2012, Florence and the Vespucci celebration

Last year Florence’s mayor Matteo Renzi announced that 2012 was going be the year dedicated to the 500 years of the death of Amerigo Vespucci, the Florentine explorer who, in the fifteenth century, sailed the Atlantic and reached the coasts of America that was named after him.

The city has an interesting calendar of activities lined up aiming at exploring the strong links Florence-New Continent from the fifteenth century up to nowadays. One of the forthcoming event is the exhibition “Americani a Firenze. Sargent e gli impressionisti del Nuovo Mondo” (Americans in Florence. Sargent and the impressionists of the New World) scheduled from March 3^rd to July 15^th at Palazzo Strozzi.

For those who happen to be in Florence next week a couple of appointments are worth mentioning. On Monday 20^th the “Comitato Amerigo Vespucci a Casa Sua” will held a conference on the Tuscans navigators – specific focus on Amerigo Vespucci - at Villa il Ventaglio (details below). The “Comitato” is active in Florence and surroundings to promote the study and research on Amerigo’s life and travels. Interesting articles have recently appeared in the group’s publications “Quaderni Vespucciani. I Navigatori Toscani” (the number 4 has just been issued) that can be found at the Libreria de’Servi (via de’Servi, Florence)

Celebration will continue on Wednesday 22^nd in Ognissanti, the original “hub” of the Vespucci family since the thirteenth century, where the annual speeches/music band performance will be carried out in honour of Amerigo (details below)

Enjoy!