At the conclusion of the work, which began last January, on Friday, December 17, 2021, the restoration of the sculptural group in patinated plaster colored bronze depicting The Annunciation of Love by Filippo Cifariello (Molfetta, 1864-Naples 1936) was presented at the Conference Room of the “Corrado Giaquinto” Pinacoteca.
The restoration of the work was entirely funded by Coop Alleanza 3.0, following the suggestion of Fondaco Italia, a company active in the enhancement of cultural heritage, which promoted an online national vote on the Coop Alleanza 3.0 website. The chosen project (among two candidates) received 22,294 votes, with 71% of the voters in favor.
The restoration work was carried out by the company “Cosimo Cilli-Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art” based in Barletta.
The plaster, first exhibited in 1899 at the III Biennale di Venezia as a “group for fountain,” was shortly thereafter translated into marble for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and subsequently into bronze for at least two private Italian owners. In 1934, it was donated, along with 42 other almost entirely original plasters, to the then Provincial Pinacoteca by Filippo Cifariello himself, as a testament to his unbroken ties with his homeland and his desire to enhance the museum’s collections, which had recently been established at the time.
Antonio Decaro, Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Francesca Pietroforte, councilor delegated to Culture, Ico, Libraries, and Museums, Maria Grazia Magenta, Director of the Service for Artistic and Cultural Heritage and Activities, Giovanni Pagano, Lorenzo Marzulli, President of the Bari Matera District Council of Coop Alleanza 3.0, and Enrico Bressan, president of Fondaco Italia, will participate in the presentation.
The work and its restoration will be illustrated respectively by Clara Gelao, art historian and former Director of the Metropolitan Pinacoteca, and Cosimo Cilli, owner of the company responsible for the restoration work.
A small booklet is planned, curated by Clara Gelao, which aims to thoroughly illustrate the sculptural group from a historical-artistic perspective, with a chapter dedicated to the recently completed restoration, entrusted to Cosimo Cilli.
