Dal 16/12//2021 Al 18/04/2022
Palazzo Leoni Montanari – Contra’ Santa Corona 25, Vicenza (VI)
Entance 5€
Reinforced Green Pass required
Cured by: Arianna Rinaldo
Scientific supervision: Barbara Costa, head of the Intesa Sanpaolo Historical Archive
Recommended to: Photography and/or reportage photography lovers; Curious about the Italian post-war period.
February 24, 2022.
The exhibition, curated by Arianna Rinaldo with the scientific supervision of Barbara Costa, head of Intesa Sanpaolo’s Historical Archive, opened on December 16 on the top floor of Palazzo Leoni Montanari (building Leoni Montanari) in Vicenza and ends on April 18, 2022.
Palazzo Leoni Montanari was started to be built in 1678 by Giovanni I Leoni Montanari, who decided to have a large residence built out of a need for social advancement within the city of Vicenza.
The palace’s Baroque architecture is a testament to the aspirations of this family and the new role they aspired to play. In fact, the Montanari family achieved a solid economic position, not through inheritance but by producing and trading textiles. The construction, held in two phases, was completed in the second decade of the eighteenth century. Still, unfortunately, there is no certain information about the builders’ identity. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the residence was then owned by Banca Cattolica del Veneto, which established its general management inside there. It survived the bombings of the Second World War unscathed and underwent a significant restoration in the second half of the 1970s. During the 1990s, after passing to Banco Ambrosiano del Veneto, Palazzo Leoni Montanari hosted numerous cultural initiatives.
In 1999, after it became part of Intesa Sanpaolo, it underwent a new restoration and technological adaptation that allowed the opening of its galleries to display the cultural vocation of the palace.
Come Saremo. L’Italia che ricostruisce. (HOW WE WILL BE. Italy that rebuilds (itself)) is a selection of 44 historical photos from Intesa Sanpaolo’s Publifoto Archive that tell the story of post-war Italy. This exhibition aims to offer a strong example of resilience and resistance, focusing on enthusiasm, action and optimistic gestures in the crucial twenty years of Italian history of reconstruction and economic boom. The strong evocative power of the faces and gestures captured in these shots show a new, regained ‘normality’ that became the so-called Italian economic ‘miracle’ in just a few years. It is natural to think of today’s situation and the current need for rebirth.
The exhibition allows the visitor to dive into the post-war period through the situations immortalised in the photos presented, thus having the opportunity to see many different facets that characterised those years. The path in which the viewer moves is developed in sections with a text at the beginning, in two languages, that contextualises each group, allowing a deeper understanding of the selection made by the curator. Each part, which makes up Come Saremo. L’Italia che ricostruisce (HOW WE WILL BE. Italy that rebuilds (itself)) is also marked by a change in the colouring of the entire exhibition surface. This generates an immersive environment that helps the person experiencing this exhibition to understand the desire for innovation, frenzy and activity that gave rise to the Italian economic miracle.
Moreover, as one moves along the itinerary through the rooms of the Intesa Sanpaolo Gallerie d’Italia (Intesa San Paolo Galleries of Italy), the parallels that spontaneously emerge between past and present deepen. In the visitor’s mind, the situation experienced in post-war Italy is similar to the one currently being faced in this post-pandemic period in our country, and a feeling of optimism is also inherent. Based on past experiences, as seen in the exhibition, a positive attitude towards the possibilities that will arise in the near future is assumed.
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Tip: Experiencing this exhibition gives you a chance to assimilate some of the positive sentiment that permeated the Italian economic boom years.
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