A new exhibition itinerary, a wide opening to the public, training internships for students of the University and the Academy of Bologna, a competition of ideas open to young people for the creation of innovative projects to promote and enhance the Palazzo's works of art Magnani also through new cultural marketing tools and the most recent technologies. These are the first concrete results of the collaboration agreement entered into last year between the Fondazione del Monte and UniCredit for the enhancement of the Palazzo Magnani picture gallery. An agreement aimed at confirming the strong commitment of the Bank and the Foundation in the cultural field, in the name of art and the recognition of the heritage of the city of Bologna.
Palazzo Magnani – historic sixteenth-century residence in via Zamboni 20, UniCredit headquarters in Bologna, well known for the extraordinary works that enrich it such as the frescoes by Agostino, Annibale and Ludovico Carracci and the paintings of ancient and modern art – thus opens up more and more to the community with new activities that were illustrated to the press and the city by Giusella Finocchiaro, President of the del Monte Foundation and by Giuseppe Vita, President of UniCredit.
Appointment for the inauguration of this new phase in the life of Palazzo Magnani tonight at 18.30. The greetings of the Presidents of the Fondazione del Monte and of UniCredit will be followed by the presentation of the itinerary and the guided tour of the Salone dei Carracci by Marco Riccòmini. A spectacular projection on the facade of Palazzo Magnani will complete the evening by offering a vision of the Carracci masterpiece outside. The screening will be repeated tomorrow starting at 21.30.
A new exhibition itinerary for the Quadreria
It begins with a renewed exhibition itinerary that shows the most important works of the Picture Gallery, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, around the extraordinary Carracci frieze. The latter installation was curated by Marco Riccòmini, art advisor and ancient art expert who will follow the artistic projects of the Picture Gallery for the ancient part. The narrative fulcrum of the new itinerary is the reference to the works of the Bolognese masters Annibale, Agostino and Ludovico Carracci, such as the Stories of the foundation of Rome which dominate the splendid hall named after them on the first floor of Palazzo Magnani.
Thus, for example, the opening room, which houses the monumental Adoration of the Magi by Cantarini - explains Riccòmini in his catalog "The Picture Gallery of Palazzo Magnani" - "offers a taste of the Siglo de Oro of Bolognese painting (i.e. the seventeenth century) , which begins roughly in the years of the youthful San Vincenzo by Ludovico Carracci". The room dedicated only to the canvases of Giuseppe Maria Crespi known as the Spagnuolo tells, however, of his love for the Carraccis. “Everything else precedes or closely follows what happened at the end of the sixteenth century on the first floor of the building overlooking Strada San Donato (as it was called via Zamboni in ancient times), which changed the history of painting in Italy forever”. And among the works present, then, those by Prospero Fontana (Holy Family with Saints Giovannino and Francesco; The Assumption of Our Lady and the four patron saints of Bologna) by Alessandro Tiarini (The Apparition to San Francesca Romana) and by Guercino (The Trinity, Prayer in the Garden, Lucrezia).
Room of the twentieth century
One of the objectives of the project is to create a dialogue between the ancient and modern souls of the Picture Gallery: an initial selection of contemporary works, made by Maura Pozzati, professor of History and Methodology of Art Criticism at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bologna Museums Institution, which will oversee the contemporary projects, can be seen in a room dedicated to XNUMXth-century authors. The curator has outlined a path of comparison between the works around the theme of the landscape: both internal and external, as a view or as a state of being, often rendered through a lumpy and dense, "informal" material.
“If the central point of the room is represented by Morandi's painting Landscape of Grizzana from 1962“ comments Maura Pozzati “in reality the moment of strength is the relationship between Moreni's large painting, with its convulsive and violent gesture, and the work of Morlotti Landscape (1955), where nature ceases to be investigated optically but becomes tactile and painting is one with the world's pasta. The same perception, even if softened and lightened, can be found in the painting by Fautrier Paysage
(1928). Also exhibited in this room are Romiti's painting Composition from 1954, L'atelier dell'artista from 1936 by De Pisis, Sutherland with three works from 1943 and a small painting by Burri from the collection of Francesco Arcangeli.
The opening to the public
Previously open to visits only by reservation, thanks to the synergy between the Fondazione del Monte and UniCredit, the Quadreria now opens to the public every Wednesday and the second Saturday of the month. Furthermore, to make the most of this part of the city and all the main cultural realities that overlook via Zamboni, young students of the University and the Academy of Bologna, following agreements between the institutions, will have the opportunity to carry out training internships , leading the public to discover the rooms.
Ideas Contest
The Fondazione del Monte and UniCredit wanted to make young protagonists in a competition of ideas for the creation of innovative projects focused on the promotion and enhancement of the artistic and historical heritage of Palazzo Magnani and the Quadreria through the conception and implementation of new tools of cultural marketing with cutting-edge technologies.
The competition will start today, in conjunction with the inauguration, and applications must be sent by 31 October 2017.
Participation in the competition is free and open to students of all faculties of the University of Bologna, the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, graduates of the University of Bologna and graduates of the art schools of Bologna no more than two years.
The first place winner will be paid a cash prize of € 5.000,00 and will be given the opportunity to see their initiative implemented.
The proposals will be judged by a Commission of experts in the fields of art and communication.
The appointments in the picture gallery
Palazzo Magnani and its Quadreria represent a symbol of the renewed commitment and continuous investment that the Foundation and UniCredit operate in favor of culture and artistic heritage in constant dialogue with the city and in collaboration with the territory, involving young people in particular and creating opportunities for knowledge and experience of art through exhibitions, meetings and research projects. For this reason, the Quadreria will also be enlivened by a rich program of cultural and artistic meetings, exhibitions and concerts.
“Today, thanks to the collaboration between UniCredit and the Monte Foundation – said Giusella Finocchiaro, President of the Monte di Bologna and Ravenna Foundation – one of the treasures of Bologna is revealed to the city and beyond, in a project that makes Palazzo Magnani and the works exhibited to visitors and scholars from all over the world, in connection with the major international museums. The project also has an immediate social impact as it directly uses the skills of the students of the Academy of Fine Arts and the University of Bologna; it activates another network of collaboration between the public and private subjects of the city and finally constitutes a further important confirmation of the Foundation's commitment to the enhancement of Via Zamboni”.
“I am very pleased – said Giuseppe Vita, UniCredit Chairman – that this new artistic project commissioned by the Bank and the Fondazione del Monte sheds new light on the Picture Gallery of Palazzo Magnani, so that it becomes a place of cultural development for the city of Bologna, i its citizens and above all the young people.”
