La bella Italia
Opening days and times
From March 17 to September 11 2011
From March 17 to June 2 2011
Open every day.
Monday 9am-4pm.
Tuesday-Friday 9am-6pm
Saturday 9am-9,30pm.
Sunday 9am-8pm.
From June 3 to September 11 2011
Closed Mondays.
Tuesday-Friday 9am-6pm
Saturday 9am-9,30pm.
Sunday 9am-8pm.
La bella Italia. Art and identity of the capital cities
Within the impressive setting of the Scuderie Juvarriane at the Reggia, more than 300 masterpieces reveal the progress of art from ancient times to the eve of 1861 by means of the pre-Unification capitals: Turin, Florence, Milan, Venice, Genoa, Bologna, Parma, Modena, Naples and Palermo.
(Giotto di Bondone, Madonna in trono e Angeli - Museo Diocesano di Arte Sacra, Firenze)
Each of these cities represented and continues to represent the different identities characterising the Italian courts prior to 1861. Identities which involved historic events, literary and artistic phenomena, temperaments of the peoples, destinies, expectations and hopes which would all come together in a single Nation.
The exhibition takes us back in time for reconstructing the image of the nine cities and the contribution by each to Italy’s art and identity: Turin and its Risorgimento spirit, which led the country towards Unity and the scientific and military innovations that it gave to the Kingdom of Italy; Florence as the cradle of the language and of arts where they had their maximum development during the Renaissance; Rome as the home of antiquity and religion, two major unifying factors; Milan with its international perspective, its modernity and its entrepreneurial spirit; Venice with its links to the Far East and the legend of ‘good government’; Genoa, capital of finance and art, with its beauty and its wealth; Bologna with the prestige of its University and the pursuit of the classic ideal in art; Naples with its Mediterranean appeal and the opening to Europe and the East; Palermo with its multiethnic population and independent sentiment.
(Afrodite accovacciata - Musei Vaticani, Città del Vaticano)
The multifaceted view of identities and differences comes to life in the works by the major historical artists: Giotto, Beato Angelico, Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Correggio, Bronzino, Titian, Veronese, Caravaggio, Rubens, Tiepolo, Canova, Hayez and many more.
(Francesco Hayez, Il Bacio - Alef, Cultural Project Management, Milano)
Produced by: Consorzio La Venaria Reale and Comitato Italia 150
President of the Curator Committee: Antonio Paolucci
Curators: Antonio Paolucci and Alessansra Rodolfo (Rome), Vincenzo Abbate (Palermo), Cristina Acidini and Maria Sframeli (Florence), Piero Boccardo (Genoa), Pierluigi Leone de Castris (Naples), Andrea Emiliani and Michela Scolaro (Bologna), Pietro C. Marani (Milan), Giandomenico Romanelli (Venice), Carla Enrica Spantigati (Turin), Giovanna Damiani, Stefano Casciu, Luca Bellingeri (Parma and Modena)
Displays organised by: Luca Ronconi with Margherita Palli and Valentina Dellavia, and with A.J. Weissbard (Lighting Design)
In collaboration with: Massimo Venegoni (Studio Dedalo)
Partners: Regione Piemonte, Compagnia di San Paolo
Credits
@ Fondazione Torino Musei, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna
@ Musei Vaticani, Città del Vaticano
@ Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Mussale della Città di Firenze, Galleria degli Uffizi
@ Alef Cultural Project Managment, Milano
