Tuscany Toscana
—  Region of Italy  —
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Italy
Capital	Florence
Government
• President	Enrico Rossi (PD)
Area
• Total	22,993 km2 (8,878 sq mi)
Population (01-01-2011)
• Total	3,750,000
• Density	160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Demonym	Tuscan
Citizenship[1]
• Italian	93%
• Albanian	2%
• Romanian	1%
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
GDP/ Nominal	€ 106.1[2] billion (2008)
GDP per capita	€ 28,500[3] (2008)
NUTS Region	ITC
Website	www.regione.toscana.it

Tuscany (Italian: Toscana, pronounced [tosˈkaːna]) is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres (8,900 sq mi) and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (Firenze).

Tuscany is known for its gorgeous landscapes, its rich artistic legacy and its influence on high culture. Tuscany is regarded as the true birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, and has been home to some many influential people in the history of arts and science, such as Petrarch, Dante, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Niccolo Machiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Amerigo Vespucci, Luca Pacioli and Puccini. As a result of this, the region has several museums (such as the Uffizi, the Pitti Palace and the Chianciano Museum of Art). Tuscany has a unique culinary tradition, and is famous for its wines (most famous of which are Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino).

Six Tuscan localities have been designated World Heritage Sites: the historic centre of Florence (1982), the historical centre of Siena (1995), the square of the Cathedral of Pisa (1987), the historical centre of San Gimignano (1990), the historical centre of Pienza (1996) and the Val d'Orcia (2004). Tuscany has over 120 protected nature reserves. This makes Tuscany and its capital Florence popular tourist destinations, attracting millions of tourists every year. Florence receives an average of 10 million tourists a year, placing the city as one of the most visited in the world (in 2007, the city became the world's 46th most visited city, with over 1.715 million arrivals).^[4]

Geography[link]

Hilly landscape in Val d'Orcia

Tuscany landscape near Siena

Thornthwaite climate classification of Tuscany

A: Im > 100   B: 80 < Im < 100   B1-B2: 20 < Im < 80

C2: 0 < Im < 20   C1: −33,3 < Im < 0   D: Im < −33,3

Roughly triangular in shape and situated between the northern part of the Tyrrhenian Sea, with some islands Tuscan Archipelago, and the central Apennines, Tuscany has an area of approximately 22,993 square kilometres (8,878 sq mi). Surrounded and crossed by major mountain chains, and with few (but fertile) plains, the region has a relief that is dominated by hilly country. Most of the work done here is farming. Whereas mountains cover 25% of the total area — 5,770 square kilometres (2,230 sq mi), and plains a mere 8.4% of the total area, almost all coinciding with the valley of the River Arno, summing for 1,930 square kilometres (750 sq mi), — overall hills make up two-thirds (66.5%) of the region's total area, covering 15,292 square kilometres (5,904 sq mi).

The climate is fairly mild in the coastal areas, and is harsher and rainy in the interior, with considerable fluctuations in temperature between winter and summer^[5] giving the region a soil building active freeze-thaw cycle in part accounting for the region once having served as a key breadbasket of ancient Rome.^[6]

History[link]

Appennini and Villanovan cultures[link]

The pre-Etruscan history of the area in the late Bronze and Iron Ages parallels that of the early Greeks.^[7] The Tuscan area was inhabited by peoples of the so-called Apennine culture in the late second millennium BC (roughly 1350–1150 BC) who had trading relationships with the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations in the Aegean Sea.^[7] Following this, the Villanovan culture (1100–700 BC) saw Tuscany, and the rest of Etruria, taken over by chiefdoms.^[7] City-states developed in the late Villanovan (paralleling Greece and the Aegean) before "Orientalisation" occurred and the Etruscan civilisation rose.^[7]

Prato

Etruscans[link]

The Chimera of Arezzo, Etruscan bronze, 400 BC

The Etruscans created the first major civilisation in this region, large enough to establish a transport infrastructure, to implement agriculture and mining and to produce vibrant art.^[8] The Etruscans lived in Etruria well into prehistory.^[7] The civilization grew to fill the area between the Arno River and Tiber River from the 8th century BC, reaching its peak during the 7th and 6th centuries BC, finally succumbing to the Romans by the 1st century.^[9] Throughout their existence, they lost territory (in Campania) to Magna Graecia, Carthage and Celts.^[8] Despite being seen as distinct in its manners and customs by contemporary Greeks,^[10] the cultures of Greece, and later Rome, influenced the civilisation to a great extent. One reason for its eventual demise^[9] was this increasing absorption by surrounding cultures, including the adoption of the Etruscan upper class by the Romans.^[8]

Romans[link]

Soon after absorbing Etruria, Rome established the cities of Lucca, Pisa, Siena, and Florence, endowed the area with new technologies and development, and ensured peace.^[8] These developments included extensions of existing roads, introduction of aqueducts and sewers, and the construction of many buildings, both public and private. However, many of these structures have been destroyed by erosion due to weather. ^[8] The Roman civilization in the West collapsed in the 5th century and the region was left to the Goths, and others. In the 6th century, the Longobards arrived and designated Lucca the capital of their Duchy of Tuscia.^[8]

The Medieval Period[link]

