Читать книгу The Museo Vincenzo Vela in Ligornetto - Marc-Joachim Wasmer - Страница 3

Ligornetto is a small village that lies in the large Mendrisiotto plain in the southernmost tip of the canton of Ticino, once geographically part of Lombardy. It is formed by a triangle of streets to the west of the north-south motorway (A2, Mendrisio exit, heading towards Stabio/Varese). It would hardly be distinguishable from the surrounding villages were it not for the historic villa standing high on the hill. Built in 1862–1865 in the midst of a vast park, the building with its elegant facade and central lantern tower was once the splendid studio-residence of Vincenzo Vela (1820–1891), the foremost artist’s house still maintained in Switzerland. Today it is the home of the Museo Vincenzo Vela, administered by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture.

Vela was a celebrated 19th century sculptor, a leading exponent of verism (see Glossary, p. 77), who was equally at home in Switzerland and Italy. Having achieved fame during the years of the unification of Italy, a period known as the Risorgimento, he returned to Ligornetto from Turin in 1867 and put the original plaster models of almost all his works on public display in a specially-designed room of his studio-home. Acting on Vincenzo’s wishes, in 1892, his son Spartaco Vela (1854–1895) bequeathed the property to the Swiss Confederation on the condition that it be used as a museum or a school. Since its opening to the public in 1898, the museum has been rearranged several times, most recently by the architect Mario Botta in 1997–2001.

Representing Vincenzo Vela, in addition to his plaster models and original casts, the museum features drawings and preliminary models made in terracotta and plaster; his brother Lorenzo Vela (1812–1897) is represented by painted and sculptural works; and Spartaco Vela, by paintings, drawings and ceramics. This body of family works is complemented by a library, paintings and drawings by artist friends from Lombardy and Piedmont, and a collection of period photographs that is unique in Switzerland.

A look at Museo Vincenzo Vela from the South, 2019.