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  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: (R-L) The recently restored tomb of Lorenzo De Medici, Duke of Urbino, and the tomb of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the poweful ruler of Florence who lifted the Medici dynasty and largely bankrolled the Renaissance, are seen here at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A projection of the history of the local textile industry and the Chinese presence is seen here the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2895.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Roberta Travaglini (61), who has lost her job at a textile mille four years ago, poses for a portrait nearby her apartment in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.  For the past four years, Roberta Travaglini has been unable to find a job, forcing her to live off support from her retired parents. She says she will not look for work in the Chinese-owned clothing businesses, because she feels uncomfortable there. But she shops for clothes in the Chinese clothing store across the street from her apartment because she can no longer afford the boutiques downtown. Since losing her job, she has survived by fixing clothes for people in her neighbourhood, using the workshop on the ground floor of her parent’s apartment.“When I was young, it was the Communist party that was protecting the workers, that was protecting our social class. Now, it’s the League that is protecting the people, that goes toward the people’s problems. I see a similarity between the Communist Party and the League.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostl
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1553.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Sellers of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition, are seen here choosing fabrics in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1166.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A fabric sample from the 1967/1968 Fall/Winter collection of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1070.jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: A view at sunrise from the harbour in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 26 AUGUST 2019: Fisherman and activist Paolo Fanciulli (58) poses for a portrait in fron of "The Young Guardian", a sculpture by artist Emily Young waiting to be lowered in the sea in Talamone, Italy, on August 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • LUCCA, ITALY - 25 OCTOBER 2018: Antique earrings and brooch with inlays of kingfisher feathers (China, circa 1870), from Annette Klein's private collection, are shown here in her home in Lucca, Italy, on October 25th 2018.<br />
<br />
Annette Klein, who grew up near Cologne in Germany, graduated with a PhD in the History of Theatre. She is an Art Historian, a collector and researcher of antique earrings. Her current research focuses on antique earrings from the 17th and 18th centuries and their geographical, historical, social and cultural context.
    CIPG_20181025_NYT_Klein_M3_1974.jpg
  • LUCCA, ITALY - 25 OCTOBER 2018: Earrings in gold and gold mesh with little turquoises (France, 1870/1880), from Annette Klein's private collection, are shown here in her home in Lucca, Italy, on October 25th 2018.<br />
<br />
Annette Klein, who grew up near Cologne in Germany, graduated with a PhD in the History of Theatre. She is an Art Historian, a collector and researcher of antique earrings. Her current research focuses on antique earrings from the 17th and 18th centuries and their geographical, historical, social and cultural context.
    CIPG_20181025_NYT_Klein_M3_1649.jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 19 JANUARY 2015: Dimitri Conti (38), founder and CEO of Lionard Luxury Real Estate, poses for a portrait in his office in Florence, Italy, on January 19th 2015.<br />
<br />
The high maintenance costs and the increasing property taxes have  convinced the owners of historical and luxury properties to consider the opportunity to sell their real estate to foreign markets, that are the only ones interested. in such offers.<br />
<br />
The castle is listed in a portfolio of 70 castles managed by Lionard Luxury Real Estate, a company founded in Florence in 2008. Lionard Luxury Real Estate has a portfolio of approximately 1200 luxury real estates. About 60/70 percent of the inquiries they receive are for Tuscan castles, while 95 percent of their transactions are done with foreign buyers.
    CIPG_20150119_INYT_Castles__M3_9002.jpg
  • CERTALDO (FLORENCE), ITALY - 19 JANUARY 2015: The terrace of the Castle of Tavolese, in Certaldo, approximately 50km from Florence, Italy, on January 19th 2015.<br />
<br />
The castle was built in the 13th century and was inhabited by Farinata degli Uberti, an Italian aristocrat and military leader, considered by some of his contemporaries to be a heretic. He is remembered mostly for his appearance in Dante Alighieri's Inferno. There are more than 7,000 square meters of interior surface and 62 hectares of land (among which are 14 ha of olive grove and <br />
11ha of vineyards).<br />
<br />
The high maintenance costs and the increasing property taxes have  convinced the owners of historical and luxury properties to consider the opportunity to sell their real estate to foreign markets, that are the only ones interested. in such offers.<br />
<br />
The castle is listed in a portfolio of 70 castles managed by Lionard Luxury Real Estate, a company founded in Florence in 2008. Lionard Luxury Real Estate has a portfolio of approximately 1200 luxury real estates. About 60/70 percent of the inquiries they receive are for Tuscan castles, while 95 percent of their transactions are done with foreign buyers.
