INPS opens the doors of its artistic and cultural heritage, a highly respected excellence in Italy, to citizens. In Florence this means turning first to the headquarters of Palazzo Pazzi, acquired by the institution in 1931, in via del Proconsolo, a piece clearly visible in its external forms, but not always so well known in the city and also outside due to a sort of damnatio memoriae that affected the family of origin.
The cause? A failed conspiracy in 1478 against the excessive power of the Medici family. Borrowing the words of the governor of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, one could then say that the national social security institute also contributes to rediscovering, in a positive way, the historical function of the palace.
The chosen instrument is the initiative 'Heritage Excellence' which took place today in the city for the presentation of a documentary and a volume '20 works for 20 regions' dedicated to artistic heritage.
The first volume is monopolised by Tuscan masterpieces: among these, the landscape paintings of Bresciani and Caponi, the Lucca countryside of Niccolò Codino but also the Maremma cowboy of Tolomeo Faccendi.
"We are starting with this event, a conference divided into two sessions in which we tell the story of Palazzo Pazzi and Florence at the time of its construction and then we illustrate and tell about some works of art that are located throughout Tuscany in our offices - explains to Dire the regional director of INPS Maurizio Emanuele Pizzicaroli - we are doing it with experts, art historians. We hope that this is only a first step, in fact we would like to dedicate special days also to school groups and in any case to visits by citizens".
Speakers included Claudio Paolini, scientific director of the Roberto Longhi Foundation, who spoke about the origins of Florence; Angela Orlandi, professor of Economic History at Unifi, who spoke about the economy of Renaissance Florence; Hosea Scelza, architect of the superintendency, who focused on the architectural jewel of Palazzo Pazzi; and Cristina Acidini, president of the Academy of Arts and Design in Florence.
And on the relationship between 'Inps and art in Tuscany', the title of today's initiative, Pizzicaroli adds: "As a public body, even if we are a welfare body and we act on the front of social and economic development, we have the duty to act on aspects of civil and cultural growth. Therefore, making our artistic heritage available to the public is an important operation. Then Palazzo Pazzi represents the history of Florence as well as of Italy given that the conspiracy that was orchestrated by the owners of this building marked the history of the city, but also of the entire Italian Renaissance".
The reason for this commitment, concludes the director of communications for INPS Diego De Felice, speaking on the project '20 works for 20 regions', "is to make known the cultural heritage of the INPS, an institution that is now 126 years old, and to show citizens the accumulated heritage of pictorial and sculptural works of art, true patrimonial excellences. Tuscany is the region richest in this heritage. The publication was created together with our photography center and our colleagues who deal with audiovisual. We present it to the city of Florence, to the Tuscany region but also to all citizens and all Italian colleagues".
On the other hand, De Felice points out, “INPS has a great artistic heritage and we want to have a broader scope than the activities that are our core business”.
A spirit that receives the praise of the President of the Region Giani: “I really appreciated today's event in Tuscany, but in parallel in all 20 Italian regions, because it develops a modern patronage activity that on the one hand intends to enhance its headquarters that has had a fundamental historical role, too long overlooked, on the other hand it translates into an investment in contemporary art through the beautiful volume on the most important works owned by INPS that can be enjoyed by citizens”.
With the appointment at the Pazzi family palace, Giani concludes, “INPS also helps us rediscover an important moment in the life of the Renaissance, and today rehabilitates the meaning of a historic building that was the first center of Florence in the mid-1200s”.
Article published on May 16, 2024 - 16:56 pm
