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La mostra
Nella prima sezione (Gli eventi memorabili) viene presentata
una preziosa scelta di stampe e incisioni conservate nel Gabinetto
dei Disegni e delle Stampe, opera di alcuni tra i più noti
artisti dell’epoca, con la raffigurazione degli episodi salienti,
prima e dopo l'Unità, destinati alla circolazione presso
un pubblico il più possibile esteso, per formare “gli
Italiani”, nel momento stesso nel quale in ogni città
si innalzavano monumenti celebrativi e nascevano i primi musei ricchi
di cimeli e di testimonianze. Alle stampe si affiancano dei periodici
illustrati, che recano una testimonianza visiva più immediata
degli avvenimenti.
Nella seconda sezione («Fare l’Italia» attraverso
le illustrazioni librarie; «Fare gli Italiani» nell’iconografia
dei personaggi) sono presenti le pubblicazioni illustrate –
provenienti dai fondi storici della Biblioteca – che contribuirono
ad alimentare, affiancando la coeva produzione letteraria, il mito
del Risorgimento.
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THE BIRTH OF A NATION
Pictures of Italian Risorgimento from the Archiginnasio collections
Until September 17th
Opening hours:
Monday-Friday 9am-7pm;
Saturday 9am-2pm;
August 1st-27th 9am-2pm;
closed on Sundays and holidays
Address: Archiginnasio City Library - piazza Galvani Info 051 276813
The Risorgimento was an epic event right from the very start. The arts
played a fundamental role in communicating its values to the public opinion
- one needs only to remember the music of Verdi, the novels of Manzoni
and Nievo and the poetry of Foscolo, Giusti and Carducci - and the visual
arts equally contributed to it. A large number of paintings were produced,
some independently and others associated with news and historical reports
(newspapers, magazines, essays, pamphlets, manuals and novels), and all
these forms of communication are well represented in the collections of
the Archiginnasio Library thanks to the patriotic sensitivity and the
historical culture of those private citizens whose collections are now
preserved in the public library, and to the librarians, the custodians
of the cultural life of this city that has every right to be included
in the Italian events. Over one hundred examples have now been selected
for their artistic and testimonial value that clearly reflects the artists'
intention of reaching many with an unifying message. The exhibition aims
to emphasise the influnce that the production of these pictures had in
shaping the historical consciousness of the Risorgimento and in the widespread
distribution of its ideals. The first section (Memorable events) presents
a large collection of prints and engravings by some of the most known
artists of the period that portray the most salient episodes; these were
intended for circulation among a widespread audience and thus prepare
"the Italians" for the events. Illustrated magazines that contain
more immediate visual records of the events accompany these prints.
The second section ("Creating Italy" through book illustrations;
"Creating the Italians" through the iconography of the main
Risorgimento characters) instead contains the illustrateted books that
contributed, alongside with the production of contemporary literature,
towards fostering the myth of the Risorgimento in the moment in which
commemorative monuments and the first museums displaying many relics and
testimonials were being unveiled in every city.
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