Museum on the move in Italy: by train
Il Treno dell’Arte (exterior)
A special train with six cars of fine art is traveling through Italy, making daily stops where people can view the 130 works of art for free. From Titian to Street Art: 500 years of Italian Art, travels on a train (Il Treno dell’Arte) that’s a mobile art gallery open to the public from 9am to 8pm. The train set off from Rome’s Termini Station on 1 October and will visit 22 cities during its 40-day voyage, pulling in at stations for a day or two so that people can jump aboard and appreciate the works on show.
Explaining the philosophy behind the initiative, curator-in-chief Antonio Maria Pivetta said that since only 10% of Italians habitually visit galleries, museums and exhibitions, “art must go to meet the people”. “The itinerant museum will visit many of the cities that are often geographically penalized from taking part in major cultural events and will take art directly to the heart of the regions,” Pivetta said.
The train is made up of six carriages, each focusing on a separate period and curated by a different expert. However, contrary to what most media suggest, one should not expect to see real masterpieces by Titian, Caravaggio and Tintoretto. For security and preservation reasons the originals are presented on large tv screens as digital images, while the original paitings are safely kept away from the risks of travelling. Nevertheless, 61,000 people climbed on to take a look, making the art train the fourth most popular museum in Italy in October.
Read article (italy, October 11th, 2007)
Go to website Il Treno dell’Arte (in Italian only)
Il Treno dell’Arte (interior)
Related posts: 40 artifacts return to Italy // Getty Museum to return antiquities to Italy //