Date
1924-1926
Object Type
Photograph
Subject
Academy of Fine Arts Carrara, prospective view of the gallery of modern works prior to the renovation of the building and the stage of refurbishment of the educational environments.
Holding institution
Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara
About The Work
The Academy Director Adolfo Angeli, who assumed office on 2 February 1924, pursued two principal objectives: the reform of the Academy’s curriculum and the complex restoration of the Prince’s Palace. The image depicts the Sala delle Opere Moderne (Modern Art Room) prior to the commencement of renovation works in that same year. This large hall, originally conceived as the vestibule of the Prince’s Palace—whose main entrance faced Piazza dell’Accademia (now Piazza Mazzini)—was subsequently repurposed to display works of particular significance to the institution. Following the restoration, the room preserved its original architectural configuration. Its columns, capitals, and cross vaults remained defining elements of the space, and the historic entrance portal was likewise restored. Within Angeli’s broader project, which sought to redefine the ground-floor rooms as an ideal museum environment, the function of the Gallery of Modern Works remained unchanged. Only later, during the presidency of Mario Baretta (1966–1977), was the Academy’s book collection relocated from the present Raggi and Ammannati rooms to the so-called Sala delle Colonne (Hall of Columns). The adjacent rooms currently house the Fondo Antico (Ancient Collection) and the Sala degli Uomini Illustri (Hall of Illustrious Men), the latter so named on account of the valuable marble altar installed there during the architectural reconfiguration promoted by Angeli between 1924 and 1934. See Laghi Anna Vittoria, L’Accademia di Belle Arti e il suo patrimonio artistico: ipotesi di un percorso, in L’Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara e il suo patrimonio, exhibition catalogue (Carrara, Palazzo Cybo Malaspina, 27 June – 7 September 2014), ed. by Lucilla Meloni, Anna Vittoria Laghi, Milano, Postmedia Books, 2015, pp. 25-59, ref. pp. 40-41; Chiappuella David, La Biblioteca dell’Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, ed. by Italia Nostra Sez. Apuo Lunese “Luigi Biso”, Carrara, Tipografia Digitale, 2007, p. 75.
Title
R. Accademia di Belle Arti «Carrara» - Galleria delle opere moderna
Subject
Academy of Fine Arts Carrara, prospective view of the gallery of modern works prior to the renovation of the building and the stage of refurbishment of the educational environments.
Creator
Studio Valenti
Date
1924-1926
Object Type
Photograph
Technique / Support
Gelatin silver print
Original Function
Documentation
Dimensions
mm 196x255
Holding institution
Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara
Bibliography and archival sources
Laghi, Anna Vittoria, L'Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara e il suo patrimonio, catalog of the exhibition (Carrara, Palazzo Cybo Malaspina, 27 June – 7 September 2014), edited by Lucilla Meloni, Anna Vittoria Laghi, Milan, Postmedia Books, 2015, pp. 25-59, Fr. 43.
Unique identifier
ICCD_MIDF_4770806987671