Uffizi Diffusi in Faenza: exhibited masterpiece by Pietro Lorenzetti with Beata Umiltà, a saint from Faenza

The Uffizi Diffusi arrives in Faenza with a Gothic masterpiece: the Polyptych of the Blessed Humility by Pietro Lorenzetti.In fact, the painting will be on display from October 31, 2023 to March 3, 2024 at the Pinacoteca Comunale di Faenza thanks to the generous contribution of private individuals who have fully funded the exhibition. The work was the subject of a complex restoration that has just concluded after four years of work, and this exhibition will also be an opportunity to admire the results for the first time.

On loan from the Uffizi, the Polyptych of the Blessed Humility is composed of fourteen panels on a gold background (in addition to the predella), eleven of which depict episodes from the life and miracles of the saint from Faenza, canonized in 1722 and co-patron saint of the city: the painter describes with extraordinary vividness the deeds and character of this woman, always at the service of her neighbor, a self-taught intellectual, a healer, active to the point of personally building her own monastery. In one of the episodes, she is depicted as, inspired by a vision, she crosses the Lamone River to go to pray in a secluded place-the same waterway that was the cause of the flood last spring.

Saint Humility is a particularly significant figure for Faenza, and precisely in this year the arrival of the Polyptych is intended to stand as a good omen and sign of hope and recovery for all citizens. This is why Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt and Mayor Massimo Isola strongly wanted this project, so symbolic of solidarity between institutions.

The work will be displayed in the Medieval and Renaissance room of the Pinacoteca Comunale in Faenza, opening in December 2021.

“This is an important project, made possible thanks to the collaboration and solidarity of the Uffizi, and funded by so many donors from Italy and abroad who believed with us in the restart of Faenza as a city of art after the May floods,” said Faenza Mayor Massimo Isola. “This precious and powerful work amazes and moves us with its imaginary glimpses of our medieval monuments. The protagonist is Humility, a saint who was born here and still, after eight centuries, is present in the history and culture of Faenza and the territory. She is part of our identity, a word that-at this stage of recovery-we feel the need to emphasize, in our city so badly wounded. Thanks to the Uffizi diffuse, we have the opportunity to offer everyone an unmissable, unique artistic and cultural experience. But not only that: the exhibition is a sign of hope that brings attention back to our beauty, to the other splendid works in the Pinacoteca Comunale, and to the possibilities of Faenza’s cultural and tourist future.”

“Uffizi Diffusi crosses the Tuscan border for an exceptional occasion that reaffirms the historic alliance between Florence and Faenza,” said Uffizi Galleries Director Eike Schmidt. “The two cities have always been united by the Apennine routes that made it possible for Santa Umiltà to move to the banks of the Arno to found her monastery, and then closely connected in the Renaissance thanks to the stable relations between their respective lords, the Medici and the Manfredi: a friendship that brought some of the most important Florentine artists of the 15th century to Faenza and that sees in the city’s splendid cathedral a symbolic monument. The exhibition of the Polyptych of the Blessed Humility is now intended as a reparation, also symbolic, after the devastation suffered by Romagna last May.”

The exhibition is made possible thanks to the generous contributions of ARTE Generali, Arterìa, Fondazione Prada, and Principe Giovanni Alliata di Montereale; Altomani and Sons; Associazione Antiquari d’Italia; Lella and Roberto Bartoli; Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato di Firenze; Sabrina Andreucci; Galleria Benappi, Turin; Berengo Studio - Murano; Katia Caradonna; Roberto Casamonti, Tornabuoni Arte; Cristian Contini and Fulvio Granocchia; Mario Cristiani; Rita De Donato; Exclusive Connection; Enrico Frascione; Fabrizio Guidi Bruscoli; Enzo Hruby Foundation; Assia Karaguiozova; Leo France Srl; Massimo Listri; Sascha Mehringer; Lucia Meoni and Antonio Pettena; Federica Olivares; Sir Nicholas Penny and Lady Mary Crettier; Giovanni Pratesi Foundation; Stefano Ricci Onlus Foundation; Siân Walters - Art History in Focus; Helidon Xixha.

Uffizi Diffusi in Faenza: exhibited masterpiece by Pietro Lorenzetti with Beata Umiltà, a saint from Faenza

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