The Battle of Marciano (La battaglia di Marciano) is a huge, impressive fresco painted by the Italian architect, historian, painter, and writer Giorgio Vasari in 1565 for Cosimo I de’ Medici in the Hall of the Five Hundred in Palazzo Vecchio.
The exact name of the painting, which plays a key role in Dan Brown’s 2013 novel Inferno, is The victory of Cosimo I at Marciano in Val di Chiana (La vittoria di Cosimo I a Marciano in Val di Chiana).
In his 2013 novel Inferno, Dan Brown mentions the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. As it was so important for both Medieval Florence and the life of poet Dante Alighieri, we want to briefly explain what this opposition was about. Simply put, the Guelphs and Ghibellines were rival parties in medieval Germany and…
In his last novel Inferno, Dan Brown decided to tackle the theme of global overpopulation, referring also to the Black Death (Peste Nera) of 1348, which killed a third of Europe’s population.
As in all his books, however, he prefers to ask questions of his readers rather than give them solutions.
The city of Florence used to be surrounded by high defensive walls. In Dan Brown’s Inferno, the adventures of the main character Robert Langon take place in this city.
The city walls surrounding Florence have been widened and rebuilt over the centuries six different times (although the actual count is controversial) to defend the city, which has undergone various expansions and contractions. Fortunately, solid and impressive remnants of the ancient city walls still survive: the doors (porte) and a few towers.
The Calcio Storico Fiorentino is a combination of soccer, rugby and big time wrestling that originated in 16th century Florence and is played today in historical costume in Florence, the city in which Dan Brown’s latest novel, Inferno, is set.
The Renaissance is a term that refers to the historical, cultural, and artistic movement that developed first in Italy and then quickly spread throughout the rest of Europe, from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. The various disciplines differed considerably from area to area. This movement was characterized by the emergence of a new way of looking at life and the revival of studies and the arts.
There is a consensus that the Renaissance began in Florence, Italy, in the 14th century. Robert Langdon, the main character in Dan Brown’s Inferno agrees.
The Buondelmonti was a wealthy Florentine family that belonged to the landed gentry. Knowledge of this family dates the twelfth century. The Buondelmonti become one of the most important families in Florence thanks to good investments: while they were not merchants and bankers, like the Medici, they were very interested in politics.