Palazzo Vecchio in Florence

Pilgrims travelling along the Via Francigena between Rome and France brought wealth and development during the medieval period.^[8] The food and shelter required by these travellers fuelled the growth of communities around churches and taverns.^[8] The conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, factions supporting the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in central and northern Italy during the 12th and 13th centuries, split the Tuscan people.^[8] These two factors gave rise to several powerful and rich medieval communes in Tuscany: Arezzo, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, and Siena.^[8] Balance between these communes were ensured by the assets they held; Pisa, a port; Siena, banking; and Lucca, banking and silk.^[11] By the renaissance, however, Florence had become the cultural capital of Tuscany.^[11] Another family that befitted from Florence's growing wealth and power were the ruling Medici Family. Lorenzo de' Medici was one of the most famous and the benefits of his time are still being observed today in the fantastic art and architecture in Florence today. One of his famous descendants Caterina Catherine de Medici married Prince Henry (later as King Henry II) of France in 1533.

The Black Death epidemic hit Tuscany, starting in 1348.^[12] It eventually killed 50% to 60% of Tuscans.^[13][14] According to Melissa Snell, "Florence lost a third of its population in the first six months of the plague, and from 45% to 75% of its population in the first year."^[15] In 1630 Florence and Tuscany were once again ravaged by the plague.^[16]

The Renaissance[link]

Blue-and-white faience albarello with Pseudo-Kufic designs, Tuscany, 2nd half of 15th century

Tuscany, especially Florence, is regarded as the birthplace of the Renaissance. Though "Tuscany" remained a linguistic, cultural and geographic conception, rather than a political reality, in the 15th century, Florence extended its dominion in Tuscany through the annexation of Arezzo in 1384, the purchase of Pisa in 1405 and the suppression of a local resistance there (1406). Livorno was bought as well (1421).

From the leading city of Florence, the republic was from 1434 onward dominated by the increasingly monarchical Medici family. Initially, under Cosimo, Piero the Gouty, Lorenzo and Piero the Unfortunate, the forms of the republic were retained and the Medici ruled without a title, usually without even a formal office. These rulers presided over the Florentine Renaissance. There was a return to the republic from 1494 to 1512, when first Girolamo Savonarola then Piero Soderini oversaw the state. Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici retook the city with Spanish forces in 1512, before going to Rome to become Pope Leo X. Florence was dominated by a series of papal proxies until 1527 when the citizens declared the republic again, only to have it taken from them again in 1530 after a siege by an Imperial and Spanish army. At this point Pope Clement VII and Charles V appointed Alessandro de' Medici as the first formally hereditary ruler.

The Sienese commune was not incorporated into Tuscany until 1555, and during the 15th century Siena enjoyed a cultural 'Sienese Renaissance' with its own more conservative character. Lucca remained an independent Republic until 1847 when it became part of Grand Duchy of Tuscany by the will of its people. Piombino was another minor independent state, under both Spanish and Tuscan influence.

Modern Era[link]

In the 15th century, the Medicis, who ruled Florence, annexed surrounding land to create modern Tuscany. The War of Polish Succession in the 1730s meant the transfer of Tuscany from the Medicis to Francis, Duke of Lorraine and Holy Roman Emperor. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire by Napoleon, Tuscany was inherited by the Austrian Empire as successor to the Holy Roman Empire. In the Italian Wars of Independence in the 1850s, Tuscany was transferred from Austria to the newly unified nation of Italy.

Under Benito Mussolini, the area came under the dominance of local National Fascist Party leader Dino Perrone Compagni. Following the fall of Mussolini and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Italy, the Italian Social Republic was established in the northern regions of Italy, with its de facto border at the Gothic Line, a defensive position just north of Florence. Following the end of the Social Republic, and the transition from a Kingdom to the modern Italian Republic, Tuscany once more flourished as a cultural center of Italy.

Culture[link]

This section requires expansion.

Tuscany has an immense cultural and artistic heritage, expressed in the region's churches, palaces, art galleries, museums, villages and piazzas. Many of these artifacts are found in the main cities, such as Florence and Siena, but also in smaller villages scattered around the region, such as San Gimignano.

Art[link]

Michelangelo's David

Tuscany has a unique artistic legacy, and Florence is one of the world's most important water-color centres, even so that it is often nicknamed the "art palace of Italy" (the city is also believed to have the largest concentration of Renaissance art and architecture in the world).^[17] Painters such as Cimabue and Giotto, the fathers of Italian painting, lived in Florence and Tuscany as well as Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano, renewers of architecture and sculpture; Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio, forefathers of the Renaissance, Ghiberti and the Della Robbias, Filippo Lippi and Angelico; Botticelli, Paolo Uccello and the universal genius of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.^[18][19]

The region contains numerous museums and art galleries, many housing some of the world's most precious works of art. Such museums include the Uffizi, which keeps Botticelli's Birth of Venus, the Pitti Palace, and the Bargello, to name a few. Most of the frescos, sculptures and paintings in Tuscany are held in the region's abundant churches and cathedrals, such as Florence Cathedral, Siena Cathedral, Pisa Cathedral and the Collegiata di San Gimignano.