    CIPG_20150119_INYT_Castles__M3_8777.jpg
  • PONTASSIEVE (FLORENCE), ITALY - 19 JANUARY 2015: The courtyard of the Castle of Torre a Decima, in Pontassieve (Chianti region), approximately 20km from Florence, Italy, on January 19th 2015.<br />
<br />
The castle was built in the 14th century by the Pazzi, a noble and powerful tuscan family. In 1478 they were involved in the conspiracy (which bears their name) to replace the de' Medici family as rulers of Florence. Today, the castle is a private residence. There are more than 10,000 square meters of interior surface and 156 hectares of land (part of which are olive groves and vineyards).<br />
<br />
<br />
The high maintenance costs and the increasing property taxes have  convinced the owners of historical and luxury properties to consider the opportunity to sell their real estate to foreign markets, that are the only ones interested. in such offers. There are more than 10,000 square meters of interior surface and 156 hectares of land.<br />
<br />
The castle is listed in a portfolio of 70 castles managed by Lionard Luxury Real Estate, a company founded in Florence in 2008. Lionard Luxury Real Estate has a portfolio of approximately 1200 luxury real estates. About 60/70 percent of the inquiries they receive are for Tuscan castles, while 95 percent of their transactions are done with foreign buyers.
    CIPG_20150119_INYT_Castles__M3_8699.jpg
  • TORRE DEL LAGO, ITALY - JULY 31, 2011: Lazia Tiffany, 32, participates at the Miss Drag Queen Italy the contest, the only contest and festival for Drag Queens in Italy, in Torre del Lago. Torre del Lago is well known for being an important gay and gay-friendly summer resort of national and international appeal. It is considered the gay mecca of Italy. A drag queen is usually a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. Generally, drag queens dress in a female gender role, often exaggerating certain characteristics (such as make-up and eyelashes) for comic, dramatic or satirical effect.
    Perfect_28.jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: The tomb of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the poweful ruler of Florence who lifted the Medici dynasty and largely bankrolled the Renaissance, is seen here at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: Michelangelo's rising Dawn marble statue, which adorns - together a bearded Dusk - the tomb of Lorenzo De Medici, Duke of Urbino, is seen here after being restored at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: Michelangelo's rising Dawn marble statue, which adorns - together a bearded Dusk - the tomb of Lorenzo De Medici, Duke of Urbino, is seen here after being restored at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: Michelangelo's rising Dawn marble statue, which adorns - together a bearded Dusk - the tomb of Lorenzo De Medici, Duke of Urbino, is seen here after being restored at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: A palette behind an altar was used by biologists and restorers to try out the top eight bacterial candidates for the restoration of Michelangelo's masterpiece at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: A palette behind an altar was used by biologists and restorers to try out the top eight bacterial candidates for the restoration of Michelangelo's masterpiece at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: A palette behind an altar was used by biologists and restorers to try out the top eight bacterial candidates for the restoration of Michelangelo's masterpiece at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: A black square of grime in the back of the tomb of Lorenzo De Medici, Duke of Urbino, shows how dirty it was before being recently restored at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: The tomb of Lorenzo De Medici, Duke of Urbino, adorned with Michelangelo's allegorical sculptures of Dusk and Dawn and recently restored with the use of bacteria, is seen here at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: A restorer point at at a palette behind an altar where biologists and restorers tried out the top eight bacterial candidates, here at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,” said Marina Vincenti, one of the restorers.
