La Società Dante Alighieri e la Qatar National Library, in collaborazione con l’Ambasciata d’Italia a Doha, hanno organizzato giovedì 2 maggio, nello spazio eventi della Biblioteca Nazionale di Doha, la lectio magistralis del prof. Carmelo Occhipinti* dal titolo “Leonardo da Vinci visto dai suoi contemporanei. Alcune osservazioni sul sorriso di Monna Lisa e di altri suoi ritratti femminili”.
“Sono molto soddisfatto che la Società Dante Alighieri sia già operativa a Doha a poche settimane dalla costituzione di un comitato locale per la promozione della lingua e della cultura italiana, annunciato durante la visita in Qatar del Presidente del Consiglio Conte il 3 aprile scorso. – commenta l’Ambasciatore Pasquale Salzano – Questo primo significativo evento, organizzato in collaborazione con l’Ambasciata nell’ambito delle iniziative promosse dal Governo italiano per la celebrazione della ricorrenza dei 500 anni dalla morte di Leonardo da Vinci, dimostra l’impegno del Sistema Italia nel promuovere con efficacia in Qatar la cultura e le eccellenze del nostro Paese.”
La lectio magistralis, inserita nella programmazione ufficiale del Comitato Nazionale per la celebrazione dei 500 anni dalla morte di Leonardo da Vinci del MIBAC e in quella di Vivere all’italiana del MAECI, ha ripercorso la vicenda iniziale di alcuni dei più celebri capolavori del maestro, “rileggendo le reazioni di chi vi si trovò di fronte al tempo in cui l’artista era ancora operoso a Milano sotto Ludovico il Moro, quindi nella Firenze repubblicana, infine presso la corte di Parigi, dove Leonardo morì nel 1519.”.
La conferenza è la prima azione promossa dal Comitato della “Dante Alighieri” a Doha, aperto poche settimane fa alla presenza del Presidente del Consiglio Giuseppe Conte, e inaugura la collaborazione tra Società Dante Alighieri e la Qatar National Library che hanno siglato un protocollo di intesa per iniziative congiunte nell’ambito della cooperazione scientifica, tecnica e culturale.
*Il prof. Occhipinti, storico dell’arte e critico, è professore associato di Museologia e critica artistica e del restauro presso l’Università degli studi di Roma Tor Vergata.
IL DISCORSO DELL’AMBASCIATORE SALZANO
Buonasera a tutti, good evening,
I am very pleased to present today a very important event which marks five hundred years since Leonardo da Vinci died and, at the same time, the beginning of the partnership between the Italian organization “Società Dante Alighieri” and Qatar National Library. It is the first of a series of initiatives by La Dante to present the rich Italian cultural and art heritage to Qatar.
“Società Dante Alighieri” was established in Italy in 1889 with the mission to promote Italian language and culture worldwide. Today it has a large network of 480 committees in 80 countries, including the newly established presence in Qatar.
The launch of La Dante activities in Qatar was recently announced by the Italian Prime Minister, H.E. Giuseppe Conte, during his first visit to the State of Qatar and commended as a further step towards the strengthening the Italian cultural offer in the Country.
Today I have the honour to introduce a lecture on Leonardo Da Vinci by the Italian professor and art historian Carmelo Occhipinti, Associate Professor of Museology, Art Criticism and Restoration at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
This lecture is part of the official celebrations of the 500th (five-hundredth) anniversary of the death of Leonardo. To mark this important milestone, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has organized, through its network of Embassies, different events to increase the knowledge on one of the most important figures of all time in the fields of art, science, technology and many other disciplines.
Indeed, Leonardo is an all-around and multi-faceted genius, whose fascination for centuries has captivated whole generations until today.
Leonardo’s areas of interest included invention, drawing, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography. He has been variously called the father of palaeontology, ichnology, and architecture, and he is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. He epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal.
Many historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the prime exemplar of the “Universal Genius” or, as we said, the “Renaissance Man”, an individual of “unquenchable curiosity” and “feverishly inventive imagination”, and he is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived. According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent in recorded history and “his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, while the man himself mysterious and remote”.
Italy and Qatar share a common vision about the importance and the contribution of culture. Culture in all its forms of expressions means creativity, innovation, development of communication codes, but also traditions and values that need to be maintained and preserved.
With this approach, we are pleased that the very first event of La Dante in Qatar is hosted here, at the Qatar National Library, both a place of cultural preservation and innovation.
Few days ago on the occasion of her meeting with the Italian President of the Senate, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, H.E. Sheikha Hind bin Hamad Al Thani, highlighted that Qatar National Library is not a traditional library exclusively meant for research and study, but a lively and busy “square”, an environment open to cultural exchange and communication, where initiatives and activities are aimed at concretely promoting culture and creating bonds among communities.
This is exactly what Italy and Qatar have in common and perfectly expresses what we want to achieve with this event tonight.
The Genius of Leonardo embodies all these aspects and enshrines an extraordinary wealth of knowledge which belongs to all humankind…beyond borders and barriers.
I really hope you will enjoy this lecture and engage in an open discussion with Professor Occhipinti.
Thank you!
