Quake deals blow to artwork
ROME — Within hours of last week’s devastating earthquake in central Italy, members of the national police squad of art experts were already exploring the mounds of rubble in several medieval hill towns.
They have photographed hundreds of centuries-old churches with missing roofs, torn-away frescoes or gaping holes where stained-glass once filtered sunlight. The quake and several powerful aftershocks dealt the latest blow to Italy’s long-deteriorating abundance of art and architecture.
Even without nature’s fury, monumental fountains, churches and ancient Roman ruins were already vulnerable to car exhaust fumes, vandalism and other human-inflicted damage.
Italy’s most urgent priorities are to ensure shelter for those needing a safe roof after Wednesday’s temblor and to keep digging for any more victims’ bodies. But the stricken region’s cultural heritage of medieval paintings, sculptures, bell towers and other monuments is vitally entwined with inhabitants’ daily lives and intrinsic to Italy’s international reputation as a treasure trove of art.
No artworks by Leonardo, Michelangelo or Giotto are among those lost in the quake. But art historians stress that local art of whatever pedigree helps to explain the cultural and artistic contexts that inspired the great masters. And just as importantly, local pride over this artistic heritage in churches or piazzas binds these centuries-old towns to their past.
“The icons of these towns are dear to the hearts of the locals,” said Cristiana Collu, who trained as a medieval art historian and was recently named director of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome. “Life is precious, but it’s also precious because of these memories” of the artistic past, Collu said.
Hardest hit was the medieval town of Amatrice, where collapsing houses claimed about 240 of the nearly 300 lives lost.
