They are back on the attack: as all the newspapers have headlined, on the strength of no less than one hundred and fifty thousand signatures collected, Silvano Vinceti and his “team” have returned in recent days to call, with renewed insistence, for the return of Leonardo da Vinci ’s Mona Lisa to Italy1, perhaps for an exhibition that could bring it to Florence and Rome2 (cities, moreover, notoriously in need of tourism and image revitalization.... !).
I will not get lost in useless preamble, I will just remind those who missed something (because from what we read on social networks, forums and blogs there are many who do not know how the events went) that the Mona Lisa does not belong to us: Leonardo took it with him at the time of his move to France in 1516, and then the painting was sold to King Francis I. It is since then that the Mona Lisa has become, so to speak, “French.” So to assert, as some do, that the Mona Lisa "by right would belong to our country, considering Leonardo da Vinci’s birthplace,"3 is completely illogical from both a legal and art-historical perspective. Otherwise, if some law has changed in the meantime and no one has notified me, I will tell my parents that they will have to return their azulejos to Portugal, for example.
Thus, the request for even a temporary return of the Mona Lisa to Italy does not make sense for several reasons:
The public is not made up of crude individuals who are to be astonished “with special effects”: to consider art history as a circus that serves to amuse most is a profound lack of respect for the public itself, and operations such as the possible (and hopefully never actual) return of the Mona Lisa to Italy go precisely in that direction. We already have a huge cultural and artistic heritage of our own; we do not need to ask for “masterpieces” from other countries. Rather, let’s think about enhancing what we already have (something we don’t do so well at given the latest news reports). The one hundred and fifty thousand signatures could be used for more sensible battles: the latest in chronological order for example is the one led by Giulio Burresi to prevent a very important museum complex, that of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, from having to close its doors. Let us take care to know, to appreciate, to value what we have and above all let us avoid letting the reasons of culture and art yield to those of commercial operations. What I am surprised about, however, is that this was already being discussed a year ago, and even then reasons were advanced to prevent such an operation. Yet a year has passed and we are still here talking about it....
The author of this article: Federico Giannini
Nato a Massa nel 1986, si è laureato nel 2010 in Informatica Umanistica all’Università di Pisa. Nel 2009 ha iniziato a lavorare nel settore della comunicazione su web, con particolare riferimento alla comunicazione per i beni culturali. Nel 2017 ha fondato con Ilaria Baratta la rivista Finestre sull’Arte. Dalla fondazione è direttore responsabile della rivista. Nel 2025 ha scritto il libro Vero, Falso, Fake. Credenze, errori e falsità nel mondo dell'arte (Giunti editore). Collabora e ha collaborato con diverse riviste, tra cui Art e Dossier e Left, e per la televisione è stato autore del documentario Le mani dell’arte (Rai 5) ed è stato tra i presentatori del programma Dorian – L’arte non invecchia (Rai 5). Al suo attivo anche docenze in materia di giornalismo culturale all'Università di Genova e all'Ordine dei Giornalisti, inoltre partecipa regolarmente come relatore e moderatore su temi di arte e cultura a numerosi convegni (tra gli altri: Lu.Bec. Lucca Beni Culturali, Ro.Me Exhibition, Con-Vivere Festival, TTG Travel Experience).
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