Carrara diffuse museum: let's spread the care of our heritage first!

by Federico Giannini (Instagram: @federicogiannini1), published on 19/07/2012
Categories: Miscellaneous / Disclaimer

On June 16, on the occasion of the feast day of Carrara’s patron saint, St. Ceccardo, the so-called “Museo diffuso” in the historic center was inaugurated, or, to quote the words of the article published in the Tirreno newspaper on the same June 16 (“At the start of the diffuse museum in the streets of the historic center”), a “historical-artistic itinerary of enhancement of sacred images in the historic center of Carrara.” The article also says that theitinerary of the diffuse museum “is described on two panels containing a map of the route and captions of the works, placed one in Piazza Accademia, the other in Via Carriona corner Baroncino bridge,” and that “it is also possible to find a brochure, which will be distributed free of charge in the shops located along the route.”

A truly laudable initiative then, to bring citizens and tourists to the knowledge of that vast heritage of bas-reliefs, madonnas, saints, aedicules, christograms, icons and inscriptions that winds along the streets of Carrara’s historic center and some of which we have also already talked about in our website. Praiseworthy initiative on paper, that is, until we come up against reality. Curious to learn more about it and especially to go through the itinerary of the diffuse museum, as soon as I had some free time I went downtown to look for the famous brochure distributed for free in the commercial establishments. I went around all the greengrocers, fishmongers, clothing, accessory and shoe stores, shoemakers, haberdashers, and cafes located along the route... but not a single shadow of the brochure. Could it be possible that they had sold out so fast? Eventually, however, I had an epiphany: I entered St. Andrew’s Cathedral (more “located along the route” than the Duomo of the rest what is there?) and finally found a precious copy of the brochure. Only one though: I don’t know if the one now in my possession was the last or theonly one in the possession of the city’s main house of worship...if so, the Cathedral’s pastor can get in touch with our website and I will be happy to return the brochure.

The route starts from Piazza dell’Accademia, where we find the illustrative panel describing “Route 1” (in the article I will only talk about this one because I did not have a chance or time to study “Route 2” as well), that is, the one on the left side of the Carrione. To begin with, it is to be hoped that the panel will not end up like several other panels located in the historic center of Carrara. Let’s take a look at some of them, the first one placed on the Bridge of Tears, the other one in front of the Library Building (although the Library is now in another location), and the third one at the beginning of Via del Cavatore (I remind you that by clicking on the thumbnails you can enlarge the photos and read the commentary, and if anyone is interested we also have high-definition photos that we can send on request):

Please note: these signs have not been in this state for a couple of days-they have been like this for months. There is an update, though: as of today, the panel on the Bridge of Tears is no longer extant because even the shred that remained has been removed or permanently destroyed. But let’s continue: we were saying that the first route starts from the Accademia Square. The square is overlooked by the Renaissance core of the Ducal Palace (or Palazzo Cybo Malaspina), the former residence of the princes (and since the 17th century dukes) of Massa and Carrara and today home to theAcademy of Fine Arts. On July 4, the day of my visit, the palace’s Renaissance facade looked as you see it in these photographs:

Lest there be any misunderstanding, that “Good morning princess” you see in the image is not a greeting to Elisa Bonaparte, princess of Lucca to whom the exhibition held a few dozen meters away at Palazzo Binelli is dedicated (and who also ruled Carrara), but is much more likely the amorous externalization of some graphomaniac who, in order to greet his beloved, had the fine and noble idea of daubing a centuries-old historic building. And if it were an isolated case, one could even pass over it, but graffiti on the Renaissance facade of the Ducal Palace has now become a very bad habit all of Carrara, and the writings camp there sometimes even for months without anyone paying attention or saying anything. I therefore take this opportunity to ask Mayor Zubbani andCultural Councilor Bernardini, should they read this article, if this seems acceptable to them and if they do not see the state of the facade of thecity’s most beautiful building.

Reflecting, therefore, on the incongruity between the inauguration of a Museo Diffuso and the state of neglect of Palazzo Cybo Malaspina (in front of which, I remind you, is one of the two illustrative panels of the itinerary and in front of which the museum’s itinerary starts: no mean feat, a beautiful calling card), I walk along the narrow streets of the wonderful medieval part of the historic center. In some of the streets, as for example in Via dell’Arancio, it feels like taking a trip back in time. Centuries-old buildings, silence interrupted only by the occasional cat meowing on the thresholds of marble portals or old ladies talking to each other from window to window (strictly in dialect), other ladies returning from stores with their shopping baskets, the occasional Academy student in a corner drawing a glimpse of a palace or a madonnina. All fine and dandy if it weren’t for the fact that certain spots on Via dell’Arancio, which is one of the main streets of the Museum spread, have also been prey to the writing on the walls for years:

But, afterwards, I think that if I started dedicating photographs to all the streets affected by this phenomenon, I would have to photograph a good part of the historic center... instead, I focus only on Via dell’Arancio firstly because it is one of my favorite streets, and secondly because this is where many of the works of the Museum spread are located. Yeah, the works... I imagine that on the occasion of the opening they will have been, if not restored, then at least spruced up to look good for those lucky few who managed to get the illustrative brochure (because the alternative is to remember the route perfectly after studying it on the panel in Accademia Square, or to take a picture of the panel and then print it out... of course, if one for his or her own good fortune has a tablet he or she can also avoid printing it and vice versa can consult the photo in real time, but what is the real percentage of people who can perform such an operation?).

