The Castelvecchio Castle

Educating for beauty. It is a museum in the centre of Verona in a medieval fortress, dedicated to Italian and European art. It has many masterpieces but a special history. When Carlo Scarpa put his hand to it, for a lengthy renovation project that lasted from 1957 to 1975, he did two extraordinary operations: one of shifting the gaze, he placed the statue of Cangrande high up in the void to establish a bridge between ancient and modern, high and low, and with this he forever defined the visual identity of that place; then he made another, smaller and more precious gesture: in the room dedicated to medieval sculptures, he arranges a statue (the statue of St. Cecilia by the Master of St. Anastasia) with its back turned, with its robe with undulating folds and the embroidery of the braids well in evidence, and says, in an interview, this is how I did it so that the visitor will do his duty. Let him first see the marvellous carving and stitching of the robe, then turn around and see the face, and then if he wants to, return to the robe, a subtle and intelligent way to educate to beauty. Visit the site