the most valuable pieces that survived the war
Rome: one of the biggest art exhibitions of 2022, in this case “liberated art”, or very precious artifacts taken from war scenarios, will start this week at the Scuderie del Quirinale, in Via XXIV Maggio 16, in the heart of the Eternal City. Let’s go and see in detail the dates, times and strong points of this exhibition.
In a few days in the heart of the capital, an exhibition displays the greatest Italian masterpieces that survived the destruction of the war
The exhibition, entitled “Arte Liberata 1937-1947 – Masterpieces saved from the War” to start Friday 16 December and will end on Monday 10 Aprilwith entrance from Monday to Sunday, only when events are in progress, from 10 to 20.
The main objective is to allow visitors to understand, admiring the works, the complex kaleidoscope of experiences and events of that historical period by presenting priceless pieces which are real “survivors”.
The leitmotif of the event starts in fact from the concept that, although the destructions and raids have always been sad corollaries during the war events, the Second World War – the reference time area of the exhibition in question – should be considered as a unique moment of its kind where we devoted ourselves to the modern reflection on the protection of cultural heritage.
In this period indeed there was a new approach to restoration issueswhich followed the events of the harsh world war.
The masterpieces exhibited at the Scuderie del Quirinale, in this case they relate precisely to the years in which Italy was at the center of the fighting, and the beautiful country had to deal with the need to protect its infinite and priceless artistic heritage from war destruction.
Precisely thanks to the decision of the time Minister Giuseppe Bottai, in 1939, nationwide, in Italy monuments and churches were protected and shored up, stuffed with sandbags, statues, frescoes and fountains were covered with fireproof armor – fireproof – while priceless sculptures and paintings have been hidden away in safe places.
Since 1943, as the Allied front advanced, the need for new precautions was added to the risk of bombing to prevent the looting of goods returned at the end of the Conflict, in a major operation to safeguard art.
Basically, visitors will be lucky enough to see the Scuderie converge the best of the art that survived the war, being able to enjoy a priceless legacy.
Focus on one of the prized pieces, “Il Discobolo”: its history
Directly from Palazzo Massimo in Rome, complete with an official announcement issued today, December 12, on the official page of the Roman National Museumcomes one of the most awaited works, perhaps the most awaited, or “The Discobolus” which as you can see from the photo above this article, will be one of the most visible wonders and was transported to the Stables wrapped in a special protective structure.
It’s about a statue that at the end of this exhibition will then change location in the springbeing moved to another location, at Palazzo Altemps and thus will initiate Urbs, the great renovation project of the Roman National Museum.
The Discobolus has a very prestigious history: it’s a sculpture made around 455 BC (period of conjunction between pre-classical and classical) from Myron.
The original statue was in bronze, today it consists only of marble copies from the Roman era, the best of which is probably the Lancellotti version.
The work was probably created for the city of Sparta and represented an athlete in the act of throwing the discus.
Several versions of the work are known. Among the most important, in addition to the Lancellotti one, there is no integral al British Museum said Townley which is distinguished by a more Hadrianic treatment of the head, with longer hair. Furthermore, the sculptor, possessing a more advanced technique, reduced the supporting trunk to the side of the figure. Another fragmentary version is kept in the Roman National Museum.
The beauty of the statue even struck Adolf Hitler who, during his trip to Italy in May 1938, seeing the myth of the Aryan race in the athlete’s beauty and physical perfection, he had the work “kindly” granted by the Italian government.
Although the Superior Council of Sciences and Arts had opposed it, Hitler bought the work through a private sale between Goering and Prince Lancellotti for 5 million lire. Being a work notified to the Fine Arts, its export was however prohibited, but thanks to pressure from the foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano, the statue managed to arrive in Germany in June 1938.
Thus the Discobolus remained on German soil – to be precise in the Glyptothek of Munich – until the end of the war, when the art historian Rodolfo Siviero managed to convince the Allied Military Government that the work, along with many other masterpieces, had been illegally acquired by the Nazis thanks to the alliance between two tyrannical regimes.
Thus – despite many oppositions, legal appeals and delays by the Federal Republic of Germany – on 16 November 1948 the Discobolus returned to Italy, along with 38 other masterpieces that had been illegally exported between 1937 and 1943.
These are the other unmissable masterpieces that you will admire at the Scuderie
Among the highlights that can be admired at the Stables, there are those ofPesaro art saved by the Italian art historian and official Pasquale Rotondithe man who defends beauty from the Nazis.
Paintings and majolica, a total of seven worksthey left the civic museums of Palazzo Mosca for the occasion in this winter period to be visible during this exhibition of “liberated art”.
Impossible not to mention, among the most important works among those present, the “Head of the Baptist”, the well-known tondo attributed to Giovanni Bellini, or “Christ deposed supported by two angels” by Marco Zoppo or the“Stories from the life of the Virgin” by Paolo Veneziano, the latter is a collection of small surviving plates of an ancient politician.
To all this must be added the presence of precious ceramic plates and bowls from the collection of Domenico Mazza, a 19th century Pesaro nobleman.
In Rome there will also be a set of finds from the ducal and Pesaro stage of the rescue route through which some rarities of Italian art were saved from the destruction of the Second World War and from the robberies of the Nazis.
Continuing with the roundup of masterpieces that you will see from next December 16th, it is worth mentioning “The Triptych of the Annunciation”.
Also this fifteenth-century work by the Veronese painter Cristoforo Scaccobuilt on behalf of the noble Caetani family of Fondi, it goes away and will move to the capital until April.
For all the useful info, please consult theThe official website of the Scuderie del Quirinale (read here).
canaledieci.it is on Google News:
to stay updated on our news click on this link And type the star at the top right to follow the source.
Culture bonus 2023, what changes, amount and who it belongs to: useful info and news