BACI 2011 XX° Balloon Arts Convention International: Fortezza da Basso, March 24, 2011 - March 29, 2011

24 / 25 MARCH 2011 - Large Sculptures Competitions
If you’re not yet ready to be a team captain we can assign you to a team,
a truly unique and invaluable learning experience!
Se non sei ancora pronto per essere un capitano sarai assegnato ad una squadra,
un'esperienza di apprendimento unica e preziosa!

26 MARCH 2011 - Florence BACI Tour
Choose your favorite activities, detailed information will be sent to all delegates:
- tour the city, the museums, the shops and the trattorias
- visit fashion outlets
- participate in special event décor classes
Scegli le attività che preferisci,
- visita la città, i musei, i negozi e le trattorie
- visita gli outlet- partecipa a lezioni ed eventi speciali

27 / 29 MARCH 2011 - Courses
Inauguration March 27th, 16:00.
CBA examination March 27th , 09:00.
Inaugurazione il 27 Marzo alle ore 16:00.
Esami CBA il 27 Marzo alle ore 09:00.

28 MARCH 2011 - Gala Theme Party
Bring or make your best ISLAND theme costume for an unforgettable party!
Prepara il tuo costume (tema l'isola) per una festa indimenticabile!

HOTEL MARIO'S

Via Faenza, 89

50123 Firenze

Tel. 0039 055 216801

Fax. 0039 055 212039

www.hotelmarios.com

info@hotelmarios.com

Palazzo Strozzi Florence Opens Bronzino: Artist and Poet at the Court of the Medici

Agnolo di Cosimo, known as Bronzino (1503-1572), was one of the greatest artists in the history of Italian painting. Court artist to Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519-1574), his work embodied the sophistication of the Mannerist style. Bronzino. Artist and Poet at the Court of the Medici, on view at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence from 24 September 2010 to 23 January 2011, will be the very first exhibition devoted to his painted work. Bronzino conveyed the elegance of the Medici court in his work with “naturalness” and, at the same time, austere beauty.

Florence is the perfect setting for a monographic exhibition on Bronzino. The son of a butcher, not only was he born and died here, the city houses some of his greatest masterpieces, particularly in the Uffizi but also in other museums and churches. This landmark exhibition, with loans from the world’s most important museums, presents presents 63 works attributed to Bronzino, and 10 to Bronzino and his workshop, along with others by his master Pontormo, with whom he had close ties throughout his life. Bronzino’s paintings, with their sculptural definition, will be shown alongside sculptures by such 16th century masters as Benvenuto Cellini, Tribolo, Baccio Bandinelli and Pierino da Vinci, who were his friends and with whom he exchanged sonnets. The exhibition concludes with a number of works by Alessandro Allori, his favourite pupil.

Most of these jewel-like masterpieces have never been shown together. Alongside the paintings from the Uffizi, the exhibition will include such works as The Adoration of the Shepherds and the Allegory of Venus, Cupid and Jealousy from the Szépm vészeti Múzeum in Budapest, the Venus, Cupid and Satyr from the Galleria di Palazzo Colonna in Rome, the Portrait of a Young Man with a Book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Holy Family with St Anne and St John in the versions in the Musée du Louvre in Paris and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, together with panel paintings from the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, and from the National Gallery of Art, in Washington.

The exhibition will show three hitherto ‘missing’ works by Bronzino, two of which, while recorded and mentioned by Giorgio Vasari, were thought to have been lost: the Crucified Christ which he painted for Bartolomeo Panciatichi, and the St Cosmas, the right-hand panel accompanying the Besançon altarpiece when it originally graced Eleonora da Toledo’s chapel in Palazzo Vecchio. Their rediscovery sheds new light on Bronzino’s work and on his ties with the heretical religious mood that permeated the Medici court before 1550. The third previously unknown picture is Christ Carrying the Cross ascribed to his later years.

The exhibition, which has taken over four years to prepare, is curated by Carlo Falciani and Antonio Natali, the foremost experts on Cinquecento painting who have also contributed to the scholarly catalogue. The exhibition, in conjunction with Drawings of Bronzino at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (20 January to 18 April 2010), will play a central role in fostering a new interpretation of this important artist. For those who enjoyed the New York show, this Florence exhibition is a must-see.

HILLS AROUND FLORENCE: FIESOLE

Fiesole (Vipsul) was probably founded in the 9th-8th century BC, as it was an important member of the Etruscan confederacy, as may be seen from the remains of its ancient walls.

The first recorded mention on the town dates to 283 BC, when the town, then known as Faesulae, was conquered by the Romans. In pagan antiquity it was the seat of a famous school of augurs, and every year twelve young men were sent thither from Rome to study the art of divination. Sulla colonized it with veterans, who afterwards, under the leadership of Gaius Mallius, supported the cause of Catilina.[1][2]

Fiesole was the scene of Stilicho's great victory over the Germanic hordes of the Vandals and Suevi under Radagaisus in 406.[3] During the Gothic War (536-53) the town was several times besieged. In 539 Justinus, the Byzantine general, captured it and razed its fortifications.

It was an independent town for several centuries in the early Middle Ages, no less powerful than Florence in the valley below, and many wars arose between them; in 1010 and 1025 Fiesole was sacked by the Florentines, before it was conquered by Florence in 1125, and its leading families obliged to take up their residence in Florence.

By the 14th century, rich Florentines had countryside villas in Fiesole, and one of them is the setting of the frame narrative of the Decameron, also Boccaccio wrote the poem "Ninfale fiesolano". Robert Browning also mentions "sober pleasant Fiesole" several times in his poem, Andrea del Sarto.

How to get to the airport from Santa Maria Novella station,Florence

Dear Friends,

as you probably know we are located next to the railway station in Florence, only 200 metres far from it. How to go to the airport? 2 possibilities: one is the taxi, very easy to take ( we can call it from Hotel Mario's or you find many of them at the station ); taxi costs 20 Euro ( plus 1 euro per luggage ) from Station to Airport Amerigo Vespucci.
The second possibility is to catch a Sita bus from their station, just some metres out the train station Santa Maria Novella ( via Santa Caterina da Siena,next to Bar Deanna ).It runs every 30 minutes from 6 o'clock am and takes about half an hour.
There is also a third possibility :ATAF bus 65,runs almost every hour up to 2300 (this service makes other stops). €6/35 mins. For more info: SAF-Società Aeroporto Fiorentino, Tel +39 055 30615.
Even in this way, our fantastic position helps clients to get here in a very easy way. Then, we'll take care of you for all the rest.
Hotel Mario's Florence, via Faenza 89, 50123 info@hotelmarios.com www.hotelmarios.com