Art Schools[link]

A painting from the Sienese school

In medieval period and in the Renaissance, there were four main Tuscan art schools which competed against each other: the Florentine School, the Sienese School, the Pisan School and the Lucchese School.

• The Florentine School originated from refers to artists in, from or influenced by the naturalistic style developed in the 14th century, largely through the efforts of Giotto di Bondone, and in the 15th century the leading school of the world. Some of the best known artists of the Florentine School are Brunelleschi, Donatello, Michelangelo, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Lippi, Masolino, and Masaccio.

• The Sienese School of painting flourished in Siena between the 13th and 15th centuries and for a time rivaled Florence, though it was more conservative, being inclined towards the decorative beauty and elegant grace of late Gothic art. Its most important representatives include Duccio, whose work shows Byzantine influence; his pupil Simone Martini; Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti; Domenico and Taddeo di Bartolo; Sassetta and Matteo di Giovanni. Unlike the naturalistic Florentine art, there is a mystical streak in Sienese art^[who?], characterized by a common focus on miraculous events, with less attention to proportions, distortions of time and place, and often dreamlike coloration. In the 16th century the Mannerists Beccafumi and Il Sodoma worked there. While Baldassare Peruzzi was born and trained in Siena, his major works and style reflect his long career in Rome. The economic and political decline of Siena by the 16th century, and its eventual subjugation by Florence, largely checked the development of Sienese painting, although it also meant that many Sienese works in churches and public buildings were not discarded or destroyed by new paintings or rebuilding. Siena remains a remarkably well-preserved Italian late-Medieval town.

• The Lucchese School, also known as the School of Lucca and as the Pisan-Lucchese School, was a school of painting and sculpture that flourished in the 11th and 12th centuries in the western and southern part of the region, with an important center in Volterra. The art is mostly anonymous. Although not as elegant or delicate as the Florentine School, Lucchese works are remarkable for their monumentality.

Main artistic centres[link]

Arezzo

Florence

Pisa

Prato

Siena

Grosseto

Lucca

San Gimignano

In the province of Arezzo:

• Arezzo
• Castiglion Fiorentino
• Cortona
• Lucignano
• Poppi
• Sansepolcro

In the province of Florence:

• Florence
• Fiesole
• Certaldo

In the Province of Grosseto:

• Grosseto
• Massa Marittima
• Orbetello
• Pitigliano
• Roselle
• Sorano
• Sovana

In the province of Livorno:

• Campiglia Marittima
• Livorno
• Piombino
• Populonia
• Suvereto

In the province of Lucca:

• Barga
• Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
• Castiglione di Garfagnana
• Lucca
• Pietrasanta
• Viareggio
• Villa Basilica

In the province of Massa and Carrara:

• Massa and Carrara
• Pontremoli
• Fivizzano

In the province of Pisa:

• Pisa
• San Miniato
• Volterra
• Vicopisano

In the province of Prato:

• Carmignano
• Poggio a Caiano
• Prato

In the province of Pistoia:

• Pescia
• Pistoia

In the province of Siena:

• Colle di Val d'Elsa
• Pienza
• Montepulciano
• Montalcino
• San Gimignano
• Siena

Language[link]

Apart from standard Italian, the most spoken language in Tuscany is the 'Tuscan dialect' (lingua toscana), or the Tuscan dialect (dialetto toscano). In many respects it deviated less than other Romance dialects from the Latin language and evolved linearly and homogeneously, without major influences from other foreign languages. There are currently 3.5 million speakers of the language.

Italian is in practice a "literary version" of Tuscan. It became the language of culture for all the people of Italy,^[20] thanks to the prestige of the masterpieces of Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini. It would later become the official language of all the Italian states and of the Kingdom of Italy, when it was formed.^[21]

Music[link]

Tuscany has a rich ancient and modern musical tradition, and has boasted numerous composers and musicians, such as Giacomo Puccini, and Pietro Mascagni. Beyond Florence, the nine other provinces in the region of Tuscany, named for the largest city in, and capital of the province. Taken together, they offer a rich musical culture. Florence is the main musical centre of Tuscany. The city was at the heart of much of our entire Western musical tradition. It was there that the Florentine Camerata convened in the mid-16th century and experimented with setting tales of Greek mythology to music and staging the result: the first operas, fostering the further development of the operatic form, and the later developments of separate "classical" forms such as the symphony.

Giacomo Puccini

There are numerous musical centres in Tuscany. Arezzo is indelibly connected with the name of Guido d'Arezzo, the 11th-century monk who invented modern musical notation and the do-re-mi system of naming notes of the scale; Lucca hosted possibly the greatest Italian composer of Romanticism, Giacomo Puccini and Siena is well-known for the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, an organization that currently sponsors major musical activities such as the Siena Music Week and the Alfredo Casella International Composition Competition. Other important musical centres in Tuscany include Lucca, Pisa and Grosseto.

Literature[link]

Tuscan poet and literary figure Petrarch

Tuscany has a renowned literature, and has boasted several famous writers and poets, most notably Florentine author Dante. Tuscany's literary scene particularly thrived in the 13th century and the Renaissance.

