The news of the creation of a Museum of Saved Art in Fano by the Ministry of Culture should be seized upon, but on this issue there have so far been no positions taken and, above all, commitments from those who should get busy. For two reasons: the first because otherwise the ministry could decide for another city, the second because it could be the future Museum of Saved Art that would host the statue of Lysippos in the event that the Italian State were to return to it possession at the end of the international dispute with the Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Gabriele Baldelli, from Fano, former official of the Superintendence of Ancona, is convinced of this.
“The proposal recently put forward on the occasion of the presentation in Rome of a book on Lysippus by the Director General of the Museums Massimo Osanna to create a state museum in Fano is absolutely not to be abandoned – says Gabriele Baldelli –. Work should be done all in this direction because this museum would be ideal to house the statue fished out by the Fano sailors”.
This choice would exclude the initial idea of hosting Lysippus in the archaeological museum which until today has remained on paper.
“Already in recent months, on various social networks – continues Gabriele Baldelli – I had commented on some posts by public administrators and others, noting that the proposed allocation of the Lysippos to the municipal archaeological museum was incongruous. On the area of the Roman theater and the remains of the former it seems to me that too many things are being concentrated there: the new archaeological museum of the city, the valorisation of the relationship between Fano and Vitruvius and the proposed Vitruvian Museum, the valorisation of the remains of the temple structure which can be visited under Sant’Agostino and also the exhibition of the Lysippean bronze (original or copy)”.
This is why it would be better to host it in a national museum, that of Saved Art. But where? Fano could have the place and also quickly to meet the needs of the Ministry of Culture: the former “Manfrini” kindergarten. A solution that the former Fano Superintendency official fully embraces. “The best idea would be to place Lysippos in the Maritime Museum planned for the former Manfrini School, with a room specifically designed to house the statue (even a copy) and the illustration of the story of its recovery, theft and late claim. One of the most important events in the 20th century in the history of the Fano navy”. It will now be up to the Municipality to proceed with the restoration work on the building as soon as possible and possibly make the right cultural choice.
