Description
The Museo Marino Marini is the museum Pistoia devotes to its most famous 20th-century sculptor, in the Palazzo del Tau, the old 14th-century convent of Sant'Antonio Abate, right in the centre. Sculptures, drawings, prints and paintings trace his whole career, from his first works to his last.
At the heart of his work are the Horsemen, the series that took Marini into museums around the world: the pairing of man and horse, revisited for decades. They were inspired by the stone Bamberg Horseman in Bamberg Cathedral, which he saw in Germany in 1934, together with his study of Piero della Francesca.
Alongside the horsemen are the female figures, such as the Pomonas, and the Young Girl of 1938, which belongs to the Foundation. In the post-war Miracles the horse rears or collapses to the ground and the rider no longer controls it: it is Marini's way of telling of a world that has lost its harmony.
Don't overlook the painting: Marini painted as a young man and took it up again in the 1950s, with bright colours and geometric shapes on flat backgrounds. The subjects are the same as in his sculptures: the circus, horsemen, dancers.
The museum came from the artist's own choice. In 1979 Marini decided to leave his entire archive to his home town: drawings, prints, a specialist library and small works, with a photo and video library. That is how the Documentation Centre devoted to him came to life.
In 1983, at the urging of his wife Mercedes, known as Marina, the city created the Fondazione Marino Marini, which she chaired until her death in 2008. Today the Foundation is the only body recognised to authenticate the sculptor's works.
Marini, born in Pistoia in 1901, had a twin sister, Egle, a painter and poet, with whom he enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. Other sculptures of his, donated to the city, can be found in the entrance hall of the Palazzo Comunale and in the Palazzo Pretorio. The museum's atrium also hosts concerts, performances and talks.
At the heart of his work are the Horsemen, the series that took Marini into museums around the world: the pairing of man and horse, revisited for decades. They were inspired by the stone Bamberg Horseman in Bamberg Cathedral, which he saw in Germany in 1934, together with his study of Piero della Francesca.
Alongside the horsemen are the female figures, such as the Pomonas, and the Young Girl of 1938, which belongs to the Foundation. In the post-war Miracles the horse rears or collapses to the ground and the rider no longer controls it: it is Marini's way of telling of a world that has lost its harmony.
Don't overlook the painting: Marini painted as a young man and took it up again in the 1950s, with bright colours and geometric shapes on flat backgrounds. The subjects are the same as in his sculptures: the circus, horsemen, dancers.
The museum came from the artist's own choice. In 1979 Marini decided to leave his entire archive to his home town: drawings, prints, a specialist library and small works, with a photo and video library. That is how the Documentation Centre devoted to him came to life.
In 1983, at the urging of his wife Mercedes, known as Marina, the city created the Fondazione Marino Marini, which she chaired until her death in 2008. Today the Foundation is the only body recognised to authenticate the sculptor's works.
Marini, born in Pistoia in 1901, had a twin sister, Egle, a painter and poet, with whom he enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. Other sculptures of his, donated to the city, can be found in the entrance hall of the Palazzo Comunale and in the Palazzo Pretorio. The museum's atrium also hosts concerts, performances and talks.