52 cartoonists donate their self-portraits to the Uffizi: understanding between the Florentine museum and Lucca Comics

Fifty-two self-portraits by some of Italy ’s best-known cartoonists are joining the collection of the Uffizi Galleries. Created using different techniques, formats and styles, the works will be presented at Lucca Comics & Games 2021 from October 8 to November 1, 2021 as part of the exhibition Fumetti nei musei | Gli autoritratti degli Uffizi, curated by Mattia Morandi and Chiara Palmieri.

The exhibition, dedicated to Tuono Pettinato, a cartoonist who recently passed away, is part of the initiatives included in the memorandum of understanding signed by the Uffizi Galleries and Lucca Crea to foster the development and promotion of comics in Italy and abroad. In addition, the agreement provides for the participation of the Uffizi and the Ministry of Culture in the designation of the Master of Comics of Lucca Comics & Games as part of the Lucca Comics Awards and the entry, each year, of the winner’s self-portrait into the Florentine museum’s collection of self-portraits. The agreement will run for two years and will be renewable.

The works that will go on display in Lucca were donated by the artists who participated in Fumetti nei Musei, the project of the Ministry of Culture carried out in collaboration with the publishing house Coconino Press - Fandango.

The self-portraits span numerous languages and different generations, and what will enrich the Uffizi’s collection of self-portraits will be a true atlas of contemporary Italian comics: these works will be displayed in the new rooms dedicated to self-portraits that will open in the coming months on the second floor of the Vasarian museum.

“Thank you to the artists for this important donation that represents a further evolution of a path of valorization of contemporary comics that was born around the ambitious project Fumetti nei Musei,” said Minister Franceschini. “This new fund is an important novelty for the Italian contemporary art scene: the Uffizi thus becomes one of the first museums of classical art to bet on the vitality and creative force of the ninth art.”

“With this unprecedented, innovative alliance between the Uffizi and Lucca Comics, one of the most important comic book events in the world,” commented Uffizi Galleries Director Eike Schmidt, “the goal is to reiterate a key concept: culture is pop and must effectively reach as many people as possible. The agreement that we are presenting today is the first of its kind in the world: I am convinced that it will give rise to great results and will be the forerunner to many other ’crossovers’ bearing fruitful ideas, creativity and insights for the future.”

The groundwork for this agreement was laid in 2020, when Eike Schmidt attended Lucca ChanGes, the edition marked by the pandemic of Lucca Comics & Games. Today, the Ministry of Culture, the Uffizi Galleries and Lucca Comics & Games are joining forces in the name of comics.

Below are the names of the comic book artists who donated their self-portraits to the Uffizi Galleries.

ALTAN, Eliana Albertini, Simone Angelini, Paolo Bacilieri, Bianca Bagnarelli, Lorena Canottiere, Mara Cerri, Manfredi Ciminale, Sara Colaone, Marco Corona, Mariachiara Di Giorgio, Dr. PIRA, Andrea Ferraris, Vincenzo Filosa, Marco Galli, Lorenzo Ghetti, Roberto Grossi, Gud, Lise and Talami, LRNZ, Maicol & Mirco, Federico Manzone, MARTOZ, Lorenzo Mò, Vitt Moretta, Giacomo Nanni, Luca Negri R.S.M., Marino Neri, Otto Gabos, Pablo Cammello, Giuseppe Palumbo, Paolo Parisi, Michele Petrucci, Pronostico, Fabio Ramiro Rossin, Ratigher, Fulvio Risuleo, Silvia Rocchi, Federico Rossi Edrighi, Emanuele Rosso, Alessandro Sanna, Pietro Scarnera, Roberta Scomparsa, Andrea Settimo, Alice Socal, Spugna, SQUAZ, Marco Taddei, Alessandro Tota, Tuono Pettinato, Miguel Angel Valdivia, ZUZU.

52 cartoonists donate their self-portraits to the Uffizi: understanding between the Florentine museum and Lucca Comics

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