In Tuscany, especially in the Middle Ages, popular love poetry existed. A school of imitators of the Sicilians was led by Dante da Majano, but its literary originality took another line — that of humorous and satirical poetry. The democratic form of government created a style of poetry which stood strongly against the medieval mystic and chivalrous style. Devout invocation of God or of a lady came from the cloister and the castle; in the streets of the cities everything that had gone before was treated with ridicule or biting sarcasm. Folgore da San Gimignano laughs when in his sonnets he tells a party of Sienese youths the occupations of every month in the year, or when he teaches a party of Florentine lads the pleasures of every day in the week. Cenne della Chitarra laughs when he parodies Folgore's sonnets. The sonnets of Rustico di Filippo are half-fun and half-satire, as is the work of Cecco Angiolieri of Siena, the oldest humorist we know, a far-off precursor of Rabelais and Montaigne.

Another type of poetry also began in Tuscany. Guittone d'Arezzo made art abandon chivalry and Provençal forms for national motives and Latin forms. He attempted political poetry, and although his work is often obscure, he prepared the way for the Bolognese school. Bologna was the city of science, and philosophical poetry appeared there. Guido Guinizelli was the poet after the new fashion of the art. In his work the ideas of chivalry are changed and enlarged. Only those whose heart is pure can be blessed with true love, regardless of class. He refuted the traditional credo of courtly love, for which love is a subtle philosophy only a few chosen knights and princesses could grasp. Love is blind to blasons but not to a good heart when it finds one: when it succeeds it is the result of the spiritual, not physical affinity between two souls. Guinizzelli's democratic view can be better understood in the light of the greater equality and freedom enjoyed by the city-states of the center-north and the rise of a middle class eager to legitimise itself in the eyes of the old nobility, still regarded with respect and admiration but in fact dispossessed of its political power. Guinizelli's Canzoni make up the bible of Dolce Stil Novo, and one in particular, "Al cor gentil" ("To a Kind Heart") is considered the manifesto of the new movement which will bloom in Florence under Cavalcanti, Dante and their followers. His poetry has some of the faults of the school of d'Arezzo. Nevertheless, he marks a great development in the history of Italian art, especially because of his close connection with Dante's lyric poetry.

In the 13th century, there were several major allegorical poems. One of these is by Brunetto Latini, who was a close friend of Dante. His Tesoretto is a short poem, in seven-syllable verses, rhyming in couplets, in which the author professes to be lost in a wilderness and to meet with a lady, who represents Nature, from whom he receives much instruction. We see here the vision, the allegory, the instruction with a moral object, three elements which we shall find again in the Divine Comedy. Francesco da Barberino, a learned lawyer who was secretary to bishops, a judge, and a notary, wrote two little allegorical poems, the Documenti d'amore and Del reggimento e dei costumi delle donne. The poems today are generally studied not as literature, but for historical context. A fourth allegorical work was the Intelligenza, which is sometimes attributed to Compagni, but is probably only a translation of French poems.

In the 15th century, humanist and publisher Aldus Manutius published Tuscan poets Petrarch and Dante Alighieri (The Divine Comedy), creating the model for what became a standard for modern Italian.

Cuisine[link]

An assortment of Tuscan foods (from Lucca): wine, cold meats and different sorts of salamis and hams

Simplicity is central to the Tuscan cuisine. Legumes, bread, cheese, vegetables, mushrooms and fresh fruit are used. Olive oil is made up of Moraiolo, Leccino, and Frantoiano olives. White truffles from San Miniato appear in October and November. Beef of the highest quality comes from the Chiana Valley, specifically a breed known as Chianina used for Florentine steak. Pork is also produced.^[22]

Wine is a famous and common produce of Tuscany. Chianti is arguably the most well-known internationally. So many British tourists come to the area where Chianti wine is produced that this specific area has been nicknamed "Chiantishire".^{[citation needed]}

Postage stamps[link]

4 crazie stamp from 1851

Between 1851 and 1860, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, an independent Italian state until 1859 when it joined the United Provinces of Central Italy, produced two postage stamp issues which are among the most prized classic stamp issues of the world, and include the most valuable Italian stamp. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was an independent Italian state from 1569 to 1859, but was occupied by France from 1808 to 1814. The Duchy comprised most of the present area of Tuscany, and its capital was Florence. In December 1859, the Grand Duchy officially ceased to exist, being joined to the Duchies of Modena and Parma to form the United Provinces of Central Italy, which was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia a few months later in March 1860. In 1862 it became part of Italy, and joined the Italian postal system.

