This issue comes out at an important moment for the Fondazione: on the eve of the traditional meeting for the approval of the final balance but especially of the emanation of the proposed law regarding the future of such bodies. We wanted to celebrate these appointments with a special number in commemoration of our city's many legendary figures by a means of a series of…

The troubled history of the palazzina of Marfisa d'Este. At the bottom of corso Giovecca stands the Palazzina of Marfisa d'Este: a noble and harmonious building, its architecture is imbued with a sense of moderate, contained rhythm. It was built in the mid Seventeenth century by order of Francesco I d'Este, the third son of Alfonso I and Lucrezia Borgia. The structure was part of…

«...The hope is that other generations will help reconstruct the lost gardens.» The story of Ferrara's gardens is a strange and absorbing one. In the days of its greatest splendour, the city of the Este's had constructed a system of gardens that made Ferrara famous throughout the world and served to create that particular architectonic feature known as a pleasaunce. And yet, with the devolution…

Although thirty-two years old, the famous literary prize is still alive. Edmond Goncourt used to say: "IN their FIRST YEAR literary prizes ARE lusted after LIKE a beautiful young heiress; by the SECOND YEAR they ARE old; the third YEAR, they're decrepit; the fourth, they're dead". Fortunately it's not always like this, as the Prix Goncourt itself shows. After thirty two years the Premio Estense…

An international convention held in Ferrara: Cities for Cyclists. This September a conference was held in Ferrara in which English was the official language. What on earth did they have to talk about? Well, the conference was about a subject that could hardly have been more "Ferrarese": the bicycle. The title of the conference was strictly English: Cities for Cyclists. The most important thing achieved…

A titanic work of documentation and research into the history of Ferrarese art is about to be completed. The first tome of the second volume by Adriano Franceschini Artisti a Ferrara in età umanistica. Testimonianze archivìstiche (Parte II. Dal 1472 al 1492) - published by Corbo Editore on behalf of the Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara - has reached the market right on schedule. In…

The imposing figure of a teacher who imparted an extraordinary lesson in moral rectitude to his students. October 1934. Mussolini, irritated with Hitler, had ordered some divisions to the Brenner Pass to defend the border with Catholic Austria; on the football field Italy had just won its first World Cup; in the Palazzo dei Diamanti, in Ferrara, the exhibition on the Ferrarese Renaissance had just…

Sounds, noises, and silences accompany man throughout life. In a letter to Lucillus, Seneca offers a lively description of the noisy neighbourhood in which he lived: «I'll be damned if silence is all that necessary, as it seems, for reflection and study. You see, I'm surrounded on all sides by a devilish din: I live right above a seaside resort. You can just imagine the…

The application of modern technologies may give a powerful boost to food production and industrial agriculture. Bio-technology means the technological use of vegetable, animal and microbial cells for the production of goods and services. In agriculture, biofertilizers are already in use (rhizomes for legumes, cyanobacteria for the rice fields, actinomyces for reforestation), phytostimulators (mycorrhizas for the production of truffles and boletus mushrooms, azospyrillae for the…

A new economics faculty at the University of Ferrara. Only a few days ago the National University Committee approved the project put forward by the University of Ferrara for the establishment of a Faculty of Economics, one of the few degree courses that the city's university still does not offer. From my own personal standpoint - given that I have always been a staunch supporter…

Isabella d'Este, or the culture of luxury in the courts of Ferrara and Mantua. For those interested in manifestations of luxury and display, the mention of the Este family inevitably calls up the image of Isabella, eldest daughter of Ercole I and Eleonora d'Aragona.In fact little Isabella was barely six months old when among other clothing expenses we find a payment for the lining in…

The Italian insurance business, which developed last century, has its main centres in Trieste, Milan, Turin, Genoa and Rome. A major cultural and artistic centre in the Nineteenth century, Ferrara underwent a period of economic development that gradually transformed it into an important commercial and industrial centre but one in which its traditional role as the capital of a predominantly agricultural province was not complemented…

