Uffizi to showcase two Caravaggesque masterpieces devastated by the Mafia in 1993

Concerto and I giocatori di carte, the two masterpieces by seventeenth-century painter Bartolomeo Manfredi (Ostiano, 1582 - Rome, 1622) devastated by the bomb that on the night of May 27, 1993, killed five people in Via dei Georgofili in Florence and damaged part of the Uffizi Gallery and its works, will be the protagonists of a special commemorative exhibition, set up in the Sala del Camino on the museum’s second floor.Entitled Remembering May 27/5/’93 and curated by Matilde Simari, the exhibition will begin on May 26, the eve of the 26th anniversary of the massacre, on the free special opening day for all that the Uffizi dedicates to remembering the terrible night so many years ago and to the fight against organized crime. It will last until June 2, Republic Day.

Manfredi’s two large canvases were both almost disintegrated by the explosion of the bomb, but, in both cases, very patient and almost miraculous restorations saved them from oblivion, allowing the paintings to regain, in part, their form and beauty. Concerto underwent a long recovery operation that went on from May ’94 until July ’95 and was financed with ministerial funds. The Card Players, on the other hand, was ’brought back to life’ just two years ago, with a similar intervention supported by the Uffizi themselves, the Florentine Courier and Ubi Banca.As part of the exhibition, the two works will be flanked by their copies, painted, again in the 1600s probably by the French artist Nicolas Tournier; a video with images of the ’93 massacre, created by videomaker Mirko Peripimeno, will also be shown. The exhibition will not be the only initiative organized on May 26 by the gallery in the name of remembrance and the fight against the Mafia. There will also be, by the museum’s Education Department, a live performance in front of Botticelli’s Venus: it will be staged by the fifth graders of a Florentine elementary school, prepared by their teachers. Scheduled time of the performance, 5 p.m., so there will be two more replicas throughout the afternoon.

“We have chosen for the first time to open the Uffizi for free on May 26 so that we can all remember together the dramatic night of 26 years ago,” explains Uffizi Galleries Director Eike Schmidt. “The Uffizi wants to play its part in the fundamental task of keeping alive the memory of the tragedy experienced in the heart of Florence, especially for the younger generations who were not yet born then. It is precisely to them that we want to make an appeal: never forget the horrors of the past, and always bar the door to organized crime, in whatever form it presents itself,” Schmidt concluded.

Finally, on the very free day on May 26, visitors will have one last opportunity to admire the contemporary art exhibition currently being received at the Uffizi, on its final day of opening: Being, featuring sculptures by British master Antony Gormley placed both inside the Magliabechiana hall and scattered throughout various other exhibition spaces in the Vasari gallery.

For all information you can visit the official Uffizi website.

Pictured: Bartolomeo Manfredi, Concert (1610-1622; oil on canvas, 130 x 189.5 cm; Florence, Uffizi)

Source: press release

Uffizi to showcase two Caravaggesque masterpieces devastated by the Mafia in 1993

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