Piacenza: 5 masterpieces in 24 hours

A stage to be tackled early in the morning, with a fresh mind and with receptors ready to be impressed by the many works of art it contains: the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery.

The Gallery was born from Giuseppe Ricci Oddi’s donation to the city of his entire collection.

The collectionist asked the architect Giulio Ulisse Arata, who was also his consultant for artwork purchases, to find a place and make the project for a gallery, which could house all his works of art and make them accessible to the public.
Arata created the project in the area of an old convent, maintaining in the new architecture a conception of space that recalled the pre-existing building.

The collection embraces the art of 19th and 20th century, almost all by Italian artists with some pieces by foreign artists. 
The most important artists are: Boccioni, Casorati, Fattori, Hayez, Pellizza da Volpedo, Previati, Segantini. The two masterpieces are a sculptur by Medardo Rosso and a painting by Gustav Klimt.

Must-see

• Medardo Rosso was a sculptor who used matter in unconventional ways to fix moments of real life. Thus, the wax head of Ecce Puer exhibited in the Gallery seems to depict the appearance of a child's face from behind a curtain. The peculiarity of the work is undoubtedly the material.
• In the collection there are two pieces by Gustave Klimt, a sketch of an Old Man's Head and the painting Portrait of a Lady, that Ricci Oddi acquired thanks to Arata.

Curiosity

The portrait is the protagonist of a mystery. In 1996 a student brought to the director's attention a strong resemblance between the painting on display in the Gallery and another Klimt painting, considered lost and titled Backfisch (Little Girl).

X-rays of the painting confirm the presence of another work beneath the present one. An exhibition at the Gothic Palace in downtown Piacenza was immediately scheduled, but before the opening the painting was stolen from the museum.

Years of investigation failed to locate it, but on the 19th of December 2019 a painting with the same subject emerged from a garbage bag stuffed into a trapdoor outside the Gallery. 

Today, no principals or perpetrators of the theft are known. The masterpiece, however, finally returned to the Gallery, where it can now be appreciated in all its beauty.

The Civic Museums of Palazzo Farnese are hosted in the ancient palace of the dukes of Parma and Piacenza.

The building has changed its use several times throughout history, hosting armies and – after the Second World War II – citizens who no longer had a home.

The collections have exceptional pieces, like frescoes from former churches, ceramics, weapons, carriages, paintings and archaeological findings.

To visit

• In the Archaeological Museum the most famous and prestigious item is the Etruscan Liver or Liver of Piacenza, found by a farmer in a field in a small town near Piacenza (Settima di Gossolengo).
  The bronze object models a sheep’s liver and it’s very rare and mysterious. It could be an instrument used by the haruspices (the Estruscan priests) to learn how to predict the future and interpret the Gods’ will by analysing the animal’s liver.
• Inside the City Art Gallery there is another masterpiece, the Tondo by Botticelli, an oil on wood (for sure) attributed to the important Renaissance Tuscan artist. It depicts the Virgin adoring Jesus, who is laying on his mother’s mantle on a cushion made of roses in the presence of the young John (the Baptist). 

For the last visit not to be missed is the Collegio Alberoni, an important institution dedicated to the education of future priests, that holds a rich collection of art and culture.

The collection comprehends various paintings, sacred furniture and ancient tapestries from the Roman and local houses of the Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, the founder of the institution. 

Not to be missed

• Antonello da Messina's Ecce Homo, a work of inestimable value from the second half of the 15th century, unique in its beauty and interest.
• Meticulous, delicate and detailed is the diptych Madonna della fontana e Bicchiere con fiori entro una nicchia (Madonna of the Fountain and Glass with Flowers in a Niche), created by the Flemish artist Jan Provost, which precedes Antonello's room along the route.

Useful information

Every Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m., you can take part in a guided tour that includes:

• the tapestry room
• the library 
• the cardinal's apartment (where the masterpieces are located)

The complex, which is about 3 kilometres from the historic centre, is also accessible during the week, by reservation with an accompanied visit.
Details on the official website (only Italian).