This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page and the small Massetan review set up shortly after though highly enjoyable and scientifically beyond reproach seemed more like a sort of coda to its big sister at Santa Maria della Scala This time the paradigm is different: the public who will go to the Museum of San Pietro all’Orto until mid-July for Il Sassetta e il suo tempo will have the opportunity to visit an exhibition full of interesting novelties.Two circumstances led to organizing the exhibition in Massa Marittima The first is linked to a presence: as was the case for the exhibition on Ambrogio Lorenzetti also in this case the occasion was provided by a work preserved in the collection of the host museum: in this case we are talking about the cusp with Archangel Gabriel in ancient times part of a polyptych that was later dismembered and from which the Virgin Annunciate also comes unfortunately absent from the exhibition itinerary today kept at the Yale University Art Gallery in that museum that was formed in the late 19th century from the collection of an American art critic capable of demonstrating sincere feelings in painting.” It is hard to doubt his words The second circumstance is instead linked to the decades-long work of the curator an official of the Superintendence of Siena and Grosseto from 1980 to 2018 the author of a long reconnaissance of the territory that has made it possible to reconstruct in the exhibition the context in which Sassetta workedto redefine some already known personalities and also to introduce a new one a name that has been recovered precisely on the occasion of this review was this Sassetta also capable of imposing thought We could see him as an artist who looked much to the tradition of his city that of Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers but who was also open to the new of Gentile da Fabriano In the early twentieth century this artist was so popular that he attracted the attentions of Bernard Berenson author of a delightful History of the Republic of Siena which was a great success.having attempted an early even before Berenson dedicated to him his extravagant monograph A Sienese painter of the Franciscan Legend and before anyone else approached this painter who dictated tastes in the Siena of his time We ignore the reasons for the nickname Sassetta which appears only in an 18th-century text and is not attested in ancient sources There is no evidence of links with the small that the nickname was assigned to it because of a misreading of who knows what documents and was more practical than “Stefano di Giovanni,” so it has stuck to him to this day and one assumes that no one will peel this label off him Little is known about his beginnings either: it is reasonable to assume that he was born around 1400 and that he must have had a meteoric start to his career if already in 1423 he had been commissioned to paint a polyptych for the Arte della Lana in Siena the first basis for any reconstruction of his career And this is also the starting point of the exhibition before introducing what remains of the polyptych opens with a Madonna of Humility housed in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Siena yet already capable of revealing Masaccesque tangents as Paolo Dal Poggetto observed by noting “the large almost abnormal figure of the Child which is an admirable interpretation of the Child of Masaccio’s Saint Anne Metterza.” Sassetta revises Masaccio’s Herculean Baby Jesus according to his own taste modern riding of the waves of the fourteenth-century Sienese school: the result is thus a more delicate Child just as delicate is the little Madonna holding him diaphanous figure hidden under the ample cloak that here are the remains of the polyptych of the Arte della Lana the singular detachable altarpiece that Sassetta had painted for the guild of Sienese woolworkers: it was only displayed at liturgical celebrations and festivals which is why it had to remain stored inside a cupboard when not in use hence the need to engineer a machine that could be easily disassembled and the subsequent dispersal of the fragments the major compartment with the Triumph of the Eucharist and the two side ones with St Bagnoli had the twelve fragments usually kept at the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena (a museum laudably generous in its loans for this exhibition) arrive without any reunion with the other surviving fragments We cannot imagine how Sassetta had painted the panels of the polyptych but from the saints that adorned the pillars we get the idea of a painter who appears to us immediately capable of supreme finesse (see the accuracy with which the beards of the prophets are painted or the quality of the motifs of the punches) who stands in continuity with his own tradition but who is nevertheless well disposed to experiment as the fragment of the predella with theLast Supper shows us in which Sassetta poses the problem of a credible representation of space And he reveals himself to be a painter also endowed with discreet narrative gifts: unforgettable is the predella fragment with the scene in which St Anthony the Abbot is tortured by the devils who rage against him by beating him with clubs and pulling him by his habit Proof of this taste are the tablets with the mourners from a lost painted cross that Sassetta made for the church of San Martino in Siena (a third fragment should be added to the two altarpieces with the Madonna and St John): the intensity of the Virgin expressing her grief at the loss of her son by weeping hidden in her cloak and with her hands clasped has few other equals in painting of the time with its elongated proportions and light drapery the remnant of a dismembered polyptych with which a St Nicholas of Bari now in the Louvre has also been associated evokes the manner of the coeval Madonna of the Snow of the Uffizi a masterpiece executed around 1430 and kept in the Uffizi unfortunately not on display in the exhibition does not transcend the boundaries of a narrow area straddling the provinces of Siena and Grosseto with a few exceptions outside this territory and all of them in any case included in Tuscany has also been imagined according to principles of “professional ethics,” i.e. giving priority to works in the area and those that can be moved without particular difficulty and of “sustainability,” which we must imagine first and foremost financial built with the forces of a small municipality as well as two sponsors (Interalia and Toscana Energia) and four patrons (BF spa Patrizio Forci and Fondazione CR Firenze) who supported its commitment: it should be noted that the key presences that have not been made to converge on Massa Marittima are adequately evoked by the paneling in the rooms Next to Saint Anthony the Abbot here instead is theArchangel Gabriel around whom the exhibition has been built and on the adjoining wall theAdoration of the Magi lent by the Chigi Saracini Collection a small panel that marks the point of maximum approach to Gentile da Fabriano the one painted in 1423 for Palla Strozzi and now preserved in the Uffizi Sassetta offers here his personal reinterpretation according to a’somewhat more prissy elegance and less oriented toward preciousness but capable of surprisingly tasty passages such as the little dog caught playing with a stick the one that falls between the mid- and late 1930s is represented by three masterpieces that the visitor encounters in succession: we begin with the Madonna of the Cherries a panel painting of about 1435 lent by the Archaeological and Art Museum of the Maremma in Grosseto The Virgin closely recalls that of the Madonna of the Snow in the Uffizi and with the face of the Madonna taking on those features so personal the high and perfectly curved eyebrow arches the latter also to be found in the later San Bernardino displayed on the opposite wall These are the same features to be found in the Madonna and Child from the parish church of San Giovanni Battista at Molli on the outskirts of Siena: it is the main novelty of the exhibition a masterpiece by Sassetta discovered just as the Massa Marittima exhibition was being organized in ancient times perhaps part of a larger work like the Madonna of the Cherries after all it was found under a heavy seventeenth-century repainting that had totally obscured it: one detail moved Bagnoli to investigate that heavy two-century-later image more thoroughly thanks to the work of restorer Barbara Schleicher the over-painted Madonna was removed and it was thus possible to bring to light the lost Sassetta a “manifesto,” as Bagnoli himself calls it The iconography is that of the Madonna of Humility the same one employed for the central panel of the Cortona polyptych the third masterpiece of Sassetta’s full maturity that the public finds in the exhibition on loan from the Museo Diocesano in Cortona it was formerly the altarpiece for the chapel of St Nicholas located in the church of San Domenico in Cortona and is one of Sassetta’s best-documented works since we also know the name of the commissioner (a Cortona apothecary named Niccolò di Angelo di Cecco del Peccia) as well as one of his best-preserved paintings The artist’s finesse can also be seen here in the degree of experimentation with the subject matter: the room’s paneling makes us notice “the wings and cloaks of the angels around the Virgin painted in glazes of color on foil and the minute sgraffito decorations now done sparingly as in the robe of the angel behind the Madonna and now with translucent lacquer glazes over the background gold in the chasuble of Saint Nicholas.” On the formal level the Cortona polyptych takes up the elegance of the models of the Sienese tradition (to be found especially in the saints flanking the Virgin in the side compartments) according to volumes that open up to Masaccio and inserting the figures in a unified perspective space another novelty that Sassetta willingly welcomes in his art John Pope-Hennessy also noted in his 1939 monograph the hieratic enthroned Virgin of the Madonna of the Snow but a Madonna of humility that is both more resigned and more solid the one from the 1440s to the 1450s of his disappearance in the impossibility of gathering in Massa Marittima the various pieces of the Borgo San Sepolcro Polyptych now scattered halfway around the world from Florence to the Louvre once parts of a dismembered polyptych executed for the altar of St Bartholomew in the church of San Pietro in Castelvecchio in Siena: Sassetta’s figures a plastic relief that measures up to Renaissance art already underway some late Gothic elements (the drapery of St but which seems already set out to investigate roads not yet traveled: Sassetta disappeared too soon introduces the public to the context of Siena between the 1530s and 1550s documenting the high level of the city’s art school and above all allowing for a deeper understanding declares Bagnoli in his introduction in the catalog “of the same lines of interest followed by Sassetta and necessarily comparing themselves with his admirable and conditioning example.” Among the most interesting pieces is anAssumption of the Virgin who collaborated with Sassetta (it was he who completed two works left unfinished by his colleague and then again a Lamentation on the Deposed Christ by the Master of theOsservanza whose personality is further investigated in the exhibition so much so that he is presented here as a high-level collaborator of Sano di Pietro in his workshop: and if Sano and the Maestro dell’ Osservanza can be considered two painters close to Sassetta the exhibition also presents one of his antagonists namely the more long-lived Giovanni di Paolo (he disappeared in 1482 at the age of eighty-four) a painter more harsh and evanescent than the Cortonese and also less interested in the novelties coming from Florence and who nevertheless did not fail to compare himself with his colleague such as those by Domenico di Niccolò “of the choirs,” a specialist in wooden statuary an artist who imagined his figures inspired by Sassetta as Roberto Longhi already noted and as can be verified in the exhibition by comparing his candle-bearing angels or his Saint Francis with