MICHELANGELO E IL NOVECENTO – MICHELANGELO AND THE 20TH CENTURY
Florence, Casa Buonarroti, 18 June – 20 October 2014
Modena, Galleria Civica, 20 June – 19 October 2014
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Press Release No.1
The Fondazione Casa Buonarroti of Florence and the Galleria Civica di Modena celebrate the 450th
anniversary of the death of Michelangelo with the exhibition ‘Michelangelo e il Novecento’ (‘Michelangelo and
the 20th Century’), an event dedicated to the fortunes of the figure and the works of the artist over the course
of the last century, which will open its doors to the public in Florence on 18 June, and in Modena on 20 June,
to remain on show in both venues through until October.
Based on a shared academic project, and accompanied by a single catalogue, the exhibition will be staged
in the Florentine venue with a major contribution from the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and the
MetaMorfosi srl, association of Rome; while in the Modenese venue, funding is provided by the Fondazione
Cassa di Risparmio di Modena as well as a contribution from the Culture Councillorship of the EmiliaRomagna Regional Council. It is structured around two specific thematic nuclei: one focusing on the 20thcentury centenaries of the birth and death of the artist which involved Casa Buonarroti and other Italian and
Florentine institutions in both 1964 and in 1975; the other, more in general, is linked to the presence of
Michelangelo in 20th-century visual culture, with an influence ranging from direct quotations to ideal
references, embracing sculpture, painting, architecture, graphics, photography, video and design, and which
also continues to exert its charm on the recent production of international artistic research.
An example of all-round intellectual and artistic mastery as well as moral dignity, throughout the 20th century
Michelangelo remained a guiding light for modern and contemporary cultural life, history, society, arts and
productive systems. He left a permanent trace in the works of artists who used him as a point of reference,
constituting a key point of interest and investigation which continues to be translated into debates,
conventions and shows, and which goes well beyond the limits of Renaissance studies to form part of an
open interdisciplinary perspective on the international cultural scene.
The exhibition is an opportunity for study and research to try and understand just how vast and deep-seated
Michelangelo’s influence was on the cultural scene of the last century, with regard to sculpture, architecture,
design and the visual arts in general. The presence and the strong iconic character of the artist are without
compare. Even other great Renaissance figures, such as Raphael or Leonardo da Vinci, did not bring about
such a wide-sweeping change in figurative terms as the works of Michelangelo, so heavily present in 20thcentury imagery that they were broadly used and abused, right up to the recent representation of David
armed with a machine gun in a much-debated American advertisement. The Michelangelo icons are unique,
and from Pop Art onwards return continually, often in the form of mass-produced knickknacks, or market stall
statuettes.
There are around 70 works on show in Florence; in Modena, where the exhibition features monumental and
large-sized works, there are more than 30. In both venues, the works are brought into close contact with
original drawings by Michelangelo – seven in Florence, two in Modena – which marks an absolute novelty for
the Emilian city, which has no works by the artist in the d’Este collections.
The exhibition event, which is officially part of the celebrations for the 450th anniversary of the death of
Michelangelo, is curated by Emanuela Ferretti, Marco Pierini and Pietro Ruschi, who will be assisted by
contributions from a scientific committee made up of Claudia Conforti, Tor Vergata University of Rome;
Emanuela Ferretti, University of Florence; Carlo Francini, Head of the Unesco Office of Florence City
Council; Elena Lombardi, Fondazione Casa Buonarroti, Marcella Marongiu, Fondazione Casa Buonarroti,
Tommaso Mozzati, University of Perugia; Alina Payne, Harvard University, Marco Pierini, Director of the
Galleria Civica di Modena; Pina Ragionieri, Director of the Fondazione Casa Buonarroti; Pietro Ruschi,
University of Pisa, and Davide Turrini, University of Ferrara.
From 6 to 20 October, the Florentine exhibition will also feature a special appendix at the Library of
Technological Sciences of the University of Florence, historical venue of the Faculty of Architecture. The
section will host films and videos, as well as books and journals belonging to the University of Florence
illustrating the fortunes of the Michelangelesque legacy between the 1920s and the 1970s in Italian art and
architecture.
