Uffizi lends some ancient sculptures to Vinitaly

Six ancient sculptures dedicated to the myth of Bacchus land in Verona on the occasion of Vinitaly 2026. The works, from the collections of the Uffizi Galleries and Palazzo Pitti, were transferred thanks to the contribution of Generali Italia and included in an itinerary that aims to enhance Italian viticulture through a dialogue between ancient and contemporary. From the Uffizi come the statuary group of Bacchus and Satyr, that of Bacchus and Ampelo, the Nymph with Panther and the statues of Bacchus and Hora. To these are added, from the Pitti Palace, a statue of Bacchus from the Roman period. These are works that have their roots in the Medici collections. This is not the first time the Galleries have sent works to the wine fair: it had already happened in 2023, when it raised a lot of controversy the loan of Caravaggio’s Bacchus to Vinitaly.

The path among the ancient sculptures takes visitors on a... percoeso through 22 grape varieties representative of the national territory, from the Nebbiolo of Piedmont to the Primitivo of Apulia, from the Nero d’Avola of Sicily to the Friulano of Friuli, passing through emblematic varieties of Central Italy such as Umbrian Sagrantino and Montepulciano from Abruzzo. And while they gaze at the sculptures, visitors, guided by three sommeliers from the Italian Sommelier Federation, can get closer to the characteristics of the grape varieties through an olfactory journey.

At the opening, Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli wanted to emphasize the symbolic value of the initiative. “It makes me particularly proud that, in this edition of Vinitaly, on the initiative of the Ministry of Culture, a number of works that recall the ancestral value of wine in Mediterranean culture are being exhibited,” he said. “Six marble masterpieces, mostly Roman, from the Palazzo Pitti and Uffizi, linked to the myth of Dionysus and his symbolic procession of intoxication, creative impulse and sensual liberation. They are tutelary deities that evoke the communal and ritual dimension of wine. Reflected in it is the magnificence of our landscape, the wisdom of artisanal supply chains and the solidity of national industry, components of a mosaic that inspires unconditional admiration.”

“Once again,” he added, “Italy is caput mundi of Italian food and wine excellence. The extraordinary works we will exhibit are living traces of a civilization in which wine, even in ancient times, was a language of relationships, an expression of a high principle of conviviality. Wine continues, today as then, to embody an intimate and profound form of recognition: it is storytelling, identity, shared memory. Through it part of Italian culture narrates itself to itself and offers itself to the world, with that natural elegance that combines art, beauty, history and sense of community.”

According to the minister, the project also testifies to the need for collaboration between institutions, the business world and society to effectively promote the Italian wine and production chain internationally. In his speech at the ENIT booth, together with Tourism Minister Gianmarco Mazzi and Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, Giuli also highlighted the relationship between culture and tourism.

The goal, he explained, is to further strengthen the synergy between the different institutional spheres, consolidating a model that integrates culture, tourism and food and wine. In this context, events such as Vinitaly take on a strategic role, becoming platforms where economic promotion and cultural enhancement meet. The presence of the statues of Bacchus in Verona should be a concrete example of this integration. This time the transfer of the Uffizi works to Vinitaly seems not to have raised great perplexity, as it did when Caravaggio was sent to Verona. But perhaps it is because few have so far noticed....

Uffizi lends some ancient sculptures to Vinitaly

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