Forty years after its creation, a painting by Andrea Pazienza is back in the limelight, not only for its artistic value but also because of the legal events involving it. As Ansa newspaper writes , the work, depicting the equestrian Zanardi, was created in 1985 as part of an initiative by the City of Cesena to disguise restoration work on the 16th-century fountain (created by Francesco Masini) in Cesena’s Piazza del Popolo. Pazienza, who was young and little known at the time, was called upon to create, along with three other artists, four drawings intended to adorn the wooden cover installed around the fountain.
When the work was completed, all the paintings were destroyed by the workers assigned to dismantle the cover. The equestrian Zanardi was saved, however, by Riccardo Pieri, now an accountant, who at the time was a young enthusiast of art and the underground expressions that the official circuit tended to overlook. Pieri collected the fragments of the painting and reassembled it, having it restored, although it retained obvious gaps due to the damage it had suffered. The other three works in the series were lost. The work measures about three by four meters and is made with varnish on chipboard. It depicts Zanardi, Pazienza’s most famous character, who died in 1988, riding a horse. Thanks to Pieri’s intervention, the work survived the fate that had befallen the other three panels and, over the years, was able to be displayed in a number of exhibitions in Bologna, Turin and Rome, at the request of Michele Pazienza, the artist’s brother. The latest exhibit is at the Maxxi in L’Aquila, in the exhibition Andrea Pazienza: the mathematics of the sign, which can be visited until April 6.
The affair has raised questions about the painting’s ownership. Carabinieri from the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit launched an investigation alleging misappropriation by Pieri, which ended, however, with the case being dismissed. As the newspaper again reported, according to investigators, the young man’s action did not constitute a crime, as the work would have been destroyed without his intervention. Despite the filing, Sauro Turroni, a former senator and at the time a municipal official who promoted the initiative, announced an appeal against the decision, confirming that ownership of the work remains an unresolved issue. For nearly four decades, Pieri has guarded the panel, preserving it as a testimony to one of the major Italian authors of the 1980s. Today, in addition to its artistic value, the painting has become the subject of legal and cultural debate: on the one hand, the work survives as a testament to Pazienza and the underground art scene of the time; on the other hand, the litigation raises questions about the role of private individuals in protecting property intended for the community.
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| Andrea Pazienza painting saved from landfill becomes court case |
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