October 22nd Meeting (Italian)
Meeting Topic: Rebecca Albiani presents on Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.
Caravaggio has the longest rap sheet of any major artist, but the volatile young artist changed the course of Western art. He introduced gritty realism into Baroque painting with his edgy subject matter (fortune tellers and cardsharps), while his dramatic chiaroscuro and use of authentic lower-class models in altarpieces such as The Calling of St. Matthew (1600) increased the expressive power of his work, which shocked church officials and fascinated the Roman populace.
Rebecca Albiani parla dell’opera rivoluzionaria del pittore barocco Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Caravaggio ha la fedina penale più lunga di qualsiasi altro grande artista, ma il giovane e volubile artista cambiò il corso dell’arte occidentale. Introdusse un realismo crudo nella pittura barocca con i suoi soggetti audaci (indovini e bari), mentre il suo chiaroscuro drammatico e l’uso di autentici modelli di classe inferiore in pale d’altare come La Vocazione di San Matteo (1600) accrebbero la potenza espressiva della sua opera, che sconvolse i funzionari ecclesiastici e affascinò il popolo romano.
Rebecca Albiani Biography: Rebecca Albiani studied Italian and Art History at UC Berkeley, graduating with highest honors, and earned a master’s in art history at Stanford where she focused on 16th Century Venetian painting. She spent her junior year of college studying at Università Ca’ Foscari in Venice, and while a graduate student she received a Fulbright Scholarship for further research in Venice.
Rebecca moved to Seattle in 1996 and for over 25 years has been a popular art history lecturer at the Frye Art Museum, where her topics have ranged from ancient Egypt to contemporary art. She lectures widely in the Puget Sound area and particularly enjoys introducing audiences to unfamiliar artists.
She has been a board member of the Seattle-Perugia Sister City Association and won their scholarship to study in Perugia in 2023. While in Perugia she gave a public lecture in Italian on Seattle Native artist Preston Singletary. She leads SPSCA’s Tavola Italiana conversation group.
Rebecca Albiani ha studiato italiano e storia dell’arte all’Università della California a Berkeley, laureandosi con il massimo dei voti, e ha conseguito un master in storia dell’arte a Stanford, dove si è concentrata sulla pittura veneziana del XVI secolo. Ha trascorso il terzo anno di college studiando all’Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia e, durante il dottorato, ha ricevuto una borsa di studio Fulbright per ulteriori ricerche a Venezia.
Rebecca si è trasferita a Seattle nel 1996 e per oltre 25 anni è stata una stimata docente di storia dell’arte al Frye Art Museum, dove i suoi argomenti hanno spaziato dall’antico Egitto all’arte contemporanea. Tiene numerose conferenze nell’area del Puget Sound e ama particolarmente presentare al pubblico artisti sconosciuti.
È stata membro del consiglio direttivo della Seattle-Perugia Sister City Association e ha vinto una borsa di studio per studiare a Perugia nel 2023. Durante il suo soggiorno a Perugia ha tenuto una conferenza pubblica in italiano sull’artista nativo di Seattle Preston Singletary. Guida il gruppo di conversazione Tavola Italiana della SPSCA.
WEDNESDAY
October 22, 2025
Greenwood Senior Center
525 N 85th St, Seattle, WA 98103
6:00 Doors Open
7:30 Presentation
Please bring food and wine to share.
Gabriella Vagnoli was born in Pisa, Tuscany, home of the famous Leaning Tower. She grew up in a multicultural family thanks to her Brazilian mom and remembers teaching Italian for the first time as a child to her Brazilian cousins. She obtained a Laurea in English and Spanish Language and Literature at the Università degli Studi di Pisa and during her college years spent a year in the University of Reading, UK, studying mainly the works of Shakespeare. After obtaining a Certificate as a Teacher of Italian (DITALS II) at the Università per Stranieri di Siena, she has taught in a full immersion school in Florence, a children's full immersion program in Chicago and a Community College in Illinois.
Tiziana was born and raised in Sardinia, a beautiful Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. She has always been passionate about foreign languages and cultures, and studied French and German at the Scuola Superiore Interpreti e Traduttori in Milan, where she obtained her first Foreign Languages and Interpreter BA degree. She then pursued her MA in English and German Language and Literature at IULM, one of the most prestigious universities in Milan, Italy for Language and Communication studies.
Nicla is a native of Napoli, Italy. She has a Laurea in Materie Letterarie (degree in humanities) and a Laurea in Pedagogia (degree in Education) from the Università degli Studi di Cassino. She earned her M.A in Italian and her PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington. She has published articles and book chapters on gender and theater as well as politics and religion in Counter-Reformation Italy and in the last years, has been teaching Italian literature, language, and culture in different institutions. In addition to teaching in our program, Nicla is authorized to cover the role of esaminatrice and intervistatrice in our PLIDA Examination Board.
Born in the fabulous 80’s, Isabella was raised in Rome where she got her Degree in Teaching and Translation in foreign languages at the University ‘La Sapienza’.
Eric was born and raised in Como by an American mother and an Italian father. He holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from Bocconi University in Milan and a Master’s in Corporate and International Finance from Durham University in the UK. His international background led him to pursue a business career in the United States, ultimately settling in Seattle, where his wife grew up.