Palladian Basilica: We close an exhibition, but continue with an important project

Closing the exhibition Portrait of a Woman. The Dream of the 1920s and the Gaze of Ubaldo Oppi, curated by Stefania Portinari, dedicated to women’s portraits in the 1920s and set up in the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza.

The exhibition was among the most appreciated by the press and critics this exhibition season, but also by the public, who were only able to visit it live for two and a half months, due to the Coronavirus emergency closure, and virtually on the museum’s social channels. However, the exhibition marked a change in the way art was proposed to the public, as it was sustainable in terms of visitor flow and livable conditions of the Palladian monument.

“We will make sure to repeat this positive experience,” said City of Vicenza Councillor for Culture Simona Siotto, “thanks to the all-Vicenza working group, which has created a quality exhibition, so that first of all citizens and of course tourists can return to the Palladian Basilica to admire the monument and a new exhibition. Strengthened by the great affection of the public and critics who have given us numerous positive feedback, aware that we have worked constructively to achieve an extraordinary goal, we will continue to keep this project alive, as many people ask us, through various proposals.”

Stefania Portinari, curator of the exhibition and professor at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, stresses that the main goal of exhibitions must be scientific research, and this must be accompanied by the creation of “wonder” for an audience that is as wide as possible. “The exhibition dedicated to Ubaldo Oppi and the historical context of the 1920s achieved these goals. We have obtained international loans, created connections with the most renowned scholars and important collectors, and created a cultural enterprise of great professionalism, including a very female one. The results of this exhibition experience are therefore also its catalog, the new layout for the Basilica, and the trust gained from the greatest museums in the art system, a significant network of relationships that we have activated and that will also be useful for the future. And last but not least, the affection of the public, who left rave reviews in writing. We close an exhibition but continue with an important project.”

The working group on the development of the Great Exhibitions in the Basilica project, coordinated by the City of Vicenza’s Department of Culture and Civic Museums, is already working on the second exhibition in the program, postponed to 2021. It is Dietro le quinte del Rinascimento. Making Art in the Mainland Veneto (1550-1616), curated by Guido Beltramini, Davide Gasparotto, Xavier Salomon and Mattia Vinco.

The exhibition will celebrate the 16th century, Vicenza’s golden century: thanks to Andrea Palladio, Paolo Veronese, Alessandro Vittoria, and Jacopo Bassano, the city became one of the most vital centers of European art, and extraordinary works of art, now housed in museums around the world, including Paris, Vienna, Budapest, and London, will return home for the occasion.

However, the exhibition dedicated to Ubaldo Oppi and the tale of the 1920s continues with a video of the curator’s guided tour, posted at www.mostreinbasilica.it/it/ and on social channels.

Image: Ubaldo Oppi, Le amiche (1924; Private collection) Courtesy Galleria dello Scudo, Verona.

Palladian Basilica: We close an exhibition, but continue with an important project

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