It’s only been five weeks that one began to hear the word “Coronavirus” in Italy. More precisely, February 21 was the date that 11 cases of COVID-19 were reported in Lodi, in the region of Lombardy. It was the start of when life was to change drastically in the nation, and slowly, slowly, throughout the world. It’s time to take stock and see what the future holds.
The decrees mandating closures so that as many people as possible stay home in force through April 3, has just been extended until Easter Sunday, April 12. So besides family life, that calls for accessing activities online. The following, “Florence Life Under Lockdown” is a guide.
CHURCH
There is now live streaming of Sunday afternoon mass at San Miniato al Monte celebrated by Abbot Bernardo Gianni on his Facebook page. For English-speakers, the St. James American church is also streaming Sunday morning service through their Facebook page.
LITERATURE
Many businesses are turning to home delivery as a means of keeping things running; one example of this is Florence’s Anglo-American bookshop, the Paperback Exchange on via delle Oche. The store is delivering books to addresses within the city limits. Facebook, Instagram and email are the platforms used in order to give people the option to see and “browse” the shop’s shelves and where orders can be placed.
CITY MUSEUMS
The MUS.E association has launched the social campaign #museichiusimuseiaperti as a means of keeping Florence’s civic museums “open” to the public via Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. Content will be published on each of these platforms for those at home with, for example, educational material for adults and interactive elements for children.
Among the museums participating in this initiative are the Palazzo Vecchio, Museo Novecento, MAD Murate Art District, Museo Bardini and Santa Maria Novella. In the comfort of their own home, “visitors” will be able to experience “Udienze con i personaggi storici” (meetings with historical characters) through direct interactive streaming featuring people in costumes, while there will also be the option of “Musei fatti in casa” (experiencing museums at home) which will include video workshop activities for kids.
Novecento Museum of 20th Century Art
The Museo Novecento is strongly supporting the #iorestoacasa movement by stepping up its publication of digital content on its website and social media channels. Videos, in-depth analysis, activities, columns and features will be released online, such as the #MyAllanKaprow initiative. An exhibition centered around the late American artist (1927 – 2006) can be experienced through videos of guided visits and educational activities – museum staff will take users inside the rooms of the exhibition, allowing them to immerse themselves in his work and understand the process behind his creativity.
“Il Museo con voi” is another Museo Novecento online activity for those at home to enjoy. The museum’s art collection compiled by Alberto Della Ragione also features in its web campaign, allowing guests to gain an insight into the tastes and interests of the Italian collector. The artistic director of the museum will lead a virtual tour through the rooms of the collection to reveal the recurring subjects and themes of Della Ragione’s selected pieces, as well as of twentieth-century Italian art. (alfie king)
The management of the Uffizi Gallery, the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens has come up with a creative way of bringing one of the world’s most prestigious art collections to a visitor’s home. On the museum’s Facebook page, GallerieUffizi (@UffiziGalleries), a video series “La mia sala,” is available in Italian. Viewers will experience a guided tour of a section of the museum by a curator, presented as a short story. On the Uffizi Gallery Instagram account (@uffizigalleries) a different work of art is posted daily, accompanied by an extensive explanation of the piece both in English and Italian that focuses on little known facts and interesting details. Some of these have a story within a story, as seen in the premiere on Twitter Alessandro Allori’s painting of “Judith with the Head of Holofernes.” Allori (1535-1607), a late Mannerist artist, portrayed his lover as Judith, her mother as the old servant, and himself, as the Holofernes decapitated by love, alluding to his dilapidated fortune. (rosanna cirigliano)
MUSIC
Florence’s Teatro del Maggio, not wanting to deprive listeners of entertainment, offers classical music to all from their archives on Facebook (@maggiomusicale). This week’s schedule is as follows.
April 6 (8 pm): the evening is devoted to the staging of the opera Ernani by Giuseppe Verdi.
April 7 (8 pm): the audience will be treated to another opera, Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi, conducted by Zubin Metha.
April 8 (8 pm): the Verdi opera La Forza del Destino.
April 9 (8 pm): another opera by Verdi, Don Carlo conducted by Zubin Metha.
April 10 (8 pm):on stage will be La Fanciulla del West, an opera by Giacomo Puccini.
April 11 (3:30 pm):La Rondine, opera by Giacomo Puccini that was performed at the Teatro del Maggio during the 2017-18 season.
Le Villi, an opera by Puccini, will be streamed at 8 pm.
April 12 (3:30 pm): Zubin Metha conducts the Maggio Musicale Orchestra an interpretation of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Shéhérazade featuring violin soloist Yehezkel Yerushalmi.
At 8 pm, there will be an all-Mozart symphonic concert conducted by Riccardo Muti highlighting the talent of soloist Sviatoslav Richter on the piano.
MOVIES
A showcase for international feature length documentaries as well as short films that cover a variety of subjects (with Italian and English subtitles when needed), Florence’s annual Festival dei Popoli is screening one movie a day from its vast archive amassed during its 60-year history on its Facebook and Instagram accounts: @festivaldeipopoli.
Lo Schermo dell’arte film festival, an international project based in Florence exploring the relationship between contemporary art and cinema, has responded to restrictions on cultural life by streaming several European artist films from their archive for free in a partnership with the platform MYmovies. Taking place in November every year since 2008, Lo Schermo dell’arte Film Festival has championed films either by artists or about art.
The movies will be made available to watch on MYmovie’s website. The offerings are an eclectic range catering to all tastes: feature-lengths and shorts, arthouse and documentary mainly comprising works of Italian, British, French and German origin (all with English and Italian subtitles). (will farnham)
PRACTICALITIES
Visit the municipality’s Comune di Firenze website to access the list of stores that offer home delivery at Spesa Dove e Come.
The Erboristeria San Simone on via Ghibellina provides home delivery of organic food products such as bread, eggs, cheese, canned tomatoes, pasta, flour, packaged easy-to-prepare pizza mix, vegetable juices, cooked and uncooked beans and legumes, biscotti, Prestat handmade solid chocolate Easter eggs from England, spices, mineral water, teas and herbal infusions as well as soaps, body lotions, shampoos, fragrances and herbal remedies for problems such as allergies. To access this service, send an email to info@