Guido Reni's Aurora shines again

(by Silvia Lambertucci) (ANSA) - ROME, 08 FEB - A young Apollo, beautiful and very blond, who bare-chested, wrapped only in a pink cloak, drives the chariot of the sun brazenly, holding the bridle of the his four horses.

And in front of him the Aurora, who, dressed in veils, gracefully chases away the darkness of the night.

Painted in 1614 for the Casino di Scipione Borghese, a baroque jewel that the rich and patron of the Roman cardinal had built for his new villa at the Quirinale, above what remained of the Terme di Costantino, the Aurora returns to shine after a long restoration. Pallavicini by Guido Reni, considered one of the most extraordinary frescoes of the seventeenth century.

And the presentation of the work,

    "A restoration of immense value and a history of great collaboration between institutions, between public and private", comments the Minister of Culture Franceschini, "A construction site that has allowed us to get closer to pure beauty for three consecutive months", underline the satisfied two restorers, who describe this work as "A continuous discovery and a great pleasure of the senses and the intellect".

    Refined man, collector and patron, Scipione was busy with a thousand projects, so much so that after spending so much on the dream of that villa at the Quirinale ended up selling it almost immediately - it was 1616 - to Cardinal Altemps.

Who knows maybe it was too small to house his art collections, the restorers reason, the fact is that in the end the Montecavallo palace, as it was called, ends up passing from hand to hand until it becomes the home of the Rospigliosi Pallavicini family. .

And that's not all.

When the two branches of the family split, the villa was also divided: on one side the palace and the garden, on the other the Casino dell'Aurora, which remains with the Pallavicini family.

    In fact, the fresco with the Apollo driving the chariot of the sun that Scipio had Reni paint on the vault of the central hall of the Casino must have been a clear self-celebration of the cardinal, the art historians underline, "which was proposed in this way. like a new Apollo triumphant over the darkness ".

A masterpiece that, despite its large size (7.8 meters by 2.8) Guido Reni completed in just seven months and which earned him 250 ducats.

The restoration, explain Jatta and Cibrario, brought to light three other interventions that had been made over time on the fresco, the first in 1849 which was followed by a second intervention in the 1920s and then a third in the 1970s.

And not only that: a series of non-invasive analyzes "confirmed that the palette of

    Enthusiastic, the Minister of Culture thanks the Pallavicini family and returns to the theme of the relationship between public and private for the safeguarding of the artistic heritage.

The restoration of the Aurora, says Franceschini, "is a successful experience that requires everyone, starting with the ministry, to work with even greater conviction to enhance the immense cultural heritage, both state and private".

And Italy "should have greater awareness of the importance of this unique wealth we have", insisting that the collaboration between the state and private individuals "is perfectly in line with the dictates of our Constitution".

The public part is very important, emphasizes the minister, "

    Entitled Guido Reni in Rome.

The Sacred and the Nature, the exhibition that opens on 1 March at the Borghese Gallery, curated by the director of the Museum, Francesca Cappelletti, will bring the attention of the general public back to the seventeenth-century master with over 30 works that thirty years after he last Italian exhibition will celebrate his genius.

Masterpieces that somehow "come home" housed in another magnificent home of the powerful Scipione Borghese.

(HANDLE).