The 15 most read articles of 2024 on Finestre Sull'Arte

As per tradition, the New Year ’s Eve of Finestre Sull’Arte opens with a ranking of the 15 most-read articles in the magazine over the past year. 2024 was a year full of events, discoveries, and insights in the art world, and there was no shortage of articles on Finestre Sull’Arte that captured readers’ attention. From the enduring fascination with the great masters of the past to reviews via the latest discoveries and restorations, each contribution told a fragment of the vast and multifaceted art scene. So here are the 15 most-read articles of 2024: a selection that testifies to the public’s interest in different topics, to (re)discover the content that made history this year.

15. The Lion of St. Mark is Chinese: what the discovery entails

In September it was finally ascertained that the Lion towering in St. Mark’s Square in Venice is actually a Chinese monster. In an article by Leonardo Bison we told how the discovery was made, and what it entailed. This is the article that opens the ranking.

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14. Statues on the main elevation of the Vittoriano restored.

At the conclusion of the major restoration project initiated by VIVE - Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia and made possible thanks to Bvlgari, which fully supported the intervention, the sculptures on the Vittoriano’s main façade shone again at the end of November.

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13. Florence, landlord defaces Dante-era column by applying metal box to it

Incivility on the charts. In Florence, a landlord currently unknown decided to deface the remains of the ancient Loggiato dei Cerchi, a building from Dante’s time, by applying a keybox to it, a metal box used to deliver keys to tenants without the need to meet them. Andrea Laratta’s article recounting this fact ranks 13th among the most-read articles.

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12. Egypt, Italian-Egyptian archaeological mission discovers tombs of a type never seen before

An Italian-Egyptian archaeological mission (University of Milan and Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities) has discovered in Aswan, in the necropolis of the Aga Khan, tombs arranged on more than ten levels of terracing, a phenomenon never before seen in Egypt. Analysis has already returned valuable information about life in Egypt between the 6th century B.C. and A.D. II.

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11. If God chooses to dwell in Tuscany.

A land so special that it could be God’s chosen place to dwell. This is Tuscany recounted by Antonio Socci in the book with the provocative title “God Dwells in Tuscany.” The book review, written by Andrea Laratta, earns the 11th place in the ranking.

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10. Rome, water returns to the Baths of Caracalla after centuries. Inauguration of Hannes Peer’s Mirror.

After centuries, water has returned to the Baths of Caracalla this spring: inaugurated on April 4, Hannes Peer’s Mirror, an architectural intervention that creates a mirror of water in the Baths, with water features and even a stage for cultural activities. It is the first intervention in a revolution that will change the Baths.

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9. From train in the snow to water lilies. What the Monet exhibition in Padua is like.

First review in the ranking: this is the one Ilaria Baratta wrote about the exhibition “Monet. Masterpieces from the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris,” curated by Sylvie Carlier with Marianne Mathieu, held in Padua at the Centro Altinate San Gaetano from March 9 to July 14, 2024.

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8. A long, repetitive immersion in Munch’s anguish. What the Milan exhibition is like.

Second and final review to make its way into the rankings: it is again by Ilaria Baratta and is for one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the year, “Munch. The Inner Cry,” curated by Patricia G. Berman, in Milan, Palazzo Reale, from September 14, 2024 to January 26, 2025.

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7. Egypt, a hidden structure discovered in front of the Pyramids: the entrance to a vast archaeological area?

There’s little we can do about it: the fascination for Egypt is irresistible, and another “Egyptian” archaeological discovery enters the rankings. This spring, in front of the Giza Pyramids, an Egyptian-Japanese research team made a singular discovery: a hidden structure, detected by georadar. Perhaps, scholars speculate, it is the entrance to a vast underground archaeological area.

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6. Here’s why the newly discovered Last Judgment can in no way be by Michelangelo

Untenable attributions: in May news spread of the discovery of an... unlikely Last Judgment immediately attributed to Michelangelo and believed to be his first known oil work. Federico Giannini dismantles the attribution with stylistic, iconographic and historical arguments.

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5. Mucha and Boldini star at Palazzo dei Diamanti in 2025

News just a few days ago: the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara announces a double exhibition in the spring of 2025 dedicated to lovers of European art between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the protagonists will be Alphonse Mucha and Giovanni Boldini. Very high interest, then, for the two upcoming exhibitions.

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4. A never-before-seen Caravaggio is revealed for the first time: the Portrait of Maffeo Barberini in Rome

Seeing a never-before-exhibited Caravaggio is not an everyday occurrence, understandable, then, that news of the first exhibition of the Portrait of Maffeo Barberini is at the foot of the podium: it can still be seen until February 23, 2025 in the Landscape Room of the National Galleries of Ancient Art at Palazzo Barberini.

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3. How many and what are the Italian paintings requisitioned by the French now on display at the Louvre?

Great interest, in part because of news reports on alleged French claims, for the article with which the editors of Finestre Sull’Arte delved into how many and which paintings by Italian artists were looted by the French at the time of Napoleon’s requisitions and are now on display at the Louvre, providing complete list, with images and provenance. Third most-read article of the year.

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2. All the locations where the fiction “The Long Night” was filmed

In January, RAI will broadcast the fiction “The Long Night,” the TV series dedicated to Dino Grandi and the fall of fascism. The article with which we unveiled all the locations, with photographs comparing scenes from the fiction with reality, earns second place in the ranking.

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1. Vignettes and memes about the Sangiuliano-Boccia scandal: the funniest ones

This year the first place is obviously taken for granted: it is the Sangiuliano-Boccia scandal that holds the field. And the article with which we have collected the funniest cartoons and memes, an extraordinary burst of creativity, earns the gold medal with a huge gap on silver.

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The 15 most read articles of 2024 on Finestre Sull'Arte

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.