A historic soccer match from 1662: a painting depicting it on display in Lucca

Noble diversions. The Game of Football. Lucca 1662 is the exhibition hosted from November 25, 2023 to January 7, 2024 at the Church of San Franceschetto in Lucca, conceived by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca. The latter recently purchased the painting by Lucca painter Camillo Ciai depicting the historic soccer match played in Lucca on January 18, 1662, on the occasion of the visit of the archdukes of Austria. The exhibition thus aims to tell the story of the event and, through it, of 17th-century Lucca amid curiosities, customs and entertainment.

On January 18, 1662, a great guest was expected in Lucca: Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria and Innsbruck (1628-1662). Expected together with his consort Anna de’ Medici and daughter Claudia Felicita, he was hosted in the Buonvisi and Busdraghi palaces, and to entertain him it was decided to organize a spectacular soccer match, a practice that at that time in Lucca already boasted an important tradition and anextensive legislature regulating its conduct. The matches usually took place during the carnival, in the area known as Piaggia Romana, a triangular-shaped area close to the Renaissance walls, roughly corresponding to today’s Botanical Garden. Two teams of about 150 players each, with different roles and participated from all walks of life, would fight to be able to throw the ball over the bottom of the opponent’s field or jump over it with the ball in hand. The matches turned into a pretext for vendettas and settling of scores, so much so that as early as 1608, the city government authorized and monitored the conduct of the matches.

Camillo Ciai’s painting presents precisely that historic 1662 match framed in a theatrical curtain. One can recognize the Walls, the Bulwark of San Regolo, the sumptuous setting, tasteful scenes with almost caricatured characters that characterized these occasions and, on the right, the host, Ferdinando Carlo, standing watching the game better. A canvas full of details and skits that must have tickled the eye of the patron, the same archduke who had wanted this gigantic “souvenir postcard” for himself.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog edited by Paola Betti.

For info: www.fondazionecarilucca.it

The exhibition is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Special openings on Friday, Dec. 8 and Tuesday, Dec. 26, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 31, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Image: Camillo Ciai, The Game of Football (1662; oil on canvas, 165 x 240 cm; Lucca, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca collection)

A historic soccer match from 1662: a painting depicting it on display in Lucca

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