Economy[link]

Vineyards in the Chianti region

Agriculture[link]

The subsoil in Tuscany is relatively rich in mineral resources, with iron ore, copper, mercury and lignite mines, the famous soffioni (fumarole) at Larderello and the vast marble mines in Versilia. Although its share is falling all the time, agriculture still contributes to the region's economy. In the region's inland areas cereals, potatoes, olives and grapes (for the world-famous Chianti wines) are grown. The swamplands, which used to be marshy, now produce vegetables, rice, tobacco, beets and sunflowers.^[5]

Industry[link]

The industrial sector is dominated by mining, given the abundance of underground resources. Also of note are textiles, chemicals/pharmaceuticals, metalworking and steel, glass and ceramics, clothing and printing/publishing sectors. Smaller areas specialising in manufacturing and craft industries are found in the hinterland: the leather and footwear area in the south-west part of the province of Florence, the hot-house plant area in Pistoia, the ceramics and textile industries in the Prato area, scooters and motorcycles in Pontedera, and the processing of timber for the manufacture of wooden furniture in the Cascina area. The heavy industries (mining, steel and mechanical engineering) are concentrated along the coastal strip (Livorno and Pisa areas), where there are also important chemical industries. Also of note are the marble (Carrara area) and paper industries (Lucca area).^[5]

Tourism[link]

Tuscany south coast of Monte Argentario

Many towns and cities in Tuscany have great natural and architectural beauty. There are many visitors throughout the year. As a result, the services and distribution activities, so important to the region's economy, are wide-ranging and well-organised.

Fashion[link]

The Via de' Tornabuoni in Florence, the city's top fashion and shopping street, contains some of the world's most luxurious clothing and jewelry houses, such as Cartier, Ferragamo, Gucci, Versace and Bulgari, to name a few.

The fashion and textile industry are the pillars of the Florentine economy. In the 15th century, Florentines were working with luxury textiles such as wool and silk. Today the greatest designers in Europe utilize the textile industry in Tuscany, and especially Florence.

Italy has one of the strongest textile industries in Europe, accounting for approximately one quarter of European production. Its turnover is over 25 billion euros. It is the third largest supplier of clothing after China and Japan. The Italian fashion industry generates 60% of its turnover abroad.^[23]

Demographics[link]

The population density of Tuscany, with 161 inhabitants per square kilometre (420 /sq mi) in 2008, is below the national average (198.8 /km² or 515 /sq mi). This is due to the low population density of the provinces of Arezzo, Siena and primarily, Grosseto (50 /km² or 130 /sq mi). The highest density is found in the province of Prato (675 /km² or 1,750 /sq mi) followed by the provinces of Pistoia, Livorno, Florence and Lucca, peaking in the cities of Florence (more than 3,500 /km² or 9,100 /sq mi), Livorno, Prato, Viareggio, Forte dei Marmi and Montecatini Terme (all with a population density of more than 1,000 /km² or 2,600 /sq mi). The territorial distribution of the population is closely linked to the socio-cultural and, more recently, economic and industrial development of Tuscany.^[5]

Accordingly, the least densely populated areas are those where the main activity is agriculture, unlike the others where, despite the presence of a number of large industrial complexes, the main activities are connected with tourism and associated services, alongside many small firms in the leather, glass, paper and clothing sectors.^[5]

Italians make up 93% of the total population. Starting from the 1980s, the region attracted a large flux of immigrants, particularly from China. There is also a significant community of British and American residents. As of 2008, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 275,149 foreign-born immigrants live in Tuscany, equal to 7% of the total regional population.

Government and politics[link]

Tuscany is a stronghold of the center-left Democratic Party, forming with Emilia-Romagna, Umbria and Marche the famous Italian political "Red Quadrilateral". At the April 2008 elections, Tuscany gave more than 50% of its votes to Walter Veltroni, and only 33.6% to Silvio Berlusconi.^[24]

Administrative divisions[link]

Tuscany is divided into ten provinces:

Florence

Arezzo

Grosseto

Siena

Livorno

Pisa

Lucca

PT

PO

Massa and
Carrara

See also[link]

• Cities and towns in Tuscany
• People from Tuscany
• Line of succession to the Tuscan throne
• Tuscan Archipelago

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Tuscany on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Tuscany travel guide from Wikitravel
• Official website of the Tuscany Region (in Italian)
• Official website of the Opera della Primaziale Pisana
• Tourist information

v t e Tuscany Provinces and places Arezzo Florence Grosseto Livorno Lucca Massa and Carrara Pisa Pistoia Prato Siena History Etruria March of Tuscany Grand Duchy of Tuscany Kingdom of Etruria United Provinces Politics Elections in Tuscany List of Presidents of Tuscany Culture Language Music

v t e  Italy topics History Middle Ages Renaissance Wars Napoleonic History Prehistory Etruscan Civilization Magna Graecia Ancient Rome (Kingdom Republic Empire) Regnum Italicum Middle Ages Years of the 12th – 14th century Renaissance Italian Wars Foreign domination Unification Monarchy and the World Wars Republic Historical states Fashion history Wine history Language history Railway history Postal history History of the Jews Citizenship history Musical history Geography Areas Alps Apennines Northern / Central / Southern / Insular Italy Topics Cities by population Metropolitan areas Regions by area Islands National parks Plants Regions Regional rankings Volcanism Volcanoes Provinces Municipalities Governance Judiciary and legal system Constitution Law enforcement President Parliament Senate Prime Minister Chamber of Deputies Politics Elections Political parties Political scandals Military Military history Army Navy Air force Carabinieri Economy Economic history under Fascism Post-war economic miracle Currency history Bank of Italy Companies Stock exchange Nuclear energy Renewable energy Taxation Transportation Automotive industry Communications Tourism Banking Euro coins Regions by GDP (PPP) Regions per capita (nominal) Economic growth and statistics Demographics Regions by population Immigration Education Healthcare International rankings Society Crime Social class Customs and etiquette Women Media Telecommunications Public Holidays Health and nutrition LGBT rights Culture Cultural history (14th century) Cultural history (15th century) Cultural history (16th century) Cultural history (17th century) Cultural history (18th century) Architecture Art Sculpture Cinema Cuisine Folklore Folk dance Languages and dialects Design Literature Theatre Philosophy Science and technology Music Opera Sport Fashion Wines Alcoholic beverages and beer Olympics World Heritage Sites Religion Freedom of religion Christianity Roman Catholicism Old Catholicism Eastern Orthodoxy Protestantism Baptism Judaism Islam Buddhism Hinduism Sikhism Bahá'í Neopaganism Witchcraft Cathedrals Basilicas People Ancient people List of people Actors Actresses Architects Billionaires Chefs and cooks Comedians Composers Designers Explorers Filmmakers Painters Poets Politicians Writers) Symbols Coat of arms National flag Regional flags Category Portal WikiProject

