Lucca Comics & Games makes the dream of bringing comics to the Uffizi come true

USPA NEWS - Lucca 10 July 2023 - The self-portraits of the great comics exhibited at the Uffizi Gallery. Among the 12 rooms dedicated to self-portraits and portraits of artists from the 15th to the 21st century, inaugurated today for the new layout of the Florentine museums, there is also room for self-portraits by 54 Italian masters of the ninth art.

The only case among the great international museums, therefore a section temporarily dedicated to comics artists was born in the Uffizi: thanks to the project of the Ministry of Culture "Comics in museums" and the result of the collaboration started in 2020 between the Galleries and the Lucca Comics & Games festival . In two rooms frescoed in the nineteenth century by Luigi Ademollo, the self-portraits of the Italian masters of comics are therefore exhibited, including: Milo Manara, Lorenzo Mattotti and Altan, and that of the noble father of American comics, Will Eisner. At the inauguration ceremony this morning (Monday 10 July) in Florence the mayor of Lucca Mario Pardini and the councilor for Culture Mia Pisano were present, together with the top management of Lucca Crea: with the president Nicola Lucchesi and the director Emanuele Vietina and a representation of artists.

“For three years now we have established an important collaboration with the city of Lucca and the Lucca Comics & Games festival - underlined the director of the Uffizi Galleries Eike Schmidt -, the true center of the world for what competes in the field of comics, manga and games, a collaboration that today has led to the creation of this important exhibition”. “Today is a historic day – highlighted Mario Pardini -. The ninth art that finds space in the most famous museum in the world also represents on a personal level, given my active commitment for so many years within Lucca Comics & Games, a great dream come true. A good omen also for the future Expo Comics, the museum that will adjust the event seasonally, making the link between the city of Lucca, comics and the ninth art even stronger".

“The project that saw the light today was born in 2020 – explained the director of Lucca Crea, Emanuele Vietina – in one of the darkest moments for art in general and also for the Lucca Comics & Games festival. We then received a visit from Eike Schmidt who literally took us by the hand and accompanied us towards the realization of this dream, started from afar, by Rinaldo Traini and Renato Genovese, who already dreamed of raising comics so high in the early years of the festival . Today is a historic moment for world comics and starting with Schmidt there are many people to thank and among these I also include the artists, some of whom are present here, and also those who unfortunately cannot be there like Andrea Paggiaro, aka Tuono Pettinato ".

Nicola Lucchesi, president of Lucca Crea added to his thanks for the director of the Uffizi: "Without whom, this fundamental moment of recognition of the ninth art as Art with a capital A that deserves its rightful place in the most important Italian museum of the world, it would not have taken place". Lucchesi also recalled the great work carried out by his predecessor, Francesca Fazzi, under whose presidency of Lucca Crea the project took its first steps.