the figures of Stefano di Giovanni is the recovery of a personality to whom a name had not been given until now: this is Nastagio di Guasparre a painter documented by the sources but never tracked down until now whom Bagnoli proposes to identify with the works of the artist whom critics starting with Miklós Boskovits in 1983 had called the “Master of Saint Ansano.” Nastagio “recovers an important role as a co-protagonist of late Gothic painting in Siena who follows the cultural path dear to Sassetta collaborates with the latter and also knows how to take into account what Sano di Pietro and Lorenzo di Pietro known as il Vecchietta were producing.” his are a Madonna and Child with Saints granted by the Castle of Gallico a stained-glass window from the church of San Sebastiano in Chiusdino and now in the town’s Museo Civico and a Madonna in Humility with Child and Angels who was moreover one of the curators of the major Siena exhibition on Ambrogio Lorenzetti there is no doubt: the curator has repeatedly defined Sassetta as the most important Sienese painter of the late Gothic season even going so far as to assign him a leading role “in the last vital season of the Gothic style,” as an artist capable of “recover the lesson of the great Sienese innovators of the early 14th century innervating it with a personal narrative imagination combined with the modern tendencies of elegance and extreme decorativism proper to the time and welcoming the novelties of the very modern artistic manifestations of the early Florentine Renaissance.” Comparison with Sassetta’s majors must be imagined since the works of the precursors do not appear in the exhibition nor do we get to see works by that Gentile da Fabriano who was also an inescapable point of reference for Stefano di Giovanni in the first place because one must take into account the context in which this excellent exhibition was born: it has been said that the Museo di San Pietro all’Orto in Massa Marittima has based its action on criteria of economic sustainability even its programming cannot support every year exhibitions of appeal and it does not only concern Massa Marittima but is much broader: between rising insurance and transportation costs the practice of loan fees often applied blindly and the difficulty in finding private sponsors how could one facilitate a museum in a small municipality that would also have the space and intellectual resources to plan a larger exhibition there is to consider that the stated goal right from the subtitle is to offer a “glimpse” of the Sienese Quattrocento with an intelligent and lively reconstruction in looking at what happened in early 15th-century Siena through the lens of one of the most fascinating artists who saw the dawn of the Renaissance After a pleasant one-hour journey I arrive at the five-star Sense Experience Resort on the Gulf of Follonica (B&B doubles from €438 per night). What elevates this beach resort to “experience” status, you might ask. It starts with the staff, who appear eager to organise bespoke experiences ranging from food and bike tours to horse riding on the beach, diving You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience We’ve covered the fine work of Trail Brothers Tuscany in a past article, and I had the opportunity to ride their hand-dug tracks a few weeks back during the Bike Connection Agency (BCA) winter edition The BCA is an event designed by two Roman bike industry veterans where journalists get to connect with brand representatives and test new products to share with readers picked an ideal location for their winter gathering The beginning of the eight trail system can be reached by way of Trail Brothers’ shuttle service or a calm pedal up the aptly named Spaghetti Trail Pedaling on either the twisty Spaghetti track or roundabout road climb takes from thirty minutes to an hour depending on how much pasta you have to burn while the shuttle ride is closer to twelve minutes The Trail Brothers have opened a warming hut at the drop off point For folks moving at maximum vacation speed it’s a sweet spot to stop and chat before dropping in Though they’re signed and rated from green to black all of the trails in the network offer a similar level of difficulty Most of them take off from a rocky peak called Monte Arsenti starting out a bit technical and becoming increasingly more flowy as they descended either side of the mountain Each of the trails has harder and easier line options that are signed a meter or two prior to the splits Though the “hard lines” are likely worth a look before you leap Apart from a few small jumps I didn’t see any true drops or other technical features that require more than a little speed to clear While the trails are not packed with rock gaps, there are continuous features that riders of any skill level can enjoy. The longest track, called Benedetto, is 3.8 kilometers of full-on flow party. Like El Nino, Gambler, Cicalino Freeride and any of the other blue trails in the area Benedetto is lined with small rock gardens It’s a notably fun trail to ride and nearly anyone can find what they’re looking for therein Benedetto finishes with about 1km of pedally singletrack to warm things back up after the windy descent The black-rated trails in Massa Marittima are not noticeably more difficult than the blue, and it’s likely that a few brief steep sections give them the darker diamond designation. If you are comfortable riding on grippy rocks, the black trails should suit you just fine. Rock ‘N’ Roll Queen was the only black trail open while I was visiting, as Bonatto was being worked on The track rolls off the rocks from the western side of the peak and the most technical section lies within the first two meters It’s a messy natural rock roll with some larger holes to consider Rock ‘N’ Roll Queen winds between the thick Turkey Oak forest with some tight turns and tiny gap jumps It can be difficult to find and maintain momentum on the twisty track making it a super fun one to ride multiple times in search of speed The Trail Brothers shuttle service offers a fantastic way to learn the trail system quickly and hear about other nearby ride centers They use a set of Land Rover trucks to ferry riders to the hut making the ride up easier on the stomach than a traditional shuttle van on the rocky roads Tenuta Il Cicalino is a traditional agriturismo (farm-based hotel) at the base of the trails that caters to mountain bikers in a number of ways There are safe places to lock up your bike and most importantly — delicious food and supper offerings are varied and plentiful and they made grub to suit us vegetarians and gluten-free eaters as well the Mediterranean sea only 20 minutes west and historic cities like Sienna and Pisa roughly 1.5 hours away there is something near Massa Marittima to occupy any vacation itinerary You can bring non-cycling friends along and reconvene at the end of the day to share the stories of where you played and what you found to eat For more info on the trails and surrounding activities around Massa Marittima, contact Trail Brothers Tuscany, or check out the city tourism site for further details Enter your email for the top stories in mountain biking plus product picks and deals delivered to your inbox each week Thought to be a rare example of medieval depictions of the evil dealings of witches this extremely strange mural was discovered inside a public fountain in the Italian town of Massa Marittima in 2000 it has been restored and its cryptic symbolism examined the mural known as L'Albero della Fecondita or "The Tree of Fecundity" shows eight female figures cavorting below a tree bearing some very unusual fruit: 25 very recognizable penises The women appear to be fighting amongst themselves and poking at the penis tree with sticks one scholar has put forth that this mural shows the earliest surviving image of witchcraft in Europe depicting a bit of Tuscan folklore later recorded in a passage from the infamous witchfinder's guide Translating to "Hammer of the Witches" in Latin the Malleus Maleficarum described the secret lives of witches and cataloged their habits for purposes of easy identification including the curiously specific description of stealing male genitalia and keeping them alive in bird's nests This enchanting 600-year-old tree is so magical it inspired the beloved tale of Pinocchio this sequoia was planted as a symbol of the connection between Visalia and its neighboring national park The last remnant of a tree that helped prove to the world that sequoias are real—and they’re spectacular One of the oldest and most majestic living trees in Britain Mysterious markers have been giving the public a lesson in dendrochronology for over a century Water gushes from the trunk of this miraculous mulberry tree about once a year The second largest palm grove in Europe was planted during Moorish times and has been largely unchanged since then You can still see the remains of a sacred 3,000-year-old cypress It has to be said that I am a Tuscany groupie Hill-top villages in Chianti with views over vineyards Pisa’s wonky tower and Siena’s famous square… all with so much to offer inland that I’d never actually made it to the coastline And combining your Tuscan big-hitters with some time by the beach makes for a perfect break where you can escape the crowds and summer heat This eco- focused hotel has its own private beach and is also within easy reach of Pisa you could even be in Rome in a couple of hours there’s a direct train from nearby Follonica Many city-dwellers have a holiday place here The buildings that make up the resort are all low rise – back in the 1950s It has had a clever and beautiful makeover and today Try to book a superior seaview room to enjoy the vista out to the island of Elba There’s even a glass wall in the bathroom so you can peek out at the sea from your shower You can also explore one of the hill-top towns. They may not be as famous as the likes of San Gimignano but they deserve to be. We were given a tour of Massa Marittima by adventure group Hakuna Matata Outdoor stopping at the grand Romanesque cathedral; a fertility fresco covered in penises and organs of an entirely different kind at the delightful Museo degli Organi Meccanici Antichi featuring a fascinating collection of musical instruments through the centuries We sat pavement-side at Il Bacchino Enoteca tasting a selection of excellent local wines pick up one of the hotel bikes and cycle the easy flat path into Follonica The route is cheerful holiday vibes all the way with restaurants The town’s covered market is an interesting spot with fish counters filled with weird and wonderful specimens butchers with giant cuts of beef Fiorentina and an unassuming takeaway stall dedicated to fresh truffle dishes No surprise that pasta and fish are good here and the lobster with spaghetti and a glass of local rosé makes the perfect lunch There’s more formal dining at Eaté by Alessandro Pipero owner of the Michelin starred Pipero Roma restaurant chef Sebastian Minnai offers an incredible take on regional dishes through an upscale lens culture and sea is my idea of holiday bliss www.thesenseresort.it Eliza Parr selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter which is north-east of Florence and a 20-minute drive from the centre The property is perched on a hilltop overlooking the city and surrounding vineyards and the airport is half an hour away by car What An estate with an 11th-century castle several external buildings and 35 acres of land The current configuration has a total of 17 bedrooms across the main castle building frescoes and reception spaces with vaulted ceilings Why The outdoor space includes a private garden with cypress and bay trees an olive grove and vineyards planted with grapes of several varieties The remaining land is made up of woodland and meadows Who Christie’s International Real Estate/Romolini €28mnWhere South of the medieval village of Massa Marittima which is known for mineral springs and mines of iron and copper What An estate with 2,700 sq m of internal space which is accessed via a cypress-lined driveway The main villa has five bedrooms with en-suites as well as traditional features including exposed wood beams