To stay or to go? Ferrara's difficult relationship with its artists. According to the French author Charles Baudelaire, a poet's mother, when she became aware of her son's artistic vocation, instantly cursed her fate, «Ah! Que n'ai-je mis tout un noeud de vipères /Plutôt que de nourrir cette dérision!».The city behaves in like fashion with those who sabotage the arts and crafts dear to the…

The perennial need to safeguard the territory.There have been many recurring misunderstandings regarding the aims of land reclamation in the Ferrara area. In order to provide an overview of this aspect - given the absolute need to reinforce and qualify at all levels initiatives calculated to develop an all embracing and not merely agricultural view of work undertaken - we should at least bear in…

In memory of a Ferrarese on the eve of his two hundredth anniversary. Gaetano Recchi, born in Ferrara on the 13th of December 1798, was extremely active as a politician, civil servant, scholar and writer during that troubled period of European and Italian history between the French revolution of 1830 to the second war of Italian independence.

In Ferrara, the history of culture doesn't mean only Renaissance and the Twentieth century. Ferrara has always been subjected to judgements and assessments that bind her to fascinating moments in its history, moments that - nevertheless - precisely because of their richness and quality, negate a consistent part of the life of the city and therefore end up by misrepresenting and ultimately impoverishing it. It…

Lo stato di avanzamento dei restauri della Basilica di Santa Maria in Vado. La firma della convenzione tra Ministero dei Beni Culturali e Ambientali, la Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara e la Parrocchia, avvenuta il 26 marzo 1996, ha suggellato un impegno del tutto straordinario per Santa Maria in Vado: in quell'occasione infatti è risultata ben chiara la volontà di dedicare ingenti risorse per…

Il Vicepresidente della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara interviene sul rapporto tra Fondazione e Cassa. Sulla porta che dà accesso alla sala del Consiglio di Amministrazione della Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara, fra trionfi di cornucopie e volute floreali scolpite nel legno di quercia, è inciso il motto In die bona fruere bonis et malam die precave. Un imperativo per gli amministratori che entravano…

Quale strategia per una banca locale? Il Presidente della Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara illustra iprogetti strategici della banca per i prossimi anni. E' in atto, a livello nazionale, un ampio dibattito sul futuro delle banche. Gli argomenti all'ordine del giorno sono molteplici e tra loro interconnessi: la privatizzazione delle banche pubbliche e delle Casse di Risparmio; le alleanze, aggregazioni e fusioni; la riorganizzazione dei…

Le forme più diffuse di risparmio: analisi e prospettive secondo il Direttore generale della Cassa. Volendo fare un rapido sondaggio sugli investimenti preferiti dai risparmiatori italiani negli ultimi dieci anni, sicuramente ne uscirebbero vincenti i titoli di Stato e la prima casa di abitazione. Il mattone e il Bot hanno rappresentato il rifugio tradizionale per la maggior parte delle famiglie, cui hanno riservato ampie soddisfazioni.…

Lapsi Phaetontis in amneEridano vitreus qua Mincius influit, acti Remigio nautis, cado cursuque secundo,Conspicimus quas fortis habet Ferraria turres, Quin et Atestini ducis inclita tecta, viasque Latas, et Musis Phoeboque addicta Lycaea, Et Calcagnini Celebris, tumulumque Gyraldi Visimus et reliquam visu quae digna per urbemSpinti a forza di remi dai battellieri sul fiume Po,là dove cadde Fetonte, dove sfocia il Mincio,col tempo e con la…

Ferrara. Voci di una cittàRivista semestrale di cultura, informazione e attualitàAnno 3, numero 5Dicembre 1996Registrata presso il Tribunale di Ferrara il 9 novembre 1994 con il numero 13/94Spedizione in abbonamento postale c. 27, art. 2, l. 549/95Edizione fuori commercio, riservata ai soci e agli amici della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara