Opened in 2004, this museum was established within the historic Torrione della Battaglia to make an art collection – entrusted to the Municipality of Grottammare by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno – accessible to the public. The collection consists of works by Pericle Fazzini gathered by Lisa Schneider, a German model who had a long professional and personal relationship with him. It offers an insight into various phases of the artist’s career through some 230 pieces, including sculptures, preparatory studies, drawings, engravings and other types of artefacts.
What makes the collection unique are, above all, the small gold and silver sculptures donated by Fazzini to Schneider on her birthdays, created as one-off pieces using the lost-wax technique. Despite their tiny size, they embody some of the artist’s finest qualities, namely the originality of his sculptural invention and his mastery in working with the material. Among the most notable works are the silver model for the Resurrection – the gigantic sculpture that adorns the papal audience hall in the Vatican – and a series of small bronze sculptures such as Seated Girl, Girl in the Sun and Fall from a Horse.
No less important is the extensive collection of drawings, divided into two main series: the first, centred on Schneider, constitutes a masterclass in figure drawing thanks to the liveliness of the line and the unusual naturalness of the poses; then there are the drawings dedicated to Grottammare, which also form a cohesive body of work with a unified poetic essence, almost a diary of Fazzini’s intense relationship with the Adriatic landscape.
The collection is rounded off by a substantial number of engravings, various medals and a number of evocative memorabilia, including a beret that belonged to Giuseppe Ungaretti and the polystyrene chair created by Fazzini to enable Pope Paul VI to observe the various stages of the Resurrezione’s creation.
News and information: Musei Civici – Città di Grottammare