Italy's Free Museums : Civita Castellana's Fortress

Edward Lear- Ponte Clementino and Fortezza Sangallo
with Monte Soratte in the background 

Recently  Italian  Culture Minister Franceschini  announced that museums in Italy  would be free  on the first Sunday of each month. At the same time he  annulled  the existing  free entrance for  citizens over  65, annoying   pensioners who  had been enjoying this valuable  cultural opportunity during the week.

one of many papal  monuments  

Julius II  fireplace 

 He is also  getting into  hot water  with other European member  states for cancelling  existing reciprocal agreements. Somehow it doesn’t make sense to be able to visit  state   museums in France, Spain and other European community  cities freely while paying a full price entrance ticket  to visit museums in  one's own  country. 

main courtyard  of the Fortezza di Sangallo 

It was a nice surprise then  to visit Civita Castellana’s  Museo dell'Agro Falisco  last Saturday  and also enjoy  a free hour-long  tour with  the  head of the museum for the past  30 years.   

with Claudio, Caposervizio  at the Museum for over 30 years 

Signor Claudio showed us and another couple around, explaining  the history, architecture and exhibits as if he were showing friends around his own home.

  The imposing  fortress/museum was built by Sangallo the Elder  for  the Borgia and Della Rovere popes (Alexander VI  and  Julius II) in  the  Renaissance  years  in order to guard the roads to  Rome, a day's march away.

Later it used as a prison for the Papal  States  and during the second world war numerous  homeless  families found refuge here  after  the city was bombed.   

The fortified castle has a very picturesque  setting  with   towers and moats overlooking  steep  gorges  and the  Clementino  bridge. Since it was  constructed  in 1712, the bridge  has been  a favorite subject for painters  of the  Grand Tour as well as those  contemporary artists who come to paint here each summer.

well head with Pope Julius II's coat of arms

crossing the drawbridge 

one of the painted loggias 

The museum’s collections include Etruscan and Greek vases once belonging to the local noble  Feroldi family, a unique Etruscan chariot, terracotta and marble sculpture  and funerary monuments.

bronze chariot 

Visitors  can  admire  objects of  the Faliscans  and realize what a shame it is that so  little is left  of  this  pre-Roman   civilization  which flourished   in Falerii Veteres, nowadays known as  Civita Castellana. 

The Jewels of Rome with Kevin Murray

 Born  in New South Wales, Australia, Kevin Murray has lived  in Rome  for  over  40 years and  considers  the Eternal City his home. 

with the artist in his studio

 Many decades ago  he earned a diploma at the Accademia delle  Belle Arti where he studied  painting (with Gentilini) and etching (with Maccari) as well as   mosaic technique in Ravenna’s Centro Internazionale del Mosaico.

Fountain of the Turtles 

Kevin and I were colleagues  in the 1970s-80s  when he taught  art and history to international students  and survival English to Russian émigrés in Rome. 

He  balanced  his teaching  with his art so well that  former students  often described him  as a Renaissance man for he is comfortable wearing many hats.

St, Peter's dome and the Tiber 

Besides directing excavations in Herculaneum, he held numerous one man shows in Sydney and Adelaide  (1971-1988)  as well as in  prestigious galleries of Rome and Florence like the Valle Giulia gallery, The Crypt  and Bottega di Cimabue.

still life 

a period palazzetto  with a Roman temple at the end of the street

Now comfortably settled in a period  palazzetto  between the temple of Minerva  and the multi cultural neighborhood of Pza. Vittorio, Kevin has carved out a  home and studio  that reflects  his eclectic lifestyle made up of  painting, music  and  cinema. 

Murray's  Roman terrace

You may have seen Kevin playing a cardinal in the recent  Nanni Moretti  film “Habemus Papem” .

What  are the jewels of Rome according to  Kevin Murray?

vicolo  Piazza Navona 

They include the  cupolas of many Roman churches and food enjoyed  during  visit to the  Roman campagna, just as  his predecessors of the Grand Tour .  

view of Roman countryside 

Benediction loggia, San Marco 

His latest  personal exhibit continues  until July  18  at  Studio Minera, Via Pietro Micca 6, Rome. 