Anthony Bourdain

Bourdain in June 2006
Born	Anthony Michael Bourdain (1956-06-25) June 25, 1956 (age 56) New York City
Cooking style	French
Education	Vassar College Culinary Institute of America
Spouse	Nancy Putkoski (1980s–2000s) Ottavia Busia (April 20, 2007–present)
Television show(s) A Cook's Tour Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations The Layover

Anthony Michael "Tony" Bourdain (born June 25, 1956) is an American chef, author and television personality. He is well known for his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, and is the host of Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure programs Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and The Layover.

A 1978 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a veteran of numerous professional kitchens,^[1] Bourdain is currently a chef-at-large, whose home base is Brasserie Les Halles, New York^[2] where he was executive chef for many years.

Early life and family[link]

Anthony Bourdain was born in New York City to Pierre (d.1987)^[3] and Gladys Bourdain, and grew up in Leonia, New Jersey.^[4] Bourdain has French ancestry on his father's side; his paternal grandfather emigrated from France to New York following World War I.^[5] Bourdain's mother worked for the New York Times as a staff editor^[6]. Bourdain was a student at Englewood School for Boys, graduating in 1973.^[7] He attended Vassar College before dropping out after two years, and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978.

Bourdain married his high-school girlfriend, Nancy Putkoski, in the 1980s, remaining together for two decades before divorcing; Bourdain has cited the irrevocable changes that come from traveling widely as the cause of the split.^[8] He currently lives with his second wife, Ottavia Busia. Together, they have a daughter, Ariane, born on April 9, 2007; the couple wed on April 20, 2007.^[9] Busia has appeared in several episodes of No Reservations – notably the episode on Sardinia, her birthplace; the Tuscany episode, in which she plays a disgruntled Italian diner; the Rome episode, and the Naples episode.

Culinary training and career[link]

In Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain describes how his love of food was kindled in France when he tried his first oyster on an oyster fisherman's boat as a youth while on a family vacation. Later, while attending Vassar College, he worked in the seafood restaurants of Provincetown, Massachusetts, which sparked his decision to pursue cooking as a career. Bourdain graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978, and went on to run various restaurant kitchens in New York City – including the Supper Club, One Fifth Avenue, and Sullivan's – culminating in the position of executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles beginning in 1998. Brasserie Les Halles is based in Manhattan, with additional locations in Miami and, at the time of Bourdain's tenure, Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, Japan.

Media career[link]

Writing[link]

Bourdain gained immediate popularity from his 2000 New York Times bestselling book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, an outgrowth of his now famous article in The New Yorker called "Don't Eat Before Reading This".^[10] The book is a witty and rambunctious exposé of the hidden and darker side of the culinary world, and is a memoir of Bourdain's professional life as well.

Bourdain subsequently wrote two more New York Times bestselling nonfiction books: A Cook's Tour (2001), an exotic account of his food and travel exploits across the world, written in conjunction with his first television series; and The Nasty Bits (2006), another collection of exotic, provocative, and humorous anecdotes and essays mainly centered on food. Bourdain's additional books include Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook; the culinary mysteries Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo; a hypothetical historical investigation, Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical; and No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach. His latest book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook, the sequel to Kitchen Confidential, was published in 2010.

Bourdain's articles and essays have appeared many places, including in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Observer, Gourmet, Maxim, Esquire (UK), Scotland on Sunday, The Face, Food Arts, Limb by Limb, BlackBook, The Independent, Best Life, the Financial Times, and Town & Country. On the Internet, Bourdain's blog for Season 3 of Top Chef^[11] was nominated for a Webby Award for best Blog – Cultural/Personal in 2008.^[12]

Television[link]

The acclaim surrounding Bourdain's racy memoir, Kitchen Confidential, led to an offer by the Food Network to host his own food and world-travel show, A Cook's Tour, which premiered in January 2002. In July 2005, he premiered a new, somewhat similar television series, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, on the Travel Channel. As a further result of the immense popularity of Kitchen Confidential, the Fox sitcom Kitchen Confidential aired in 2005, in which the character "Jack Bourdain" is based loosely on the biography and persona of Anthony Bourdain.

