In Lodi an itinerary to discover Bergognone's masterpieces

Religious Love. Bergognone in Lodi is the title of the exhibition scheduled in Lodi from Friday, Feb. 9, to Sunday, April 14, 2024, at the Fondazione Maria Cosway and the Tempio civico dell’Incoronata, through a city tour that will take visitors to admire masterpieces by Bergognone (Ambrogio da Fossano; c. 1453 - 1523).

On display at the first location is the work Christ in Pity with Angels and a Kneeling Monk, the important loan from the Cagnola Art Collection of Gazzada Schianno (Varese), while at the Civic Temple it will be possible to admire the four panels originally positioned in the high altar, artistic jewels of great value.

The initiative, promoted by the Municipality of Lodi, the Maria Cosway Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Province of Lodi, has the curatorship of Monja Faraoni and Alberto Cottino, art historians, and has as its primary objective the enhancement of the art heritage of Lodi, which has not been visible for many years, returning it in part to the citizenship.

The staging of the exhibition aims to focus attention on Bergognonesque production in Lodi between the late 15th and early 16th centuries, experiencing this event as a fundamental moment of cultural and tourist revitalization for the city of Lodi and its territory and, in general, trusting in a gradual return to a more wide-ranging cultural and artistic planning; in this context develops the commitment of the Community Foundation of the Province of Lodi in supporting interesting proposals coming from local institutions. The exhibition project aims to focus attention on the first decorative phase of the Incoronata Civic Temple and its interesting and curious history.

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In the ancient contrada dei Lomellini, there stood a malafide house that had a fresco depicting the Madonna and Child and St. Catherine of Alexandria on its façade. Legend has it that during one of the many fights that occurred outside the house, the Madonna wept. The municipal administration then decided to raze the house and build a church dedicated to the Virgin: on May 20, 1488, the Civic Temple was founded at the behest of Bishop Carlo Pallavicino (bishop of Lodi from 1456 to 1497). The fresco, which was present on the façade, was placed in the center of the high altar and from that time was called the “miraculous fresco.” A historical and cultural anecdote related to the Civic Temple, which represents a real jewel of the city of Lodi and which the exhibition Religious Love wants to make the Lodi community rediscover, but also a wider audience.

“Lodi returns to host a great artistic event: the exhibition dedicated to the figure of Bergognone represents a significant step forward in the progressive cultural enhancement of the city and also of the entire province,” explains Andrea Furegato, mayor of Lodi. “The four panels placed among the wonders of the Incoronata Church can well be said to be the culmination of the 15th-century Po Valley school of painting, which is why the city deserves to welcome such an event, which will also allow some of the works in the Civic Museum to be returned to public view. I make this observation in the midst of the great work that is being produced to improve the level of the city’s artistic proposal. Culture can, indeed must, be one of the elements that act as a driving force for the development of the territory, and this exhibition will also prove that cultural and creative enterprise is a right and effective way to make economy.” With a view to giving back to the city its artistic, archival and architectural part with the creation of a hub available to the community is the intervention and will of the Cosway Foundation, the primary venue for the exhibition.

“In 2010, after the renewal of the Collegio dei Conservatori, which has governed the Maria Cosway Foundation for nearly two hundred years, we presented the city of Lodi with a dream: To return to the public the precious artistic, archival and architectural heritage of the institution I represent,” says Francesco Chiodaroli, president of the Maria Cosway Foundation. “This desire has been realized with the recent opening of the Maria Cosway Foundation Cultural Pole, and the exhibition Religioso Amore - Bergognone in Lodi constitutes the best inauguration of the renovated spaces of the Chapel and adjoining rooms. The renovation took place involving the Superintendence of the provinces of Cremona, Lodi and Mantua to guarantee the Lodi area an exhibition space, to date unique in the province, with characteristics suitable for the display of works that require special conservation attention. The Pole is now available to the community.”

“For more than 20 years we have been supporting Nonprofit initiatives in the area of enhancing cultural offerings and also the recovery of local artistic heritage, but as the latest Sole 24 Ore ranking shows, which places the province of Lodi in 97th place, there is still some way to go,” stresses Mauro Parazzi, president of the Lodi Foundation, “That is why in recent times we have decided to support the initiatives of the municipalities and the province and also to intervene directly in the promotion of culture, supporting a good part of the significant local proposals in the fields of art, music, poetry, reading and book restoration. On this horizon is our active role in organizing the exhibition dedicated to Bergognone, which will enhance places and treasures of the Lodi area, putting it back in the forefront nationally for culture and tourism.”

For all information, you can visit the event’s official website.

In Lodi an itinerary to discover Bergognone's masterpieces

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