In Via Riva di Reno, 57, the Raccolta Lercaro is set up, a museum that bears the name of Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro, archbishop of Bologna from 1952 to 1968.
It is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art that is unique in Bologna and with few comparisons in Italy.
The assortment is such that those who decide to visit the museum for the first time generally remain amazed.
The Lercaro Collection was born with the goal (centered) of launching an invitation to the elevation of thought and spirit through art to all, adults and children.
The activity of collecting that, on a private level, the Cardinal has already carried out since the years of the Bolognese episcopate, has been developed then in a systematic way since 1968, when, having left the government of the diocese, he retired to the city hills, at Villa San Giacomo.
The art collection on display today stems from the meeting and union of these personal works with the numerous ones that artists, collectors or simple admirers wanted to donate to Lercaro as a sign of profound esteem.
The first “gift” dates back to 1971, when four Bolognese artists (Aldo Borgonzoni, Pompilio Mandelli, Enzo Pasqualini, Ilario Rossi) on the occasion of the Cardinal’s 80th birthday, paid him homage to some of their works. This is the founding event, which gives rise to the idea of permanently “opening” the collection to the enjoyment of many.
Immediately conceived as a real “collection” of art and wonders in which works by great Masters (Manzù, Guttuso, Messina …) are combined with ancient artifacts (tapestries, early Christian marbles …) and extraordinary creations of nature (fossils) , in the early Seventies personal works and works acquired through donations are placed next to each other in the halls and corridors of Villa San Giacomo, arranged according to the indications of Elva Bonzagni.
The main theme focuses on works with a sacred theme, conforming to what the common imaginary and traditional iconography assign to the sacred understood in its Christian and Catholic declination. However, once you cross the threshold, you are forced to question the idea and recalibrate the approach with which you are going to visit.
The free opening of the gallery to a wider public and the increase in donations, makes it necessary to sort the collection according to real museological criteria. An initial work by Franco Solmi was followed by the artistic direction of Marilena Pasquali, who in 2003 also oversaw the transfer to the current location.
Finally, in autumn 2008, HE Monsignor Ernesto Vecchi, President of the Lercaro Foundation, appointed Andrea Dall’Asta SJ as artistic director, who rethought the layout as an expression of an active dialogue between ancient and contemporary, just as he thought Lercaro himself, that is, looking at the past as a precious legacy to be related to the present.
Free entry.
Timetables
Thursday and Friday 10.00 / 13.00
Saturday and Sunday 11.00 /18.30
1 November 2019 – 10.00 / 13.00
Open for public holidays (11-18.30): 26 December 2019
2, 3 and 6 January 2020
Lercaro Collection Museum
Via Riva di Reno, 57 – Bologna
Tel. 051 6566210
