Cinque maggio cancellato
Emilio Isgrò donates the work “Cinque Maggio. Minuta cancellata,” which was exhibited in the Maria Teresa Room of the Biblioteca Braidense.
A work that once again unites great art with great literature, memory with the present, is the protagonist of Emilio Isgrò’s donation to the Braidense National Library: “Cinque Maggio. Minuta cancellata.” In fact, the artist has made his erasures on the autograph manuscript of the famous Manzonian poem dedicated to Napoleon, a manuscript kept in the library, one of the most famous of the Braidense, an institution that houses the most important national Manzonian collection, thus wanting to pay a new tribute to the poetic language of the great writer.
"Cinque Maggio. Minuta cancellata", Emilio Isgrò
Says Isgrò: “This is the second time I have tackled the Manzonian work, and I must admit that undermining Manzoni from the throne of doubt is more difficult than emptying Napoleon of his charisma. Even for Il Cinque Maggio it could only be so. I leaned on the text just as the composer leans on the libretto, letting the words speak for themselves, which the music threatens to obliterate. It is clear that the incipit ‘Ei fu’ I had to leave in its entirety, to ignite the audience’s imagination and memory.” Director James Bradburne, pleased with this prestigious gift that goes to strengthen the collection of Manzonian documents, stresses that “Isgrò’s work – based on the erasure of words, images and notes – has nothing to do with the ‘cancellation of culture.’ On the contrary, it is manifestly its opposite. It is not a denial of the past, but a respectful celebration of it – the work of a Boccioni, not a Marinetti.”
Happens in Braidense
Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense offers a rich panorama of events, lectures, presentations, conferences. Discover the calendar of our activities.
