The Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, in collaboration with the MArRC, the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, is hosting until 12 March 2023, the exhibition The Riace Bronzes. A journey through images, photographs by Luigi Spina. The exhibition is curated by Carmelo Malacrino, director of National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria. The initiative is part of the events for the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the two warriors: an extraordinary fact that has marked the history of the artistic heritage of our country.
Bronzi di Riace
“As part of the DAVID 140 programme, which celebrates 140 years of Michelangelo's masterpiece in the Tribune of our museum - says Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence – we wanted to bring together, even if only virtually, the sculptures of the most beautiful and powerful heroes of art. The statues that emerged from the sea of Riace, restored and exhibited for the first time in Florence, told here by the beautiful shots of Luigi Spina. And then there's our David, to celebrate two important birthdays together with Carmelo Malacrino and the MArRC. A unique opportunity to create a significant and fruitful collaboration between two institutions of the MiC - Ministry of Culturelike ours".
"Bringing the image of the Riace Bronzes back to the city where they were exhibited to the public for the first time is a great emotion" comments director Malacrino. “Fifty years after their discovery, these two 'masterpieces of the Mediterranean' continue to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to Calabria from all over the world. I thank director Hollberg for wanting to bring together two icons of art: the Riace Bronzes and Michelangelo's David. A suggestive exhibition offer and a concrete example of synergy between great Italian museums.".
Paths for images
At the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence16 large-format photographs (90 x 134 cm) are exhibited in the temporary exhibition rooms on the ground floor. A work that was born from Carmelo Malacrino and Luigi Spina to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery. A tribute to the power and iconographic beauty of the Riace Bronzes, undisputed masterpieces of Greek art from the XNUMXth century BC The sequence of images, eight plus eight, dedicated respectively to statue A and statue B, creates a slow and incessant story. The photographer's goal is to bring out aspects that are not only objectively visible, but deeply concern our culture.
The exhibition is accompanied by a precious volume in three languages (Italian, English and French), published by 5 Continents Editions, in the "Hidden Treasures" series. In the text, the images of Spina are accompanied by a historical and artistic narration on the two statues, with texts by Carmelo Malacrino and Riccardo Di Cesare, archaeologist and professor at the University of Foggia, which allows the reader to immerse himself in the evocative history of the Bronzes, among scientific truths and questions still left unanswered.
(Images Davis&Co Facebook page)
