The “Riace Bronzes” never cease to amaze us and, precisely at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, the photographic exhibition on the famous statues was presented through an itinerary through images with photographs by Luigi Spina. A prestigious event organized in collaboration with the “MarRc” National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, on the occasion of the fiftieth year of their discovery.
The exhibition, curated by Carmelo Malacrino director of the “MarRc” of Reggio Calabria, recalls the extraordinary event capable of marking the history of the artistic heritage of our country.
As we know, the statues emerged from the sea of Riace and, right in Dante’s cradle, they were restored and exhibited for the first time in front of a veritable multitude of Italian and foreign people. It is extremely interesting to hear Dr. Malacrino mention the two Mediterranean masterpieces while thanking the director of the Academy Cecilie Hollberg for having brought together these icons alongside the “David 140” programme, consequently celebrating 140 years of Michelangelo’s masterpiece in the gallery of the renowned Florentine museum in via Ricasoli.
Memories still gallop when during an underwater fishing trip, the warriors appeared, two splendid nude male figures, the Young and the Old, almost two meters tall, who, after a partial restoration intervention, in 1975 were entrusted for the subsequent works to the laboratory of the Archaeological Superintendence of Tuscany and then reached the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome. The media resonance that occurred for these two works attributable to the golden age of Greek art, around the middle of the fifth century BC, is undeniable.
Still unknown the skilful and very fine bronze technique created by two different masters, however of public destination. The tribute to the power and iconographic beauty of the “Bronzi di Riace” is right and proper in that subtle play of brightness and chiaroscuro, further opening the channel of this visual culture. In 2020 Atribune awarded Luigi Spina best photographer of the year and, in 2022 he was among the finalists of the 73rd Michetti prize for contemporary art and winner of the first “Digital Michetti”.
As for the photographic exhibition at the Florence Academy, it can be visited until March 12 of this year. Absolutely not to be missed, remembering the exceptional state of conservation in consideration of the most significant sculptural masterpieces of Greek art, in which the dutiful photographic homage shines in the ‘windows’ of the Academy.
Carla Cavicchini
