The Leonardo of Giorgio Castelfranco and the ‘Cult of Genius’ of the 20th century

During the period between the two world wars, the Casa Siviera was home to the art historian Giorgio Castelfranco (1896 – 1875), patron and collector of De Chirico, director of Palazzo Pitti, and friend and collaborator of Siviero during the recovery of Italian art in the post war period. Among different fields of historical-critical interest, Castelfranco was also one of the greatest Leonardo da Vinci scholars, author of numerus critical essays and curator of a large exhibition dedicated to Leonardo in 1952. The event at Casa Siviero offers documents and photographs from the Castelfranco archive conserved at Harvard University Centre for Italian Renaissance Studies. The passion and the research that Castelfranco had for Leonardo lays behind the exhibition, celebrating the artist as a “Italian genius”. The exhibition takes place in the evocative rooms of the museum house, immersed in the charm of a twentieth century art.  As well as the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to admire paintings furniture and objects of art which permanently decorate the house.