The Cortona Chandelier

From 14 December, the Art Museum will host the Etruscan chandelier of Cortona: a rare bronze object, with refined decorations, intended to illuminate a place of worship.
In addition to being one of the masterpieces of Etruscan artistic craftsmanship, the chandelier bears witness to the history of the Etruscan Academy and its desire to preserve an exceptional heritage and make it available to the community. Its temporary presence in the Art Museum makes it possible to strengthen the collaboration between the two institutions and to bring an object of great charm and refinement to Milan.

Found by chance in 1840 in the Cortona countryside, the chandelier was purchased by the Accademia for inclusion in the civic Etruscan collection. The lower face is decorated with figurative scenes and phytomorphic motifs, and in the centre is a gorgoneion with a face framed by bipartite curls on the forehead and a large mouth with a hanging tongue; all around the gorgoneion are small tangled snakes, made by hand. On the edges are alternating reliefs of small Acheloo faces and 16 spouts in which the lamp oil was burned using special wicks. Accompanying the chandelier is a plaque with an inscription, added at a later period but found together with the artefact, informing about the consecration or rededication of the chandelier, attesting to the practice of reuse in past civilisations.

Guided tours
On Saturday 17 December, at 5 p.m., a guided tour for adults entitled Light for men, light for the gods. Beginning with the exceptional loan, the theme of light and illumination in the Etruscan world will be investigated in a real and symbolic sense, creating a dialogue with other Etruscan objects in the permanent collection, to arrive at the unusual juxtaposition with Diego Giacometti's Lanterne à quatre lumières.
The cost of the guided tour is 20 euros.

Catalogue
Accompanying the exhibition is a catalogue edited by Paolo Bruschetti and Giulio Paolucci, published by Fondazione Luigi Rovati and on sale at the museum shop (13 euros).

Podcast
On the occasion of the exhibition Fondazione Luigi Rovati has produced a podcast series of four episodes in collaboration with doppiozero, together with Accademia Etrusca and MAEC of Cortona.

An editorial project involving Claudio Franzoni, scholar of Greek images and the Greek world, Marco Belpoliti, writer and literary critic, and Cristina Battocletti, journalist and writer, with the aim of enriching the exhibition with an additional in-depth study tool.

The podcast consists of four episodes in Italian about the extraordinary Etruscan artefact, the only two occasions on which it has been exhibited outside Tuscany, the current exhibition in Milan and the Cortona institution to which it has belonged for over 200 years. Listen to the episodes on Spreaker, Spotify and Apple Podcast.

The Cortona Chandelier
From Early Collecting to Contemporary Collections
Curated by Paolo Bruschetti and Giulio Paolucci

Fondazione Luigi Rovati
Corso Venezia 52
14 December 2022 - 5 March 2023