and stone elements There are a further 12 bedrooms and 22 bathrooms across the rest of the estate which also has facilities for olive oil production Why The leisure and wellness features on the 84-acre property include a swimming pool Who Italy Sotheby’s International Realty €3.8mnWhere In the rural region of Val d’Orcia The hilltop town of Montalcino is less than 15 minutes’ drive 800 sq m house dating back to the 17th century creating a horseshoe shape around a courtyard A sheltered terrace overlooks the gardens and the swimming pool is surrounded by cypress trees the property has been renovated to create bedroom suites with their own kitchenettes Who Engel & Völkers within an hour’s drive of Florence and Siena and wineries are a few minutes’ drive away two apartments and buildings including a chapel There are 17 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms across the estate Why The property combines traditional features in its main villa and contemporary finishes in the annex Who Italy Sotheby’s International Realty €6.9mnWhere Close to the village of San Giovanni d’Asso a larger town with archaeological remains dating back to the fifth century BC What An 18th-century farmhouse with 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms across the main house The property also includes a swimming pool outdoor pizza oven and several covered terraces Why Fully restored in 2003 and further renovated in 2016 the property combines a traditional farmhouse exterior with contemporary fittings inside Who Knight Frank Find out about our latest stories first — follow @FTProperty on X or @ft_houseandhome on Instagram There is also an unpublished work at the exhibition on Sassetta (Stefano di Giovanni active in Siena from 1423 to 1450) being held in Massa Marittima a new work by the Sienese artist has been discovered the protagonist of the exhibition Sassetta and His Time A look at early 15th-century Sienese art curated by Alessandro Bagnoli The work is a Madonna and Child that comes to the exhibition from the parish church of San Giovanni Battista in Molli It is a tempera on panel measuring 67.5 by 45.3 centimeters.The work was cut out on all four sides at an unspecified time and moreover it was completely repainted in the 17th century so it was difficult to recognize Sassetta’s hand under the repainting It was Bagnoli himself who realized the quality of the work: having it restored (the intervention was conducted by specialist Barbara Schleicher) the work returned to the original colors that allowed the work to be attributed to Sassetta The iconographic subject with which the newly discovered Madonna and Child is presented was very much practiced by the artist since it was one of the most common in the 15th century: it is in fact a Madonna of humility in this case on the ground above a cushion (it can be glimpsed under the Virgin’s mantle on the right side) The Madonna holds a pomegranate in her hand while instead the Child with his left hand holds a bird with a red spot on its head (although it does not look like a usual goldfinch) Also worth noting is the Virgin’s splendid radiated halo bearing the inscription “SI CONFIDIS IN ME SENA ERIS GRATIA PLENA,” which is to say that the wise-sounding motto assures us that the panel originally belonged to a church in the city of Siena Alessandro Bagnoli supposes that the work came from the church of San Francesco in Siena and tends to identify it with the one signed by Sassetta remembered by Fabio Chigi in 1620 in the Petroni chapel in that very church SEE YOU IN THE PIAZZA: NEW PLACES TO DISCOVER IN ITALY In a lengthy trip to Italy with her husband and her sometime-traveler 15-year-old grandson William the author of “Under the Tuscan Sun,” takes up her notebook and treats us to the other side of Italy in “See You in the Piazza: New Places to Discover in Italy.” The Leaning Tower et al do not take up residence on these pages she walks us through 13 lesser known regions Some of the places are the stuff of fairytales and the recipes from many show up throughout Her descriptions of the interiors of the museums are as elegant as the contents themselves She lives half the year in North Carolina and the other half in Bramasole With her journal as an “invited guest,” she takes us into the country’s heart and over the course of her travels we learn a lot about food and wine Did you know the country has 1,500 varieties of apples Did you know that some of the 200 small towns are singled out in travel guides because of their beauty and cultural significance That Blue Flag beaches boast of the cleanest water and are the most environmentally safe the author of 17 books she has taken the road less traveled She steers us to paths we might never see and opens our eyes to places we would have never explored Read this if you want to escape the crowds and are ready to see the country from the inside out Mims Cushing lives in Ponte Vedra Beach and has written three books Fox Racing recently dropped the Speedframe trail helmet for trail riding We caught up with the guys from Fox at the Winter Bike Connection event in Italy Fox also offer a $109.95 Speedframe with fewer features both have the MIPS-C2 rotational impact protection system Here are our thoughts on the Fox Speedframe Pro Feature image by Winter Bike Connection – Rupert Fowler The Speedframe Pro helmet has earned Virginia Tech’s best rating (5 STARS) in its Bicycle Helmet Ratings program Not too shabby for a rather svelte helmet that actually looks good too The Fox website reports a weight of 360g but doesn’t indicate what size that corresponds to recommended for circumferences of 51cm-56cm The helmet fits securely and comfortably all the way around my head with no loose points or pressure points anywhere The rear dial offers 28 clicks of adjustment The chin strap length is adjustable but the divider position is not I felt no need to adjust the position of the divider It sits at an appropriate position underneath my ear lobes the strap length can’t actually change The Speedframe Pro has the premium-feature Fidlock SNAP buckle which uses a magnet to slide into position and the magnet lets you to fasten it with one hand The visor of the Fox Speedframe Pro can sit in three different positions Push it to the top position to stow goggles underneath We used the helmet with two different types of MTB goggles; Smith Squad and Leatt Velocity 4.5 The helmet’s rear is shaped with a ridge to stop the strap slipping up or down The Speedrame features cavernous ventilation by virtue of the 21 vents with internal channeling for maximal airflow The shell of the helmet wraps the whole way around and underneath the edges to protect the dual density Varizorb EPS The XT2 comfort liner is removable and washable and features anti-microbial properties to manage odor it retains the MIPS-C2 rotational impact system but it does lose the dual density Varizorb EPS offered by the Pro FoxRacing.com Jessie-May Morgan is the UK & Ireland Tech Editor of Bikerumor She has been writing about Mountain Bike Riding and Racing and all its weird and wonderful technology for 4 years she was an Intern at the Mountain Bike Center of Scotland and a Mountain Bike Coach and Leader in the Tweed Valley Jessie-May can often be seen riding the Glentress Trail Center and its neighboring Enduro and Downhill Tracks She regularly competes in Enduro at a national level and has recently competed on the World Stage at a handful of Enduro World Series events Jessie-May is testing the latest mountain bikes letting readers know what’s hot and what’s not she weighs 60kg and stands at 5ft 4″ tall (163cm) Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed Why are the top end helmets always the ones tested I’m looking at getting the non-pro version for my wife and whilst I can work out if I want to pay more for the fidlok buckle I have no idea if the dual density eps is worth it Fox gave us only the top end Speedframe to test ““The combination of softer and harder EPS (Dual Density) provides better management of a variety of impacts: Softer EPS offers a good protection against low impacts while the harder one is designed to absorb higher impacts Dual Density improved protection by spreading the forces of impact across a wider surface area compared to standard EPS We’re confident with how Dual Density performs relative to standard EPS but are not in position to share testing reports as they are proprietary in nature and part of our secret sauce.” I asked Fox about the outcome of the Virginia Tech Test on the Speedframe MIPS They said they only sent to Speedframe Pro for testing Does the softer foam make it more comfortable I have an older version of the Fox helmet and afeter about an hour or so of wearing it I get a headache I have tried adjusting it but the problem still persists I am in the market for a new helmet because of this and I am hoping this version would cure that problem but don’t want to deal with solvents Simpyfast claims their Lube Cube is the easiest way Peak Performance expands on their MTB specific clothing with new pants Apparently that’s an option when you’re designing products for the GOAT We spotted Cofidis racing an all-new prototype wireless 13-speed Campagnolo Super Record 13 WRL SC road groupset Canyon Bicycles is now selling select models directly through Amazon.com Want wireless shifting but don’t want to have to buy a whole new drivetrain Be protected from the sun with the new UV Hooded Trail Shirt… OrNot The new Van Nicholas Astraeus is a beautiful titanium road bike that’s limited to just 50 frames 2019What does a seven-time XC World Champion and Olympian do in the offseason We'll give you a hint—it has little to do with wearing lycra and chasing VO2 max on an XC bike the time between race seasons is spent with friends and family in Tuscany Italy,  and it just so happens though that most of Nino's family is as addicted to riding as he is While Nino's home in Graubünden Switzerland is under snow for the winter, his family’s house in Tuscany has endless single track starting just outside their front door the house and trails offer Nino a chance to rest and recharge 42Gallery42 ImagesMassa Marittima in southern Tuscany is a perfect area to outlast the colder northern snows there's the opportunity to ride shuttles all day if you want or smash pedals for hours on end there'll be excellent food and beverage to refuel Scott Sports Interviews Nino SchurterNino Schurter’s Scott Ransom What do you associate with the Ransom and what went through your mind when you heard about the revival of the name or the bike "The Ransom was my first freeride bike and I experienced many great tours and races with it I even won one of the first Enduro races in Flims I was really looking forward to the new edition- no doubts It's the kind of bike that gives you both freedom and fun with this bike you'll climb to places which would never be accessible plus every trail feels like flow It climbs so incredibly well for a 170mm bike and on the downs it simply rules- I've never ridden an enduro bike which is capable like this one." an E-dropper post- your Ransom set-up ticks all the boxes "The advantages don’t seem so dramatic at first sight but once you've ridden it for a long time Every activity always feels the same and that feels extremely safe and comfortable you can focus much more on the basics- and ride even harder." Do you consider using an E-dropper post in the World Cup not in all races but mostly when there are courses with difficult conditions The set-up of the E-dropper and the removal is now super easy 42Gallery42 ImagesThe Off Season An XC season is extremely energy consuming both physically and mentally instead taking care of the beautiful things in life I also catch up on missed things: From time to time we go to the beach have dinners with friends and generally do things which have nothing to do with biking Spending time with friends is especially important to me - that's often not done enough when you're in World Cup mode." How important is it for an athlete to switch off from high-tension race mode "Recreation and breaks are as important as training Breaks are essential during training time to regenerate physically Longer time-offs