Le origins of the Pinacoteca date back to 1838, when the works remaining with the Municipality after the first Napoleonic suppression, those acquired by the Municipality on the initiative of Count Pietro Guarini, standard-bearer of the city, the paintings and frescoes detached from the Municipal Residence and the Cathedral were merged in the Palazzo della Missione, home of the Civic Library, along with later additions due to purchases promoted by the municipal administration. In 1845 the first two rooms were opened, the Gallery of Prints and the Cabinet of Drawings; the following year saw the opening of the Tapestry and Palmezzano rooms. Significant additions came from donations by Guarini himself and Melchiorre Missirini, friend and biographer of Canova. Moved in 1922 to the Old Hospital, built in the 18th century to a design by Giuseppe Merenda, it was divided into the rooms of the Ebe, the famous sculpture by Canova recently transferred to the San Domenico complex, of Monuments, Forlivesi, Portraits, Pestapepe and Primitives. In 1935 the pinacoteca expanded with new environments: the Paolucci room, with sculptures by Wildt, and the ceramics corridor. In 1938 the exhibition on Melozzo and 15th-century Romagnolo painting led to a rearrangement of the exhibition path. In the same year came the Piancastelli donation, including a large library, a significant collection of Romagnolo school paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries, with paintings by Innocenzo da Imola, Palmezzano, Luca Longhi, Bagnacavallo and Bertucci. In 1961, the entry of the Pedriali collection added a nucleus of twenty-eight paintings to the pinacoteca, among which stand out a painting by the French Jacques Sablet, a fine floral still life by Rachel Ruysch, canvases by G.B. Tiepolo, A. Magnasco, G.B. Ruoppolo and Fattori. The following year (1962) saw the donation of the Verzocchi collection consisting of about 70 works by contemporary Italian artists inspired by the theme of work; among these, works by Moreni, Morlotti, Afro, Santomaso, Birolli, Capogrossi, Turcato, Carrà, Casorati, de Chirico, Depero, Sironi, Rosai, Soffici and de Pisis stand out. Other additions came with the engravings and oils of Morandi from the Righini bequest (1964); the modern section mainly comprises 19th-century and contemporary Romagnolo works, featuring Lega, Wildt, Drei, Savorana, Vinzio, Ugonia, Angeloni, Giacomelli, Capogrossi, Servolini, Vedova, Magnavacca, Campi, Vinea. Regarding exhibitions related to the contemporary world, notable are the works of the Undostudio group (Andrea Francia, Andrea Mandalari, Roberto Fabbri), Maurizio Battaglia and Tommaso Zavatti for “Gemine Muse” 2003, and more recently the exhibitions “Balla e dintorni. Futurist traces in the Pinacoteca of Forlì” (2011) and “En plein air. Pictorial impressions in the Pinacoteca of Forlì” (2011), both part of the exhibition project “Novecento Rivelato”.
Information about Civic Pinacoteca “Melozzo degli Ambrogi”
Corso della Repubblica, 72,
47121 Forlì (Forlì-Cesena)
0543712606
servizio.pinacoteca.musei@comune.forli.fo.it
https://www.cultura.comune.forli.fo.it
Source: MIBACT
