“The Battle of Anghiari” is a painting of the battle between the Florentine Republic and a Milanese army at Anghiari in Tuscany by the Italian Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci.

It enjoys the same fame as “Mona Lisa,” but has been missing for 400 years. After it was proved the painting was hidden inside the wall of the Florentine governmental office by scientists, a special group was established for its excavation.

“The Battle of Anghiari,” which was recognized for its description of human violence in war, is considered one of the most important paintings by Leonardo da Vinci. It was drawn by da Vinci at the present Florentine governmental office.

Martin Koepp, a professor from Oxford University and the organizer of a da Vinci painting exhibition in Britain, said the “Mona Lisa” changed the way portraits were painted, “The Last Dinner” transformed narration in paintings and “The Battle of Anghiari” altered the way paintings can describe violence.

But in the 1560s ,during an office renovation, people realized a new painting covered the original “The Battle of Anghiari.”

Art historiographers proved there was one-inch-long empty space behind the new painting where “The Battle of Anghiari “could be hidden.

This allegation shocked the world. People expected to see the original masterpiece “The Battle of Anghiari.”

HANGZHOU, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) — The city of Florence in Italy will give to Ningbo, a coastal city of east China’s Zhejiang Province, a bronze replica of the statue of David, a Michelangeloma sterpiece, said the Ningbo city government on Friday.

The city has received a special letter from Italy confirming the gift of the 5.17-meter-high replica from Florence, said Yu Danhua, a spokesman for the Ningbo city government at a news conference. The gift statue is the same size as the original.

The replica has been completed and is expected to be transported to Ningbo next month, where an Italian Fashion and Cultural Week will be held at that time with Ningbo and Florence as co-sponsors, according to the spokesman.

The Italian fashion week is also part of the cultural exchanges for the Year of Italy in China in 2006.

This is the first time Florence has presented a replica of the statue of David to another city, said Mario Razzanelli, a legislator of Florence, at the conference.

It is hoped the gift will help promote the friendship and exchanges between Italian and Chinese peoples, said Razzanelli.

In return, the Ningbo city government decided to present Florence a pair of carved stone lions, Yu said.

Beijing, National Library of China, September 5-18

Curated by Casalini Libri Press

Promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Directorate General for Cultural Promotion and by the Italian Embassy Cultural Office in Beijing, in cooperation with the National Library of China

The exhibition will display a few hundreds of books that are particularly representative of the Italian culture in all its facets: visual arts, language and literature, history, social sciences, music, cinema, theatre and local traditions. The books, chosen by the National Library of China based on a pre-selection by Casalini Libri Press of recent works by the best Italian editors, will become permanent assets of the National Library of China, thanks to the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aimed at increasing the visibility of Italian editors and of the Italian culture in general.

Beside the books specifically sent for the exhibition, described in a catalogue in Chinese, Italian and English, the National Library of China will also display some Italian works recently purchased upon suggestion by Casalini Libri Press.

Source: yidalinian.org

September 9-20, National Art Museum of China, Beijing

In 1993 Valentino was the Guest of honour of the first edition of the Chinese trade fair “Chic”. Due to a specific will of the Chinese Government, Valentino is the very first Italian label which was brought into the Chinese market, a world almost unaware, until then, of what fashion was about.

In September, pursuing the hearty welcome received by the Chinese, Valentino returns to Beijing with “A fashion presentation of the launch of Valentino in China”, where he reassess the colour black, to emphasize the mystery and sensuality of women.

The stage of the event will be the square in front of the most prestigious museum of Chinese art. At the end of the fashion show, around 15 among his most important creations in red “rosso Valentino”, which is also “rosso China”, will be displayed at the Museum in the exhibition “Red Gowns” from September 10-20.

Valentino’s fashion stands for a dream of beauty and style. It is an aesthetic representation of an ideal of perfection, of a suggestion which, by its contact with the real world, becomes alive, becomes feelings and emotions. It is a dream that in forty years aroused among millions of clients and of women who are willing to share and engage with the sense of eternal romanticism of Valentino.

Source: yidalinian.org

Shanghai, Urban Planning Exhibition Centre, February 24 - April 12
Chengdu, Sichuan Art Museum, April 27 - May 28
Jinan, Shandong Art Museum, June 16-26
Dalian, Art Museum, July 3-25 / Xi’an, Shaanxi Art Museum, August 5-25 /
Wuhan, Wubei Art Museum, September 3-23

Omar Galliani’s travelling exhibition, promoted by the Italian Centre for Culture and the Arts, is edited by Fiorella Minervino and Vincenzo Sanfo, in cooperation with the Municipality of Shanghai and the China International Exhibition Agency (CIEA).
The exhibition, featuring about 40 works of art, was inaugurated on February 24 at Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center and will travel to other cities across China.