Giuseppe Volpi

Antonio Maraini (1886-1963), scultore e critico d’arte, comincia presto a intrecciare la sua storia con quella della Biennale di Venezia. La sua formazione è articolata fin da subito: spinto dalla famiglia, si laurea in giurisprudenza, frequenta i corsi serali dell’Accademia di Belle arti fiorentina e segue le lezioni di storia dell’arte di Adolfo Venturi e Pietro toesca1. L’esordio artistico avviene con la presentazione al pubblico e alla critica del Perseo, una scultura di bronzo che viene premiata con la medaglia d’argento all’Esposizione universale di Bruxelles del 1910, due anni dopo la quale partecipa per la prima volta alla Biennale di Venezia2. in questi anni comincia l’attività di giornalista e critico d’arte scrivendo per la Tribuna e vincendo nel 1912 il concorso per il monumento all’attrice Adelaide ristori a Cividale del Friuli

Santa Maria Gloriosa de’ Frari is one of the best-loved and most celebrated churches in Venice, renowned for its imposing Gothic architecture and its rich display of works of art, but it is in no sense a museum.  Founded as the principal church of the Conventual Franciscan order in Venice, the church has been the setting for ritual, sacred music, prayer and preaching ever since the Middle Ages.  This book presents the rich and varied history of the church in a new light.  This is neither a guide book nor a catalogue of the works of art.  Instead, it is the first true monograph on the Frari, whose role included charitable and educational functions as well as devotional life.  Spanning eight centuries, the book explores the lives of the friars, worshippers, local residents and artists, both within its walls and round about.  A profusion of new colour photographs offers the reader the chance to appreciate many details that have never before attracted attention.
The book considers the Frari in the context of the immediate neighbourhood and its local concerns and activities.  The present church was begun in 1328, and the Franciscans continued to occupy its spacious cloisters until the Napoleonic suppression in 1806, which led to their banishment for more than a century.  At this point, the church became the centre of a parish, incorporating the nearby areas of San Tomà and San Polo.  Meanwhile, Titian’s famous Assunta, one of the masterpieces of Venetian Renaissance painting, was removed from the high altar, to be displayed for nearly a hundred years in the galleries of the Accademia.  The altarpiece was not returned to the church until 1920, just two years before the return of the Franciscans. Remarkably, the complete list of the Franciscan guardians and parish priests survives back to 1241 and is included in the book. 
The twenty-three chapters guide the reader through this complex history, allowing a new appreciation of the works of art, whether familiar or little known, in terms of their meaning and devotional function.  The patronage of chapels by prominent families, and by immigrant communities such as the Milanese and Florentines, has enhanced the rich variety of painting and sculpture.  The role of women patrons is highlighted in several cases.  The book examines the importance of relics as the focus of local devotion, and explores the role of the local confraternities (scuole) in the ceremonial and music. 
An important aspect of the Frari was the commemoration of prominent individuals, whose tombs and monuments adorn the walls and floor of the church.  Doges, military leaders, bishops, artists, musicians and businessmen found their last resting place within its walls.  Because of its size and beauty, the church has played a major part in the lives of local residents, and the memorials enshrined within have inspired generations of Venetians and visitors alike.  This uniquely interdisciplinary book contains a wealth of new material and insights into this long and complex institutional history.

Among the famous Venetians to be honoured by burial in the church of the Frari, one of the last was Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata. His monument, composed of a neo-Renaissance tomb, a wall inscription and a floor slab, is to be found in
the left-hand aisle of the church, among the tombs of the Pesaro family. As one of the richest and most important Venetians of the first half of the twentieth century, he was linked to the Franciscan church from infancy onwards: he was
baptised there, as were his three sons. Moreover, the Volpi family had lived for at least two generations in a palace on the campo dei Frari overlooking the canal. In 1947 Giuseppe Volpi died in Rome, and it was his widow Nathalie who executed
the wish expressed in his testament that he should be buried in the church of the Frari. This was not put into effect until 1954, with the consent of the patriarch Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII. In the early 1970s Giuseppe’s son Giovanni
Volpi, through the Fondazione Volpi di Misurata, restored the organs of the Frari, established an important festival of organ music, and even commissioned a new organ from Carlo Scarpa, although this was never carried out.

In copertina: Domenico e Giuseppe Valeriani, Gloria di angeli, cupola del presbiterio, Venezia, Chiesa degli Scalzi © Per gentile concessione dell'Ufficio per la Promozione dei Beni Culturali del Patriarcato di Venezia L'Editore ha cercato con ogni mezzo i titolari dei diritti di alcune immagini senza riuscire a reperirli; resta a disposizione per l'assolvimento di quanto occorra nei loro confronti.

Il fascismo fu moderno o anti-moderno? La sua ideologia, così come le sue decisioni politiche, furono una combinazione di modernità e di anti-modernità, oppure no? E se lo fu, quella ambivalenza va letta come il risultato di una consapevole strategia o piuttosto la conseguenza non voluta di scelte politiche adottate secondo circostanze casuali e necessità contingenti? Un'analisi del rapporto fra città e campagna durante il fascismo può dire qualcosa di più preciso sulla natura di quel particolare regime che fu il fascismo, se cioè si possa definire autoritario oppure totalitario? A queste e ad altre domande risponde il volume di Danilo Breschi, frutto di una ricerca vasta e accurata. In sostanza, al centro del libro vi è il controverso rapporto fra il fascismo e la modernizzazione, letto attraverso il fenomeno dell'urbanesimo in Italia tra le due guerre mondiali, un processo di trasformazione che coinvolge e travolge costume, economia, cultura politica, antropologia e che segna, di fatto, il passaggio, spesso ancora contraddittorio e incerto, dalle comunità agricole tradizionali alla moderna società industriale.