Museo De La Caricatura

Culture of Italy
From antiquity until the 16th century, Italy was at the centre of Western culture, fulcrum or origin of the Etruscan civilization, Ancient Rome, the Roman Catholic Church, Humanism and the Renaissance.[1]
Etruscan and Samnite cultures flourished in Italy before the emergence of the Roman Empire, which conquered and incorporated them. Phoenicians and Greeks establishedsettlements in Italy beginning several centuries before the birth of Jesus, and the Greek settlements in particular developed into thriving classical civilizations. The Greek ruins in southern Italy are perhaps the most spectacular and best preserved anywhere. With Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in 312, Rome became the open and official seat of the Catholic Church, and Italy has had aprofound effect on the development of Christianity and of Western concepts of faith and morality ever since.[2]
The Medieval communes were Europe's first bourgeois societies;[3] associations of townsmen that arose during the 11th century to overthrow the rule of the local bishop or feudal magnates. The communal experience of medieval Italy was somehow salient for the origins of moderndemocracy.[4][nb 1]
Italy became also a seat of great formal learning in 1088 with the establishment of the University of Bologna, the first university in Europe.[5] Other Italian universities soon followed. For example, the Schola Medica Salernitana, in southern Italy, was the first medical school of medieval Europe.[6] These great centers of learning presaged the Renaissance, as did innovative works byItaly's great late-Gothic artists. The European Renaissance began in Italy and was fueled throughout Europe by Italian painting, sculpture, architecture, science, literature, and music. Italy continued its leading cultural role through the Baroque period and into the Romantic period, when its dominance in painting and sculpture diminished and it reestablished a strong presence in music.
Italianartists have been quite influential in the 20th century, and some of the Italian exponents of Modernism in the 1920s and 1930s continue to have a strong presence in the international contemporary art market. Following World War II, Italian neorealism became an important force in motion pictures, and by the 1960s, Italy had established itself as one of a handful of great European film cultures. TodayItaly is one of the international leaders in fashion and design. Both the internal and external facets of Western Civilization were born on the Italian Peninsula, whether one looks at the history of the Christian faith, civil institutions (such as the Senate), philosophy, law,[7] art, science, or social customs and culture.
Italy did not exist as a political state until its unification in 1861.[8]Due to this comparatively late unification, and the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the Italian peninsula, many traditions and customs that are now recognized as distinctly Italian can be identified by their regions of origin. Despite the political and social isolation of these regions, Italy's contributions to the cultural and historical heritage of Europe remain immense. Famouselements of Italian culture are its opera and music, its iconic gastronomy and food, which are commonly regarded as amongst the most popular in the world,[9] its cinema (with classic films such as La Dolce Vita, Life is Beautiful, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly etc.), its collections of priceless works of art and its fashion (Milan is regarded as one of the fashion capitals of the world).
Italy ishome to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (47) to date,[10] and one estimate says that the country is home to half the world's great art treasures.

Italian gastronomy
Italian cuisine as a national cuisine known today has evolved through centuries of social and political changes, with its roots traced back to 4th century BC. Significant change occurred with discovery of the...