Giorgio de Chirico's last decade on display at Sarzana's Firmafede Fortress

From March 22 to July 21, 2025, Sarzana ’s historic Fortezza Firmafede will host the exhibition Giorgio de Chirico. The Metaphysics of Creation, curated by Lorenzo Canova. Organized by theAssociazione Metamorfosi in collaboration with the Municipality of Sarzana and Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico, the exhibition offers the public an immersion in the great master’s neo-metaphysical phase, presenting fifty works including paintings, works on paper and sculptures, all from Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico in Rome.

This exhibition is meant to be an opportunity to explore the work of the last ten years of the artist’s life, a period of intense creativity in which de Chirico reinterpreted his youthful production, mixing it with influences from the 1920s and 1930s. These are not mere repetitions, but a new creative impetus, in which the artist reworks his metaphysical universe with an innovative and conscious approach.

The exhibition focuses in particular on the lithographs born from the collaboration between de Chirico and the printer Alberto Caprini. This association resulted in a graphic corpus of extraordinary refinement, in which the painter freely explores the transition from drawing to print. In the works on display, his most celebrated iconography evolves into a perfect synthesis of past and present: classical elements are interwoven with expressive distortions typical of his Parisian works of the 1920s, resulting in a production rich in juxtapositions and stylistic variations.

One of the most iconic subjects of his production, the “Troubadour,” returns in several lithographs in the exhibition, including The Tro ubadour (1969) and The Troubadour with the Sword (1975). This enigmatic figure, belonging to the “dummies” theme, is reinterpreted with new nuances and settings. Another recurring element is the Vaticinator, evoked in The Metaphysical Architect (1970), while The Rest of Ariadne (1969) takes up the mythological figure of abandonment, a subject that de Chirico represented several times throughout his career.

Another section of the exhibition is devoted to solar symbolism in the artist’s works, with two 1969 lithographs, Sun Off and Crescent Moon and Sun on the Temple, in which the theme of the “black sun” is linked to an ancient melancholy already present in his paintings since the 1930s.

Alongside the graphic production, the exhibition includes some of the most significant paintings from the 1960s and 1970s, such as The Astrologer (1970) and The Contemplator (1976). The exhibition is completed with an important selection of sculptures, evidence of de Chirico’s interest in plastic art. From the beginning, statues played a central role in his metaphysical works, lending an enigmatic and suspended aura to the compositions. This interest evolved over time, leading him to the creation of actual bronze sculptures, including The Archaeologists (Orestes and Pylades) (1966) and The Disquieting Muses (1968), both featured in the exhibition.

“We are also grateful to all those who contribute to keeping de Chirico’s legacy alive, pointing out his profound contemporaneity,” comments Pietro Folena, president of MetaMorfosi. “He is, without a doubt, a giant of twentieth-century global art, which today expresses a formidable force of attraction. MetaMorfosi’s is an invitation to immerse oneself in the colors and forms of a Master who knew how to give pictorial and artistic expression to the metaphysics of art and life.”

“Sarzana has always been a city capable of uniting the depth of its own history with the vibrancy of contemporaneity,” says Sarzana Mayor Cristina Ponzanelli. "Today that path continues, uniting an exhibition of national importance by a great master of art such as Giorgio De Chirico with important local artists such as Vitale Lazzoni and Alessandra Gasparini, enhancing our Firmafede Fortress as an exhibition space. Our city continues to consolidate its cultural vocation, creating spaces where the past and the future meet and dialogue."

Hours and tickets

The exhibition will follow two different schedules depending on the season. Spring (March 22-June 20): Tuesday - Friday: 10 a.m.-12 p.m. / 3 p.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday and holidays (Easter, Easter Monday, April 25, May 1, June 2): 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Summer (June 21-July 21) : Tuesday - Sunday: 10 a.m.-12 p.m. / 5 p.m.-2 p.m.

Tickets: Full: €14.00; Reduced: €8.00 (youth 6-25 years old, university students, over 65, disabled, Sarzana residents, teachers, military, law enforcement, MIC and Sarzana City Council staff); Family kit (3 people): €24.00; Family kit (4 people): €32.00; Free: children under 6, journalists, tour guides, ICOM members, carers of disabled.

For all information, you can visit the official website of the Firmafede Fortress.

Giorgio de Chirico's last decade on display at Sarzana's Firmafede Fortress

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