lasting several weeks are important for athletes in the long run in order to give the body the break it needs plus to set new stimuli and to clear my head Those who train constantly without giving body and mind a break Especially after an eventful season with many highlights and great successes it is immensely important for me to come down as well as possible My family and a completely different environment help me a lot to do just that- come down What are the benefits of going to a remote place "I have a lot of hustle and bustle all year round In addition to the training and the racing circus media appointments and other commitments throughout the year - which is nice To relax as much as possible and to clear my mind such as my parents' holiday home in southern Tuscany where I have no distractions and can focus entirely on doing simply nothing the terrain is made for both little and big boys: every year I discover new trails and lines zero doubts- the Maremma is very wild and offers enormous variety for bikers." Where do you find inspiration in the offseason "I do everything that is fun and offers variety: riding motocross indulging in the Italian Dolce Vita - Tuscany makes it very easy for me here." What does it mean to you and why do you go there frequently It's the place where I literally come down and push my "Re-Set" button extremely nice people and mostly pleasant weather it's great to train here- regardless of the bike." How important is your family and what role does your daughter play Nothing works without a well-working environment My daughter and my wife are of course always most important to me my daughter is already very skilled on the kid’s bike She often comes with me or I take her with me - she's totally in it It seems you're riding a lot with your brother They have just shaped a new trail line here in Massa Marittima on one of the local mountains Medievalists.net The British Museum has acquired a drug jar dating back to the early sixteenth century It was donated to the public through the Cultural Gifts Scheme set up by the British government Known as an albarello (Italian for drug jar) the item dates to c.1510-30 and is believed to have been made in Siena for the Monastery of Santa Chiara in the close-by town of Massa Marittima The front of the jar shows a woman in profile amidst finely rendered grotesque decoration consisting of masks garlands and scrollwork – a preeminent expression of sixteenth-century decorative fashions The cylindrical form of the jar together with the prominent inscription GALVZA PESTA at the front indicate that it was probably used for storing powdered oak galls in the monastery’s pharmacy The albarello will be united with its sister piece and an extensive collection of Italian Renaissance tin-glazed earthenware at the British Museum Both jars were originally part of a larger set of pharmacy jars ten are now held by public museums across Europe They stand out among surviving albarelli because of their considerable size rare straight-handled form and their membership to a known set it remains the most extensive body of jars from a single workshop and pharmacy to survive from the early sixteenth century The Arts Council announced the donation earlier this year with the item allocated to the British Museum in honour of Dr Dora Thornton former Curator of Renaissance Europe and the Waddesdon Bequest Following acceptance and allocation of the gift explained “I am very pleased to have been able to present this outstanding maiolica albarello to the British Museum in honour of Dora Thornton and in tribute to her scholarship and her ability to communicate her knowledge to both specialist and wider audiences Especially notable in the context of this gift is Dora’s remarkable catalogue of the British Museum’s world-class maiolica collections which has become an essential resource for all of us who love and study these beautiful ceramics.” the British government’s Arts Minister this outstanding object will find a fitting new home at the British Museum where it will be enjoyed by millions each year and honour the work of a former curator.” We've created a Patreon for Medievalists.net as we want to transition to a more community-funded model We aim to be the leading content provider about all things medieval podcast and Youtube page offers news and resources about the Middle Ages We hope that are our audience wants to support us so that we can further develop our podcast and remove the advertising on our platforms This will also allow our fans to get more involved in what content we do produce Member Login All photos courtesy of Trail Brothers Tuscany You may have seen the recent video from Scott Bikes with Nino Schurter and his family playing on some sick trails in Tuscany it’s definitely worth 4 minutes of your time to see the current XC World Champ whip a long-travel bike around on tracks that his brother and father built Those hand-cut ribbons are part of an expanding Tuscan trail system in Massa Marittima will enjoy sculpted trails that were built by mountain bikers and guides and shuttles for hire from the same folks who built some of the singletracks If you decide to stick around for a few days, you will want to check into Hotel Massa Vecchia (translation: Old Mass) where Trail Brothers staff have collected all of the pre- and post-ride amenities you could need When I dream of taking a vacation with my mountain bike, it looks like the photographs on the Trail Brothers Tuscany and Massa Vecchia websites I recently caught up with guide and builder Francesco Guidi to learn more about what this magical slice of Italy has to offer Tell me a bit about your personal history with mountain biking [and I had] the aim and the desire to be one of them one day I discovered that [I could have] an engine as well while being on two wheels so I gave up the MTB riding and started to do Enduro Motocross so I kept watching all the famous races and videos and still bought MTB magazines sometimes after a couple of big crashes and some local races the motorbike was [less of a] “safe” thing for me Riding 80km/h in the woods and not knowing what you can find after a turn or a fire road and took back the old Scott that was in the garage I became good friends with Arianna and Alice The [idea] was to start guiding for Massa Vecchia After few ideas and projects then we gave life to The Trail Brothers [we needed to have a company that] was able to put together and communicate with different [entities] like private structures organizations like Superenduro for organizing races we definitely should be The Trail Brothers!!” Massa Vecchia has been a Scott Center for more than 20 years Thomas Frischknecht fell in love with this place and joined the Bike Hotel Company after a few winter training camps here in our area during his career Since then the collaboration with Scott has developed year by year What services do you all offer through the mountain bike guide and shuttle company Yes, we do offer various different guided tours for all levels and the shuttle services for our trail park as we believe it is really important to learn properly on the bike and as many new riders are starting to ride and enjoy the pleasure of [mountain biking] we think it is fundamental to learn the right movements positions and the good way to shred with safety [Just like you would take lessons] with skis or snowboard Our priority is definitely that a high percentage of people should be able to have fun on our trail area I would say that 70% of the trails are for an intermediate level we would like to soon have a signature double black line Have you all studied trail design and environmental impacts of particular trail placements and practices meaning we learn from the work we have done A few of the guys [have been] trail builders for more than 15 years building trails for many important races as well We really learned from what we have done during the years and while traveling and visiting other trail areas we always watched with curious eyes we always take care of the impact we are having in the woods If you personally ask me how I’m designing a line maybe all the MTB videos I’ve watched when I was younger gave me big ideas I think it’s really about the feeling you get once you are in the woods and you see a big stone a nice off camber or whatever gives you that sensation to say Who are some professional riders or teams who have trained nearby and stayed in the hotel Just think about all of the champions who have ridden for Scott in the last 20 years The Santa Cruz Syndicate was here as well in 2012, and we did a few events with Cedric Gracia as well We have also hosted World Cup skiers and driving champions like Marcel Fassler What are some other trail systems nearby that riders can explore as we are 10 minutes by car from the beach What is your personal favorite trail to ride in the system Hard to say! If I have to pick one, maybe I’ll go for the Rock n Roll Queen It’s a black line in our trail park in Monte Arsenti and is a mix of everything from stone on the top to a super good flow heading further down so much so that it was curated by the same scholars (Alessandro Bagnoli and Roberto Bartalini: in Massa Marittima the third curator of the Santa Maria della Scala exhibition allowed the public to focus precisely on the Maremma enterprises not least because the exhibition expanded to involve the other immovable evidence of Lorenzetti's painting in the city accurately reconstructing Ambrogio Lorenzetti's activity in Maremma is not an easy task since there are few certain testimonies on which we can rely In the period in which Ambrogio Lorenzetti lived and worked a large part of the Maremma was under the direct dominion of Siena which had already subjugated the city of Grosseto and its immediate surroundings towards the middle of the 12th century and since then had never put an end to its expansionism whose aims aimed at the very rich Massa Marittima a flourishing independent commune at the center of an important mining district between the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the following century after having consolidated its territory and having found an outlet to the sea by annexing Talamone and the surrounding area and acquiring its territories from the monks of Santa Fiora the Republic of Siena was first able to incorporate into its dominions some strategic centers and in 1333 it succeeded in officially extending its dominion over Massa Marittima thus sanctioning the end of its centuries-old independence For the town thus began an inexorable decline which began with the transfer of most of its entrepreneurial class to Siena and made definitive with the reduction of mining activity Ghiberti states that "he is at Massa a large panel and a chapel," and Vasari echoes him by claiming that "at Massa working in company with others a chapel in fresco he made known to those how much he of judgment and wit in the art of painting was worth." If it is rather complicated to identify which frescoes were painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in Massa Marittima (we will return to this subject below) which can be indicated without doubt in the great Madonna and Child Enthroned with Theological Virtues but more simply known as the Majesty of Massa Marittima the great protagonist both at the Siena exhibition and at the show that was set up around it in its current "home," the Museum of Sacred Art in the San Pietro all'Orto Museum Complex in Massa Marittima (the show was in fact held in the room that usually houses Lorenzetti's large panel in the adjacent room and in a room on the lower floor) In their essay in the catalog of the Santa Maria della Scala exhibition Max Seidel and Serena Calamai hypothesized a fundamental political role for the Maestà chronologically placed precisely in the period when Massa Marittima was conquered by Siena Made certainly before 1337 (the hypothesis is put forward on the basis of stylistic evidence) the panel is placed in the years immediately following the subjugation of Massa Marittima to Siena which with the Majesty of San Pietro all'Orto sanctioned also in "artistic" terms its domination over the Maremman city and the political and cultural