In July 2006, Bourdain was in Beirut filming an episode of No Reservations when the Israel-Lebanon conflict broke out. Bourdain and his crew were evacuated with other American citizens on the morning of July 20 by the United States Marines.^[13] Because of the unexpected conflict only a few hours of footage were available from the first restaurant on their agenda. Bourdain's producers compiled the Beirut footage into a No Reservations episode which aired on August 21, 2006. Uncharacteristically, the episode included footage of both Bourdain and his production staff, and included not only their initial attempts to film the episode, but also their firsthand encounters with Hezbollah supporters, their days of waiting for news with other expatriates in a Beirut hotel, and their eventual escape aided by a "cleaner" (unseen in the footage), whom Bourdain dubbed "Mr. Wolf" after the character portrayed by Harvey Keitel in the movie, Pulp Fiction. The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2007.^[14]

Bourdain has appeared five times as guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef reality cooking competition program: first in the November 2006 "Thanksgiving" episode of Season 2; and then again in June 2007 in the first episode of Season 3, judging the "exotic surf and turf" competition featuring ingredients including abalone, alligator, black chicken, geoduck and eel. His third appearance was also in Season 3, as an expert on air travel, judging the competitors' airplane meals. Bourdain also wrote weekly blog commentaries for many of the Season 3 episodes, filling in as a guest blogger while Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio was busy opening a new restaurant. Bourdain next appeared as a guest judge for the opening episode of Season 4, in which pairs of chefs competed head-to-head in the preparation of various classic dishes; and again in the Season 4 Restaurant Wars episode, temporarily taking the place of head judge Tom Colicchio, was at a charity event. He is also one of the main judges on the Top Chef All-Stars Season 8.

Bourdain appeared in an episode of TLC's reality show Miami Ink which aired August 28, 2006. Artist Chris Garver tattooed a skull on Bourdain's right shoulder. Bourdain, who noted it was his fourth tattoo, said that one reason for the skull was that he wished to balance the ouroboros tattoo he had done on his opposite shoulder in Malaysia while filming Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Bourdain made a guest appearance on the August 6, 2007 New York City episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern; Zimmern appeared as a guest on the New York City episode of Bourdain's No Reservations airing the same day. On October 20, 2008 Bourdain hosted a special, "At the Table with Anthony Bourdain," on the Travel Channel. Bourdain also has a brief cameo appearance in the 2008 movie Far Cry.^[15]

In 2010, Bourdain appeared on Nick, Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba! as Dr. Tony. He is currently consulting and writing for the HBO series, Treme.^[16][17]

Travel Channel announced in July 2011 that it would be adding a second one-hour ten-episode Bourdain show to be titled The Layover, premiering November 21, 2011.^[18] The show's concept is that each episode features an exploration of a city that can be undertaken within an air travel layover of 24 to 48 hours.

Also in 2011, Bourdain voiced himself in a cameo on an episode of The Simpsons entitled "The Food Wife" in which Marge, Lisa, and Bart start a food blog called "The Three Mouthkateers" and Homer winds up in a meth lab.^[19]

In May 2012, Bourdain announced that he would be leaving the Travel Channel to host a show for CNN focusing on other cuisines and cultures.^[20]

Publishing[link]

Ecco Press, a division of HarperCollins, announced in September 2011 that Bourdain would have his own publishing line, which would include acquiring three to five titles per year that "reflect his remarkably eclectic tastes".^[21] The first books that the imprint will publish, to be released in 2013, will include Spaghetti Junction: Riding Shotgun with an L.A. Chef by Roy Choi, Prophets of Smoked Meat by Daniel Vaughn, and Fight Shark by Mark Miller.^[22] Bourdain has also announced plans to publish a book by Marilyn Hagerty.^[23]

In describing the line, Bourdain said, "This will be a line of books for people with strong voices who are good at something – who speak with authority. Discern nothing from this initial list – other than a general affection for people who cook food and like food. The ability to kick people in the head is just as compelling to us – as long as that's coupled with an ability to vividly describe the experience. We are just as intent on crossing genres as we are enthusiastic about our first three authors. It only gets weirder from here."^[24]

Public persona[link]

Bourdain in Chicago in 2007

Because of Bourdain's liberal use of profanity and sexual references in his television show No Reservations, the network has placed viewer discretion advisories on each segment of each episode. In recent seasons, the advisories include animation that is related in some way to the episode.

Known for consuming exotic ethnic dishes, Bourdain is famous for eating sheep testicles in Morocco, ant eggs in Puebla, Mexico, a raw seal eyeball as part of a traditional Inuit seal hunt, and a whole cobra – beating heart, blood, bile, and meat – in Vietnam. According to Bourdain, the most disgusting thing he has ever eaten is a Chicken McNugget,^[25] though he has also declared that the unwashed warthog rectum he ate in Namibia^[26] and the fermented shark he ate in Iceland^[27] are among "the worst meals of [his] life."