The artists on show at Casa Buonarroti
Aurelio Amendola, BBPR, Sylvano Bussotti, Nado Canuti, Mario Ceroli, Joe Colombo, Tano Festa, Alberto
Giacometti, Emilio Greco, Gigi Guadagnucci, Renato Guttuso, Wassily Kandinsky, Le Corbusier, Arturo
Martini, Napoleone Martinuzzi, Henry Matisse, Roberto Melli, Giovanni Michelucci, Henry Moore, Luigi
Moretti, Fabio Novembre, Eduardo Paolozzi, Claudio Parmiggiani, Giò Ponti, Aldo Rossi, Giulio Aristide
Sartorio, Grazia Sgrilli, Francesco Somaini, Giuseppe Terragni, Robert Venturi and Bruno Zevi.
The artists on show at the Galleria Civica di Modena
Aurelio Amendola, Michelangelo Antonioni, Gabriele Basilico, Jan Fabre, Kendell Geers, Yves Klein, Robert
Mapplethorpe, Ico Parisi and Thomas Struth.
In photo:
On left, at the Florence venue, Giulio Aristide Sartorio, Studio per il fregio del Parlamento, 1908-1912, cm 105x120, private collection, (Roma).
On right, at the Modena venue: Jan Fabre, Merciful Dream (Pietà V), 2011, (Series : PIETAS), white Carrara marble, 190 x 195 x 110 cm / Base: 270 x 40 x
180 cm,
Installation view: PIETAS (1 June 2011-16 Oct 2011), Photo Pat Verbruggen, (detail:) Private collection, © Angelos bvba
exhibition
MICHELANGELO E IL NOVECENTO – MICHELANGELO AND THE 20TH CENTURY
curated by
Emanuela Ferretti, Marco Pierini and Pietro Ruschi
venue Florence, Casa Buonarroti, (via Ghibellina, 70) 18 June – 20 October 2014
Modena, Galleria Civica, (Palazzina dei Giardini, corso Canalgrande) 20 June -19 October 2014
openings
Florence, Casa Buonarroti, Tuesday 17 June, 6pm
Modena, Galleria Civica, Palazzina dei Giardini, Thursday 19 June 9pm
press preview Florence, Casa Buonarroti: Tuesday 17 June 12pm
Modena, Galleria Civica: Wednesday 18 June 11.30am
organisation / production
Fondazione Casa Buonarroti di Firenze
Galleria Civica di Modena
Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze
Associazione MetaMorfosi, Rome
Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena
with the contribution of
Library of Technological Sciences of the University of Florence
Culture Councillorship of the Emilia-Romagna Regional Council
Florence, Casa Buonarroti
entrance
(including visit of the Casa Buonarroti Museum)
€ 6.50 adults; € 8.50 including entrance to the Santa Croce Monumental Complex
€ 4.50 groups and upper secondary school parties
€ 3.00 primary schools and lower secondary school parties
opening hours 10am – 5pm, closed on Tuesdays
on an advance booking basis, special openings for groups may be arranged.
Modena, Galleria Civica
entrance
free
opening hours from 20 June until 11 September 2014, from Thursdays to Sundays from 7pm to 11pm
Special opening on Saturday and Sunday 21 and 22, 28 and 29 June from 5pm to 11pm
from 17 September to 19 October 2014 from Wednesday to Friday from 10.30am to 1pm and from 4pm to
7.30pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 10.30am to 7.30pm
on the occasion of the Festivalfilosofia, Friday 12 September, open from 9am to 11pm,
Saturday 13 from 9am to 1am, Sunday 14 from 9am to 9pm
catalogue Silvana Editoriale, bilingual (Italian/English), with academic contributions from the curators,
essays by Andrea Felici, Carlo Francini, Tommaso Mozzati, Alina Payne, Davide Turrini, and a vast selection
of images, including the reproduction of all the works on show together with cataloguing information and
bibliographical references.
press offices
Clp Relazioni Pubbliche, Milan
Anna Defrancesco, tel. + 39 02 36755700, anna.defrancesco@clponline.it
images and press releases from www.clponline.it
Galleria Civica di Modena
Cristiana Minelli, tel. +39 059 2032883, galcivmo@comune.modena.it
images and press releases from the press room on the Gallery website
Casa Buonarroti
Susanna Holm, Sigma C.S.C.
Tel. + 39 055 2340742, susannaholm@cscsigma.it
information
Casa Buonarroti, via Ghibellina, 70, Firenze, tel +39 055 241 752; fax + 39 055 241 698
fond@casabuonarroti.it
www.casabuonarroti.it
Galleria Civica di Modena, corso Canalgrande 103, 41121 Modena
tel. +39 059 2032911/2032940 - fax +39 059 2032932
www.galleriacivicadimodena.it
AMACI Museum Member