Uffizi Diffusi in Fivizzano
Alpe di Luni: The unique charm of the Apuan Alps in 19th century art
A masterpiece of 19th-century painting arrives in Fivizzano in upper Tuscany, on loan from the Gallery of Modern Art of Pitti Palace: "View of Monte Forato" by the painter Andrea Markò.
The exhibition runs from 30 June to 23 October 2023, in the Museo d'Arte Sacra di San Giovanni degli Agostiniani. Organised as part of the Uffizi Diffusi and curated by Elena Marconi and Claudio Casini, it is entitled 'Alpe di Luni', with an evocative literary reference: this is in fact how Gabriele d'Annunzio calls the Apuan Alps in Carrara, in his collection of poems Alcyone.
"View of Monte Forato" by Andrea Markò was donated to the Modern Art Gallery of Pitti Palace in 1913 by the Anglo-Florentine painter Robert William Stranger. Since ancient times, this mountain had not failed to attract the attention of travellers and artists. The gash of the mountain not only frames the deep green of the Tuscan hills, but, at the turn of the summer solstice, for just a few days, it becomes the setting for breathtaking phenomena. Observing the moment of dawn from the Versilia side, one has the impression that the sun, rising inside the hole and then reappearing above the arch, is born twice; in a complementary manner, from the Garfagnana side, one can see what is called a 'double sunset'. Precisely because of this characteristic, as well as being of great aesthetic interest to artists throughout Europe, the mountain was also included in the itinerary of the Via Francigena and in that of the Volto Santo.