bond that united them adapted to the context of Massa Marittima (in the foreground can be seen: he is the first on the right) "sensitive to contacts with temporal powers," Seidel and Calamai write "had appropriated the symbol of the city of Siena by translating the political theme of Duccio's and Simone Martini's precedents into a more intimate iconographic form that nevertheless went with the taking over of the city by the Government of the Nine." This was a way of affirming "the combined inclusion of the hermit order of St Augustine and the Sienese government [to which the hermits were very close nda] in the new city of Massa." In this sense the proximity in the work of Saints Cerbon and Augustine which "increasingly appears as a symbolic interpenetration of Sienese power with the complex theological and iconographic texture of the Augustinians," should be read the work is in fact nourished by important religious foundations At the center of the panel is the Madonna holding the Child in her hands and seated on a highly original immaterial throne that has for its base the three colored steps of the theological virtues for its seat the large scroll-like cushion supported by the angels On the three steps of the throne sit the allegories of the three virtues: Faith(Fides to emphasize the whiteness of faith according to an iconography that goes back as far as Horace's Odes ) which holds a mirror in which the face of the Trinity is reflected (an invention of Lorenzetti who introduced the Speculum Fidei on the basis of Augustinian readings: the mirror a symbol that goes back to the letters of St hope is "turris fortitudinis," "tower of fortitude," in that hope is animated by such a feeling that drives it to desire the highest good and the color green is associated with the vitality necessary not to lose sight of the end to which hope tends) red like the fire of passion that animates charitable gestures are a heart and an arrow ("Sagittae potentis acutae verba dei sunt Ecce iaciuntur et transfigunt corda; sed cum transfixa fuerint corda sagittis verbi dei amor excitatur," or "God's words are powerful and sharp arrows: behold they are shot and pierce hearts but when hearts are pierced by the arrows of God's word love is stimulated.") The chromatic representation of the three virtues in the Majesty of Massa Marittima also follows literary suggestions from Dante described the appearance of the theological virtues in the following way: "Three women around from the right wheel / came dancing: one so red / that barely pierced inside the fire known; / the other was as if the flesh and bones / had been made of emerald; / the third seemed to be snow testè mossa." Not only that: one can also catch references to Jacopone da Todi ("Amor che sempre arde / fa' le lengue darde / che passa onne corato") who in his Laudi provided a more accessible vernacular form to St And Ambrogio Lorenzetti drew inspiration from it to depict the allegory of charity as no one before him had done beautiful charity ("caritas est animae pulchritudo," wrote St Augustine: "charity is the beauty of the soul") modeled from the cues of patristics to result in the definition of the image of a "sacred Venus," whose beauty by the roundness of the breasts enhanced by the flow of light on the chlamydia of the robe in the antique style which derives from the reliefs of Roman sarcophagi," but whose physicality is at the same time rendered ethereal by Ambrose's "light painting." "the emanation of light in the bodily transparency is rendered with fine red brushstrokes which are most intense in the concavity of the turning of the neck and define the outlines of the eyes The theme of charity is of central importance in Lorenzetti's panel: not only is the character of Caritas closest to Our Lady but the Virgin herself loses that hieraticism that still distinguished her in Simone Martini 's Majesty in the Palazzo Pubblico to become a Mater Misericordiae who gives a tender kiss to the Child (an iconological reference to a passage in St Bernard in which the kiss between Our Lady and her son is an allegory of the union between Christ and his Church) and who refers back to an earlier work by Duccio di Buoninsegna the Madonna of Charity now in the Kunstmuseum in Bern rest on medieval texts that identify the Madonna as a "sweet and loving mother." for example asserted that "Charitas eius charitatis omnium sanctorum forma est et exemplar" ("Her [i.e. Mary's] charity is the model and example of charity for all the saints") and Ambrogio Lorenzetti may have had similar passages in mind when he thought of depicting was probably located in the lost central pinnacle of the complex) does not conclude the list of iconographic innovations that Ambrogio Lorenzetti a highly original painter of extraordinary talent Observe the angels at the Madonna's sides: in Simone Martini (and before that in Giotto particularly in the Maestà di Ognissanti) they were kneeling at the Virgin's sides and raising vessels filled with flowers toward her and even ideally exceed the height of the Madonna so much so that they must lower their gaze to reverence her: an element that the Sienese artist probably included to reinforce the allegorical message of the angels (not least because their gestures appear much more concise) mediators between the faithful and the Madonna Several other innovations Ambrose included in his work note the musician angels at the foot of the throne each bearing a different musical instrument (two vielle the angels in the foreground a psaltery the angel in the background on the left Ambrogio Lorenzetti decorated the haloes of the angels in the foreground with punched open wings and those in the background with closed wings wanting to make explicit the connection of the former with the angelic hierarchy of cherubim and of the latter with seraphim (the angels closest to God) It is a kind of celebration of music according to St who in a passage of his Enarrationes in Psalmos spoke precisely of the psaltery and the zither as instruments symbolizing the word of God: the former is concave upward the latter downward and is therefore an allegory of the earth (and the word of God comes from heaven but is addressed to the earth) so the instruments deemed in a certain way closer to God are played by the angels who are also closer to divinity Other suggestions are drawn from observing the figures of the saints (all Augustine (clad in the black robe of hermits under bishop's vestments) placed next to St as a symbol of that vita perfectissima which for the German hermit Henry of Friemar (Friemar 1340) was substantiated as much in dedication to contemplation of God as in an active and committed life Cerbon becomes a political symbol of the hermits who "leave" the convent to put their commitment at the disposal of the city of Massa Marittima qualities indispensable for an active life The discovery of the Majesty of Massa Marittima of which there was no more news as early as the 16th century occurred in a rather daring way: the merit is attributed to a teacher a scholar of local history as well as the first director of the Library of Massa Marittima in an attic of the convent of Sant'Agostino adjacent to the church of San Pietro all'Orto whose structure was being profoundly distorted (the church in 1866 had in fact become the property of the state been heavily and clumsily renovated during the 18th century) was in a very poor state of preservation: it was divided into five pieces and tradition has it that Galli found it being used in a room used as a charcoal pile as a support for stacking coal to be used for heating the rooms of the former church building Ambrogio Lorenzetti's masterpiece thus underwent an initial restoration and another intervention it would undergo in 1978 before its transfer to the Palazzo di Podestà in Massa Marittima and its definitive musealization in 2005 with its entry into the Museum of Sacred Art Equally "adventurous" was the discovery of another Maremma work ascribed to the hand of Ambrogio Lorenzetti again in Massa Marittima and again in San Pietro all'Orto Christopher with the Infant Jesus on his shoulders found in 2003 during some works of adaptation of the former church of San Pietro all'Orto which was about to house the collection of the Museum of Ancient Mechanical Organs News of the fresco was already given in 1873 by the aforementioned Stefano Galli but on the basis of Ghiberti's and Vasari's reports that Ambrogio Lorenzetti frescoed a chapel in Massa Marittima which was later covered by a layer of plaster unfortunately survives in only a few details: a portion of St and part of the decoration of the frame are discernible it is necessary to go to the Museum of Ancient Mechanical Organs: a glass pane added in 2003 at the height of the floor (the latter inserted during the eighteenth-century interventions at half the height of what was once the nave of the church) makes it possible to understand how far the fresco once reached Christopher," wrote Alessandro Bagnoli in the essay devoted to new evidence on Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the Siena exhibition catalog conferred by the long wavy cut of the left eye strongly half-closed which is a distinctive characteristic of the Sienese master is astonishing": a revealing detail for assigning the work to Ambrogio in the Majesty now preserved at the Szépm?vészeti Múzeum in Budapest it is difficult to think of this Saint Christopher as a possible sole survivor of that "chapel" mentioned by Ghiberti and Vasari: given its position (on a wall near what must once have been the church altar) and the type of fresco it is likely to have been an isolated figure The "chapel" must therefore be looked for elsewhere The stylistic clues lead to the Cathedral of San Cerbone where it is possible to advance the name of Ambrogio Lorenzetti for an Annunciation located on the wall of the left aisle: for Bagnoli "it could be considered the mural figuration of a chapel." Again freed from the scialbatura in a restoration conducted between 1996 and 1997 only then revealed the magnificent fresco it concealed A fresco that today appears to us faded and worn in a rather precarious state of preservation: nonetheless we are able to appreciate even here Ambrogio Lorenzetti's extraordinary inventions starting with the half-open window that we see beside the Virgin and that the artist inserted to increase the spatial depth of his work (in turn enhanced by the indication of the light source No similar details are found in the work of any other painter of the 14th century The attention to detail typical of the Sienese painter is also evident in the detail of the book: we see it open to the page that the Madonna was reading at the time of the angel's arrival (and standing out solitary between the two open portions of the volume) holds the sign to remind us how far her reading had come There are also elements that bring the San Cerbone Cathedral fresco closer to other Lorenzettian works: Bagnoli identifies in the care with which the open page is depicted the same meticulousness that Ambrose lavished on the rendering of the same detail in theAnnunciation painted in 1344 for the Ufficio di Gabella in Siena; moreover the decoration of the Madonna's halo is the same as that found in the monarch appearing in the episode of the Martyrdom of the Six Franciscans frescoed in the basilica of San Francesco in Siena reveals affinities with that of the Public Profession of St Francis in Siena) or that of the Purification of the Virgin now in the Uffizi the only surviving evidence of Ghiberti and Vasari's "chapel" Given the above elements and the importance of the place that houses it The Maremma activity of Ambrogio Lorenzetti (and the Sienese expansionism of the 14th century) is also responsible for the Roccalbegna Polyptych a painting originally kept in the church of Saints Peter and Paul in the village in the province of Grosseto and which unfortunately has come down to us in fragments: in the central compartment we see what remains of a sumptuous Madonna and Child the titular saints of the parish church of Roccalbegna Recent studies have reconstructed the historical moment when Ambrogio Lorenzetti was entrusted