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • FLORENCE, ITALY - 24 MAY 2021: A tourist admires the tomb of Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours, recently restored at the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy, on May 24th 2021. The sarcophagus is  graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight.<br />
<br />
An all-woman team used bacteria that fed on glue, oil and phosphates — if not flesh — as a bioweapon against centuries of stains, applying painstakingly tested and selected strains to the universally recognized masterpieces of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.<br />
<br />
The team - composed of the former and current directors of the Bargello Museum in Florence (which overseees the Medici Chapel, a biologist with the bio-restoration group at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, a scientifist of Italy’s National Research Council and two restorers - tested the bugs in November 2019 on the marble floor behind the altar but also on Michelangelo’s tomb for Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours. That sarcophagus is graced with reclining allegorical sculptures for Day, a hulking, twisted male figure, and Night, a female body Michelangelo made so smooth and polished as to seem as if she shined in moonlight. The team washed her hair with Pseudomonas stutzeri CONC11 bacteria, isolated from the waste of a tannery near Naples, and cleaned residue of casting molds, glue and oil off her ears with Rhodococcus sp. ZCONT, which came from soil contaminated with diesel in Caserta.<br />
<br />
When Covid hit in February 2020, the museum closed and the project slowed down. The bugs got back to the Medici Chapel in mid-October. The biologist and the restorers spread gels with the SH7 bacteria, isolated from soil contaminated by heavy metals at a mineral site in Sardinia, to the soiled sarcophagus of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino, buried with his assassinated son Alessandro.<br />
<br />
“It ate the whole night,
    CIPG_20210524_NYT_Michelangelo-Bacte...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese immigrants are seen here in a public park by an abandoned wool mill, closed in 2002, in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. The
    SMAS_20191126_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A view of the quality control area of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Claudio Vivarelli (53) is seen here checking the quality of a fabric at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Claudio Vivarelli has been working at Marini Industrie for 20 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Luca Campigli (56),  walks by the stocked fabric samples at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Luca Campagni has been working at Marini Industrie for 27 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: The fabric fabric produced in the Tronci textile factory, a supplier of Marini Industrie, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3409.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: The fabric fabric produced in the Tronci textile factory, a supplier of Marini Industrie, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3405.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: The weaving of a fabric is seen here in the Tronci textile factory, a supplier of Marini Industrie, in Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3367.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: A woman is seen here at work in the Tronci textile factory, a supplier of Marini Industrie, in Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3349.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Signs advertise  Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3332.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese clothes are shown here in a showroom of a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3310.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese clothes with a "Made in Italy" label are shown here in a showroom of a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3300.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A sign advertises a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3241.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer is seen here in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3215.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A building with Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailers is seen here in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3172.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A sign advertises a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3153.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese truck drivers pulls out of the parking lot of a Chinese supermarket after delivering goods, in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion br
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3123.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A local policewoman confiscates the vegetables sold illegally by a Chinese immigrant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixe
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3084.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: The walled entrance and closed fate of an abandoned wool mill, that went out of business in 2002, in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3067.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Teenagers, including first generation Italian Chinese, are seen here walking back from school in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. The
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2949.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese worker assembles a new Chinese business sign in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their cre
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2914.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A projection of the history of the local textile industry and the Chinese presence is seen here the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2877.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: An interior view of the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2831.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: The textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2806.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2740.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2580.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2575.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2547.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2463.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A view of the former Nesi textile factory, that went out of business, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, the Nesi textile factory was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2328.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A view of the former Nesi textile factory, that went out of business, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, the Nesi textile factory was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2231.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: The entrance of the former Nesi textile factory, that went out of business, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, the Nesi textile factory was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2119.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese furs are seen here outside a showroom of a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fas
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2103.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese clothes are shown here in a showroom of a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fash
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2086.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese immigrants walk by a grocery store in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: �
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2056.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese immigrant walks by a grocery store in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: �
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2048.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese immigrant is seen here walking out of a garage in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their c
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1985.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese immigrant walks towards a bus stop in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: �
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1921.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese cafe and restaurant is seen here in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “M
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1906.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1894.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1890.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1829.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1765.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1752.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese immigrant is seen here by a food market in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creation
