“Once upon a time…” Pinocchio
at Palazzo Pitti
From Paggi to Giunti.
Drawings and books from the publishers
Florence - Pitti Palace, The Gallery of Modern Art, Sale del Fiorino
From 25 Nov 06 Until 25 Mar 07
The exhibition traces the fortunes of the story through the historic editions and the illustrators who, starting with the first illustrated edition in 1883, worked first for Paggi, then for Bemporad and Marzocco, and finally for Giunti.
Displayed alongside the original drawings, large and small plates in China ink and tempera, are works by contemporary painters and sculptors that allow us to trace the evolution of the style and taste of the illustrators of Collodi’s text, which became a creative workshop for Enrico Mazzanti (1883), Enrico Mazzanti and Giuseppe Magni (1894 and 1897), Carlo Chiostri (1901), Attilio Mussino (1910-1911 and 1927), Fulvio Vicoli (c. 1922), Giorgio Mannini (1925), Piero Bernardini (1930), Futiqua and Disney (1940) and Attilio Cassinelli (1981).
Effectively, the story of the exhibition starts in the 1880s stretching up to the centenary of 1981, unwinding through the Sala del Fiorino and the Sala della Musica, discovering in the museum itinerary of the Gallery of Modern Art of Palazzo Pitti historic and artistic references and elements that enhance an understanding of the creative process and the Florentine and Tuscan artistic milieu of the time.
Thus we find the caricature portrait of Lorenzini by Angiolo Tricca, Florence seen from the rooftops by Hollaender, the grandparents’ tales of Silvestro Lega and Arturo Faldi, the middle class children of Odoardo Borrani and Giovanni Boldini, the rural and marine landscapes of Giovanni Fattori, Luigi Bechi, Gioli and Signorini. Elia Volpi, with the girl standing in front of a shop window, portrays the attraction of children for toys, a world that is represented in the exhibition by a series of contemporary toys. Giuseppe Costantini with the village school, and works by Michele Tedesco, Pietro Saltini, Gaetano Chierici, as well as sculptures and a puppet theatre, contribute to illustrate the world of Pinocchio in its entirety.
Antique books, precious and rare editions alongside others more common, games, posters and ceramics trace the historic and chronological story of the popularity of the book, always in relation to its historic publisher, Giunti.
Paintings and sculptures by Elisabeth Chaplin, Libero Andreotti, Piero Bernardini, Guido Ferroni, Baccio Maria Bacci, Antonio Berti, Quinto Martini and Venturino Venturi accompany the figurative itinerary, integrating it with cultural references to twentieth-century Tuscany and underscoring the extraordinary popularity of the emblematic story of the wooden puppet.
Promoters:
- Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali
- Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino
- Galleria d’arte moderna
- Firenze Musei
Ticket prices:
The exhibition can be visited with the ticket for the Palatine Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art which, from 25 November 2006 to 22 December 2007 will cost € 8.50 (full price) or € 4.25 (reduced price, for citizens of the European community aged between 18 and 25).
From 23 December the ticket price will increase to € 11.50 (full price) or € 5.75 (reduced price, for citizens of the European community aged between 18 and 25) in view of the presence in the Palatine Gallery of the temporary exhibition The wise princess. The legacy of Anna Maria Luisa de’Medici Electress Palatine.
Free entrance at all times for citizens of the European Community aged under 18 and over 65.
Hours:
Tuesday to Sunday 8.15-18.50
(tickets for the exhibition are sold up to 18.05)
closed: Monday, Christmas Day.