with the execution of the polyptych: Roccalbegna a mining center part of the Mount Amiata district located on the Albegna and Fiora Hills (the hilly area that frames the Grosseto Maremma) became part of the Republic of Siena in the 1390s and from that period the Sienese worked to develop the settlement completely renovating the village and initiating the construction of new buildings These included the parish church of Saints Peter and Paul (at that time the junta that led the Republic) held the patronage of the small church in Roccalbegna and it is therefore more than legitimate to think that it had commissioned the greatest painter of the Republic to create the polyptych that was to embellish the church as the "crowning achievement," explains Federico Carlini which had aimed from the beginning at the integral re-foundation of the local urban identity." The commission of the polyptych was configured as part of the Sienese political strategy: "the works imported from Siena," we read in a 1979 essay by Enrico Castelnuovo and Carlo Ginzburg "were [...] an instrument of penetration of Sienese culture," which the Republic used systematically in the most important conquered centers today the work appears lacunose (and was probably completed by other compartments) but this does not prevent us from appreciating its dimension as a "true masterpiece of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's late maturity" (Carlini) in a compartment resected at an unspecified time foreshortened from below to accommodate the viewpoint of the faithful in the church and framed on either side by two Gothic pointed mullioned windows with two lights and closed behind by a backrest covered with a splendid fabric decorated with geometric motifs The figures are solid and imperious (note the hieratic Paul) and highlighted by very fine elements: this is the case with St and especially with his very elegant crosier (a kind of masterpiece of carving rendered in painting with the curl mounted on a kind of Gothic temple and ending with the depiction of the Eternal Father inserted in a mandorla) but also with the brooch that stops the Virgin's maphorion or the very fine punches that decorate the nimbuses of the Madonna and the saints Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Maremma works confirm his vocation as a great civic painter even before he was an important artist of religious icons Among the first to portray Ambrogio Lorenzetti as a painter-philosopher (as well as a politically engaged artist) was Giorgio Vasari "always practicing with literati and scholars he was by those with title of ingenious received and of continually well regarded and was put to work by the Republic in the public governments many times and with good degree and with good veneration his mind was always disposed to be content with every thing that the world gave him and 'l bene e 'l male as long as he lived he endured with great patience." An educated painter held in high esteem by his fellow citizens (so much so that he participated actively in the political life of his city) Ambrogio Lorenzetti probably devised himself many of the iconographic innovations that he introduced in his works without suffering passively from the choices of the theologians who pointed out to him the programs of the paintings but participating in the first person in their definition And thus succeeding in updating the figurative tradition with his vast culture which extended from literature to philosophy These peculiarities of Ambrogio Lorenzetti were also well highlighted by both the Siena and Massa Marittima exhibitions Here are 10 villages not to be missed in Maremma.1 OrbetelloSurrounded by the waters of its lagoon Orbetello is a jewel waiting to be discovered This rich and lush land has been an important crossroads of people and goods since Etruscan times Over the centuries many have been the lords who have taken turns on this strip of Maremma and for each of them Orbetello has always been a strategic center to be cared for and reinforced The work destined to change the history and fortunes of Orbetello forever dates back to 1842 when the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II inaugurated the dam the narrow embankment that connects the town to the slopes of Argentario It is on this road on the water that one still arrives from Argentario to Orbetello before leaving the car and devoting oneself to a visit among its small and great masterpieces the small church of Santa Maria alle Grazie the cathedral or the spectacular lagoon promenade: Orbetello is full of monuments and evocative views that should be appreciated unhurriedly letting yourself be enraptured by the unique atmosphere of the lagoon Porto Ercole is one of the most popular seaside resorts in Maremma but this ancient fishing village on the Argentario promontory also offers visitors much more The ancient center lies protected by walls and winds at the foot of the imposing Rocca Spagnola in a maze of alleys small squares and steep stairways that overlook the sea and where cars cannot get develops along the splendid natural bay and on its seafront it is possible to find a moment of relaxation immersed in one of the most evocative views where you can recharge your batteries and then go up the coast to discover the 16th-century fortifications such as the Rocca Porto Santo Stefano is the main town of Argentario and one of the most popular vacation spots for tourists and travelers The town of Porto Santo Stefano is developed along its two harbors the commercial one is the largest and ferries to the islands of Giglio and Giannutri also depart from there is surely the most characteristic one and can be reached by walking along the iconic promenade designed by one of the masters of Italian style This is definitely also the most glamorous area of the town full of clubs and restaurants overlooking the sea where you can relax and admire the beauty of this seaside village Perched 400 meters above sea level on the western slope of the Metalliferous Hills Massa Marittima is just under 20 kilometers from the sea and springs up as if by magic from the woods covered with Mediterranean scrub It is precisely its more elevated position and thus far from the malaria-infested marshes of the coast that made Massa Marittima for centuries one of the most flourishing centers in these parts The first traces of settlements are traced back even to prehistoric times while it is known that the Etruscans already exploited its mineral wealth The signs of this long history can still be touched today by walking through the streets of its town center which slopes gently down from the hill toward the coast divided between the Old Town The WWF oasis of Lake Burano, the Tarot Garden the Aldobrandesca fortress: there are many places not to be missed during a visit to Capalbio but for the discreet beauty of its coastline Always a sought-after destination for the Roman jet set Capalbio can now truly satisfy every taste: both of those who are looking for a chic vacation among millionaire villas and exclusive clubs and of those who instead want to enjoy the sea in close contact with a still unspoiled nature lying on a beach that is still proudly free and wild Lying placidly on a hill just over 200 meters above sea level, Montescudaio is an ideal place to relax and fully enjoy the best Maremma has to offer the perfect starting point for so many excursions within the beautiful Tuscan countryside but it is only by putting one foot after the other and wandering through its ancient streets that one can appreciate its full beauty Here it seems as if time has stopped in the Middle Ages an ancient era whose legacy can still be strongly perceived by getting lost in the narrow streets or venturing onto the castle walls from which the eye can sweep as far as the sea Enough to describe in three words the village of Bolgheri one of the best known symbols of this corner of Tuscany In this enchanted place made famous by the verses of the first Italian to receive the Nobel Prize for literature starting with its famous Viale dei Cipressi a real jewel in which to let your imagination run wild among the medieval streets Of particular interest are then the church of Santi Giacomo e Cristoforo Piazza Alberto and again the path to the discovery of Carducci’s life and the famous castle of the Counts della Gherardesca stretched between the slopes of the Piombino promontory and the Gulf of Baratti and was known since ancient times for its intense metallurgical activity Today you can visit the archaeological park in the lower part of which you can admire while in the higher part you can walk in the ancient acropolis with the temples Between the plain and the hills lies the municipality of Campiglia Marittima with its two urban centers: Campiglia and Venturina The latter is famous for its spas and large green areas but it is Campiglia that preserves the most important traces of these lands’ past The roots of the first nucleus of this village are documented as far back as the year 1000 and there are many legacies from these bygone times that can still be admired up close A visit to Campiglia cannot fail to observe first of all the splendid Rocca dating back to the 12th century and then again the parish church of San Giovanni the church of San Lorenzo with its works of art and then the Praetorian Palace Rosignano Marittimo with its seven hamlets is the ideal place for a vacation that combines together art culture and entertainment among crystal clear waters is a charming medieval center that from the top of a hill dominates the entire Tyrrhenian coast and the entire village developed around it A few kilometers from Rosignano is the tourist resort par excellence of these lands: Castiglioncello which with its distinct elegance has always attracted artists No less fascinating is then the hamlet of Vada whose history winds uninterruptedly back to Etruscan times May 15, 2022 Great art comes in a variety of flavors Whether it's a bowl of overripe fruit or a mythological Greek gang-bang … Okay the Greeks sure skewed heavily toward gang-banging nothing soothes humanity's congenital need for creative expression and Classical T&A like a good piece of art Each of the fantastic specimens curated herein provides candid societal glimpses to boot sure to supply that oh-so-nice feeling in the pancreas that makes one contentedly exclaim L'Albero della Fecondita means The Tree of Fecundity and upon a glance it’s looks like a painting of the countless fruiting trees dotting Tuscany's verdant Andrea Anselmi/Wiki Commons But, at a closer look, there's one somewhat notable exception. Instead of bearing apples or oranges, it bears penises from its branches Sailko/Wiki Commons It resides at the marvelously mellifluous Fonti dell'Abbondanza which sounds like some kind of church but isn't a public fountain (fonti) of abundance (abbondanza) and granary that served as the main water supply for the Tuscan town of Massa Marittima And beneath one of its arches resides the phallic façade the mystical dick-tree was the happenin' spot in town with various folk gathered beneath it like coworkers around the water cooler One frescoed with 25 arboreal genitalia because that's how old-school Tuscans liked their waterworks (13th-century Massa Marittima residents would be shocked by this century’s lack of imagination regarding penis graffiti on civic structures.)  