Cardinal Bassetti guest at the Città di Castello exhibition
On January 9, 2022, the exhibition on Raphael held at the municipal art gallery of Città di Castello closes with record numbers. Precisely on this day, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti reached Palazzo alla Cannoniera together with Bishop Cancian of Città di Castello. Stefano Lazzari from Bottega Tifernate is also waiting for him with a precious gift.
The Cardinal, accompanied by the Bishop, was welcomed into the Art Gallery by the mayor Luca Secondi, the deputy mayor and Professor Laura Teza, curator of the exhibition. The cardinal was pleasantly impressed by the exhibition itinerary. In particular he appreciated the Altarpiece of San Nicola da Tolentino reconstructed with all the surviving fragments from the Louvre, as well as the two newly reconstructed faces of the Banner of the Holy Trinity.
The Prelate, who arrived in Città di Castello after visiting the exhibition at the Palazzo Ducale in Gubbio, states that events of this type are a stimulus to open up to new reflections and can push visitors to go back to the churches and those sacred spaces from which the works come. This allows us to restore attention to the religious families and the stories of the clients.
In reference to the exhibition dedicated to the young Raphael, Cardinal Bassetti admired and noted how the works of Raphael's masters were also present throughout the exhibition. The Prelate reiterated once again that beyond the end of the exhibition the invitation is to return to visit the entire city, rich in churches and chapels from which the young Raphael's masterpieces come, such as the well-known Marriage of the Virgin signed in 1504 at Church of San Francesco in the city of Tifernate.
The last room visited by the Cardinal and the bishop is the Hall of Honor which houses the works carried out by some Umbrian excellences. To be present since the day of the inauguration is the reproduction of the Marriage of the Virgin by Raphael from the Bottega Tifernate. Right in front of his work, waiting for Cardinal Bassetti and Bishop Cancian, Maestro Stefano Lazzari was present with a special gift. With a hint of emotion, the owner of Bottega Tifernate gives the prelate a reproduction of Chagall's White Crucifixion. The work was created in pictography on canvas. The painting that was donated to him is the same one that was created in 2019 for the Holy Father and which is located at Casa Santa Marta. The Cardinal, enthusiastic, admires the painting which on the back features the master's signature, the year of creation and a dedication.