Who's Buying Chrysler? Fiat?

Well they say there are silver linings in all things and with Chrysler's demise comes Fiat's solid entrance into the American market with the backing of governments and our banks.

I have to smile because of my memories of hopping into the boot of our 1974 Fiat convertible, cruising top down in what seems now the gold old days, riding in what was the first car I remember. We loved the convertible so much next came the four door, which was our last when it fell apart after over heating one day while driving to Cape Cod. Since then its been VWs.

Fiat benefits from the deal with Chrysler because it gains distribution for its Fiat 500s to sell in Chrysler's car dealerships around the United States. Both Fiat and Chrysler need their taxpayers money to stay afloat. And maybe if the little Fiat 500 can give the VW a run for its money, well maybe there will manufacturing jobs to build Fiat 500s on Chrysler's lines in Detroit and around the U.S. WebVisionItaly.com does hope Chrysler and Fiat can get from here to there without the government's money. WebVisionItaly.com is looking forward to the Fiat 500's entrance to the United States - it's been to long!

Italy Travel Fall 2008 - Arts Guide

Rome, October 24, 2008 - The following is a city-by-city guide to some of Italy's top art exhibitions:

BOLOGNA - Pinacoteca Nazionale: Amico Aspertini (1474-1552), A Bizarre Artist in the Age of Durer and Raphael; until January 11.

BRESCIA - Museo di Santa Giulia: Van Gogh, Masterpieces from the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands; until January 25.

CORTONA - Etruscan Academy Museum (MAEC): 30 masterpieces of Etruscan art from Russia's Hermitage museum including the only Etruscan bronze funerary urn ever found; until January 6.

FERMO - Palazzo dei Priori: leading Marche Renaissance painter Vincenzo Pagani and influences including Raphael, Carlo Crivelli; until November 9.

FLORENCE - Palazzo Strozzi: Caterina and Maria de' Medici, Women in Power; October 24-February 8.

- Galleria Palatina: Flemish Artists in Florence, 1430-1530; the likes of van Eyck, Memling and Leida compared to contemporaries Raphael, Botticelli, Castagno and Ghirlandaio; until October 26.

- Palazzo Pitti: The Medicis And Science; large collection of scientific writings and tools; until January 11.

Accademia di Belle Arti: Giovanni Fattori Past and Present, 130 works; until November 23.

- Archaeological Museum: retrospective on British sculptor Matthew Spender, who has lived in Tuscany for the last 40 years; until December 30.

GENOA - Palazzo Ducale: 'Lucio Fontana Light and Colour'; until February 15.

MAMIANO DI TRAVERSETOLO (PARMA) - Fondazione Magnani-Rocca: Giovanni Fattori, The Poetry of Truth; until November 30.

MANTUA - Ducal Palace; first major show on Jacopo Alari-Bonacorsi aka Antico, an acclaimed sculptor in Mantegna's time; bronzes of mythological figures and busts of Roman rulers loaned by the Louvre, the Met, the Victor & Albert, the Bargello and Viennese museums; from Modena's Galleria Estense, celebrated Vaso Gonzaga made for wedding of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga; until January 6.

MILAN - Palazzo Reale: Georges Seurat, Paul Seignac and the neo-Impressionists; over 100 works from major international museums; until January 25.

- same venue: Tiepolos and Canalettos from the Terruzzi Collection; until January 11.

- same venue: biggest-ever retrospective on Naive artist Antonio Ligabue; 250 works until October 26.

- Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation: 'Great Works 1972-2008'; until March 22.

- Brera Academy and Palazzo Stelline (Credito Valtellinese): Mario Schifano 1943-1998, Selected Works; major retrospective marking 10th anniversary of artist's death, previously at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome; until February 1.

MONTECATINI TERME - ex-Terme Tamerici: Boldini Mon Amour; 180 works by Parisian School portrait painter Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931), many unseen including three portraits of secret lover Countess Rastj; until December 30.

NAPLES - Archaeological Museum: Herculaneum: Three Centuries of Discoveries; until April 2009.

- Madre modern art gallery: Robert Rauschenberg, Travelling 1970-76; until January 19.

NUORO - MAN gallery: Man Ray, 300 pieces from his private collection; October 24-January 6.

