Cremona: an important turning point in the knowledge of pictorial art in Roman-era Cremona
This is the main legacy of the recently concluded Pictura tacitum poema exhibition
Cremona: an important turning point in the knowledge of pictorial art in Roman-era Cremona.
It ended on 21st May the exhibition "Pictura tacitum poem. Myths and landscapes painted in the domus of Cremona”, dedicated to pictorial decorations with luxurious private homes belonging to wealthy Cremonese families of the early Roman imperial age.
I fragments of frescoes, coming from the Domus del Ninfeo in Piazza Marconi and the Domus dei Candelabra dorati in Via Colletta, partly recomposed and restored, have been presented in comparison with important testimonies pictorial from the Vesuvian cities, from Ostia and Rome itself, demonstrating the full consonance of the local artistic culture with the styles and iconographies in vogue in peninsular Italy.
Di particular suggestion for the public it turned out to be the reconstruction of some paintings coming from one of the bedrooms of the Domus del Ninfeo, depicting various scenes from the sad story of Ariadne, after being abandoned in Naxos, a myth illustrated in a dedicated section of the exhibition also through pieces from more recent periods.
La show, promoted by Municipality of Cremona in collaboration with the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Cremona, Lodi and Mantua, it was an opportunity to an important collaboration, in the context of Museum System citizen”Cremona Museums", between the Archaeological Museum and the Violin Museum, which hosted the exhibition in the Pavilion "Andrea Amati”, activating a significant osmosis between audiences interested in different topics.
Added value of the exhibition project, edited for the scientific part by Nicoletta Cecchini (area official of the Superintendence), Elena Mariani (independent researcher) and Marina Volonté (conservator of the Archaeological Museum) was the collaboration of institutions such as the Center for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage “La Venaria Reale” of Turin – for the restoration and presentation in the exhibition of the painted plasters from Via Colletta – and the Arvedi Laboratory of the University of Pavia for diagnostic investigations on the finds.
La curatorship she also benefited of the contribution of a prestigious one scientific Committee consisting of Lynn Arslan Pitcher, Gabriele Barucca, Irene Bragantini, Andrea Bruciati, Alessandro D'Alessio, Paolo Giulierini and Massimo Osanna.
A Irene Bragantini, one of the most authoritative exponents in the study of painting from the Roman era, are responsible for some new interpretations of the Cremonese iconographies, as emerges from the contributions by him published in the catalogue; Lynn Arslan Pitcher, for many years an archaeological official of the Superintendence for Cremona, was inexhaustible source of data and a general vision of the archeology of the city.
Al Superintendent Gabriele Barucca you owe many interesting ideas, especially in relation to mythological themes, in addition to the facilitation in requesting works on loan from other museums and institutions, obtained thanks to the collaboration of Andrea Bruciati (Institute Villa Adriana and Villa D'Este, Tivoli), Alessandro D'Alessio (Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica), Paolo Giulierini (National Archaeological Museum of Naples) and the General Director of the Museums of the Ministry of Culture Massimo Osanna.
Others major loans they came from the Archaeological Museum of Florence (Regional Directorate of Tuscany Museums), from the Palazzo Ducale Museum in Mantua, from the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Verona, Rovigo and Vicenza; the photographic archives of the Colosseum Archaeological Park and the Pompeii Archaeological Park are responsible for the images used for the panels along the exhibition itinerary, designed with the usual trait of formal elegance by Studio Tortelli e Frassoni of Brescia.
Di great impact and much appreciated from the public were the multimedia reconstructions and of the rooms of the Domus of the Golden Candelabra, curated by Amedeo De Lisi, specializing at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milano, and of the wall of the antechamber of the "Ariadne's Room", created by StudioBASE2 thanks to the contribution of the Cremona Chamber of Commerce.
Il catalog, published by Ante Quem (Bologna), collects essays and papers by 28 scholars relating to University Institutes, Protection Bodies, Museums and independent researchers, e constitutes the synthesis of current knowledge on the topic of domestic pictorial decoration in Roman Cremona, at the same time a starting point for future investigations.
La show, in the little more than three months it has been open, has attracted over 5.000 visitors, including 56 organized groups, including numerous classes in particular from the city's secondary schools.
La origin of the public, also in relation to the numerous scientific reports activated, was a lot varies, with numerous visitors from central-southern Italy and, thanks to the location and the mutual reduction of the entrance fee with the Violin Museum, several presences from abroad.
Furthermore, the free access, with the exhibition ticket, at the Archaeological Museum had a positive influence on attendance in the latter, almost tripled compared to the same period in 2022.
As part of the exhibition they were also organized events, in turn attractors of specific segments of the public: workshops for children and families organized on weekends, a visit accompanied by the performances of the flautist Daniela Cima as part of the "Fuorifestival: Spazionovecento at the Museum", finally the two Sundays, including the closing day, during which visitors were welcomed by the "praetorian guards” of the Praetoriani et Cives Romani Association who animated the route by illustrating themes and objects of daily life in the early Roman imperial age.
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