Associazione arte e spiritualità centro studi “Paolo Sesto VI” sull’arte moderna e contemporanea, Brescia

The “Art and Spirituality” collection of Brescia is the only permanent exhibition of modern and contemporary art in Brescia and is certainly one of the largest, boasting a heritage of about 6,500 works. The original core of this collection

was established during the episcopate and pontificate of the Brescia-born Paul VI; for this reason, the collection shows several similarities with the Collection of Modern Religious Art, established by the same Pope Montini in the Vatican in 1973. Following his death, the personal collection was entrusted by his private Secretary, Monsignor Pasquale Macchi, to the Paul VI Institute of Brescia, the Pope’s hometown, where in 1988 the Art and Spirituality Association, “Paul VI” Study Center on Modern and Contemporary Art, was founded. In recent years, the museum collection has been greatly enriched thanks to donations from contemporary artists. The exhibited works, over 400, document the major artistic currents of the twentieth century; one can admire paintings, sculptures, drawings, and graphics by Italian and foreign artists. Among the Italians, artists such as Sironi, Guttuso, Morandi, De Chirico, Fiume, Carrà, Casorati, and others can be mentioned. Also noteworthy are works by Heckel, Chagall, Matisse, and Dalí. A section is particularly dedicated to sculpture, enriched by works by Fontana, Messina, Manzù, Greco, Minguzzi.