Caravaggio's Bacchus will be... lent to Vinitaly. Sangiuliano announces it

Two famous works of art history will become wine advocates at the main wine fair, Vinitaly in Verona. This is no joke: Caravaggio ’s Bacchus and the Bacchus Child attributed to Guido Reni, both belonging to the Uffizi Galleries, will be displayed among bottles of Brunello and Sassicaia. This was anticipated last March 7 by Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, and confirmed yesterday by Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.

“One thing that makes me proud,” Lollobrigida had said, “will be to be able to make with my colleague in Culture, Sangiuliano, another leap: this year we will be exhibiting, at Vinitaly, for the first time, two works of art, the two Bacchus, one by Guido Reni and one by Caravaggio, something that is very attractive, that brings together wine and culture, and the story of what is behind a product, wine. But we will also do it for other products, in terms of history, to make people understand Italian quality.”

Yesterday, it was said, was Sangiuliano’s confirmation: “We will bring,” he said, “two iconic paintings, Caravaggio’s Bacchus and Guido Reni’s Bacchus, and we will put them next to each other, because they have never been and you have never been able to make the visual comparison. But we will do it in the setting of Vinitaly.”

Caravaggio’s Bacchus , one of the fundamental masterpieces of the seventeenth century, is moreover on the Uffizi’s list of immovable works , although this does not preclude its movement within Italian territory (the exclusion from the loan is in fact only for leaving the national territory): however, the works on this list also have other obstructive criteria that strongly discourage a possible move, including, as the Uffizi website states, “the fundamental role of the work within the setting of a room or section of the museum,” and “the expectation of the public to see the work in the course of the museum visit, with negative image and economic consequences, both direct and induced tourism in the territory.”

Therefore, the public’s expectation will be disappointed just before Easter, April 2-5, days when Caravaggio’s Bacchus will be exhibited at Vinitaly along with the Rhenish work. What is the motivation for the move? Minister Lollobrigida explained it again yesterday, "Sunday opens with the arrival for the first time at Vinitaly of two very famous paintings: the Bacchus by Caravaggio and the Bacchus Child by Guido Reni. Two masterpieces of incalculable value brought to Veronafiere at zero expense, thanks to the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture, the Uffizi Museum, and Assicurazioni Generali, to make it even more evident that wine is not an alcoholic risk factor but rather an expression of a centuries-old culture that has permeated even the fine arts, as well as a drink of well-being if consumed in moderation as the Mediterranean Diet teaches." In short, the two works of the Uffizi Galleries as... wine testimonials.

Caravaggio's Bacchus will be... lent to Vinitaly. Sangiuliano announces it

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