All about Giotto: Fabio Finotti, Director of the Italian Institute of Culture in New York, explains how and why the exhibition, “Under the Stars of Giotto” opening to the public at the Institute on Tuesday November 14, was born. An immersive experience, it is touring one of Giotto’s masterpieces, the frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.
“Padua was recently added to the Unesco World Heritage List for its 14th-century frescoes, and in Padua, Giotto revolutionized Western art with his frescoes for the Scrovegni Chapel. I thought the American public should discover this treasure, out of reach of the traditional tourist trails” explains Finotti.
We asked him a couple of questions to get more details.
Which trails do you mean?
“Americans have their own geography of Italy: Venice, Verona–because it’s Romeo and Juliet’s city–Milan for fashion, Florence, Rome, Naples, the islands, and lately, Puglia. Padua is often left out of these trips. Perhaps because it’s less ‘sexy’ than other cities. Shakespeare set Romeo and Juliet in Verona, and The Taming of the Shrew in Padua. Many beautiful things in Padua are not outdoor, they are inside buildings – obviously, since we are talking about frescoes. Moreover, thanks to the studies of passionate experts such as Andrea Colasio, we are just piecing together the picture of the extraordinary city Padua was in the era of the Communes, or city-states, and in the era of the Signorie: a powerhouse for the arts and for science thanks to two poles of great attraction, the University of Padua and the Basilica di Sant’Antonio”.
Did you plan this exhibition because of your Paduan origins?
“Being from Padua helped with the city’s authorities, but the exhibition is part of the strategy of my tenure. I want to emphasize how multicentric the Italian culture is. We started from Palermo, we talked about middle-sized and small urban centers, working with the Italian organization for Tourism (ENIT) and with the local and regional administrations. Next year we’ll have an exhibition for a small town, Peccioli, that is creating an incredible synergy between art and sustainability.”
Visitors in New York have a multitude of choices when it comes to art exhibitions and museums such as the Metropolitan, why should they come to see “Under the Stars of Giotto”?
“Because, thanks to the cooperation with Hidonix, we are going to offer the first immersive experience in the Scrovegni Chapel, including the crypt which is normally closed to the public. The images from the Chapel were shot last summer at night, in order not to disturb tourists, and they were scanned to offer an extraordinary, high-resolution vision of the incredible details of Giotto’s paintings: the attention for the botanic world, for anatomy, for prospective experiments. We also offer an app developed by Hidonix with info and pictures curated by a great Giotto and 14th-century expert, Beatrice Autizi”.
And so, Giotto flies to New York?
“Yes, we also have in our Institute one of the wonderful Guariento angels, documenting the transition from Giotto’s realism to a later, gothic, almost fable-like tone. Francesca Magnani’s photographs give a context of Padua today in its daily life. A site-specific work from Ozmo creates a bridge from the past and today, from Italy to America; the title is “Transatlantic”. It’s a “live painting”, it won’t be completed yet on inauguration day, it is a testimony to Italian creativity, a trait not just confined to the past but ever-changing, always alive, always dynamic”.
