Two new cultural projects have been launched by the Ducal Palace of Mantua through the national Art Bonus portal. These are initiatives aimed at the preservation, enhancement and sharing of works fundamental to the memory and artistic identity of the territory, for which direct support is now being sought from citizens, organizations and businesses.
TheArt Bonus - the tool that allows those who make liberal donations in favor of culture to benefit from significant tax breaks - represents a concrete opportunity for contemporary patronage. And the Ducal Palace seizes this opportunity to breathe new life into an architectural design that has never been restored and to bring back to the city a very old print by one of the greatest Italian engravers of the 16th century.
The first of two projects included in the Art Bonus portal concerns the restoration of a graphic work of extraordinary historical importance: a drawing by Sicilian architect Achille Patricolo (1867-1939), dating from 1899. The document depicts a restoration study of the facade of the Palazzo del Capitano and the Magna Domus, buildings overlooking Piazza Sordello, the monumental heart of Renaissance Mantua.
The drawing is of large format, made with mixed techniques - India ink, blue ink and watercolor - on paper applied to canvas. The work testifies to the architect’s desire to restore the ancient Renaissance appearance of the buildings, which had been heavily altered during the 18th century. The restoration criteria adopted at the time were inspired by a well-known work: the painting La cacciata dei Bonacolsi by Domenico Morone, currently preserved on the ground floor of the Castle of San Giorgio.
Today the drawing is in very poor conservation condition. It has never undergone restoration and has numerous damages: superficial deposits, folds, tears, gaps in the paper, as well as stains and halos that compromise its legibility and stability. The stated goal of the Ducal Palace is to subject it to careful restoration and subsequently display it in a permanent section of the museum dedicated to its history, which will be housed in the new reception spaces currently being planned on the first floor of the Palazzo del Capitano.
The second project proposed by the Ducal Palace through the Art Bonus portal is of a different nature but of equal value: it is the acquisition of a very rare print by Teodoro Ghisi (Mantua, 1536 - 1601) reproducing the famous Last Judgment painted by Michelangelo on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.
Teodoro Ghisi - a Mantuan engraver who lived in the 16th century - is unanimously recognized as one of the most important figures in Italian Renaissance engraving. Brother of the better-known Giorgio Ghisi, Teodoro worked between Italy and Flanders, leaving a graphic corpus of the highest technical and artistic level. The print that Palazzo Ducale intends to acquire is a hitherto unknown print run of his masterpiece: a ten-sheet version, irregular in format, published in the early 17th century in Rome by the well-known publisher Giuseppe De Rossi.
This print represents a discovery for critics and for the history of graphic art. Its existence was hitherto only surmised but never documented: an unpublished specimen that could provide new insights into the work and activity of the Roman publisher. The acquisition of this print would make it possible not only to fill a gap in the museum’s Renaissance graphic collection, but also to enrich the exhibition itinerary with a work of relevant documentary, artistic and identity value.
The invitation addressed by the Ducal Palace to citizens and businesses is clear: supporting these two projects with a donation, even a small one, means actively contributing to the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage. The Art Bonus tool, created with this very purpose, makes participation accessible and advantageous: patrons, in fact, benefit from a tax credit equal to 65 percent of the amount donated.
At a time when public resources are not always sufficient to guarantee the preservation of artistic heritage, the direct involvement of civil society becomes not only desirable, but indispensable. Donating through Art Bonus means taking care of one’s territory, its history and identity, and contributing to a collective project of memory and beauty.
Detailed information on how to donate is available on the official Art Bonus portal(https://artbonus.gov.it/). The two projects of the Doge’s Palace in Mantua can be reached directly at the link: https://artbonus.gov.it/664-palazzo-ducale-di-mantova.html. A page about not just two works, but two visions of the past that can find new life thanks to the commitment of the present.
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| Mantua, Ducal Palace seeks patrons with Art Bonus for two major new projects |
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