But dongs were less vulgar and more symbolic in the olden days One theory says the tree simply represents fertility and good fortune Wiki Commons Therefore, the women standing below the tree and fighting for a fresh phallus aren't the protagonists of an Usher song. But pythonesses carrying out a deviltrous bewitchment: stealing a man's organ and keeping it in a bird's nest, where it would gain sentience and multiply Pick-up lines were a lot more direct back then Sailko/Wiki Commons An equally slick theory posits that the scene is political propaganda. Around this time, the Guelphs and Ghibellines were political Bloods and Crips allied to the Pope or Holy Roman emperor It's possible the Ghibellines created the fresco Sailko/Wiki Commons An eagle representing the Ghibellines to imply that the opposing faction is full of sodomizers who'd bring witchcraft along with sexual Politics has evolved much less than art over the past near-millennium wind-whipped Arles in February 1888 to escape the soul-stifling craziness and pretension of big-city Paris He hoped to establish an artist's commune in the cheery south of France and get into all sorts of Brady Bunchesque familial shenanigans who was antsy and eager to fulfill his destiny as an age-ravaged foreign pedophile in Tahiti Van Gogh only spent about a year in the bright Mistral-besieged Provencal city but produced many of his most famous paintings here despite Among his most gawked at is the Café Terrace at Night, as it's known today. It was Van Gogh's first nighttime thing, painted in September 1888. Actually, since he painted it on the spot and true to life, as researchers dated the configuration of the stars to September 16 or 17th featuring 12 apostles breaking bread and French wine The central figure is Jesus ensconced in a robe with the light above serving as a halo and the window behind forming a cross Other details may also suggest Biblicality such as the addition of evergreen boughs on the right a symbol (appropriated from the pagans) of everlasting life Why do you think you decorate a tree every December Also circa late-September '88, Vincent wrote to his brother, Theo, that he felt a "tremendous need for, shall I say the word—for religion."  And was apparently already thinking in apostolic terms of 12 while buying 12 chairs for his no-show painting buddies That "tremendous need for … religion" quote is from a letter that continues "… so I go outside at night to paint the stars with a group of lively figures of the pals." Van Gogh longed for companionship especially at this jeopardous juncture in his life—his psychotic or epileptic episodes and hospitalization were only a few months off So maybe it's less about Christ and more about wishing he had some boys to crack open cold ones with The term Zaporozhian Cossacks refers to a bunch of surly And Zaporozhian means "beyond the rapids," signifying their domain past the rapids of the Dnipro River what a cool historical nominal practice that probably wouldn't sound impressive today—"John across from the rendering plant" or "Sally from beyond the burned-out PetSmart" don't quite hold up The other word, cossack, derives from Turkic for "free man" and was bestowed upon serfs (and eventually townsfolk and even a few nobles) who would strike out to the steppes and become "their own men." Better than toiling on a farm 22 hours a day just to starve as per European practice throughout the Middle Ages These rascally bastards formed a formidable military and political body circa mid-16th to the late-18th century with a 30,000-square-mile autonomous territory Here they assumed the role of irascible wiener dog and squabbled with every contemporary group The cossacks also inspired awesome art Especially the Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire: Ilya Repin It measures 6'7'', the perfect height for a three-point-chucking shooting guard with subpar handles. It was painted by Ilya Repin over 11 years and became then the most expensive Russian painting ever when Alexander III bought it for 35,000 rubles It depicts the supposed drafting of a letter the cossacks penned in reply to Sultan Mehmed IV Wiki Commons The supposed setting: after the Zaporozhian Cossacks gave the sultan's forces a bit of an ass-paddling, Mehmed IV sent a rudely worded missive asking for the Z’s to surrender, which isn’t how war works. The response from the mercenaries was one of the greatest fulminating remonstrations in history, real or imagined, utilizing an assortment of archaic insults that probably deserve a comeback Though with road rage incidents at an all-time high we don't advise yelling these out your window next time someone cuts you off The 17th-century artist Bichitr is so exquisite it's a shame that most of the seven people who have heard of him call him "Bih-s**tter." He was the finest of Mughal court painters serving as official immortalizer for two prominent emperors Jahāngīr and his successor-to-the-throne son Bichitr studied European art and mended the hemispheric styles It's why he included realistic details like shadows and seemingly out-of-place putti those diabetic little Italian angels with the creepy pug-dog-faces The art is of the "Mughal miniature" style as per Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings (1615-1618) which packs lots of stuff into a 7-by-9-inch frame a master of "imperial self-congratulation," being great while throwing shade at everybody not named himself Bichitr Compared to the grand European canvases of battered Jesuses and poop-stained saints modeled on street urchins (which we'll get to soon) Bichitr's compositions are a Juicy Fruit commercial Floral borders and delicate calligraphy combine with silver and gold metallic paints to attack your eyes with pleasure In the painting, Jahāngīr sits on an hourglass and transcends earthly, mortal time. The dudes on the left are in order of propagandic hierarchy a hot-shot holy man of the Sufi Islamic mystic faith Lesser than his holiness is the Ottoman Sultan and lesser still is a hangdog King James I depicted in a lowly position with a mighty impotent air and his expression as resigned and listless as a brachycephalic luxury cat accepting mortality when dinner is a minute late At the bottom is a self-portrait of Bichitr himself in which he's being honored with royal gifts for being such a great king-painter Bichitr was also an expert at portraying hands an undervalued part of sycophantic portraiture Even the most mentally deranged of Old Masters sometimes produced a wonky hand or wayward finger who faithfully captured Jahāngīr's hands being blinged-out like a Soundcloud could rapper about to hit mainstream Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is unjustly the Michelangelo of lesser renown He's named after the town where he spent his childhood instead of being known for guzzling tallboys (though he was for that too) MMdC earned his appellation through unbridled artistic excellence and mad-hat bat-shittery he'd be the Michelangelo had he been born a bit earlier The "father of the Baroque" led a lifestyle fit for a reprobate-virtuoso. He'd complete a painting in a couple of weeks or less, then spend months walking the streets of Rome with his sword he assaulted a waiter who brought him undercooked artichokes Italians don't tolerate artichoke-oriented tomfoolery So he fled to Naples and became that historic city's exceptional artist In Naples in 1606-1607, he painted the Seven Acts of Mercy for the altar of the Pio Monte della Misericordia, his first masterpiece after catching a body:  Husky/Wiki Commons Caravaggio blessed the "Pious Mount of Mercy" church with a gem of Caravaggian (Caravaggiastic? Caravaggelous?) proportions, featuring his specialty play of shade and light, called chiaroscuro Ask him to paint you some religion and you don't know whether you're getting a Mary modeled on a bloated corpse Editor’s Note: The original review described a flaw with the vertical adjustment of the retention system This problem has now been resolved by Lazer with a running update on all Lazer Jackal KinetiCore helmets produced as of May 2022 We were lucky enough to be invited over to the Winter Bike Connection Event in Massa Marittima, Tuscany to check out the latest products and technology from a handful of exciting European companies, and to actually ride some of it on the beautiful, well-maintained singletrack of the Trail Brothers’ trail network We have a number of first ride reviews from this event coming your way; this one on the Lazer Jackal KinetiCore mountain bike helmet is the first we turn our attention to one of six new helmets benefiting from these controlled crumple zones; the Lazer Jackal KinetiCore MTB Helmet Though we certainly appreciate the benefits of the KinetiCore technology itself our overall experience with this helmet has been a bit of a mixed bag Before going into the fit and comfort of the Lazer Jackal KinetiCore possibly most important feature of this helmet that I investigated; the controlled crumple zones made of variable size and shape blocks of EPS I wanted to know how the EPS crushed down under force without actually crashing in the helmet I was able to crush them very easily by hand They only completely sheered off when I applied a bigger force with my thumb It seems the technology does work exactly as it is intended with Virginia Tech awarding the Lazer Jackal KinetiCore helmet a 5-Star Rating What’s also cool about these controlled crumple zones is that it’s super easy to get a quick visual of just how big an impact you took to the head during a crash as you should be able to see where the EPS blocks have crushed down or sheered off by removing the one-piece comfort liner (harder to lose in the wash than multiple component comfort liners) My head measures up at somewhere between 52cm and 55cm I opted for the small helmet that caters to head circumferences of 52-56cm the most secure fit was found with the retention system set at its lowest position with the cradle in its most extended position it cups the occipital portion of my skull securely while allowing the front of the helmet to sit quite low on my forehead Tightening the retention system I did notice undue pressure points from the sides of the head belt I can alleviate that by running the retention system closer to the middle of its height adjustment range but at the expense of less coverage at the forehead The Jackal worked nicely with the Julbo Quickshift goggles The strap sat securely around the back of lid There are actually two places you could position a goggle strap Lower down the rear of the helmet is a U-shaped strip of rough fabric that also grips the goggle strap well preventing it from slipping up or down while riding With the peak in the high position there was plenty of room to sit the goggles underneath the vertical positioning of the retention system is adjusted using a ratcheting mechanism It is here that I identified a notable flaw (at least with my sample helmet) I found that very little force was required to push the height adjustment through its range of positions to the point where the helmet actually moved through those positions during riding and even on much slower technical trails littered with small drops I was able to hear the height adjustment mechanism of the retention system slip through its positions This caused the helmet body to rotate back off my forehead leaving it a little too exposed for my liking sending our original test helmet back for assessment I recently caught up with them at Eurobike where they informed me they have implemented a running update to the Jackal KinetiCore all Jackal KinetiCore helmets have a more robust ratchet in the back that requires more force to vertically adjust the rear basket While I haven’t tested the new ratchet system I did get to handle the two versions at Eurobike and can confirm that the new ratchet system does indeed require significantly more force to be pushed through its positions It’s important to note here that the vertical adjustment mechanism of the Jackal KinetiCore is not shared by the other helmets across the new KinetiCore range Zach’s Lazer Vento KinetiCore Aero Road helmet appears to have a different The Lazer Jackal KinetiCore mountain bike helmet is shipped with an action camera mount that attaches to the top of the helmet via a velcro strap The mount lacks a metal threaded nut to accept the threads of the pin so you’ll need to source an additional nut to secure the camera in place I didn’t test that feature as I felt the weight of a GoPro atop the helmet would only exacerbate the issue with the retention system (the issue that Lazer has now resolved) Five of the six new KinetiCore helmets, including the Vento and Strada road helmets feature a mount for Lazer’s new Universal LED the light attaches to the helmet via the retention system dial You simply push it in and twist it 90° clockwise to secure The light comprises a set of 4 LEDs with a light sensor and a motion sensor There are no fewer than five modes to choose from the most