Sir, – Paddy Agnew's Rome Letter ("Imagery of Italy clashes with reality of ruins", March 5th) contrasts the haunting beauty of the Rome depicted in the Oscar-winning film La Grande Bellezza with the crumbling reality of the near-bankrupt Eternal City. However, the most sardonic feature of the Fellini-esque take on latter-day Roman decadence is that it was funded by Silvio Berlusconi, whose family newspaper, Il Giornale , dubbed the award "Berlusconi's Oscar". – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Operngasse,
Vienna.