He has been known for being an unrepentant drinker and smoker. In a nod to Bourdain's (at the time) two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, renowned chef Thomas Keller once served him a 20-course tasting menu which included a mid-meal "coffee and cigarette": a coffee custard infused with tobacco, together with a foie gras mousse.^[28] Bourdain stopped cigarette smoking in the summer of 2007 because of the birth of his daughter.^[29] He is also a former user of cocaine, heroin, and LSD. In Kitchen Confidential he writes of his experience in a trendy SoHo restaurant in 1981: "We were high all the time, sneaking off to the walk-in refrigerator at every opportunity to 'conceptualize.' Hardly a decision was made without drugs. Cannabis, methaqualone, cocaine, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms soaked in honey and used to sweeten tea, secobarbital, tuinal, amphetamine, codeine and, increasingly, heroin, which we'd send a Spanish-speaking busboy over to Alphabet City to get."^[30] In the same book, Bourdain frankly describes his former addiction, including how he once resorted to selling his record collection on the street in order to raise enough money to purchase drugs.

Bourdain is also noted for his put-downs of celebrity chefs, such as Paula Deen, Bobby Flay, Sandra Lee, and Rachael Ray, and appears to be irritated by both the overt commercialism of the celebrity cooking industry and its lack of culinary authenticity. He has voiced a "serious disdain for food demigods like Alan Richman, Alice Waters, and Alain Ducasse."^[31] Bourdain has recognized the irony of his transformation into a celebrity chef and has, to some extent, begun to qualify his insults. He has been consistently outspoken in his praise for chefs he admires, particularly Thomas Keller, Gordon Ramsay, Eric Ripert, Ferran Adrià, Fergus Henderson, Marco Pierre White, and Mario Batali.^[32] Bourdain has also spoken very highly of Julia Child, saying that she "influenced the way I grew up and my entire value system."^[33]

Bourdain is also known for his sarcastic comments about vegan and vegetarian activists, saying that their lifestyle is rude to the inhabitants of many countries he visits. Bourdain says he considers vegetarianism, except in the case of religious strictures as in India, a "First World luxury."^[34] He has clarified that he believes Americans eat too much meat, and admires vegetarians who allow themselves to put aside their vegetarianism when they travel in order to be respectful of their hosts.^[35]

Bourdain's taste in music is also a matter of public record. His book, The Nasty Bits, is dedicated to "Joey, Johnny, and Dee Dee" of the Ramones. Bourdain has declared fond appreciation for their music, as well that of other early punk bands such as The Stooges, Dead Boys, Television, The New York Dolls, and The Voidoids. Additionally, Bourdain writes in Kitchen Confidential that the playing of music by Billy Joel in his kitchen was grounds for immediate firing (coincidentally, Joel is a fan of his and has subsequently visited the restaurant^[36]). In the 2006 No Reservations episode in Sweden, Bourdain proclaimed that his all-time favorite album (his "desert island disc") is the groundbreaking punk record Fun House by The Stooges; he also made it clear that he despises the Swedish pop group ABBA. On his 2007 No Reservations Holiday Special episode, the rock band Queens of the Stone Age were the featured dinner guests, adding food-inspired holiday songs to the episode's soundtrack.

Interests and advocacy[link]

Bourdain is an advocate for communicating the value and tastiness of traditional or "peasant" foods, including specifically all of the varietal bits and unused animal parts not usually eaten by affluent 21st-century US citizens.^[37] Bourdain has also consistently noted and championed the high quality and deliciousness of freshly prepared street food in other countries – especially developing countries – as compared to fast food chains in the U.S.^[38]

Bourdain often acknowledges and champions the industrious Spanish-speaking immigrants – often from Mexico or Ecuador – who make up a majority of the chefs and cooks in many U.S. restaurants, including upscale restaurants, regardless of cuisine.^[39][40] Bourdain considers them to be talented chefs and invaluable cooks, underpaid and unrecognized even though they have become the backbone of the U.S. restaurant industry.^[41][42]

Awards and nominations[link]

Bourdain was named Food Writer of the Year in 2001 by Bon Appétit magazine for Kitchen Confidential.^[43]

A Cook's Tour was named Food Book of the Year in 2002 by the British Guild of Food Writers.^[44]

The Beirut episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, which documented the experiences of Bourdain and his crew during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Programming in 2007.^[14]

Bourdain's blog for the reality competition show Top Chef^[11] was nominated for a Webby Award for best Blog – Culture / Personal in 2008.^[12]

In 2008, Bourdain was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America.

In 2009 and 2011, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming.

In 2010, Anthony Bourdain was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy for non-fiction writing.

In 2010, Anthony Bourdain was awarded an Honorary CLIO Awards, which is given to individuals who are changing the world by encouraging people to think differently.

Bibliography[link]

Nonfiction

• Bourdain, Anthony (2000). Kitchen Confidential. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 1-58234-082-X. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2001). A Cook's Tour. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 1-58234-140-0. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2001). Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/1-58234-133-9|1-58234-133-9]]. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2004). Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-58234-180-4. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2006). The Nasty Bits. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-59691-360-8. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2007). No Reservations. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-59691-447-6. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2010). Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook. Ecco/HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-171894-7.

Fiction

• Bourdain, Anthony (1995). Bone in the Throat. New York: Villard Books. ISBN 0-679-43552-2. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (1997). Gone Bamboo. New York: Villard Books. ISBN 0-679-44880-2. 
• Bourdain, Anthony (2001). Bobby Gold. Edinburgh: Canongate Crime. ISBN 1-84195-145-5.