"Vittorio Cini. L'ultimo doge" on show at Palazzo Bonaccossi

Until 23 February 2023 a tribute to the great entrepreneur and collector from Ferrara, father of the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice

^{Editorial staff - 12 November 2022}

A few steps from the splendid Schifanoia Museum, you will find another somewhat hidden palace that we are certain will leave you breathless.
You are at Palazzo Bonaccossi which, until 26 February 2023, will host the exhibition 'Vittorio Cini. The Last Doge'. An exhibition that will take you on a journey of discovery of one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century, Ferrara-born and Venetian by adoption, so much so that Indro Montanelli defined him as 'the last Doge of Venice'.

His political commitment inexorably marked his private life. In June 1943, he dissociated himself from the Fascist regime, for which he had held the position of Minister of Communications for a few months: a choice that cost him internment in the Dachau concentration camp, from which he emerged thanks to the intervention of his son Giorgio. In memory of the latter, who died prematurely, he promoted the establishment of the Giorgio Cini Foundation (1951). This ahs been Italy's first private body encouraging humanistic research, and it is based on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.
A curious man and beauty lover, Vittorio Cini was among the most important and acute collectors of the 20th century. His collection was extremely rich and varied, including masterpieces by the great masters of the Este Renaissance, testifying to his passion for the art of his native city, and contemporary artists such as Emilio Vedova. 

Through the works of twenty-eight artists, most of them specially conceived for the exhibition at Palazzo Bonaccossi, you can reliveCini'human and professional life. Numerous artworks insist on the places where he left an indelible mark. Venice, where he lived in the 16th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal in San Vio and where he promoted the recovery of the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore. And again, the mainland, the industrial area of Porto Marghera, of whose urban district he laid the foundations. 

Unmissable is also Rome, the Eternal City, where Mussolini entrusted him with the management of one of the most extraordinary adventures of modern town planning, the Universal Exhibition (E42). Other works refer to his entrepreneurial ventures (e.g. in the electrical industry) and his biography. The exhibition will also account for Vittorio Cini's collecting activity through historical photographs and documents. 

We look forward to seeing you in Ferrara to discover its extraordinary cultural richeness! The Christmas holidays are a great opportunity, discover our packages here!

Organised by Il Cigno Arte in collaboration with Fondazione Ferrara Arte and the Ferrara City Council Art Museum Service. Curated by Marco Di Capua

Artworks by Riccardo Ajossa, Marco Bernardi, Alberto Biasi, Andrea Boyer, Vito Bongiorno, Lucia Crisci, Ettore de Conciliis, Stefania Fabrizi, Shay Frisch, Elisa Grezzani, Carlo Gavazzeni Ricordi, Claudio Koporossy, Rosaria Gini, Alessandra Giovannoni, Umberto Mariani, Riccardo Monachesi, Giorgio Ortona, Tommaso Ottieri, Achille Perilli, Elena Pinzuti, Piero Pizzi Cannella, Mauro Reggio, Oliviero Rinaldi, Maurizio Savini, Giovanni Tommasi Ferroni, Emilio Vedova, Marco Verrelli, Ortensio Zecchino