In the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence there is a statue titled, “The Liberty of Poetry,” it sits just inside the church between the middle and right hand main doors, on top of the tomb of Giovanni Battista Niccolini – a professor of history and mythology and also a poet and playwright whose main theme was the ideal of freedom. In her raised hand is a broken chain, which represents the defeat of tyranny through artistic expression and other forms of creative genius – which, of course, includes real science. On either side of the doors are the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo, and not far, the empty tomb of Dante whose bones remain in his place of exile. And some other well-known figures. Since it carries the mark of the water the 1966 flood, it had to have been there. Like the tombs and statues, that water line is also noted with a plaque, which makes it now an official part of Florentine history and which makes me feel old. The Tuscan-American Association has pointed to an obvious resemblance to the Statue of Liberty and has made a case that it was most likely its inspiration. What is known is that, although not completed until 1877, the sculptor, Pio Fedi, had completed a plaster cast for it by 1872, and that the drawings had been in circulation before that. It is also known that Bartholdi, who sculpted the Statue of Liberty, was in Italy in those early years of Italian unification, and got around in artistic and intellectual circles.
In 1773 he led a group of Italians who came to Virginia to introduce the cultivation of vineyards, olives, and other Mediterranean fruits. Mazzei became a neighbor and friend of Thomas Jefferson. Mazzei and Jefferson started what became the first commercial vineyard in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They shared an interest in politics and libertarian values, and maintained an active correspondence for the rest Mazzei’s life. In 1779 Mazzei returned to Italy as a secret agent for the state of Virginia. He purchased and shipped arms to them until 1783.
After briefly visiting the United States again in 1785, Mazzei travelled throughout Europe promoting Republican ideals. He wrote a political history of the American Revolution, “Recherches historiques et politiques sur les Etats-Unis de l’Amerique septentrionale”, and published it in Paris in 1788. After its publication Mazzei became an unofficial roving ambassador in Europe for American ideas and institutions.
While in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth he became attached as a Privy Councilor at the court of King Stanislaus II. There he became acquainted with Polish liberal and constitutional thought, like the works of Wawrzyniec Grzymaa Golicki and ideas of Golden Freedoms and Great Sejm. Poniatowski appointed him as Polish representative in Paris, where he again met Jefferson.
After Poland was partitioned between Russia and Prussia in 1795 Mazzei, along with the rest of the court, was given a pension by the Russian crown.
He later spent more time in France and became active in the politics of the French Revolution under the Directorate. When Napoleon overthrew that government Mazzei returned to Pisa, Italy. He died there in 1816.
After his death the remainder of his family returned to the United States at the urging of Thomas Jefferson. They settled in Massachusetts and Virginia. Mazzei’s daughter married the nephew of John Adams.
This contribution was acknowledged by John F. Kennedy in his book A Nation of Immigrants, in which he states that:
The great doctrine “All men are created equal” incorporated into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, was paraphrased from the writing of Philip Mazzei.
Un-edited post from our best client!
DREAMS DO COME TRUE!!!
MY NAME IS MARIE AND I AM A JEWLEY DESIGNER FROM FLORIDA. I HAVE TRAVELED THROUGH THE UNITED STATES, BUT NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL OUTSIDE.., BUT IT HAS BEEN MY DREAM. MY LOVE FOR ITALY ALONG WITH MY LOVE FOR OPERA PUT ME ON THE ROAD TO MEET ITALY’S FINEST AND MR. FILIPPO GARGANI. I NEVER EXPECTED TO HAVE THE PLEASURE TO LAND IN TUSCANY AND BE AT THE ANDREA BOCELLI COME HOME CONCERT JULY 2008.
MR.FILIPPO GARGANI CEO OF ITALYS FINEST, PROMISED ME THE TIME OF MY LIFE, PROMISED ME I WOULD HAVE NO WORRIES, PROMSED ME I WAS DEALING WITH A HIGH END COMPANY AND SAID DO NOT WORRY MARIA I WILL TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING. THIS ALL BEFORE THEY EVEN HAD A DEPOSIT AND THEY HAD NO IDEA WHO I WAS. I WAS A STRANGER TO THEM AS THEY WERE TO ME. I AM A WOMAN TRAVELING ALONE TO A PLACE WHERE NO ONE KNEW ME AND I DO NOT SPEAK ITALIAN…BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED WHILE I WAS DEALING WITH MR. GARGANI ….. TRUST….. THAT OLD FASHION WORD THAT IS VERY HARD TO FIND EVEN 2 MILES DOWN THE ROAD FROM WHERE I LIVE….NEVER EXPECTED THAT TO HAPPENED OUT OF THE UNITED STATES,AND UBOVE ALL THAT QUESTION FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS WILL YOU BE SAFE.
FROM THE MOMENT I LANDED I WAS TREATED LIKE ROYALTY AND I AM NOT!!!!!! I AM JUST A NORMAL EVERYDAY GIRL………
EVERY THING PROMISED WAS DELIVERED. PICKED UP BY A PRIVATE CAR, WELL DRESSED MAN, GENTLEMAN AND WAS TAKEN FOR A 40 MINUTE DRIVE TO REACH THE TOMBLLO HOTEL. THE MOMENT I ENTERED THE HOTEL I FELT LIKE I LIVED THERE. I WAS TREATED LIKE FAMILY, THE HOTEL WAS BREATHTAKING, FOOD DELICIOUS, WINE THE BEST IN THE WORLD, AND THE PEOPLE WERE ALL SO GRACIOUS..THE ANDREA BOCELLI CONCERT PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!
ITALYS FINEST GAVE ME MORE THAN JUST A TRIP TO TUSCANY, THEY GAVE ME HOPE THAT IN A WORLD WHERE SAFTY AND TRUST ARE HARD TO COME BY, THAT THEY ARE PEOPLE AND COMPANY’S THAT STILL BELIEVE IN THE OLD FASHION WAY OF DOING BUSINESS. AND ONE THING SO IMPORTANT,….. IS WHEN THE TRIP IS OVER OR THE DEAL IS CLOSED AND THE CUSTOMER LEAVES…. IS WHAT DID THEY THINK, WILL THEY COME BACK, WILL THEY RECOMMEND US AND DID WE DO OUR BEST. WELL I ANSWER YES TO ALL. I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE AND WILL RETURN TO SEE MORE, AND ITALY’S FINEST WILL BOOK MY TRIP AGAIN.
SO THANKYOU TO ITALY’S FINEST AND MR. FILIPPO GARGANI AND EVERY ONE AT THE TOMBOLO HOTEL, TUSCANY AND THE ANDREA BOCELLI CONCERT… WHERE I FOUND BEAUTY , PEACE,THE WOUDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I MET. ALONG THIS JOURNEY WITH ITALY’S FINEST ALL MY DREAMS COME TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!JUST SAY YOU DESERVE IT AND SO WILL YOUR’S.
WARMEST REGARDS.
MARIE NAVARRO
FOR FURTHER REFERENCE YOU MAY CONTACT ME.
561-628-1284
Email——marieannnavarro@hotmail.com
Email——marienvaarro@bellsouth.net
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