Carter let his eyes roam about the room as he walked in, his gaze taking in the bookshelves lining the walls, the musical instruments tucked all about, and of course the piano at the heart of it all. He lowered himself into the upholstered chair by the coffee table, noting while he did so the ornate globe behind the couch adjacent to the chair. Flanking the globe were two statuettes, miniatures of famous pieces of sculpture, one of which Carter thought he recognized, but only vaguely. It was of a young man with a slingshot draped over his shoulder; the other statuette was of a woman playing a harp. There were, he saw, a few other such pieces here and there on the bookshelves around the room, as well as a pair of paintings, both mountain landscapes that Carter took to be scenes of Italy. All in all, looking about at his surroundings, the room had to him the aura of a very small museum or some ancient library or perhaps the study of a philosopher from a bygone age.

“Saint Cecilia,” said Professor Rosa, nodding to the statuette of the woman playing the harp as he installed himself on the couch across from Carter. “The patron saint of music.The other of course is David.”

“I think I’ve seen that one before,” mused Carter.“But I’m not sure where.”

“I’m sure you have seen an image of it at one time or another,” said the professor with a certain air of pride in his voice as he cleared a space on the coffee table between them. Then, suddenly quite animated, speaking with fierce conviction, he went on, “Or at least I certainly hope you have. If you don’t know it already, the influence of Italy and Italians is everywhere in our world, in every field you can imagine.That statue is only one example.You name it: Art, literature, science, architecture, music, politics, religion, sports. There is nothing that Italian culture has not touched in some significant way. Forget the Sopranos and the Corleones and all those other misbegotten notions of what some people in this country have come to think of as Italians.Yes, those types of people exist, but they are aberrations, no more indicative of all Italians any more than sharks are indicative of all fish. Italians all over the world are heirs to a rich, beautiful culture that has given the world the likes of Giotto, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Galileo, Marconi, Fermi, Caruso, Fellini, Pavarotti, Sophia Loren.The list goes on and on and on!”

“And I thought all they gave us was pizza and pasta,” quipped Carter.

“Ha, don’t laugh,” said Rosa, wagging a finger at him. “Just think, where would this world be without Italian cooking?”

“I don’t know,” Carter chuckled. “I’m pretty much a meat-and-potatoes guy myself.”