Italian culture, government, economy, business, foreign trade and ethical issues - Essay Example

the Mafia and corruption in the government. But take a look now, Italy is at the moment one of the most industrialized nations in the world. It is the second most popular tourist country in the world only next to USA. It is also the world's largest wine producer. Italy is one of the most culture-oriented country in the world. Today, it has given us Antonioni and Fellini (in cinematic arts), Pavarotti and Bocelli (in operatic music), Maria Montessori (in education), Armani, Gucci, Prada, Versace and Valentino (in fashion arts) and Damiani (in jewelry-making).

The Duomo cathedral, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Piazza San Marco in Venice and the La Scala theater are showcases of Italian architecture. But the ones who made a dent and established Italy as the center of world culture are the Renaissance artists, intellectuals and scientists of the 14th to 16th century. The Renaissance or rebirth produced a revival of classical culture and a heightened interest in classical literature and philosophy. It Bernini, Titian, Verdi, Puccini, Vivaldi, Rossini, Donizetti, Galileo, poet Petrarch and philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli.

In that era the city-state of Florence was the center of the movement where prolific artists, fostered by the ruling Medici family, strut their talents to the fore. Another important contribution of Italy to world culture is the opera. An opera is a "play in which all the words are sung to an instrumental accompaniment"(Art and Man 32). The earliest opera known to mankind was Daphne, composed by Jacobo Peri in Florence in 1597. However, Eurydice, again by Peri with lyrics by Giulio Cacchini and based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, is on record the earliest surviving opera.

Opera as an art was perfected by Claudio Monteverdi in 1607, who "employed a larger and more varied ensemble of instruments and put a new dramatic excitement and human emotion into the music he composed for Orfeo" (Art and Man 32). Italian Government The Italian government, since time immemorial, is intensely dynamic, intrigue-laden, chaotic and unstable. Because of this and because of corruption in high places, prosperity was greatly hindered. Since the end of World War II, the government was changed 44 times in 37 years.

It is said that governments in Italy "form and fall with the regularity of seasons" (Funk and Wagnall's Encyclopedia 185). It is further complicated by the fact that nominally, Italy is democratic but many city governments are run by communist mayors. In fact, the communist party, born in the 1920's, perpetually exerts influence over labor and social legislation. Strikes and street demonstrations are dime a dozen and under-the-table deals permeate the daily