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Article: The New Renaissance.(Italy)
- Article from:
- Europe
- Article date:
- October 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Delegation of the European Commission. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Entrepreneur and art historian Luca Ales is convinced that Italy is in the midst of a new renaissance. In 1991, he and a handful of partners in Rome founded Arcimbuldo, an organization dedicated to heightening public awareness of Italy's artistic heritage. This summer, he spent his weekends showing Romans around the Domus Aurea, Emperor Nero's recently restored 500-room villa, which opened to the public last June.
At the heart of this rebirth is a trend of increased public appreciation for Italy's artistic and cultural patrimony. Ales's organization alone has seen membership jump from forty-five people at its inception in 1991 to more than 900 this year. In Rome ...