Liberated Art 1937 – 1947. Masterpieces saved from the war

The video of the conference Liberated Art 1937 - 1947 . Masterpieces Saved from the War, dedicated to the exhibition hosted at the Scuderie del Quirinale last spring, is now available .

The exhibition was dedicated to the figures who, in the dramatic context of World War II, had the foresight to understand the serious threat that loomed over the entire artistic heritage of our country. These were a handful of Superintendents and officials of the Fine Arts Administration who, assisted by art historians and representatives of the Vatican hierarchies, became the interpreters of a great undertaking to safeguard the heritage.

Among them: Giulio Carlo Argan, Palma Bucarelli, Emilio Lavagnino, Bruno Molajoli, Giuseppe Poggi, Pasquale Rotondi, Fernanda Wittgens and Rodolfo Siviero, secret agent and future minister plenipotentiary in charge of restitution. Professionals who, without weapons and with limited means, had the foresight to understand the threat hanging over works of art, deploying themselves on the front lines to prevent it.

Speakers at the meeting, introduced by Fondazione Luigi Rovati President Giovanna Forlanelli, explained and gave testimony about the exhibition and the protagonists of those events.
The exhibition was presented by Scuderie del Quirinale President Mario De Simoni and Anna Mattirolo. Part of the meeting was then dedicated to the city of Milan, a particularly exposed strategic target and victim of violent bombing.
Giovanna Ginex recounted, through the sketching of some of the protagonists, how the rescue operations of the artistic heritage took place during those dramatic wartime junctures that struck Milan.