Yesterday and today

MANY ROOMS IN THE QUIRINALE HAVE NOW BEEN RENOVATED, INCLUDING CONTEMPORARY ART AND FURNITURE.

Every day about 500 tourists enter the Quirinale, the palazzo containing the offices of the President of the Republic. Guides narrate history in enormous halls featuring marvelous works of art. But the Quirinale is not a museum; it is alive, in constant evolution. An idea that has led to the “Contemporary Quirinale” project, strongly urged by the President himself, Sergio Mattarella. The initiative updates a number of spaces with 37 works of contemporary art and 33 selected design objects, placed in many rooms of the piano nobile and other zones. Architect Renata Cristina Mazzantini curated the project, focusing on the present to create a true sense of cultural continuity. «The architecture has not been altered in any way», she explains. «Without interfering with spaces containing original decorations, many rooms were ready to host new works, following restoration that left their walls available. We wanted to ensure tactful insertion, respecting the history of the palazzo». Works by masters like De Chirico, Fontana and Manzù are flanked by design pieces that can also be utilized. New creations establish a surprising harmony with glorious signs of the past, revealing unexpected affinities. «The golden leaves of the painting Nero e oro by Burri seem to echo the Byzantine mosaics; the silver reflections of Fontana’s Concetto

Spaziale Venice Moon are in tune with magical views of Venice». Delicate interplay is also found in the photographs of Massimo Listri: his images of the Quirinale are on view in the actual spaces, for an intriguing game of historical stratification.