An array of Italian tradition

The third Italian festival will offer the island's residents a taste of the culturally rich European nation as it celebrates the 150th anniversary of its unification.

The festival, which started on Sunday and continues until February 11, is showcasing an array of traditions, customs and heritage.

Highlighting the Renaissance period, a unique collection of six portrait paintings will be displayed for the first time in the region at the Bahrain National Museum from today until February 17.

The island will also play host to its debut BD25-a-head Italian Grand Ball, which will be staged at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence & Spa on February 10.

Not only will guests get the opportunity to sample Italian cuisine and culture, they will also get the chance to link their name to the restoration of a masterpiece. A special presentation will be made on a new museum 'degli innocenti' in Florence which is in the process of being built.

The following evening a free opera night will be staged entitled 'Venice: the Music Reflects in the Sea' at the Cultural Hall in Manama.

The festival started with a presentation held at the Bahrain Institute for Hospitality and Retail in Barbar. Acclaimed Chef Domenico Rubini who was flown in from Italy to stage 'The Art of Cooking: Presentation of Italian Cuisine' fresh from dishing up a special pasta for guests and delegates the night before at the Italian Ambassador Enrico Padula's residence in Saar.

His wife, Milena, said: "The cooking event at the BIHR was originally planned for the students of the institute and amateur chefs. However, we were very surprised with the response with more than 50 people showing up - it was much bigger than we expected. We were really happy to see such interest in Italian cuisine."

Alongside members of the public and students of the institute, the presentation was attended by top chefs from many of the leading hotels across the island.

Chef Domenico, 27, hails from the Puglia region in southern Italy, an area celebrated for its cuisine. He boasts 11 years of culinary experience and has worked with restaurants and hotels in his hometown, Milan as well as in London.

The programme

Tonight, 7pm

Opening of 'The Portrait in Renaissance' at the Bahrain National Museum

Tomorrow, 8pm

Cinema Review 'Signorina Effe' at the Dana Mall Cinema

Ticket - BD3

Friday, 8pm

Cinema Review 'Ex' at the Bahrain Cinema Club, Juffair

Saturday, 8pm

Cinema Review 'Alza la testa' at the Dana Mall Cinema

Ticket - BD3

Sunday, 8pm

Cinema Review 'Riprendermi' at Bahrain Cinema Club

Monday, 8pm

Italy @150 - A presentation of the celebrations in Torino at the Bahrain National Museum

Tuesday, 7.30pm

Dances Lessons - Minuetto practice for the Grand Ball at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence & Spa

Cinema Review 'L'ultimo Pulcinella' at Dana Mall Cinema

Ticket - BD3

February 9, 7pm

Uffizi Touch Experience - Al Riwaq Art Gallery

February 10, 8pm

Italian Grand Ball at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence & Spa

Ticket - BD25

February 11, 8pm

Opera Night / Venice: The Music reflects in the Sea at the Cultural Hall in Manama

SIX paintings from the Renaissance period (14th - 16th century) will be exhibited during the festival from today until February 17 at the Bahrain National Museum.

They reflect one of the most meaningful expressions of the Renaissance spirit - perceived as the 'rebirth' of ancient traditions marked the transition of Europe from the Medieval period to the Early Modern age.

It began in Italy because of its location in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and at that time centre of commerce between Europe and Eurasia, thus a Cultural Diffusion point between the Europeans and the Muslims.

Perspective and attention to light became important to artists, as well as architectural accuracy in backgrounds. Popular subject matter included Biblical characters and subjects from Greek and Roman mythology.

TINTORETTO (1518-1594), was an Italian painter and a notable exponent of the Venetian Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso, and his dramatic use of perspectival space and special lighting effects make him a precursor of Baroque art.

TIZIANO VECELLI (1490-1576) better known as 'Titian' was the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. Recognised by his contemporaries as 'The Sun Amidst Small Stars', Titian was versatile, equally adept with portraits landscapes, and religious subjects.

GIULIO CAMPI (1500-1572) was a painter and an architect. His numerous paintings are grandly and reverently conceived, freely drawn, vigorously coloured, lofty in style, and broadly handled. He is considered by many to be one of the most accomplised artists of his time and left behind a broad range of work.

PARIS BORDON (or Bordone) (1495-1570) was a Venetian painter of the Renaissance who while training with Tiziano, maintained a strand of mannerist complexity and provincial vigor. He was known for his religious, mythological, and anecdotal subjects.

SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO (1485-1547), used the byname of Sebastiano Luciani. He was an Italian Renaissancee-Mannerist painter of the early 16th century famous for his combination of the colors of the Venetian school and the monumental forms of the Roman school.

PIETRO DELLA VECCHIA (1603-1678) was born as Pietro Muttoni. He was well known among his contemporaries for his ability to imitate the styles of 16th-century masters, he was also known in his own right for his purposefully 'grotesque' paintings and portraiture.