An exhibition in Ferrara on Vittorio Cini, great entrepreneur and collector

From November 13, 2022 to February 26, 2023, Palazzo Bonacossi in Ferrara is hosting the exhibition Vittorio Cini. The Last Doge, organized by Il Cigno Arte in collaboration with Fondazione Ferrara Arte and Servizio Musei d’Arte of the Municipality of Ferrara: an exhibition dedicated to Vittorio Cini (Ferrara, 1885 - Venice, 1977) one of the leading collectors of the early 20th century, as well as an entrepreneur, among the richest Italians of his time.

Born in Ferrara on Feb. 20, 1885, Vittorio Cini, defined by Indro Montanelli as “the last Doge of Venice” (the exhibition, curated by Marco Di Capua, is entitled Vittorio Cini. The Last Doge), was one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century. A Senator of the Kingdom since 1934, he was appointed two years later as commissioner general of the Rome Universal Exposition, scheduled for 1942. After serving for a few months as minister of communications, he dissociated himself from the Fascist regime in June 1943, a choice that cost him internment in the Dachau concentration camp, from which he escaped thanks to the intervention of his son Giorgio. In memory of the latter, who died prematurely, he promoted the establishment of the Giorgio Cini Foundation (1951), a center for humanistic education and research that he chose to locate on theIsland of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice in order to promote its recovery and restoration. A patron and philanthropist, a curious man and lover of beauty, Cini was also one of the most intelligent collectors of the last century: his rich and varied collection included, among others, masterpieces by great masters of the Este Renaissance, evidence of his hometown’s passion for art, which he also approached thanks to his frequentation of Nino Barbantini, curator of the famous 1933 exhibition at Palazzo dei Diamanti.

Through the works of twenty-eight artists, mostly conceived ad hoc in anticipation of the collective one, the human and professional story of this illustrious Ferrarese, a protagonist in the history and economic, political, social and cultural life of Italy in the 20th century, is evoked. Numerous works insist on the places in which he left an indelible mark, starting with his adopted city, where he lived in the 16th-century palace on the Grand Canal at San Vio (which he embellished with extraordinary works of ancient art collected over the years) and where he promoted the recovery of the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, founding there the first private Italian institution whose main purpose was humanistic research. And again, the mainland, the industrial zone of Porto Marghera, of whose urban district he laid the foundations; and, of course, Rome, the Eternal City, where Mussolini entrusted him with the management of one of the most extraordinary adventures of modern town planning, the Universal Exhibition (E42). Other works refer to his entrepreneurial ventures (for example, in the electrical industry) and his biographical story. As Marco Di Capua points out, from the different cues provided by the artists who have investigated Cini’s “geography” emerges “a creative and civil, design and aesthetic DNA that conditions and makes evident, in a glaring way, the modern sense of Italian civilization.”

The exhibition also intends to give an account, through historical photographs and documents, of the collecting activity of Vittorio Cini, defined by Federico Zeri as a “true collector of ancient painting,” and of some significant initiatives such as the restoration and furnishing project of the Monselice Castle(of which he became owner in 1935), the donation of Renata di Francia’s palace to the City of Ferrara (1942) and the creation of the“Casa Giorgio Cini” Cultural Institute in the family residence on Via Santo Stefano in Ferrara, donated to the Jesuits in 1950.

The exhibition includes works by Riccardo Ajossa, Marco Bernardi, Alberto Biasi, Andrea Boyer, Vito Bongiorno, Lucia Crisci, Ettore de Conciliis, Stefania Fabrizi, Shay Frisch, Elisa Grezzani, Carlo Gavazzeni Ricordi, Claudio Koporossy, Rosaria Gini, Alessandra Giovannoni, Umberto Mariani, Riccardo Monachesi, Giorgio Ortona, Tommaso Ottieri, Achille Perilli, Elena Pinzuti, Piero Pizzi Cannella, Mauro Reggio, Oliviero Rainaldi, Maurizio Savini, Giovanni Tommasi Ferroni, Emilio Vedova, Marco Verrelli, Ortensio Zecchino.

Open: Fridays from 3 to 6:30 pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm. Free admission. Reservations: https://www.comune.fe.it/prenotazionemusei, information 0532 244949 or diamanti@comune.fe.it, website comune.fe.it/bonacossi.

Image: Emilio Vedova, Untitled (1985; mixed media on cardboard).

An exhibition in Ferrara on Vittorio Cini, great entrepreneur and collector

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