The Pinacoteca differently dismembered, and the superintendent apostrophizing those who legitimately protest

Dismemberment. [smem-bra-mén-to]. “s.m. 1. Action of dismembering. 2 fig. Division, disintegration of that which constitutes an organic and natural whole.” This is the definition of the term dismemberment according to Aldo Gabrielli’s Grande Dizionario Hoepli Italiano. Or, we can see that of Sabatini Coletti: “Disintegration, decomposition of a whole into various elements.” And again, if we want to go into detail, we can take the definition we find on the website of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Storici, Artistici ed Etnoantropologici del Piemonte: “dismemberment means the act of separating a part of a collection, series and collection from the whole.”

Certainly, it cannot be said that semantics is not on the side of those in Siena (and elsewhere as well) who protest against what is to all intents and purposes a dismemberment: that of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena. Several works, belonging to the seventeenth-century corpus, will in fact be separated from the rest of the Pinacoteca’s collection and will be destined for other rooms. In this case, those of Palazzo Chigi Piccolomini alla Postierla, on Via del Capitano: that is, the headquarters of the Superintendence of Siena. But woe to call this operation a dismemberment! The risk is that of incurring the strali of Superintendent Mario Scalini, who thus pronounced: “it is not a dismemberment as some fool has written, but a recomposition.” Ironic lexicon: Sabatini Coletti himself defines the term “recomposition” as “reconstitution of something in its integrity.” Gabrielli merely speaks of “the action of recomposing.” Where recompose means “to compose again, to reconstruct by putting together.” In short, the exact opposite of what is intended to be done in Siena.

Yet anyone who tries to raise the doubt that the Superintendency is dismembering a collection is not only not listened to (and we will get to that in a moment), but is even apostrophized as foolish. It sounds unbelievable, and more importantly, it seems like totally inappropriate behavior for a superintendent, but this is what Scalini really said to Corriere Fiorentino, in a quotation mark reported in a Nov. 19 article. What a way to dialogue! In short: the invitation is not to meddle and to let the superintendent work. Otherwise one gets insults. We will try to say that the Pinacoteca will be otherwise dismembered: which sounds really bad, but at least one will not incur semantic contradiction on the one hand, and on the other hand (perhaps) Mario Scalini’s externalizations.

An old photo of Piazza Postierla in Siena with the current building housing the Soprintendenza in the background

And what about the arguments opposed by the superintendent? The move “was supposed to be a gift to the city for Christmas, they ruined the surprise for us.” Yes, how mean are these vile characters who oppose that joyous Christmas present of dividing a collection that has an illustrious history. But it doesn’t end there: again with the now customary habit of using terms completely out of place, Scalini branded the reasons for the protest as “hoax and useless fuss.” Again Sabatini Coletti defines a hoax as “sensationally unfounded news”: so we would like to know what is unfounded about the fact that the Pinacoteca’s collection will be divided. The move to the current location of the Superintendency has already been initiated! So this really sounds like a mockery.

However, evidently realizing how shaky his arguments were, Mario Scalini preferred to correct his pitch: we thus learn from the pages of the Nation of Siena, that “the operation of rearranging the collection of the Pinacoteca Nazionale had been planned for three years” and above all that the goal would be “to make clear the stratifications of the collections” and “to give way to verify the exhibition potential of the building that now houses the headquarters” of the Superintendence. Scalini will explain how it will be possible to verify the exhibition potential by giving a way to see the works only on Saturdays and Sundays, in rooms now used mostly as offices. What about the tourists who stay in the city only in the middle of the week? What about school children? All of them on Saturdays? Not to mention that, again from the article, we learn that the spaces intended to house the works “are for all intents and purposes neither exhibition nor open for the use of any visitors or scholars interested in that part of the collection. They will become so, perhaps, if it is deemed relevant and possible.” So what are we to imagine? What does it mean that the spaces “are for all intents and purposes not exhibition?” That on Saturdays and Sundays we will see Rutilio Manetti and Bernardino Mei among folders, desks and bic pens?

But that’s not all yet. Exactly a week ago, we had published on our website an open letter, written by a group of graduates and undergraduates from the University of Siena, in which they simply asked the Superintendency to shed light on the situation. The signatories have, on several occasions, claimed that they have not been heard and have not even received a response. There is, however, one disturbing consolation: the City of Siena has not been heard either. In a statement issued on Dec. 18 by the city’s mayor, Bruno Valentini, the first citizen said that “the decisions of the Superintendence regarding possible transfers of works from the National Picture Gallery of Siena were taken outside the discussion opened in the inter-institutional working table coordinated by the City of Siena.” What can become of the artistic heritage, if those in charge of its care neither listen to the reasons of those who study that heritage, love it and would like to protect it, nor make decisions in agreement with the entities that administer the territory?

It is worth remembering that the works of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena do not belong to the Soprintendenza, nor to Mario Scalini, so the Soprintendenza cannot do what it wants with them: those works belong to the community, they are the heritage of all citizens, and it is therefore the duty of the Soprintendenza to at least listen to all voices and to dialogue with both the grassroots and the institutions. This summer we have talked at length about the <a href='https://www.finestresullarte.info/173n_riforma-mibact-franceschini-poche-idee-buone-tanti-dubbi.php target='_blank'>reform of MiBACT</a> that, if approved, will result in a disconnection of museums from the territory: it would be nice if we avoided anticipating the consequences.</p>

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