An invitation to fellow expats and former students  to stop by and see  the Jewels of Rome.    RSVP to  dellascala4@gmail.com  

      Other paintings   www.artbreak.com/kevin2009

Unusual Florence- with artist Martha Wakeman

           Artist  Martha Wakeman, who now resides in Connecticut,  has been coming to Florence and the hills of Settignano  and Fiesole  for decades.  

Her dreamy pastels  give present day travelers   a personal view of Florence and its suburbs . 

She  shares her fascination for  the Florentine light, shadows and  atmosphere  with student-artists  during  annual art retreats, this year to be held  in October at a  lovely  family-run pensione in Fiesole. 

More information on her website. 

Throughout history innumerable artists,  creative people  and  travelers  have immersed themselves in the magic of  Florence and received   inspiration from the city and its artistic wonders. 

From our archives - an 1878 view of Florence from San Miniato 

While rambling through the Pitti Palace  or relaxing  under the trees in the Boboli Gardens, you can still feel the presence of these past visitors.

Following  in the footsteps of  historic travelers and writers adds a deeper appreciation to a stay in Florence. 


Reading  about their  itineraries reveals  how much-and how- the city has changed.

  The Medici  palaces and  zoological collections  in the Specola museum were "must-sees" for 17-18th century travelers, but are now  ignored by  most modern tourists. 

The Medici 's pet hippo once  lived in Boboli Gardens
 stuffed and kept at the Specola 

For an unusual view of what it was like to visit Florence during the 1700s  see  “Travels to Tuscany and Northern Lazio”,  based on the diaries of  an exiled claimant  to the English throne.

The exiled royal Stuart family lived in Florence,  renting one of the Corsini family palaces, during the early 1700s.  The Corsini family still conserve a beautiful  double portrait of the Stuart princes they received at this time. 

Palazzo Corsini and   the double portrait given to the family by the Stuarts
illustrations from "Travels to Tuscany and N. Lazio"

Later, at the height of his influence as a Prince of the Church, Cardinal Henry, made trips to Tuscany and northern Lazio in 1763, 1764 and 1776.   Each of these voyages was meticulously documented by his secretary Don Giovanni Landò.

Original diary of the Travels- 1764, discovered at  the British Library 

Royal coat of arms in Palazzo Guadagni San Clemente,
now the University's School of Architecture   

The Cardinal’s travels were also sight-seeing expeditions and his secretary’s detailed descriptions are a mine of information on the treasures of the many villas, churches and cities visited. 


 The gifts presented and received  were incredible: from gastronomic delicacies to  silver candlesticks and rock crystal altar ornaments.  Also much appreciated was Spanish tobacco, snuff  and foreign wines. 


 The Cardinal's diary gives a fascinating  picture of a royal progress that makes one want to  jump on the next train to Florence and follow in his footsteps with his diary as a guide. 

He   visited the  private Medici zoo where exotic animals -elephants and other African species- were kept. 

Fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli (Palazzo Medici Riccardi) shows

  young  Giuliano de'Medici  with his exotic  pets .

Musical events and local festivities such as   the cuccagna  and  the tossing of cooked meats  to the crowds in the piazza are described  in detail. 

Modern readers may be appalled to read of cruel  "fights between the wild beasts” staged for religious festivities and to entertain  the Cardinal and his entourage.  

  Today the rooms used for this zoo can still be seen as well as the  skeletons of ostriches,  badgers, porcupines, monkeys and other animals that once roamed the Boboli Gardens.  

Find out what Florence was like in 1700s

presentation of  Travels to Tuscay and N. Lazio, Library of Uffizi Gallery, Florence
l. to r.:  Maurizio Bossi, Cristina Acidini, Claudio DeBenedetti, Mary Jane Cryan

Researchers will find copies of "Travels to Tuscany and Northern Lazio " at the  American Academy and British School at Rome libraries,  Paul Mellon Centre and British Library in London and dozens of academic  libraries in N. America and Europe.  

  Limited copies still available  directly  from the author.