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1620.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese immigrant is seen here by a gambling machines facility in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1588.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Roberta Travaglini (61), who has lost her job at a textile mille four years ago, poses for a portrait nearby her apartment in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.  For the past four years, Roberta Travaglini has been unable to find a job, forcing her to live off support from her retired parents. She says she will not look for work in the Chinese-owned clothing businesses, because she feels uncomfortable there. But she shops for clothes in the Chinese clothing store across the street from her apartment because she can no longer afford the boutiques downtown. Since losing her job, she has survived by fixing clothes for people in her neighbourhood, using the workshop on the ground floor of her parent’s apartment.“When I was young, it was the Communist party that was protecting the workers, that was protecting our social class. Now, it’s the League that is protecting the people, that goes toward the people’s problems. I see a similarity between the Communist Party and the League.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostl
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1491.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Roberta Travaglini (61), who has lost her job at a textile mille four years ago, ise seen here looking at a shop window of a Chinese clothig store in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.  For the past four years, Roberta Travaglini has been unable to find a job, forcing her to live off support from her retired parents. She says she will not look for work in the Chinese-owned clothing businesses, because she feels uncomfortable there. But she shops for clothes in the Chinese clothing store across the street from her apartment because she can no longer afford the boutiques downtown. Since losing her job, she has survived by fixing clothes for people in her neighbourhood, using the workshop on the ground floor of her parent’s apartment.“When I was young, it was the Communist party that was protecting the workers, that was protecting our social class. Now, it’s the League that is protecting the people, that goes toward the people’s problems. I see a similarity between the Communist Party and the League.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arr
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1393.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Roberta Travaglini (61), who has lost her job at a textile mille four years ago, ise seen here looking at a shop window of a Chinese clothig store in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.  For the past four years, Roberta Travaglini has been unable to find a job, forcing her to live off support from her retired parents. She says she will not look for work in the Chinese-owned clothing businesses, because she feels uncomfortable there. But she shops for clothes in the Chinese clothing store across the street from her apartment because she can no longer afford the boutiques downtown. Since losing her job, she has survived by fixing clothes for people in her neighbourhood, using the workshop on the ground floor of her parent’s apartment.“When I was young, it was the Communist party that was protecting the workers, that was protecting our social class. Now, it’s the League that is protecting the people, that goes toward the people’s problems. I see a similarity between the Communist Party and the League.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arr
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1341.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A fabric sample from the 1967/1968 Fall/Winter collection of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1079.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Manuela Innocenti (47) is seen here checking the quality of a fabric at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Manuela Innocenti has been working at Marini Industrie for 13 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1014.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Carmela D'Ambrosio (56) is seen here checking the quality of a fabric at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Carmela D'Ambrosio  has been working at Marini Industrie for 20 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0657.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019:  Lorena Bertocci (70) chooses fabric samples for a client at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Lorena Bertocci has been working at Marini Industrie since he was 14 years old. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0564.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Luca Campigli (56), cuts fabric samples for a client at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Luca Campagni has been working at Marini Industrie for 27 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0489.jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 26 AUGUST 2019: Fisherman and activist Paolo Fanciulli (58) poses for a portrait in fron of "The Young Guardian", a sculpture by artist Emily Young waiting to be lowered in the sea in Talamone, Italy, on August 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: (L-R) Sandra Galvis, a former Greenpeace activist and Paolo Fanciulli's fourth wife, is seen here together their assistant Nader on Paolo's fishing boat "Sirena" as they sail back to the harbour in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: Visitors untangle fish from the net on the "Sirena", Paolo's fishing boat in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: A bucket of fish caught by fisherman Paolo Fanciulli is seen here on the "Sirena", his fishing boat, in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: A louvar caught by fisherman Paolo Fanciulli is seen here on the "Sirena", his fishing boat, in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: The fishing net used by fisherman Paolo Fanciulli is seen here on the "Sirena", his fishing boat in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: Fisherman and activist Paolo Fanciulli (58) throws fishing nets from his "Sirena" boat as visitors watch him work,  in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: A view of the Tuscan coast in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: Fisherman and activist Paolo Fanciulli (58) throws fishing nets from his "Sirena" boat as visitors watch him work,  in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: A view at sunrise of Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 26 AUGUST 2019: Fisherman and activist Paolo Fanciulli (58) poses for a portrait in fron of "The Young Guardian", a sculpture by artist Emily Young waiting to be lowered in the sea in Talamone, Italy, on August 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: "Acqua", a carved piece of Carrara marble by artist Giorgio Butini, is seen here 8 meters underwater in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_D...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: "Ittico Ziggurat", a 20 tonne carved piece of Carrara marble by artist Massimo Catalani, is seen here 8 meters underwater in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_D...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: "The Weeping Guardian", a 12 tonne carved piece of Carrara marble by artist Emily Young, is seen here 8 meters underwater in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_D...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 27 AUGUST 2019: "Ittico Ziggurat", a 20 tonnes carved piece of Carrara marble by artist Massimo Catalani, is seen here 8 meters underwater in Talamone, Italy, on August 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190827_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_D...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 26 AUGUST 2019: Fisherman and activist Paolo Fanciulli (58) navigates on a rubber dinghy on his way to the location where four marble-carved sculptures were lowered in the sea, in Talamone, Italy, on August 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190826_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • TALAMONE, ITALY - 26 AUGUST 2019: "The Young Guardian" (center), a sculpture by artist Emily Young, sits on the grass together with seventeen other sculpted marble blocks waiting to be lowered in the sea in Talamone, Italy, on August 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In 2006, fisherman Paolo Fanciulli used government funds and the donations from his loyal excursion clients to fund a project in which they protected the local waters from trawling by dropping hundreds of concrete blocks around the seabed. But his true dream was to lay down works of art down on the sea floor off the coast of Tuscany. His underwater art dreams came true when the owner of a Carrara quarry, inspired by Mr. Fanciulli’s vision, donated a hundred marble blocks to the project.<br />
Mr. Fanciulli invited sculptors to work the marble and set up kickstarter accounts, boat tours and dinners to fund the project. The acclaimed British artist Emily Young carved a ten-ton “Weeping Guardian” face, which was lowered with other sculptures into the water in 2015.<br />
Since then, coral and plant life have covered the sculptures and helped bring back the fish. And Paolo the Fisherman is catching as many of them as he can.
