Umbria: A Cultural History

Umbria is a landscape of peaks and valleys, much of it mountainous, with river valleys and lakeside plains providing an imaginative contrast to the dominant uplands. Historically and culturally it has also been a story of highs and lows: from the heights of Etruscan and Roman urban culture to the violent depths of the Dark Ages and medieval period; from the masterworks of undoubted artistic geniuses like Rafael, Giotto, and Burri to the limitations of an impoverished local tradition; from the exemplary moral teaching and lives of myriad saints to the rapacious violence of Renaissance signori. Modern Umbria remains a vibrant contributor to many facets of today's Italy, exhibiting a robust political culture and successful industrial innovation. At the same time the region has never lost its special historical and cultural characteristics which make it the peninsula's 'green' and sacred heart. Jonathan Boardman shows how cultural themes can be identified throughout Umbria's complex history, its uniquely rich artistic legacy and its lively modern trends. From its theatres to its factories, from its farmhouses to its town halls, from its churches to its restaurants, he charts what is distinct about the people who have made this their home. These include the ever-present waves of new settlers, be they invading Goths or today's economic migrants and expatriate settlers. He also mines the rich literary vein laid down by such foreign visitors as Smollett, Goethe, Byron and Henry James while not neglecting the local Latin and Italian heralds of Umbria's charm.