Diplomatic response
Sir: Petronella Wyatt invites me to com- ment (Another voice, 29 March) on a frag- ment of a letter written in 1763 by a Vene- tian woman complaining about Venetian men. Ms Wyatt seems to believe that this lament can be taken as 'confirmation' that an ever-growing number of Italian men in the late 20th century are either impotent or homosexual. I'm afraid that I can't quite fol- low the logic of this claim, but I am flattered that Ms Wyatt should turn to a mere diplo- mat for advice about such a lively topic. So I will hazard a guess, both about the cause of the Venetian lady's distress and Ms Wyatt's furious and reiterated attacks on Italy. The English phrase for it I believe to be, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.' To turn to a more serious matter, and one which is within my diplomatic compe- tence, I have no record or recollection of writing the letter Ms Wyatt attributes to me in paragraph two of her latest anti-Italian diatribe. I did, however, write a private let- ter to the editor of The Spectator asking for further information about Ms Wyatt"s alle- gation in an earlier article (Furthermore, 10 August 1996) that a policeman in Porto Ercole had boasted to her of taking bribes. What I suggested was that the policeman should be named and proof given of his offence (in which case he would be duly prosecuted) or that the allegation should be withdrawn. Need I add that this informa- tion has not been forthcoming so far?
Ms Wyatt further deduces from the fact that two Italian opera houses (La Fenice in Venice and Petruzzelli in Bari) have burned down in the last 50-odd years that Italians are indifferent to music and cul- ture. Once again I'm puzzled: should I deduce that the British are indifferent to transport because someone every now and then sets fire to shuttle trains, or to religion because someone else burns down church- es? Incidentally, the finalists of the interna- tional competition for the reconstruction of La Fenice were nominated in March, work will start in July, completion is due by the end of November 1999 and the necessary funds (152 billion lira) have been allocated.
Finally, we have the intriguing notion of an Italy without Italians, an excellent idea for a new after-dinner party game. The easy version of the game is to imagine Florence without Italians such as Masaccio, Donatel- lo, Brunelleschi; Rome without Michelan- gelo — and so forth. Venice would become the Stockholm of the south instead of the other way round. Unfortunately Livorno as Liverpool would be a defunct port rather than one of the most successful port cities in Europe. I cannot say that Pienza would be Bath because without the example of Renaissance cities like Pienza — built by and for Italians — there would be no Bath. Antonio Armellini
Italian Embassy, 14 Three Kings Yard, London W1
Petronella Wyatt writes: Mr Armellini asserts that I refused to give information about a policeman in Porto Ercole who had boasted to me of taking bribes. So far from this being the case, I recently had to disentangle the mess made by the local police there when they arrested the wrong man.
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