    CIPG_20190826_NYT-UnderWaterMuseum_M...jpg
  • LUCCA, ITALY - 25 OCTOBER 2018: Annette Klein, an art historian and collector of antique earrings, poses for a portrait in her home  in Lucca, Italy, on October 25th 2018.<br />
<br />
Annette Klein, who grew up near Cologne in Germany, graduated with a PhD in the History of Theatre. She is an Art Historian, a collector and researcher of antique earrings. Her current research focuses on antique earrings from the 17th and 18th centuries and their geographical, historical, social and cultural context.
    CIPG_20181025_NYT_Klein_M3_2273.jpg
  • LUCCA, ITALY - 25 OCTOBER 2018: Annette Klein, an art historian and collector of antique earrings, poses for a portrait in her home  in Lucca, Italy, on October 25th 2018.<br />
<br />
Annette Klein, who grew up near Cologne in Germany, graduated with a PhD in the History of Theatre. She is an Art Historian, a collector and researcher of antique earrings. Her current research focuses on antique earrings from the 17th and 18th centuries and their geographical, historical, social and cultural context.
    CIPG_20181025_NYT_Klein_M3_2267.jpg
  • LUCCA, ITALY - 25 OCTOBER 2018: Annette Klein, an art historian and collector of antique earrings, poses for a portrait in her home  in Lucca, Italy, on October 25th 2018.<br />
<br />
Annette Klein, who grew up near Cologne in Germany, graduated with a PhD in the History of Theatre. She is an Art Historian, a collector and researcher of antique earrings. Her current research focuses on antique earrings from the 17th and 18th centuries and their geographical, historical, social and cultural context.
    CIPG_20181025_NYT_Klein_M3_2230.jpg
  • LUCCA, ITALY - 25 OCTOBER 2018: Annette Klein, an art historian and collector of antique earrings, poses for a portrait in her home  in Lucca, Italy, on October 25th 2018.<br />
<br />
Annette Klein, who grew up near Cologne in Germany, graduated with a PhD in the History of Theatre. She is an Art Historian, a collector and researcher of antique earrings. Her current research focuses on antique earrings from the 17th and 18th centuries and their geographical, historical, social and cultural context.
    CIPG_20181025_NYT_Klein_M3_2218.jpg
  • LUCCA, ITALY - 25 OCTOBER 2018: Annette Klein, an art historian and collector of antique earrings, poses for a portrait in her home  in Lucca, Italy, on October 25th 2018.<br />
<br />
Annette Klein, who grew up near Cologne in Germany, graduated with a PhD in the History of Theatre. She is an Art Historian, a collector and researcher of antique earrings. Her current research focuses on antique earrings from the 17th and 18th centuries and their geographical, historical, social and cultural context.
    CIPG_20181025_NYT_Klein_M3_2194.jpg
  • LUCCA, ITALY - 25 OCTOBER 2018: Annette Klein, an art historian and collector of antique earrings, poses for a portrait in her home  in Lucca, Italy, on October 25th 2018.<br />
<br />
Annette Klein, who grew up near Cologne in Germany, graduated with a PhD in the History of Theatre. She is an Art Historian, a collector and researcher of antique earrings. Her current research focuses on antique earrings from the 17th and 18th centuries and their geographical, historical, social and cultural context.
    CIPG_20181025_NYT_Klein_M3_2193.jpg
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