Tomaso Montanari is a finalist for the Bancarella. Sgarbi so far the only art historian to win

Will Tomaso Montanari succeed in becoming the second art historian ever, after Vittorio Sgarbi, to win the Bancarella Prize, one of the most prestigious Italian literary awards, now in its 69th edition? For now, his book Art is Liberation (Edizioni Gruppo Abele), written together with the Florentine priest Don Andrea Bigalli, is in the sestina of finalists, all winners of the “Premio Selezione Bancarella 2021.” contending for the final victory, which will be awarded, as per tradition, in Pontremoli (Sunday, July 18), will be Marino Bartoletti’s La cena degli dèi (Gallucci), Luca Di Fulvio’s La ballata della città eterna (Rizzoli), Marina Marazza’s Io sono la strega (Solferino), Livia Sambrotta’s Non salvarmi (Sem) and Ema Stokholma’s Per il mio bene (Harper Collins).

The winner will receive a sculpture of St. John of God by artist Umberto Piombino, which depicts the patron saint of booksellers.Pontremoli is a town with a centuries-old bookmaking tradition, and the name of the prize refers to the stalls of booksellers in Lunigiana who used to set out from Mulazzo, Pontremoli and the surrounding area to go out and sell their books. The first winner in the history of the prize (1953) is one of the best-known masterpieces of twentieth-century literature, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. So far, the only art historian to have won the Bancarella is, as anticipated, Vittorio Sgarbi, winner in 1990 with Davanti all’immagine (Rizzoli). Sgarbi was moreover president of the jury of the Prize in 2000.

Davanti all’immagine by Sgarbi was also the last art book to enter the list of finalists: so thirty-one years have passed, but now another art book intended for the general public is ready to attempt to win the prize. Art is Liberation chronicles twenty works of art throughout twenty-five centuries of history with the aim of “telling the story of societies, peoples and their journey of liberation and consciousness.” “Studying art and visiting its expressions serves to become citizens,” reads the book’s synopsis. "Loving art does not mean dealing with the trinkets of the rich, but with a common cultural heritage that belongs even to those who apparently have nothing. A heritage thanks to which we can discover that a different past has existed, and therefore a different future will also be possible. From this awareness comes the book by Tomaso Montanari and Andrea Bigalli, a window on twenty real ’great works’, known and less known, of our country. Spanning twenty-five centuries and twenty regions, they range from Masaccio to the Murals of Orgosolo, from Novalesa Abbey to Giotto, from the Riace Bronzes to Carlo Levi."

Tomaso Montanari is a finalist for the Bancarella. Sgarbi so far the only art historian to win

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