The project portrays the President widely regarded as Italy’s most beloved, seen through the lens he turned toward artists and their role in society. At the heart of the exhibition, presented for the first time in a coherent and comprehensive way, is Pertini’s modern art collection: twenty eight works that form not merely a precious group of masterpieces but a true autobiography in images. From the paintings of Giorgio Morandi to those of Emilio Vedova, from Renato Guttuso to Filippo De Pisis, and including Mario Sironi, Renato Birolli, Aligi Sassu, and Giò Pomodoro, what emerges is the profile of a cultivated and inquisitive collector, guided not by prestige but by the ethical and expressive force of the works themselves.
In the suspended silence of Morandi’s still lifes, where bottles stand beside glasses and bowls, Pertini recognized an idea of rigor and measure, but also a symbolic image of the unity of the Italian people in their diversity. With Guttuso, art becomes civic engagement and social protest, entering into dialogue, almost tension, with the painting by Tono Zancanaro, displayed alongside it. In the works of De Pisis, a more intimate and lyrical dimension surfaces, guiding the visitor toward Sole e Architrave by Pomodoro, placed at the end of the exhibition path. Here, matter and the solidity of sculptural form become symbols of protection and light, bringing the narrative to a close between strength and hope. For Pertini, art was never ornament but a civic instrument. He believed in its ability to speak to people more powerfully than politics itself, to serve as a vehicle for values such as freedom, justice, and peace. It is no coincidence that figurative and abstract works coexist within his collection: different languages united by the same moral tension.
The works thus become a mirror of the great battles that shaped his life, from the Resistance to the defense of rights, from the fight against injustice to the commitment to democracy. The exhibition weaves this artistic heritage together with the President’s biography, constructing a path that traverses the entire twentieth century in Italy. The artworks enter into dialogue with photographs, documents, film footage, and iconic objects, from his pipe to his overcoat, to the many caricatures created during his presidential term, which Pertini loved to collect, restoring a complex and profoundly human portrait: that of a man capable of uniting moral rigor and civic passion, culture and political action.
Featured image: Ottone Rosa, Marina di Cecina, 1955
