Florence CathedralCentro Storico
A Misura Duomo – Photographs by Massimo Pacifico
This exhibition has ended.
Photography exhibition by Massimo Pacifico capturing intimate, unposed moments between visitors and the masterpieces of the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. Curated by Vincenzo Circosta and Giuseppe Giari, with text by Antonio Natali. On view at the Antica Canonica di San Giovanni (Libreria Brunelleschi).
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A school class poses for one of their own, who is playing official photographer. An elderly man sits down, worn out from walking and looking, and glances around to get his strength back. Guides gesture at their groups through microphones. All were shot inside the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, and the visitors are the subject.
Massimo Pacifico has spent ten years photographing people in museums for a project called Effetto Museo, and these 27 prints, 25 never shown before, are its Duomo chapter. You see the statues over someone's shoulder, or behind a motionless visitor reflected in their glass case. Antonio Natali, adviser to the Opera, compares Pacifico's eye to Edward Hopper's. It's the one show in Florence where the guide with the microphone is the exhibit.
ArtsLife called it a fine show. Entry is free, at the Libreria Brunelleschi, Piazza San Giovanni 7, Monday to Saturday 8:00 to 19:00 and Sunday 10:15 to 17:45, until 31 October. Go after the museum, when you'll know the rooms.
Look for
The school trip
Look for the class of children with sly, happy grins, posing for a classmate who has cast himself as the official photographer.
The tired visitor
An elderly man sits down after a long walk through the galleries and looks around, as if getting his energy back.
The tour guides
Guides gesture at their groups as they talk through their microphones, caught mid-explanation.
Reflections in the cases
Motionless visitors appear reflected in the glass protecting the works, so person and sculpture share one frame.
The Nighthawks pair
Two people sit side by side in a museum room, each lost in their own thoughts, which Natali compares to Hopper's Nighthawks.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Locals Who've Seen It All
- Rainy Days
Skip if
You want the Duomo's art itself: these photos are of visitors, with the sculptures behind them.
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
7
- Oltre il Rinascimento: Tra Dürer e ParmigianinoCourtesy of Palazzo Medici Riccardi
- Vasari Corridor: Friday Evening OpeningCourtesy of Vasari Corridor
- Florence CathedralGary Campbell-Hall, CC BY 2.0
- Brunelleschi's DomeSailko, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museo dell'Opera del DuomoRicardalovesmonuments / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Palazzo Medici RiccardiYair Haklai, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museo Nazionale del BargelloEcemaml / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0