PALERMO - Palazzo dei Normanni: The Fantastic World of Picasso, 66 works until March 8.

PARMA - National Gallery: 'Correggio', biggest exhibit on once-neglected artist in years; around 80 works flanked by 40 by contemporaries, plus chance to see three most important frescos up close in city churches; until January 25.

PERUGIA - Palazzo Baldeschi al Corso; From Corot to Picasso and Fattori to De Pisis, modern Italian and European art from two private collections including Monet, Van Gogh and Modigliani; until January 15.

REGGIO EMILIA - Palazzo Magnani and other venues; Matilda and the Treasure of Canossa, 200 works of Medieval art; until January 11.

ROME - Chiostro del Bramante: The Myth of Julius Caesar, first ever show focusing on him alone; 200 items from ancient times until the 20th century; until April 5.

- Vittoriano: Picasso 1917-1937, the Harlequin of Art; more than 180 works in first major Rome show on Spanish artist in 55 years; until February 8.

- Scuderie del Quirinale: Giovanni Bellini, biggest show in 50 years on artist Durer called 'the best of them all'; until January 11.

- Palazzo delle Esposizioni: Etruscans, The Ancient Metropoli of Latium; until January 9.

- Colosseum: Ruins and Rebirths, 80 works charting development of heritage protection; until February 15.

- Fondazione Memmo: Basquiat, 40 works until February 1.

- Castel Sant'Angelo: The Wolf And The Sphinx, Rome and Egypt From History To Myth; until November 9.

- Gagosian Gallery: Georg Baselitz, Remix series; until November 8.

- Museo dell'Ara Pacis: Bruno Munari, retrospective on artist and designer; until February 22.

SIENA - Piazza del Duomo and other city sites: Mario Ceroli, Forms In Movement; giant works by avant-garde sculptor; until November 7.

STRA - Villa Pisani: 70 paintings and monumental works by sculptor Mimmo Paladino, hand-picked and arranged by the artist in the historic villa's magnificent grounds; until November 2.

TIVOLI - Villa Adriana: Between Light and Darkness; Ancient Roman funerary beds including bone-decorated bed from Aquinum and one found on Rome's Esquiline Hill; until November 2.

TRENTO - Castello del Buonconsiglio; first major show on relatively unknown Renaissance sculptor Andrea Briosco aka Il Riccio; until November 2.

- same venue: Rembrandt and Masterpieces of European Graphics; until November 2.

TREVISO - Casa dei Carraresi: Canaletto, Venice and its Splendours; until April 5.

TURIN - San Paolo Foundation: Heavenly Empire, From Terracotta Army To Silk Road; imperial Chinese works from Qi, Han and Tang dynasties (3rd century BC to 11th century AD); until November 16.

VENICE - Biennale venues including Arsenale and Padiglione Italia: 11th International Architecture Exhibition from 56 countries entitled Out There: Architecture Beyond Building; 23 installations at Arsenale; experimental work of 55 international firms at the Padiglione as well as a survey of the Masters of the Experiment, five visionaries including Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid; also, Uneternal City, Thirty Years of Uninterrupted Rome, 12 designs for a possible 'new Rome'; plus 13 exhibitions around Venice by visiting countries and 24 collateral events; until November 23.

- Fondazione Cini: New Graphic Design Japan; until November 2.

- Palazzo Grassi: Italics, Italian contemporary art 1968-2008; until January 11.

VICENZA - Palazzo Barbaran: 'Palladio 500', 200 works including 30 models of Palladian architecture plus art by Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian celebrate Andrea Palladio on the 500th anniversary of his birth; until January 9, when exhibit moves to London (Royal Academy of Arts, 31 January - 13 April 2009) and on to Washington in autumn 2009.

VIGEVANO - Castello: Futurism and Modernity, mainly local artists; until December 14.

VITERBO - Rocca Albertoz Etruscan Museum: Celtic, Etruscan and other pre-Roman artefacts showing their interpretations of the night sky; show includes Celtic ceremonial brooch from Brno, Czech Republic; bronze Etruscan statuette of 'haruspex' (entrail-gazing priest); and famous 'Liver of Piacenza', a bronze model of the sheep's organ used by Etruscans to tell the future; until October 26.