Ippolito Caffi and Belluno: from collections to the museum

The conference "Ippolito Caffi and Belluno: from collections to museum", held by art historian Massimo De Grassi from the University of Trieste, is part of the series of meetings for the 150 years of the Civic Museum of Belluno.

160 years ago, precisely on July 20, 1866, Ippolito Caffi died in the sinking of the ship “Re d’Italia,” where he had boarded to document what would become known as the Battle of Lissa, during the Third Italian War of Independence.

The illustrious native of Belluno, who with romantic sensitivity had been able to innovate the genre of landscape painting, did not live to see the annexation of Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy, nor to see the establishment of the museum of his city, founded in 1876.

However, the bond with his homeland had never been broken, as evidenced by his paintings on Belluno subjects and the works present in the city's private collections, which later merged into the collections of the Civic Museum of Belluno.

Massimo De Grassi

Full professor of Contemporary Art History at the University of Trieste, he was the Curator of the Civic Museum of Belluno from 1999 to 2001, and today he is part of the scientific committee of the museum.

At the beginning of his career, he focused primarily on Venetian sculpture of the 18th and 19th centuries, also investigating the relations with ancient art.

He then expanded his research field to monumental sculpture of the 19th and 20th centuries, working on the relationships with architecture and pictorial decoration.

He has also dealt with 19th-century painting, studying in particular the works of Ippolito Caffi and Placido Fabris.

Free admission, until seats are filled, with mandatory reservation by calling +39 0437 913323 or sending an email to prenotazionimuseo@comune.belluno.it