LIFE & PEOPLE

When I was a child, Carnevale was the occasion to don some improbable outfit, usually involving satin gowns and glitter or, depending on the mood of the year, a musketeer hat and a plastic sword. Possibly already nodding to what …

“Not who starts, but who perseveres.” The Italian Consul General in Los Angeles, Antonio Verde, recalls the motto of the Amerigo Vespucci tall ship to describe the activity in 2017 and the goals for the new year of the Consulate …

Photography is an incredible versatile form of visual expression, yet there are instances when only painters, with their brushes, charcoals and colors, can truly capture the essence of a place or the soul of a person. There is something so …

For millions of Catholics around the world, the Pope is a spiritual leader. For the Romans, he’s a fellow Roman, regardless of where he comes from. We Italians see the Pope as one of our own, used as we are …

Did you know the United Nations considers pizza Napoletana a cultural heritage? In December 2017, the Art of the Neapolitan Pizzaiuolo, lovingly transmitted from generation to generation, has been selected by the United Nations, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and …

She lies just south of Siena, this stark yet soft and wizened land. Her sensuously rolling landscape is ever-changing — breathtakingly alluring when bathed in the play of shadows and sunlight, moody and dark when clouds obscure the sky. Iconic …

Any trip to Southern Italy is never complete without browsing through dozens of ceramic stores from the Amalfi coast, to Puglia and throughout the islands. There is a saturation of maiolica artist studios, each with their own decorations and interpretations …

While I write, I’m sitting in my own house in the hills of the Langhe, a good feet of snow outside. It’s that time of the year when the scent of mandarins’ peels burned on the stove fills homes all …

2017 ended on a mournful note for the world of Italian cuisine, which lost one of its most beloved fathers, Gualtiero Marchesi, on Saint Stephen’s Day. The 87 year old succumbed to a bout of bronchitis that proved fatal to …

Not only Hollywood, but culture, fashion, entrepreneurship and good food as well. Los Angeles is no longer just the world capital of cinema. And the Italian Cultural Institute seems to be aware of it. At the beginning of the new …