LA STORIA DEL COLLEZIONISMO ESTENSE

“Nearly all the most important Museums of Western Europe and Northern America have at least one piece from the “Ferrara Painting School… These works of art are scattered over more than 125 cities and 300 locations (..museums, galleries, churches, private collections..) “. These are the opening lines of the chapter “Courtier style in visual arts” from the evocative book in which Werner Gundersheimer, in 1973, underlines how the “splendour” has embodied one of the fundamental elements for the “style of power” of the Este family, beginning with Niccolò d’Este (1393-1441) and his sons: Leonello, Borso, ed Ercole. Leonello (1441-1450) commissioned tapestry and medals, “miniature codes” and decorations for the small study of Belfiore. Borso (1450 – 1471), constantly trying to show off the Court’s splendour, commissioned a miniature of the Bible and his portrait among the fresco paintings on the walls of “Salone dei Mesi” inside Palazzo Schifanoia, whose authors were painters such as Francesco del Cossa and Ercole de Roberti. Under Ercole I domination (1471 – 1505) Ferrara became one the main European city and doubled its extension after the famous “Addizione Erculea”, an experimental project, in terms of town planning, designed by the urbanist Biagio Rossetti, after which Ferrara was considered the first modern city in Europe. Alfonso I (1505-1534) has been another great collector, able to enrich the Castle with Antonio Lombardo ‘ s low-relief, and the Baccanali realized by Bellini, Tiziano e Dosso Dossi. Ercole II (1534-1559) also fostered the building of the “delizie ” (country palaces designed for leisure and ceremonies) and commissioned some elegant objects such as the so called “arpa estense” (1558), with decorations from Bastianino, the painter who, in the second half of the 15th century became the more active at the Alfonso II court (1559-1597).

But , after a series of complex historical events over the centuries, this unique heritage , that had once framed the fabric of entire town, has been slowly dismembered creating a kind of “Museum sprawl” , a concept examined not only by Gundersheimer (in the paragraph above) but also inevitably discussed in all the texts concerning the history of Ferrara. These works of art witness the splendour of the Este family in Paris, London , New York , Miami, Ottawa, Los Angeles as well as in many other faraway countries . We just have to figure out these locations on an imaginary map to realize how far these precious objects have travelled over the centuries. These paths are long and winding and their origin lies in the complexity of events suddenly speeding up and slowing down, in the deep connection between market operations and historical knowledge, artistic sensibility and greed.

The decisive year was 1598, when this long “migration” begun and Lucrezia d’Este, Duchess of Urbino, and Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini signed in Faenza the agreement decreeting that Ferrara had to return under the Papal States; hence the exile of the entire court that moved to Modena carrying away paintings, sculptures, miniature codes, books, furniture collected while ruling over Ferrara for so many years . But all the treasures that Cesare d’Este had not been able to hide in a safe place, in Ferrara or in Modena, encountered a different fortune. The first dispossessions happened at the Este castle: the Baccanali canvas painted by Giovanni Bellini, Tiziano, Dosso Dossi, decorating Alfonso I small study, were immediately sent to Rome; and the same thing happened to all the paintings by Bellini, Tiziano, Dosso, Garofalo, Ortolano, Mazzolino, Girolamo da Carpi, carried to Rome to be included in some cardinals’ collections. Under the Papal States two centuries of silence went on, nevertheless several documents emerged proving the thriving activity of the collectors, not only the cardinals but also the aristocracy. However at that time the art market remained circumscribed within the city limits.

Only under the Napoleonic rule a true uproar shook the quiet and sleepy town. In 1797 , as a result of churches and convents being closed by a political choice, a Committee for the abolished ecclesiastical heritage was founded and the commandeered works of art were partly purchased by private owners partly sent to the Brera picture gallery, since Milan had become the capital of the Italian Kingdom. This institutional upheaval urged the new emerging class to collect these works of art not only pursuing an economic investment but also trying to preserve the memory of a magnificent past, suffice it to think about the great collections from Giambattista Costabili, Antonio Massari, Giovanni Barbi Cinti. A lively time for the Nineteenth Century collections begun: art experts and connoisseus converged to Ferrara from all over Europe in order to purchase pieces for many foreign museums, sharing what still remained from the figurative tradition of the city. Therefore a new and mighty dispersion dismissed thousands of pieces from such collections as Santini’s, Massari-Zavagli’s, Saroli-Lombardi’s, Riminaldi’s, Canonici’s, Barbi Cinti’s, Testa’s, Cavalieri’s.

In 1836 the City Picture Gallery was founded by the enlightened part of citizenry in order to thwart the scatter, alienation and sale of these collections, fostering a project of high civic pride; but this plan had not the strength to stop the “great diaspora” and could not prevent the “departure” of such treasures as Pisanello’s “ Madonna con il bambino San Giorgio e Sant’Antonio abate “ and Ercole de Roberti’s “Adorazione dei pastori e di Cristo risorto”; both pieces were in included, in 1856 and in 1858, in the Costabili collection at the London National Gallery.

In 1905 the State purchased works from the Santini collection that had previously been scattered among the Estense Gallery of Modena, Brera Picture Gallery and Bologna picture Gallery.

Over the last fifty years a constant and successful policy has been fostered in order to settle back many works of art at the Ferrara Picture Gallery , through activating acquisitions, donations and depots, such as the Vendeghini Baldi donation (1973), the Valli donation (1977) and several pieces belonging to the Massari collection donated by the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation (1984),that had purchased, together with the State, the remaining works from the Sacrati-Strozzi collection in 1992. Even two of the Muses from the ancient Belfiore small study ( pieces of remarkable artistic and historical value probably representing the highlight of the Este Dukedom) had been finally settled back in Ferrara.