New, important step forward for the project implemented by Director Simone Verde to shape a New Pilotta: "a great museum of international value and imprint which, by valuing its great past, traces the future". In the "Scapiliata" Leonardo "does not simply create an icon of female beauty but much more. With a unique experimentalism of his, he manages to summarize the divine complexity of reality. In this panel Leonardo paints exactly what he himself suggested, with regard to the depiction of the hair of the female figure, in the Treatise on painting: «Do tu therefore to your heads the hair play together with the fake wind around the youthful faces, and with different revolture graciously adorn them»”. This is the authoritative opinion of Professor Pietro Marani and Director Simone Verde. On the occasion of the recent celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the death of its author, "La Scapiliata" found a suitable frame, consistent with the precious painting and contemporary with it. The purchase of this prestigious wooden artefact was financed by the Garden Club of Parma, with an extraordinary intervention which helped to enhance the painting also in its aesthetic components. The association, which has been supporting the Pilotta for some time by sharing its cultural programs, has decided to support the donation of the frame as it identifies the work as one of the most important masterpieces of the Pilotta complex capable of qualifying its collections internationally as an icon.
With this new "dress", Leonardo's masterpiece had been the protagonist of the exhibition "La fortuna della Scapiliata di Leonardo da Vinci", set up in the Pilotta complex from 18 May to 12 August 2019, a highly successful initiative particularly appreciated by the public. From the temporary exhibition, to the definitive positioning of the "Scapiliata" within the museum itinerary remodeled for the Nuova Pilotta. And that's what Parmesans and tourists can now admire in the west wing (undergoing a complete restyling). Leonardo's wonderful panel was placed on a large gray metal surface and on a gray marmorino wall, which creates a perfect chromatic contrast with the gold and brown that characterize the painting and the frame. A dedicated space has been created to help appreciate its exceptional nature without however interrupting the thematic exhibition itinerary and Leonardo's tablet appears placed inside a special showcase, a specially designed climabox, which shelters Leonardo's masterpiece not only from the danger of interference by ill-intentioned but also protects it from dust and excesses of brightness and humidity. Cover image: Parma, Nuova Pilotta: new staging for “La Scapiliata”.Photo by Giovanni Hänninen ©hanninen
