Among the initiatives organized on the seventh centenary of Dante's death, 1321-2021, the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Ancona, the Civic Art Gallery, the Civic Library and the City Museum come together for an exhibition that pays homage to poet: "We read one day for pleasure" Ancona for Dante by Stefano Zuffi.

The exhibition, which will be inaugurated on September 24 at 16:00 in the Civic Art Gallery "Francesco Podesti" (entrance in Vicolo Foschi), is the result of close collaboration between cultural institutions, with the desire to make works that are not usually accessible to visitors. , such as some precious editions of the Divine Comedy of the Library or the works preserved in the deposits of the Pinacoteca, paintings directly or indirectly inspired by Dante's themes and characters.

The title of the exhibition recalls the famous episode of Paolo and Francesca, one of the most explicitly “Marches” passages of the poem: the romantic painting by Godeardo Bonarelli which presents the two famous lovers in the Malatesta fortress of Gradara was chosen as the guiding image.

Among the editions of the Divine Comedy, all illustrated, there are two different and splendid examples (released respectively in 1568 and 1574) of the monumental Venetian printing company, edited by Francesco Sansovino, with very rich comments and numerous engravings. Remaining in the field of printing, the magnetic portrait engraved by Adolfo de Carolis following the “Adriatic” indications of Gabriele d'Annunzio is ideally linked to the most typical Dante iconography.

The bas-relief with the fifteenth-century profile of Ciriaco Pizzecolli d'Ancona, an attentive reader of Dante, recalls the role of the Comedy in humanistic culture and more specifically in that of Ancona. Among the works, mainly from the 19th century, the refined landscapes by Filippo Boni and the great Coronation of the Virgin by Francesco Podesti should be noted.

The exhibition is also an opportunity to remember an important painting by Francesco Podesti, depicting "Dante's visit to Giotto's workshop", of which traces had been lost until the recent studies conducted for the exhibition: known until today through some engravings has been traced to a private collection. An opportunity to discover the history of an unpublished work by the great Ancona painter who in the nineteenth century brought prestige to his hometown.