Barberini family and provided the subject for a major international conference in December 2004 (and subsequent publication), entitled "I Barberini e la Cultura Europea". Family tree of the 16th and 17th century Barberini ("hereditary patriarchy of the family is indicated by the colored squares"). Barberini family The Barberini are a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII. Their urban palace, the Palazzo Barberini, (completed in 1633 by Bernini), today houses Italy's Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica (National
The Light in the Piazza (novel) The Light in the Piazza (novel) The Light in the Piazza is a 1960 novella by Mississippi writer Elizabeth Spencer. At its core are Margaret Johnson and her daughter Clara, on vacation in Italy, where Clara becomes enamored of local Florentine Fabrizio. What appears on the surface to be nothing more than a romantic story of young love slowly dissolves into a more tragic tale involving a past accident with serious consequences, dark family secrets, deception, and a conflict between maternal love and responsibility and an innocent girl's physical and emotional desires as she becomes aware of her awakening sexuality.