But here again I was wrong. The spectacle before my eyes is that of blackened icons and bas-reliefs, prey to dust and dirt of various kinds, and in some cases (e.g., in the Madonna Assunta on Via dell’Arancio) even luxurious habitation for some little spider (who may be able to boast with his friends that he has made his own web in a statue dating back to 1622). Sure, the little spiders come and go every day, but the dirt doesn’t, that accumulates over the years, and simple (and inexpensive) cleaning work would have sufficed to give some prominence to the marble from which the works were made. Nor would it have been necessary to go looking too far since in Carrara we have people capable of performing such interventions. However, let the pictures speak for themselves:

Wandering around the streets of the historic center I then notice that several icons have been excluded from the “museum route,” some of them even of a certain importance: this is the case, for example, of the Statue of Shame in Piazza del Duomo, in front of which it is thought that in the Middle Ages people (particularly women) who committed crimes related to the sexual sphere were punished. But it is also the case with several christograms (including the now famous one with the hole, which we have discussed on the site), icons and bas-reliefs... I show only some of these works because there would be several others as well:

There are many aspects to think about regarding the Widespread Museum project. To begin with, we have seen in what state many of the works that are part of the itinerary are in: therefore, before creating a project that would like to bring Carrara’s people and others to discover the vast artistic heritage that we find in the city streets, it would be nice to spread some care for this heritage, and in many cases we have shown how a cleaning would be enough to make the works presentable. What’s more, some of the icons placed along the Museum’s itinerary (particularly number 31, number 32 and number 33, all along Carriona Street and belonging to Route 2) have recently been restored as part of the thesis work of a student from the Academy of Fine Arts: so I don’t think it requires any sci-fi efforts on the part of the City Council to restore some luster to at least those icons that are in a more precarious condition than others. But for that matter, this disinterest in our culture can also be seen from many aspects, first of all (and perhaps the most serious) the writing on the facade of the Ducal Palace, as well as the state of considerable neglect in which not only the palaces but even the illustrative panels that are supposed to lead anyone to the discovery of the historic center are in: I wonder what figure we make with the tourists who come to the city and would like to know more about our works, but are faced with signs that are often illegible or destroyed.

And then there would be a chapter to be opened on the communication strategies adopted for the project, which were resolved with a couple of articles on the local page of two newspapers, articles within which among other things there was not even a mention of any dissemination of the project to tourist offices in the area (but I hope I am wrong and I hope that at least the tourist operators are aware of the project). Otherwise, how can a tourist know that there is nothing less than a widespread museum of ancient sacred images in the historic center of Carrara? Well, he can always find the brochure in the “businesses located along the route”! Yes, thank you, but which ones? Why hasn’t the Municipality of Carrara prepared on its website a list of merchants where to find the brochure? Or even better: why didn’t the Municipality of Carrara disseminate on its website a simple PDF file to download with the two routes of the Museum spread? So anyone who wanted it could download it, print it out, and take it with them. It is an operation with near-zero cost, and given that the municipality’s finances are a bit what they are (we are the second most indebted municipality in Italy according to the Cgia di Mestre) we could also have saved the (I imagine anyway already negligible) expense of printing the brochures. The answer to the question? Because on the website of the Municipality of Carrara there is not even a space dedicated to the Museum spread! How then can a municipality give life to a project without even bothering to promote just the bare minimum of essential communication, namely dedicating a web page to the initiative? I am not saying, as many municipalities do for their civic museums, create a space with images and descriptions of the works, but at least a summary and a PDF file with the routes to download and print, since we have already said what the tactics of anyone who wants to set out to discover the Museum should be.

Finally, since it seems that some works have been excluded from the itinerary, it would be interesting to know from Davide Lambruschi, the project manager, what was the criterion on the basis of which the works were selected, since it has not been made known through the press, nor can we understand it from the information brochure. I close with a wish: this article is not intended to be polemical at all, as I am more than sure that the Museum Spread project was born with the best of intentions and could give rise to a cultural revitalization of the historic center (initiatives such as this are essential). However, I intend to pose some constructive criticism so that on the one hand we take better care of our artistic heritage, and on the other hand that we think of more effective communication strategies that can really lead everyone to discover the Museum (and the historic center of Carrara), because I am convinced that many of my fellow citizens are not even aware of this project. So my hope is that my article will serve the project’s implementers to think about these issues and get the Museum Spread off the ground to make it really become a tool for revitalization on the one hand and for knowledge on the other.

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