Venice and Florence represented by two lions: the work of Elisabetta Rogai

One has wings and proudly displays the open pages of the Gospel of St. Mark; the other is seated and rests its right paw on a shield bearing the image of a red lily on a white field. The first stands in St. Mark’s Square in Venice; the other dominates theArengario of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence’s Piazza della Signoria.

It is the symbolic image of Due Leoni per due Repubbliche (Two Lions for Two Republics), the exhibition by painter Elisabetta Rogai - conceived and curated by Olga Mugnaini and Federica Rotondo - that opened last July 10 at Ca’ Sagredo, on the Grand Canal in Venice, in the presence of the Artist, the co-curators, art historian Luca Nannipieri, representatives of the Venetian citizenry and sponsors. This is an all-female exhibition - one Artist and two curators - that continues until August 11, 2024 presenting the Florentine Artist’s new project dedicated to two extraordinary cities, Venice and Florence, world-famous for their glorious past and contemporary appeal.

Precisely because of these characteristics, the opening of the exhibition was included in the Ars Pace event entitled Florence-Venice: Peace in Art, which concludes tomorrow, where the role of art as an instrument of peace was the leitmotif of the journey that began in Florence, continuing in Tuscany and ending in the Serenissima. In addition to priceless treasures, the two historic republics are united both by a historic alliance and by current problems that stem precisely from their extraordinary beauty, such as overtourism, a topic at the center of constant reflections on the management of tourist flows in our country and directly related to respect for the environment, as well as the protection of Italy’s cultural heritage.

Florentine and always attentive to the signs of a rapidly changing world, Elisabetta Rogai brings her artistic sensibility to this horizon, choosing an ancient symbol, emblem and historical banner of the two glorious Republics: the Lion of St. Mark for Venice and the Marzocco for Florence. Two proud, elegant and powerful animals, for centuries represented by the greatest artists and raised, according to tradition, to protect cities. Yet, as Rogai recounts in this new cycle of largely unpublished works, even the lions themselves seem to show signs of an onslaught of visitors that is no longer sustainable. A theme, that of sustainability, which as a contemporary artist she addresses in order to share a sense of responsibility for the World Heritage Site that we all have a duty to protect and pass on to future generations. In fact, Venice and Florence are two of the most importantUNESCO-protected sites in the world, and it is no coincidence that the exhibition Due Leoni per due Repubbliche (Two Lions for Two Republics), for these cultural contents is in the process of being approved for patronage by the Region of Tuscany, the City of Florence and theFlorence World Heritage-Unesco Office. That’s not all: during Elisabetta Rogai’s exhibition at Ca’ Sagredo, as every year, at the initiative of WWF, August 10 marks World Lion Day, an animal also at risk of extinction, a fate that seems to recall that of the two cities, Venice and Florence, of which it is the symbol.

Elisabetta Rogai has traveled the world with her works, she has seen many horizons, but it is her land - Florence and Tuscany -, which remains an inescapable reference for her creativity. Nonetheless, the artist sets his gaze on the Venetian lagoon, heeding the call of a city that is in many ways twin to his Florence, despite its profound diversity. To love a place is to sing of its beauty, but also to wish to protect it, to preserve it for all eyes that even in the future can admire it and receive as a gift the magnificence built in the past. And art is one of the most powerful messengers. Hence the desire to bring his exhibition to Venice that would pay homage to these two unsurpassed and ancient republics, Venice and Florence, which the whole world rushes to embrace.

At Ca’ Sagredo, Elisabetta Rogai brings paintings that are the result of new challenges, research and technical experimentation, but also the result of new content, feelings and reflections arising from the contemporary. In total, the exhibition will include 28 pictorial works: 20 canvases (including five paintings on denim, the fabric of jeans) and eight white Carrara marble chips. A large part of these will be new works, created for the occasion, such as the large Self-Portrait, which sees the Artist in the act of painting a horse’s head with wine, or already acclaimed paintings such as the Infernal Dante, created in 2021 to mark the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death.

“Art is my life, my passion,” says Elisabetta Rogai. “And also in this adventure that pays homage to my city, Florence, and to Venice, I put all my enthusiasm and my soul: sometimes I feel Lion of St. Mark, quietly ponderous, sometimes Marzocco, more belligerent, but always myself: strong, determined, incorruptible, generous. As I hope they always know how to be these two ancient and glorious Republics to which I donate my colors.”

“Two Lions for Two Republics is an exhibition that ideally unites two cities that have written important pages of history in the world of art and merchants,” add Olga Mugnaini and Federica Rotondo, curators of the exhibition. “But can these splendors, this heritage of humanity, really withstand unscathed the advance and siege of all those rushing to admire the two ancient republics? How much longer will the two lions be able to continue to defend Venice and Florence? It is the journey that Elisabetta Rogai through her art invites us to undertake, accompanying us in suggestions and reflections, lights and shadows, bright and dull colors, desires and melancholy.”

Hours: daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Free admission.

Photo: Umberto Visintini

Venice and Florence represented by two lions: the work of Elisabetta Rogai

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