SHARRYLAND
The Ark of Art: the museum of rescued works
In the Fortress of Sassocorvaro the incredible story of Operation Rescue.
Where is
The story: Operation Rescue
In the terrible years of World War II, one of the emergencies facing Italy is how to protect the works of art of which it is the custodian: there is too high a risk that they will be destroyed under Allied bombing or, after the armistice of September 8, 1943, stolen by the German army. They must be hidden! But where? Pasquale Rotondi, art historian and superintendent in Urbino, is tasked with locating a safe hiding place. Thus begins the highly secret "Operation Rescue" and the story of the Ark of Art.
Where: the Rocca Ubaldinesca
Rotondi, a profound connoisseur of his territory, finds the perfect hideout: the impregnable Rocca di Sassocorvaro. In a very short time Rotondi organizes and coordinates the complex operation, personally participating in the transportation of the works, aboard his Balilla. From Marche, Lazio, and Venice, hundreds, indeed thousands, of works of art began to arrive in Sassocorvaro : Raphael, Titian, Mantegna, even Giorgione's "The Tempest." The works are mainly paintings, but there is no shortage of sculptures, books, archaeological finds and sacred furnishings. They travel on bumpy roads, packed in wooden crates aboard rickety vans, exposed to a thousand dangers. The fortress, guarded on sight, would become the secret bunker of as many as 7,821 priceless works of art until the end of the war: "for five years, three months and eight days," Rotondi points out in his memoirs.
The Ark of Art: the museum of remembrance
After the war this extraordinary feat remained in the shadows, forgotten for forty years and rediscovered by journalist Salvatore Giannella, who with local historian Pier Damiano Mandelli in 1999 published the book L'Arca dell'Arte. Today the Ark of Art is a rich interactive educational museum set up inside the Ubaldinesque Fortress precisely to tell the story of the incredible Operation Rescue and keep alive the memory of its creator, Pasquale Rotondi (1909-1981). The museum houses life-size reproductions of the main works rescued and also features a section dedicated to Art in Danger.
The Rotondi Prize
Also on Giannella's initiative in 1997, the Rotondi Prize was established: each year, in the precious 18th-century little theater inside the Rocca, the prize is awarded to those who have distinguished themselves in "exemplary actions to save the artistic heritage." A section of the museum is dedicated precisely to the prize winners, the Saviors of Art.
Trivia
Operation Rescue also involved the Palace of the Princes of Carpegna, the Ducal Palace in Urbino and even the Holy See. But Rotondi's daughters, who were children at the time, recall that for a time their parents also kept paintings hidden under their beds! One was Giorgione's "The Tempest," and he was in good company: Mantegna, Bellini, Lotto... Their father was a hero, but they did not know it.
Enter the Map of Italy's Undiscovered Wonders and find treasures where you least expect it... Inspire, Recommend, Share...
The Map thanks:
Enter the Map of Italy's Undiscovered Wonders and find treasures where you least expect it... Inspire, Recommend, Share...
Where is