powerful of which (Boost) produces a solid 40 Lumen light “Safe” is a pulsing 5 Lumen light “Pulse” is a pulsing 20 Lumen light “Move” is a 40 Lumen flashing light activated when movement is detected during day or night and “Night” is a 20 Lumen pulsing light activated when the LED is in motion at night said to be fully recharged after just 1 hour The Lazer Jackal KinetiCore mountain bike helmet is available now in sizes S-XL certified to CE-CPSC and AS safety standards It retails at $219.99 USD and is available in no fewer than eight colorways Lazersport.us My understanding is the high visor position is so you can keep your goggles on the helmet Usually the visor is adjustable and can be lowered to a practical glare-reducing height if you’re not encumbered with goggles this visor is adjustable and can have a very “normal” low position specifically with the Matte Blue Green colorway in their official pictures it’s just that BR chose not to focus on the adjustment or show the visor in the more normal position that many like Produtcs and solutions for business and customers Italy and abroad Live the city with Eni's car-sharing service Once again this year, for the ninth consecutive edition, Eni Rewind is confirmed as main sponsor of the rally competition that winds through the towns of Gavorrano, Follonica, Scarlino and Massa Marittima, in the Tuscan Colline Metallifere The total length of the route is 426,690 km safety measures and the valorisation of the former mining areas transferred to Eni by law in 1978 It’s a renewed opportunity to be present in the territory and participate to an initiative which holds a strong identity value Thousands of red-eared terrapins had been dumped in Britain's waterways in the early 1990s after being bought as pets during the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze Rather than allow them to devour native animals including fish, newts, moorhens and ducklings, a terrapin charity paid for more than 800 to be flown abroad to start a new life in Italy The terrapins took up residence at an idyllic site after the eviction last year of the sanctuary's manager hundreds of the rescued reptiles are dead or dying while scores more of the non-native animals have escaped into the Tuscan countryside according to local people and terrapin experts The Italian sanctuary, known as Carapax, or the European Centre for Chelonian Conservation attracted funds from charities across Europe It received £25 for every terrapin and other non-native chelonian sent to the centre "This was a shipping of animals to their death – to be put in lakes which were not fit for purpose," said Tom Langton an independent ecologist who investigated the project "Animals were underfed and dying with disease The whole thing is bizarre and worrying." there are more than 2,000 terrapins still at large in waterways in the London area alone Many are dinner plate-sized red-eared terrapins (Trachemys scripta elegans) which were discarded by their Ninja Turtle-loving owners Red-eared terrapins are now banned from sale in Britain but many enthusiasts have switched to other similar non-native species the City of London Authority captured rogue terrapins from park ponds in the capital and along with other organisations and individuals The BCG funded the terrapins' expatriation to the Tuscan sanctuary where the creatures could swim in lakes fed by streams warmed by volcanic rock The sanctuary was also claimed to be "hermetically sealed" so that no red-eared terrapins could escape and start terrorising the native species the BCG received evidence that terrapins were dying because the sanctuary's ponds were too small and because fencing was not secure But the charity said it dispatched people to check on the animals' conditions and found no problems referring to his visit to the sanctuary in the autumn of 2007 Eversfield said that he found a muddy pond overcrowded with terrapins with no filtration and fencing through which the creatures could easily escape He said he warned the BCG of the situation said Eversfield's findings were not ignored "When we sent people out to have a look including those who had sent terrapins there they were satisfied with what they found." According to Freeman it was difficult to prove that terrapins had escaped because feral red-eared terrapins were already at large in Tuscany before the sanctuary was built It was a question of [Ballasina's] tenure and that's it," added Freeman "What can we do about another organisation A former Carapax employee said the sanctuary "lost control" of its animals and "turtles spilled into streams After a court battle with the local landowner Ballasina was last year evicted from the site for breaking his tenancy terms Native tortoises and turtles were seized by the Italian authorities but the non-native terrapins were left on the site and the Italian courts allowed Ballasina access to feed the animals Ballasina could not be reached to put the allegations to him In a letter purporting to be from the Belgian based charity the International RANA Foundation the umbrella group of Ballasina's defunct Carapax project a representative accused "local mafia" of forcing the Tuscan centre to close claimed reports of salmonella infections at the site were invented and appealed for more money to pay to feed "8,000 turtles" still there Freeman confirmed the BCG was still funding the feeding of the terrapins left in the sanctuary from charitable donations but insisted that the money – €180 (£157) a week according to the BCG's website – was no longer going to Ballasina or Carapax The Italian authorities appointed Marco Zuffi According to Zuffi the sanctuary became overcrowded because Ballasina was incapable of refusing requests to help terrapins "He should not have accepted so many individuals coming from the UK or other countries," said Zuffi "He wasn't able to say 'no'." Observers who regularly visited the site said that the remaining 1,500 terrapins were in a "pretty bad" way "The animals are evidentially very distressed They come to the shore with their mouths open looking for food It is a sign of animals in a very bad condition." Eversfield said the remaining terrapins were a dilemma for all parties involved "This solution to this is very uncomfortable The site needs to be sanitised and we need to collect the animals and humanely destroy them," he suggested "If you [tell] the public you are going to kill hundreds and hundreds of sliders you're likely to be stopped at all legal levels He said that the terrapins could be repatriated to their countries of origin But he said that there was no timetable for cleaning up the sanctuary This three-day geological field trip is focused on different aspects of the Southern Tuscany hydrothermal district produced by the wide thermal anomaly and magmatism which affected the region in the post-collisional stage of the Apennine orogeny (from Late Miocene to Pleistocene) Past and present hydrothermal activity of southern Tuscany is of great importance from many historical economic and scientific points of view as it produced numerous ore deposits some of which were exploited for their metal contents since the late Chalcolithic and it was also responsible for carbonation of serpentinites that is a good example of natural carbon dioxide sequestration Present-day hydrothermal activity supplies the hot steam exploited in the Larderello-Travale and Mt one of the most important geothermal districts of the world.The excursion includes a visit to the Larderello geothermal field as well as to some relevant ore deposits (the Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag skarn deposit of Temperino Campiglia Marittima; the Cu mine of Pavone and to spectacular natural examples of carbon dioxide sequestration (magnesite mine of Malentrata; surface deposits of hydrated Mg-carbonates at Montecastelli) These exquisitely scientific aspects will be accompanied by a visit to historical and archaeological emergencies of great importance (the medieval towns of Rocca S Silvestro and Massa Marittima; the Etruscan necropolis of Baratti-Populonia) Visualize the volume analytics and third-party cookies.By continuing to browse As part of the 42nd edition of the International Film Festival Assen (IFA), which is taking place from 11 and 13 March, the Italian Cultural Institute of Amsterdam presents the participation of ‘Docudonna’ an international film festival dedicated to documentaries directed by women that takes place annually in Massa Marittima Scheduled for March 13: ‘Becoming Me‘ by Martine De Biasi ‘My Father’s Naples‘ by Alessia Bottone and ‘En Ce Moment‘ by Serena Vittorini which will be attended by Cristina Berlini and Silvia Lelli there will be a question and answer session with directors Serena Vittorini and Alessia Bottone More information on iicamsterdam.esteri.it the Italian Music Festivals project promoted as part of the Estate all'italiana Festival Fare Cinema is a week-long event held annually between May and June and dedicated to the "seventh.. 'Corti d'Autore' (Auteur Shorts) involves the selection of five projects for the creation and production of original and unpublished short.. The second edition of Fare Cinema is dedicated to the numerous professions in the industry outrage: it imposes just one daily obligation of making - Federico Fellini.. everywhere" accompanied the cultural events broadcast worldwide from some of the most spectacular locations in.. A dramatic accident has hit the province of Grosseto Un 18-year-old young man lost his life in a tragic accident that occurred in the Accesa lake when the rescue services were called for an emergency that turned out to be fatal Despite the timely intervention of the emergency teams the medical staff could only confirm the boy's death Immediately after the call to the emergency number 118 an Anpas ambulance and the Pegaso helicopter rescue were sent to the scene The rescuers did everything they could to try to save the young man but unfortunately there was nothing they could do The news deeply affected the local community The tragedy has caused strong emotion among the residents of Massa Marittima and the surrounding municipalities Many knew the young man and his disappearance has left an unfillable void The Carabinieri intervened to carry out the necessary surveys and to gather useful information to reconstruct the dynamics of the accident The authorities are investigating to understand the circumstances that led to this dramatic fatality This tragic event has brought renewed attention to safety at bathing sites where currents and weather conditions can change rapidly It is essential that young people and families remain aware of the risks associated with water and take the necessary precautions Notizie.it is a newspaper registered with the Court of Milan n.68 on 01/03/2018 Impara come descrivere lo scopo dell'immagine (si apre in una nuova scheda) Lascia vuoto se l'immagine è puramente decorativa An eighteen-year-old drowns while at Lake Accesa May Day turned into a day of mourning for the community of Massa Marittima due to a tragic accident that occurred at Lake Accesa An eighteen-year-old boy lost his life by drowning an event that deeply shocked not only his family when rescue workers were called to intervene following an emergency that turned out to be fatal the health workers of the Anpas of Massa Marittima arrived at the scene of the tragedy accompanied by the Pegaso helicopter rescue the doctors could do nothing but confirm the death of the young man The news quickly spread throughout the community The Carabinieri intervened to carry out the necessary surveys and reconstruct the dynamics of the accident trying to understand how such a tragic event could have happened This tragic episode brings to light the issue of safety in bathing areas especially in a period like the current one in which many people go to the lake to spend moments of leisure and relaxation It is essential that adequate safety measures are adopted to prevent similar accidents Local authorities are called to reflect on how to improve safety near lakes and beaches so that tragedies like today's are never repeated The community of Massa Marittima gathers around the young man's family