These 25 engravings by the master of Italian pre-romanticism Gianbattista Piranesi are like a precious treasure, hosted for the first time in Sardinia in the halls of the former Capuchin convent in via Brigata Sassari in Quartu Sant'Elena.
Twenty-five engravings made between 1745 and 1778 by the great architect who was the precursor of Francisco Goya that enchant and amaze.
“ Piranese. The utopian reality ”, represents the continuation of the project of high cultural importance launched in 2021 by the Quartese administration with the exhibition dedicated to Goya, produced and organized by the Magmma Museum of Villacidro which once again, thanks to the partnership with the Ceribelli Gallery in Bergamo, she managed to recreate a corpus of very original and precious works , composed of a selection of engravings concerning the main series by Giambattista Piranesi : Carceri d'Invenzione (1745); Demonstration of the outlet of Lake Albani (1762); Vases, candlesticks, memorial stones, sarcophagi, tripods, oil lamps and ancient ornaments (1778); Views of Rome (1757/1775).
The eclecticism of his works and the versatility of his creative flair make Piranesi an artist that is difficult to fit into a scheme. Personality from the dual cultural matrix, Venetian and Roman , the author presents a very complex artistic physiognomy, which can be divided into three fundamental components. Indeed, Piranesi's art has deeply rooted roots in the rococo tradition , of which he is one of the last heirs. This adherence to rococo can be seen not only in the quality of the drawing, undone and evocative, but above all in the very nature of his works, which take the form of capricious inventions.
«Thanks to this anthological exhibition» said Walter Marchionni, artistic director of the Maggma Exhibition and Museum, «visitors will be able to appreciate the mastery of Piranesi . It seems to have lived longer than a lifetime, such is its excellence, which amazes both in terms of the purely technical and artistic aspects. In fact, it is not automatic that a good craftsman is also an artist: while craftsmanship is an end in itself, art is something different, because it is capable of giving you emotion». «There is a lot of visionary in this artist – continues Marchionni -; he gives us a cross-section of utopian reality , he is capable of going beyond his time and reaching the present day in the form of contaminations , in the works of many contemporary artists».
The mayor Graziano Milia was also present at the inauguration : «Someone might ask: why Piranesi in Quartu? My answer is: why not? With this initiative, the administration wants to further demonstrate that it is possible to bring together cultural activities in a space dedicated to institutional activities». The exhibition "represents an unprecedented event that aims to repeat the success achieved last year with the exhibition dedicated to Francisco Goya".
The exhibition can be visited until 10 January and this time too, as with the review dedicated to Goya last year, a collateral exhibition of artists selected from the last two editions of the Marchionni International Prize will be set up at the same time . The authors have ventured into a comparison with Piranesi's themes according to a contemporary and current vision : an opportunity to confront a great master of the past and virtually rediscover the magical environment of an atelier where the contemporary draws from the past to sublimate the art in all its aspects.