Friday, March 16, 2007

Italian Strikes Back at US Newsweek's Criticism of Florence and Uffizzi

The ANNOTICO Report

The following is an integral translation, Italian-to-English, of an article by Marcello Mancini in the March 15th daily newspaper "La Nazione", by our friend in Perugia, Italy, Dr. Giorgio Iraci (retired)

Of course, you all know "The Uffizi" to be the world-famous art gallery in Firenze.(Florence, Italy)

It shows some degree of irritation by the Italian author with the tendency of Americans who are fixated with "Instant Gratification",  and want to "gulp" their Art like they do their Starbucks, or their ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) which requires them to "glance"     at Art rather than "immersing" themselves in (or at least "inhaling") each masterpiece.

However in defense of the Americans, with the Uffizzi, with its superabundance of  valuable works of art, many that are relegated to the corridors, where in the US, they would be a centerpiece for their Museum, and the similar innumerable overstocked museums throughout Italy, the Americans would have to spend a month a year for several years to barely appreciate Italy's art treasures.

Then they might also have to overcome the problem I faced, which was after three days in Florence, visiting the Museums, I was so over stimulated, that I had to take several days off in Venice, and then return for more of a "sampling".  

Please see at Bottom, a List of Art Museums in Italy by City, with an Online presence.

 

"The 'Uffizi' by the Clock - Typically for Americans Only".

 

La Nation

Marcello Mancini 

March 15, 2007

Translated by Dr. Giorgio Iraci

 

It may happen to mistake hamburgers and ketchup for colours and frames, it may happen to mistake the "Uffizi" for a McDonald.          It may also happen that one does not have either the patience, or the culture, to spend more than two hours in a museum.

 

If you read the article in the well-known, New York based, stars-and-stripes magazine "Newsweek", that speaks of, and runs down, the gallery in Firenze, you can understand who are the prophets of the "bite-and-run" type of tourism that infests our towns of art. You can understand who are the consumers of spaghetti and a slice of pizza, in an "all included" trip, before boarding again the bus, because one must do things quickly and come away. Those who, in three days, visit Roma, Firenze and Venezia [it's a round trip of about 1,500 kilometers, 1,000 miles], and for whom a long waiting line is a risk of upsetting the [whole] travelling schedule.

The Americans rile at us [Italians] because one has to stand on queue to visit one of the most famous museums in the world, and then they dispute the aversion of the people of Firenze towards novelties, mixing Isozaki's [Arata Isozaki: a preeminent Japanese architect of the present time] modernism with the need of putting on show the hundreds of masterpieces kept in the deposits because there are not enough exposition rooms. A mess that puts Firenze, its people and even the Uffizi under a bad light.

The blow under the belt of the American magazine is, absolutely, out of proportion. One cannot understand the need to  insult Firenze, even by just criticizing - as Newsweek does - the decision of increase the size of the exposition rooms to accommodate never-so-far-seen paintings.

For the American tourists who want just to arrive in sight of Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" and only  skim over the "Tondo Doni", there are so many others all around the world, with a much more developed culture. Or, more simply, with a culture. And not afraid of being confronted with what, in the [Newsweek] article, is compared with Dante's "Inferno": a long queue under Vasari's arcade, and a "wearing" walk through the gallery - without a timer.

What would you say if, upon entering a museum, you were given a ticket with a time limit. It's stuff for Americans.

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Museums in Italy with fine art collections and an online presence

 

Aquila     

 Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo

 

 

 

Ardea     

 Raccolta Manzu

 

 

 

Bari     

 Pinacoteca Provinciale di Bari

 

 

 

Bergamo     

 Accademia Carrara

 

 

 

 GAMeC - Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea

 

 

 

 Museo Diocesano Adriano Bemareggi

 

 

 

Bologna     

 Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Bologna

 

 

 

 Musei Civici d'Arte Antica

 

 

 

 Museo Morandi

 

 

 

 Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna

 

 

 

Bolzano     

 MUSEION - Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

 

 

 

Brescia     

 Linea d'ombra

 

 

 

 Musei Civici d'Arte e Storia di Brescia

 

 

 

Cento     

 Pinacoteca Civica

 

 

 

Citta di Castello     

 Alberto Burri Collection at Palazzo Albizzini

 

 

 

 Pinacoteca Comunale

 

 

 

Codroipo     

 Villa Manin Centre for Contemporary Art

 

 

 

Faenza     

 International Museum of Ceramics

 

 

 

Ferrara     

 Palazzo dei Diamanti

 

 

 

Florence     

 Uffizi Gallery

 

 

 

 Casa Buonarroti

 

 

 

 Florence Museums

 

 

 

 Galleria dell'Accademia

 

 

 

 Galleria Palatina

 

 

 

 Marino Marini Museum

 

 

 

 Museo di San Marco

 

 

 

 Museo Nazionale del Bargello

 

 

 

 Museums of Florence

 

 

 

 Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore

 

 

 

 Palazzo Medici Riccardi

 

 

 

 Palazzo Vecchio (Museo Ragazzi)

 

 

 

 Pitti Palace

 

 

 

Genoa     

 Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Collezione Wolfson

 

