The Griffoni Polyptych will remain in Bologna forever--with a highly faithful reproduction

The new layout of Palazzo Pepoli - Museum of the History of Bologna was unveiled this morning in Bologna, and in the Sacred Room will remain in town forever... the Griffoni Polyptych, after last fall’s exhibition. We are of course not talking about the original polyptych, the masterpiece by Francesco del Cossa and Ercole de’ Roberti from 1470-1472 whose panels are owned by several museums around the world, but rather about the perfect reproduction of the Griffoni Polyptych, created by Adam Lowe’s Factum Foundation, which has been applying the most sophisticated 3D scanning technologies to artworks for the past 20 years to arrive at highly faithful reproductions of works of art.

Placed at Palazzo Pepoli in the Hall of the Sacred, which already houses evidence of the city’s ancient cult to the Blessed Virgin of St. Luke, the facsimile of the Polyptych now allows everyone to see the sixteen known panels reunited, in the arrangement that most likely corresponds to the original one. The Polyptych is in fact presented to the public in the new reconstructive hypothesis that emerged from the International Study Conference last October, which reopened the debate around the possible original arrangement of the work by Francesco del Cossa and Ercole de’ Roberti.

Starting from an initial hypothesis of reconstruction (formulated by Cecilia Cavalca in 2013), the latest investigations have confirmed that the perspective layout of the three panels of the main register imposes a placement of these elements whose footprint in width corresponds perfectly to the width of the Vatican predella. The substantial reliability of the drawing by Stefano Orlandi (1725) preserved in theState Archives of Bologna has also emerged regarding the number of small figures of saints originally placed on the side pillars of the cornice: there were twelve in all. Therefore, a new hypothesis has been proposed that would place the two small panels slightly higher than all the others in the series (the Saint Catherine and Saint Jerome from the Cini Collection) on the right side of the main register, next to the figure of Saint John the Baptist, and all the other saints on the two sides of the upper register. The placement of the copy in the Museum of the History of Bologna is the result of a collaboration between different voices, made possible by the exhibition experience, and is complemented by the volume Il Polittico Griffoni. A gift for the city, edited by Mauro Natale, published by Minerva Editore.

In addition, over the next five years, the reproduction of the Griffoni Polyptych will be placed (during the month of October, to coincide with the celebrations for the patron saint) inside the Basilica of San Petronio, the original home of the Renaissance altarpiece, and this is thanks to an agreement signed by Genus Bononiae, the institute that manages the Museum of the History of Bologna, and the Basilica of San Petronio.

After all, it was precisely in San Petronio that the project to document the lost work of art was born in 2012, on the initiative of architect Roberto Terra (as part of the architectural restoration of the chapel of San Vincenzo Ferrer, which originally housed the Polyptych), thanks to the technology of Factum Foundation, which created the very faithful reproduction of the work, taking care of all the stages of the process: high-resolution 3D scanning and printing, digital reconstruction and hand retouching of the gilding.

“Like any serious and fruitful project,” comments Fabio Roversi-Monaco, president of Genus Bononiae, “the exhibition has stimulated new research, incited new discoveries, and opened new questions. It has thus had the merit of taking stock of historical and art historical studies related to the work itself, as an artifact, and to the cultural temperament in which the work was born. The volume encapsulates the debate opened by the study day, which initiated new reflections and offered new interpretations. I think the entire journey is a concrete example of what the goal should be for a museum to pursue: to offer opportunities for true cultural insight and study. With this exhibition we have consolidated international relations and returned to the city a piece of forgotten history: not only the majestic work of the two artists, but the role Bologna played in the Renaissance. The entry of the copy into the halls of the Museum of the History of Bologna is the natural culmination of a work that I have pursued with perseverance for more than two years and that accredits Genus Bononiae in the ranks of cultural realities recognized and appreciated on a European and world level.”

In addition to the reproduction of the Griffoni Polyptych, the new pathway was also presented that welcomes visitors accessing Palazzo Pepoli from No. 10 Via Castiglione, which will also become the gateway to the new Pepoli Historical Café, soon to be opened. Visitors are greeted by a three-stage journey called Past, Present and Future. The path of mirrors. In the wake of the museum tour, the journey starts 2500 years ago: the first mirror (a polished bronze slab) shows what the experience of mirroring must have been like in Etruscan times. The next passage is devoted to the present: a full-length mirror places the visitor at center stage, making him or her the protagonist. Finally, the door to the future: a digital mirror will reflect the image of the visitor, who will be able to interact with the universe of Genus Bononiae museums and meet the ’master of the house,’ Taddeo Pepoli. Calligrapher Barbara Calzolari also collaborated on the rearrangement project, designed by Mattia Roncaglione, who signs the inscriptions she hand-painted on glass in triple-thickness varnish and painted upside down, as dictated by the ancient technique of sign painting, learned in the United States.

In the photograph: the reproduction of the Griffoni Polyptych on display at Palazzo Pepoli

The Griffoni Polyptych will remain in Bologna forever--with a highly faithful reproduction

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