A historic plaster collection is on public display in Carrara: Lazzerini collection on display

Opening on December 21, 2017, and running until January 31, 2018, the exhibition at CAP - Carrara Plastic Arts Center showcases plaster casts from the historic Lazzerini collection: the exhibition is titled The Lazzerini Collection. Tacca’s Historic Plaster Casts. From the School of Marble to the Museum, is curated by Luisa Passeggia and offers the public a chance to learn about the collection of plaster casts that was owned by the Lazzerini family, the dynasty of sculptors active in Carrara from 1670 to 1942. In 1955, the last heirs decided to donate a large part of the collection to the local Marble School, the “Pietro Tacca” institute in Carrara, which has since seen generations of students trained on the Lazzerini plaster casts.

Forty-seven works thus come to the Plastic Arts Center: forty-five are part of the collection owned by the Scuola del Marmo, the remaining two were loaned by the Lazzerini, who still hold possession of them. The exhibition will also be an opportunity to learn more about the history of the Lazzerini Studio, from which came works commissioned by Victor Emmanuel II, the Royal Academy in London, the Metropolitan in New York, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and several others: for the occasion, a multimedia map will be created that will indicate, in the city, all the places that preserve the memory of the Lazzerini, from the Duomo (where the altarpiece of the Santi Quattro Coronati made in 1861 by Pietro Lazzerini, perhaps the best-known exponent of the dynasty) to Palazzo Binelli, from the Palazzi di Giuseppe and Tommaso Lazzerini to the Lattanzi art workshop. The Lazzerinis, originally from the Marche region (they came to Carrara in 1670 with Francesco, born in Urbino in 1624, a sculptor who worked for Ferdinando II de’ Medici, for whom he carried out several restorations to the Boboli Gardens), opened a workshop in Carrara that worked continuously, as mentioned above, from 1670 to 1942, and had a network of contacts and patrons that expanded from Europe to the United States: their activity has been studied in depth by Luisa Passeggia, who has devoted several contributions to the Lazzerini.

However, this is not the first occasion on which the public has been able to admire the Lazzerini plaster casts: already in 1997, at Palazzo Caniparoli, the first exhibition of the collection was held, an important moment of study and knowledge (the catalog will be reprinted). The plaster casts are also returning to public display after 20 years to coincide with the temporary closure of the section of the Marble School that housed them, and with a view to their relocation: starting in May 2018, they will in fact find a permanent home in the Villa Fabbricotti Museum, in the Padula Park (in the center of Carrara).

"This cultural initiative, in the context of which the first working table to celebrate Carrara Creative City will also be held," stressed Carrara City Councilor for Culture Federica Forti, “we hope it will be an opportunity for an involvement of citizenship aimed at the knowledge of works of great importance for the history of the city’s sculpture. The municipal administration intends to ensure the institutional activity of the CAP through the proposal of events and projects centered on art and creativity that promote the enhancement of cultural heritage and its fruition, also in synergy with cultural, economic and social subjects of the territory, public and private. Through the organization of art projects and their conveyance to the citizenry and, in particular, to the younger generations of school age, museums carry out their role as cultural educators and hubs of welcome for both those who work in the art sector and those who enjoy it.”

The exhibition can be visited during the Plastic Arts Center’s opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Closed on Mondays. The ticket, which also allows entry to the Civic Museum of Marble, costs 5 euros, reduced (for over 65s and groups of at least 10 people) 3 euros, reduced students and visitors of collateral initiatives 2 euros. Free for children under 6, group chaperones, ICOM members, tour guides, journalists.

Image: historical photo of the collection in the Lazzerini Studio.

A historic plaster collection is on public display in Carrara: Lazzerini collection on display

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