 

 

 Galleria di Palazzo Rosso

 

 

 

 Museo d'arte orientale Edoardo Chiossone

 

 

 

 Palazzo Bianco

 

 

 

 Palazzo Ducale

 

 

 

 Villa Crove Museo di Arte Contemporanea

 

 

 

Imola     

 Pinacoteca

 

 

 

Livorno     

 Museo Fattori

 

 

 

Milan     

 Calderara Foundation Collection

 

 

 

 Castello Sforzesco Pinacoteca

 

 

 

 CIMAC - Civico Museo d'Arte Contemporanea

 

 

 

 Museo Bagatti Valsecchi

 

 

 

 Museo Civico di Arte Antica

 

 

 

 Museo Diocesano di Milan

 

 

 

 Museo Minguzzi

 

 

 

 Museo Poldi Pezzoli

 

 

 

 Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea

 

 

 

 Pinacoteca Ambrosiana

 

 

 

 Pinacoteca di Brera

 

 

 

Modena     

 Galleria Civica

 

 

 

 Galleria Estense

 

 

 

 Museo Civico d'Arte di Modena

 

 

 

Naples     

 Castel Sant'Elmo

 

 

 

 Museo Archeologico Nazionale

 

 

 

 Museo Nazionali di Capodimonte

 

 

 

Padua     

 Studio Esseci

 

 

 

Palermo     

 Galleria d'Arte Moderna E. Restivo

 

 

 

 Palermo Museums

 

 

 

Parma     

 Fondazione Magnani-Rocca

 

 

 

 Galleria Nazionale

 

 

 

 Museo Glauco Lombardi

 

 

 

 Pinacoteca Stuard

 

 

 

Pavia     

 Civic Museums of Pavia

 

 

 

Pergola     

 Museo dei Bronzi Dorati

 

 

 

Perugia     

 Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria

 

 

 

Pescara     

 Museo Cascella

 

 

 

Pietrasanta     

 Museo dei Bozzetti

 

 

 

Possagno     

 Canova Museum

 

 

 

Prato     

 Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci

 

 

 

 Museo Civico di Prato

 

 

 

Ravenna     

 Museo d'Arte della Citta di Ravenna

 

 

 

Reggio Emilia     

 Palazzo Magnani

 

 

 

Riva del Garda     

 Museo Civico

 

 

 

Rome     

 Galleria Borghese

 

 

 

 Musei Capitolini

 

 

 

 Chiostro del Bramante

 

 

 

 Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea

 

 

 

 Galleria Corsini

 

 

 

 Galleria Doria Pamphilj

 

 

 

 Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna

 

 

 

 Galleria Spada

 

 

 

 Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation

 

 

 

 Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica

 

 

 

 MACRO - Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma

 

 

 

 MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo

 

 

 

 Musei di Palazzo Farnese

 

 

 

 Museo Barracco

 

 

 

 Museo del Risorgimento Complesso del Vittoriano

 

 

 

 Museo della Casina delle Civette

 

 

 

 Museo di Roma - Palazzo Braschi

 

 

 

 Museo di Roma in Trastevere

 

 

 

 Museo Napoleonico

 

 

 

 Palazzo Barberini

 

 

 

 Palazzo Colonna Gallery

 

 

 

 Palazzo delle Esposizioni

 

 

 

 Palazzo Montecitorio

 

 

 

 Palazzo Ruspoli

 

 

 

 Pinacoteca Capitolina

 

 

 

 Scuderie del Quirinale

 

 

 

Rovereto     

 Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto

 

 

 

Rovigo     

 Pinacoteca dell'Accademia dei Concordi

 

 

 

Tremezzo     

 Villa Carlotta Museo e Giardino Botanico

 

 

 

Trento     

 Museo Castello del Buonconsiglio

 

 

 

Trieste     

 Museo Revoltella Galleria d'Arte Moderna

 

 

 

Turin     

 Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea

 

 

 

 Fondazione Accorsi Museum of Decorative Arts

 

 

 

 Galleria Sabauda

 

 

 

 GAM - Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea

 

 

 

 Palazzo Bricherasio

 

 

 

 Palazzo Cavour

 

 

 

Urbania     

 Biblioteca e Museo Civico

 

 

 

Vatican City     

 Vatican Museums

 

 

 

Venice     

 Peggy Guggenheim Collection

 

 

 

 Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa

 

 

 

 Gallerie dell'Accademia

 

 

 

 Museo Ca' Pesaro

 

 

 

 Museo Correr

 

 

 

 Museo Fortuny

 

 

 

 Palazzo Grassi

 

 

 

 Querini Stampalia Foundation Museum

 

 

 

Vercelli     

 Museo Borgogna

 

 

 

Verona     

 Museo di Castelvecchio

 

 

 

 Palazzo Forti

 

 

 

Vicenza     

 Palladio Centre and Museum

 

 

 

 Pinacoteca Civica di Vicenza

 

 

 

Vinci     

 

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/museums/art-museums-in-italy.html

 

 

The ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed and are Fully Archived at:

Italia USA: http://www.ItaliaUSA.com (Formerly Italy at St Louis)

 

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