Novellara museum displays a valuable painting by Lelio Orsi that had been illegally exported

A precious oil on copper by Lelio Orsi (Novellara, 1508/1511 - 1587) is returning to the great 16th-century painter’s hometown of Novellara: it is Leda and the Swan, a painting that has been returned to the Gonzaga Museum in Novellara, which has been specially renovated to house the work by Lelio Orsi, which returned to Emilia after a complex affair that lasted more than 15 years. The painting, granted on deposit by the Ministry of Culture, has been on display at the museum since last April 6.

Of this painting by Lelio Orsi, an oil on copper measuring 43x30 centimeters that Reggio Emilia residents had last had a chance to admire in early 1988, thanks to an exhibition dedicated to the great Emilian mannerist at the municipal theater, traces had been lost until Jan. 24, 2008, when it was sold by New York auction house Sotheby’s for more than a million dollars. From that moment, the Novellara municipality, longing to host it, embarked on a dispute that turned into a kind of mystery, similar to those narrated in the novels written by Carlo Fruttero together with the writer Franco Lucentini, who, moreover, in 1988 was the owner of Orsi’s masterpiece exhibited in Reggio Emilia. The work remained in Lucentini’s house until 2002, when the writer took his own life. Then, the reappearance on the market six years later that provoked the intervention of the Carabinieri of the Nucleo Tutela Patrimonio Culturale who ascertained the illicit exit of the work, which was returned to the Italian state following its return. One of Lucentini’s heirs sold the work to an antiquarian who, without having obtained the necessary authorizations, sold Lelio Orsi’s work to England, and from there it then arrived in the United States, purchased in the meantime by the collector who auctioned it in 2008. The affair was finally resolved with the confiscation of the work shortly after the auction: after its return to Italy, Leda and the Swan remained in storage for a long time at the Command of the Nucleo Tutela Patrimonio Culturale of the Carabinieri in Rome. Until the recent turn of events.

With the support of the Region, the City of Novellara strongly urged that the masterpiece be housed at the Gonzaga Museum. The Ministry of Culture has issued a favorable opinion, subject to an agreement between the Emilia-Romagna Regional Directorate of Museums and the municipality to ensure the work’s maximum appreciation. The agreement covers the restoration of the masterpiece’s pictorial film and improvements to the Gonzaga Museum.

The renovation of the museum’s layout, with special attention to accessibility, involved a total cost of 165,000 euros, of which the Region contributed 42,000 euros. In particular, the project revolutionized the spaces designated for permanent exhibition by intervening on lighting, display cases, and information captions and panels. The main interventions were focused on the most significant rooms of the museum: those dedicated to the figure of Lelio Orsi and the collection of the Jesuit Spezieria Vases. The improvement of didactic and information devices, extended to the entire museum complex, was designed to make the contents accessible to different categories of visitors.

Novellara museum displays a valuable painting by Lelio Orsi that had been illegally exported

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.