At the Uffizi a pop nativity scene by Lodola with Freddie Mercury-pastor and Lucio Dalla-san Giuseppe

Lucio Dalla as St. Joseph, Gigliola Cinquetti as the Madonna, Freddie Mercury among the shepherds, the angel who takes the form of David Bowie: this is the pop nativity scene by artist Marco Lodola (Dorno, 1955) that will be lit today at 5 p.m. at the Uffizi Gallery, in the presence of the artist, museum director Eike Schmidt, Florence Mayor Dario Nardella and critic Vittorio Sgarbi. The figures will be housed on the first and second floors of the Gallery, and will face the large windows overlooking the Lungarni and Ponte Vecchio, so the city will be able to see it from outside the museum as well.

The installation is titled Nativity. Luminous Nativity, is composed of backlit figures and will be visible for the duration of the holidays. The installation has pop music as its central theme, particularly Italian pop music, and features many of the singers who have participated in the Sanremo festival over the decades as the crib’s protagonists. From the stained glass windows of the Verone on the second floor of the museum (Arno side) one can admire the colorful figures of Lucio Dalla and Gigliola Cinquetti, with the silhouettes of an orchestra behind them: they will play the roles of Joseph and Mary, respectively. The Verone will also welcome the ox, the donkey and a star to symbolize baby Jesus: this group will be visible from the Ponte Vecchio, while a third, formed by a small army of shepherds and Magi, will be seen from the Uffizi square. From this view one will be able to admire many stars of both Italian and foreign music: among them, just to name a few, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Louis Armstrong, but especially Italian artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Rino Gaetano, Mina, Renzo Arbore, Rita Pavone, Max Pezzali, and Caterina Caselli. In a higher position, on the second floor of the Gallery, at the panoramic window facing the Ponte Vecchio, there will be a large comet star.

The lighting of the nativity scene will be held this afternoon at 5 p.m. in Piazza Santa Maria Soprarno, toward the Torrigiani Arno Riverfront, in front of the Uffizi facade: taking part will be, in addition to Lodola himself, museum director Eike Schmidt, Florence Mayor Dario Nardella, and art critic Vittorio Sgarbi. The event will be broadcast live on the Galleries’ facebook page.

Lodola explains that he conceived the installation from a reflection on “the condition of suffering that we live today.” This, he says, “was the inspiration from which I started to represent a bright rebirth, a sense of hope, a belief in change. Like the figurines of the nativity scene, we are the laborers of a suspended time, orchestral players without an audience, theater without a script, limelight waiting for its star. The connection with the Sanremo Festival added a pop flavor, with the familiar characters who have passed over the years on that stage. The big comet star, also known as the ’star of the people,’ I thought of it precisely as a sea of faces in which everyone can imagine their own.”

“With this pop and colorful nativity scene,” says director Eike Schmidt, “the Uffizi closed for the pandemic greets passersby from the windows. But above all they wink at the nativity scenes in Renaissance paintings, crowded with celebrities of the time, at the real characters portrayed in the sacred figures of so many famous paintings, paintings that will be waiting for visitors when we reopen. This is why Marco Lodola’s installation also counts as a message of hope during the closure of museums and so many cultural institutions.”

At the Uffizi a pop nativity scene by Lodola with Freddie Mercury-pastor and Lucio Dalla-san Giuseppe

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