern referee of elegance, full of details that reveal the pleasure of comfort and flashes from Don Giovanni, reminds me of a passage that Proust, in the «Recherche», gives to the character of Swann: “Several times enough overturn the reputations created by people to have the exact judgment on a person ”. Who is the real Marco Ferri, behind the known image? On the dark gray walls that lead to the rooms here is a before and an after: Marco at one year with black and white striped shorts and a red t-shirt in line with the beachfront chairs, in a carefree smile of that age that does not he still knows pains, and Marco at 25, whose lines are the background to a toned body and a look that experiences have made safer. In the bedroom, in their proud isolation on a small black lacquered shelf, a glacette and two red wine bottles, smooth and clean, ready to be served in front of the fireplace that burns on command. Are they objects of use or ritual simulacra?
You travel a lot. What goal has changed your life? When we talk about the malady of Africa we talk seriously, it is something profound that takes root in us and maybe stays there and then comes back to the surface, as happened to me, that I was lucky enough to visit as a child. I went to Kenya with my parents, it was a vacation between Malindi, Watamu and the local villages to explore the Kenyan reality, and when you are young, it hits you, but you still don’t have the means to “move” and do something. This year that light bulb came back on, that voice left inside me whispered to me what to do and finally the project came to life: I combined my work as an influencer marketing with volunteering.
What is the project? Dedicate my business trips to realities as difficult as those in Africa and give a concrete hand, buying basic necessities: food, diapers for children, clothes, sets for personal hygiene … The greatest joy is the one you take you to home, the one that gives you the light in the eyes of the children who thank you for a candy, those smiles that you would like to give them every day for the days to come; the gratitude of mothers (the men of day are out at work, generally the most fortunate do craft jobs, while others are in the city wandering around on mopeds) who rejoice over the visit and the small gifts. I remember the children who enjoyed catching a drone, and they were polite waiting for their turn to get something from the big expense made together with my crew. If we all did that little, maybe the situation would change, this is the message I’m transmitting also on social media: we know that what we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean. But if this drop did not exist, it would be missing from the ocean.
Your biggest fear? I’m afraid I won’t fall in love anymore.
I hear a note of detachment: a disappointment? Society evolves and today relationships have become more ephemeral and superficial: they lead me to feel a little victim of the system. Those who don’t know you believe they have the truth in their hands, just because they read the contents of your social accounts, which for me are work and translate a tiny part of my thoughts and my intimate life. I am afraid that prejudices, which people often encounter, can limit the most romantic aspects of knowledge. Before social media there was more naturalness and we gave ourselves time to discover ourselves.
Is there a song that tells your journey? I have a playlist in chronological order, to which I have been adding songs for five years, if we were to catch one at random, among these, I could tell you about the city where I was at that moment, what I lived and the feeling it causes me, it’s like flipping through an album of memories. For example, Dua Lipa’s “Electricity” comes to mind that accompanied me on my way to Dubai. And yet another song accompanied my journey in Chile from north to south in 2014, after having participated in three very strong programs: Morandè with Compañia, Gran Hermano VIP 5 and Divina Comida, a cooking program for which I was awarded.
What are the perfumes that characterize you? I alternate four according to the moods: Eau de Rhubarbe Ecarlate of Hermes (“I use it in summer”); YSL Rive Gauche, daylight; Spicebomb by Viktor & Rolf, woody and spicy, whose package is a hand grenade; Wood & Spice di Montale, woody, is very successful with women.
And what are the perfumes you love to hear about a woman? I’m not a fan of strong perfumes on such delicate creatures, it would be like profaning them. I cultivate simplicity, the natural smells of freshly washed hair and those of the cream spread on my face before going to bed.
If they told you “you have 30 seconds before leaving on a long journey”, what would you take with you? My GoPro, a drone and dental floss.
Photo: Marco Onofri Stylist: Miriam De Nicolò Location: Vistaterra, Via Carandini 40 Parella (TO)
