An immersive itinerary on Ã?douard Manet and Maximilian of Habsburg opens at Trieste's Miramare Castle

Scheduled to open from May 12 to December 30, 2018, at the Miramare Castle in Trieste is the brand-new Manet and Maximilian multimedia trail. A multimedia encounter, inaugurated on the occasion of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the death of Maximilian of Habsburg (Vienna, 1832 - Santiago de Querétaro, 1867), archduke of Austria, viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia, and later emperor of Mexico: the ruler resided for a long time at Miramare Castle(we told his entire sad story in this article) and was shot at the age of 35 on June 19, 1867 by Mexican rebels. The great Édouard Manet (Paris, 1832 - 1883), a contemporary of the emperor, was deeply affected by his affair and, outraged, decided to denounce it with his painting, since he believed that Maximilian of Habsburg had been a victim of the responsibilities of French imperialism. The French, Maximilian’s allies, had abandoned him in March 1867 to avoid a clash with the United States, which supported the rebels, and left him completely alone to deal with the insurrection.

The visitor to Miramare Castle, through the multimedia path, will be transported inside this story, to the places where it took place (Miramare, Mexico, Paris) also thanks to an immersive dimension of sounds, projections and recreated environments. The context of Miramare will also be enhanced, which will be recalled with testimonies such as letters, books, documents and paintings. All with theatrical narration devised by screenwriter Alessandro Sisti and acted by Lorenzo Acquaviva as Maximilian of Habsburg, to make visitors relive the emotions and contradictions of his story.

“Multimedia,” reads the presentation, “will be at the center of this re-enactment, establishing itself on several levels of reading, not only because of the evident relationship between the digital narrative and the Miramare environment in which this journey is relived, but also because of the plurality of planes to which it refers. From the newspapers, through which Manet learns of Maximilian’s tragic end, to painting as a means of denunciation capable of opening a heated debate on censorship-which was, moreover, animated by the writer Émile Zola and involved figures such as Joshua Carducci and Franz Listz-from the scenic and powerful narrative to the final videos by two Mexican artists that bring us back to the present day.” Manet’s paintings, censored by the Salon and never exhibited until Manet was invited because of their content, are revived in Miramare’s setting in the confrontation with video installations by two contemporary Mexican artists, Calixto Ramírez and Enrique Méndez de Hoyos, for an interesting interweaving of the European and Mexican perspectives.

Manet and Maximilian. A Multimedia Encounter is produced by Civita Tre Venezie and Villaggio Globale International and can be visited during the museum’s opening hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the year (ticket office closes half an hour earlier) except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Ticket: 12 euros full price, 6 euros reduced (for young people with EU citizenships between 18 and 25 years old, and FVG card holders), free for all on the first Sunday of the month, in case of special events, for EU citizens under 18, disabled and accompanying persons, EU tour guides and tourist interpreters in the exercise of their professional, MiBACT personnel, ICOM members, schoolchildren, students of the higher education courses of the Ministry’s Schools (Central Institute for Restoration, Opificio delle Pietre Dure, School for Mosaic Restoration), teachers and students enrolled in the academies of fine arts or corresponding institutes of theEuropean Union, professors and students of undergraduate, graduate or postgraduate degree programs and doctorates of the faculties of architecture, conservation of cultural heritage, science of education or literature and philosophy with an archaeological or historical-artistic focus, card-carrying journalists, scholars for study or research purposes, tenured school teaching staff, operators of volunteer associations affiliated with MiBACT, honorary inspectors and conservators of MiBACT, military personnel of the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit, ICCROM members.

Pictured: Édouard Manet, The Execution of Maximilian of Habsburg, third version (1867; 48 x 58 cm; Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek)

An immersive itinerary on Édouard Manet and Maximilian of Habsburg opens at Trieste's Miramare Castle

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