Medieval Art in L’Aquila

In 2009 an earthquake registering 6.3 on the Richter scale struck the city of L’Aquila in the Abbruzzo in Italy. Now the regional art museum has reopened.

The earthquake, which hit L’Aquila in 2009 was a major catastrophe, which created a terrible rupture in the life of both the city and the region. 309 persons died and 80.000 had to be evacuated. Even now, the city is under construction and the feeling of despair is still rampant, while main economy seems to have been generated by so-called disaster tourism, whereby the city in effect become an unplanned open museum for tourists, whilst the residents themselves feel betrayed by the authorities for the lack of progress in the redevelopment of their city.

Recently, though, a glimmer of local hope spread, when more than 100 masterpieces from the National Museum of Abruzzo were once more revealed in their temporary new home, while the 16^th century castle, which used to house it, is being rebuilt. Of special interest is a series of paintings and carvings of the the Madonnas from the Abruzzo, to which a special section of the museum has been dedicated.

Accompanying the exhibition is a special film recorded by Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage (Ministero dei Beni e delle attività culturali e del Turismo)

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Museo Nazionale d’Abruzzo

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L’Aquila as a Post-Catastrophic City has been studied by a group of art historians, archaeologists and conservators connected with the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz. Focus has been on Urban Space and Cultural Identity, The dislocation of cultural heritage: artistic and religious value vs. civic function, and the Transformations and Representations: Landscape and Ways of Life

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Art in L’Aquila