at the Museum of Zoology and Natural History (La Specola) in Florence
Project curated by Stefano Pezzato
The third meeting of the prologue to the inaugural exhibition The End of the World, launched one month before the Grand Opening. An important framework of collaborations which presents some emblematic works from the collection in prestigious institutional centres of the region.
The work of Michelangelo Pistoletto, Uomo Nudo di Schiena [Nude Man from Behind] (1962/1987), will be on display at the historical site of the Museum of Zoology and Natural History (La Specola) in Florence. The work is a sample from the series which has marked Pistoletto’s entire artistic path and was acquired by the Pecci Centre for the exhibition/workshop created and curated by the artist, along with Bruno Corà Habitus, Abito, Abitare - Progetto Arte, 1996 which was linked to the 1st Biennale of Florence: Il Tempo e la Moda diretta da Germano Celant [The Time and the Fashion directly from Germano Celant].
The place
The Museum of Zoology and Natural History (La Specola) of Florence is the most important Italian naturalistic museum and one of the largest internationally. It was established in 1775 by the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Lorraine and was one of the first museums in Europe to open to the public and to present nature in its entirety. At the end of the nineteenth century many collections moved to the historical site of the “Specola" (Observatory) which today displays, along with the bone collection (Hall of Skeletons) and the neoclassical Tribune of Galileo, the Zoological collection on the second floor, located in rooms from the most primitive invertebrates to the most evolved mammals. In the room dedicated to the monkeys the central display case contains copies of three (tailless) apes: gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans; the empty space is dedicated to the man, primate of the Primates.
On the same floor is the extraordinary collection of anatomical wax models: 1,400 pieces, created between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century in order to gain a proper educational-scientific treatise which, without the need to resort to direct examination of a corpse, illustrated the anatomy of the human body.
A selection of exemplary works of contemporary art from the collection of the Pecci Centre in Prato serves as an introduction and "frame" for The End of the World exhibition, curated by the director Fabio Cavallucci for the reopening to the public of the renovated cultural institution in Prato.
Collected over three decades of artistic activity, their presentation is curated by the conservator of the Centre Stefano Pezzato, the works are on display for the occasion in some of the most prestigious institutional centres in the region.
The six major works coming from the Centro Pecci collection - works by renowned Italian and foreign artists of the second half of the twentieth century - form a diverse yet eloquent sampling of contemporary artistic proposals related to the central theme of the "state of uncertainty which prevails in our world", and are inserted and therefore related to different contexts of human knowledge such as literature review and scientific research, in particular pre-history, zoology, astronomy, physics, geometry and technology.
Via Romana, 17, 50125 Firenze, Italia
Promoted by
Fondazione per le Arti Contemporanee in Toscana, Prato
Supported by
Regione Toscana
Opening
September 29, 2016