Museums: The Uffizi #4

Currently, the Uffizi Gallery is hosting a special exhibition in a newly restored wing of the museum.

The exhibition, entitled La Tutela Tricolore, is dedicated to the protection of Italy's cultural heritage.  The title La Tutela Tricolore, means Protecting the Flag; in this case, tri-color refers to the green, white and red of the Italian flag.

We happened to visit the exhibition on its first day and we had the gallery largely to our ourselves.  In fact, there were more guards than visitors.  The guards in the gallery kept a close eye on the visitors.  Greg was scolded in Italian for getting a little too close to one glass case.  The reason for the guards' protectiveness will become apparent. 

Here are some photos from our visit. 

Some random hottie at the exhibition entrance 

In 1993, the Uffizi was bombed and a portion of the museum and some artwork was destroyed.  The photo below tells the story. 

Below is one of the paintings partially destroyed by the bomb.  The painting, Card Players, has been restored as much as possible.  Also below is a black-and-white photo of the intact painting, along with a photo of remnants of the painting.   

The exhibition also tells the story of art theft and the successful efforts of Italy's "007 of the art world", a man named  Rodolfo Siviero, to recover many stolen items.  The photos below highlight the many successes of Siviero and show some of the stolen artwork recovered over the years.   

Today, an arm of Italy's Carabinieri is dedicated to preventing art theft in Italy and recovering stolen Italian art wherever it is the world.  (The Carabinieri are sort of a combination of military police and FBI, with very stylish uniforms.)  The Carabinieri's Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, operating since 1969, uses modern methods to identify and recover stolen art.  One method is the operation of a photographic database of stolen art.  The database, called Leonardo, allows both law enforcement agencies to confirm whether a specific work is stolen.  Use of the database has resulted in recovery of many thousands of objects over the past 30+ years, including objects stolen in 1984 and recovered just a few months ago.  The Leonardo database catalogs 6 million mostly Italian objects.  We hope that you don't have on your shelf or wall at home any of 1.2 million objects listed as stolen. 

In addition to hunting for stolen art, the Carabinieri also investigates unauthorized excavations throughout Italy.  All over Italy, if you dig in the ground, you might find something interesting, if not ancient and priceless.  If you dig without the proper permit and supervision, the Carabinieri will pay you a visit. 

Below is the symbol of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.  The fire-breathing dragon is a nice touch. 

Thanks for joining the tour of the special exhibition at the Uffizi.  If you want to learn more, a recent NPR story highlights the work and success of Italy's art police.  You can check it out here. 

P.S.  The Carabinieri know hats. 

Two carabinieri in ceremonial uniform