Welcome back! On Thursday 10 March we made one of our "forays" in the first town of the Sorrento Coast, Vico Equense, which we had only talked about in the post dedicated to the Monte Faito cableway; in fact, the Monte is largely located in the territory of the municipality of Vico. This time our destination was the Monumental Complex SS. Trinità e Paradiso, a seventeenth-century building that was once a convent and now houses, in addition to the elementary school and the Hotel Institute, the Campanian Mineralogical Museum (*), one of the two objectives of our visit. The complex is accessible for the disabled from a secondary entrance at number 1 in Viale della Rimembranza:
After the courtyard, you enter the building: the accompanying person must go up to the first floor and request the intervention of the ticket office staff to operate the appropriate lift.
SALVADOR DALI' EXHIBITION
Let's start with what was the other objective of our visit, a splendid temporary exhibition: Salvador Dalì. Luce - I tesori del Maestro, curated by Beniamino Levi and with the artistic direction of Roberto Panté. Let's go back to the text contained in the illustrative brochure:
The exhibition, centered on the precious objects created by Dalì, brings together contemporary art and glamor, celebrating the return of the best years of international fashion and art, through a creative excursus that goes from sculpture to jewels and precious stones, up to the world of fashion, between important Dalinian-inspired brands and surrealist works that are part of The Dalì Universe collection.
In this regard, we report the link to the official website of the Dalì Universe: https://www.thedaliuniverse.com/it, which contains the description of the activities of the Dalì Universe company, historical-artistic notes on Surrealism and the work of Dalì and where you can find all the detailed information about the works that are part of the collection. It should also be noted that the exhibition will remain open until 30 September 2022.
Here are the images of clothes, jewels, sculptures and lithographs; but let's start with this gigantic work that welcomes the visitor who enters Vico Equense:
Let's start visiting the exhibition: this sculpture is dedicated to fashion and introduces clothes inspired by Dali's art and signed by the greatest designers:
Let's now enter the Museum Hall, where the bulk of the exhibition has been set up, which includes sculptures, jewels and lithographs:
Here we find a museum work such as the "Nobility of Time", one of the most famous creations of the genius of Surrealism. Dalì's soft clock, a symbol of time, is represented as a soft cloth on the trunk of a tree; from the trunk emerge new roots and branches with new leaves, a symbol of life that is reborn. The crown of the watch is represented as a royal crown that symbolizes the nobility of the time; in fact, time reigns unchanging over men and governs their existence.
The next two works were made with gold coins in which the profiles of Dalì and his wife Gala are depicted:
CAMPANIAN MINERALOGICAL MUSEUM
We now come to the permanent structure that houses the Dalì exhibition, partially integrating itself visually with it; we are talking about the Campanian Mineralogical Museum (*), whose website is http://www.museomineralogicocampano.it/, very rich in information and illustrative material: This cultural structure was inaugurated on 22 October 1992 and is one of the most important scientific museums in the Campania Region due to the number, variety and rarity of the samples on display. The museum exhibits the collection collected by Eng. Pasquale Discepolo in over 50 years of passionate research. The minerals on display are over 5000 of 1400 species from all over the world. Numerous donations from Italian and foreign scholars have further enriched the collection. Since 1997 the Museum has equipped itself with a paleontological section, divided into 5 showcases, where fossils belonging to the most important geological eras are exhibited. Since 2001 it is possible to admire the section dedicated to the Gems, thanks to the donation of the collection of the architects Ezio De Felice and Irene Sbriziolo, while since 2003 lithic tools of primitive men are on display in the anthropological section. Since April 2011, the Museum has been refurbished in the historic former convent of SS. Trinity and Paradise (17th century). Since 2014 a showcase has been dedicated to shells with 150 specimens donated by Antonino Casola. So let's begin to illustrate a selection of these finds, starting with minerals:
Let's continue with the paleontological finds and shells:
And we close with an important anthropological find, a rock engraving from Libya:
Nice this juxtaposition of works of art and minerals, isn't it? It must be said that the very existence of a museum such as the Campania Mineralogical Museum demonstrates that when passion, competence and foresight meet, it is possible to create works such as this museum, known and appreciated worldwide (visit the website to find out) . And the logistics? It must be said that Vico Equense is renowned for the production of dairy products and ice cream and is equipped with excellent restaurants. Among these, now that the summer season is approaching, we would like to point out one that requires a movement of about ten kilometers towards the Faito but which meets our requirements, as well as having a nice outdoor space where you can have lunch comfortably: Villa Chiara Garden and Kitchen (*): Via Paccognano 21, Vico Equense (NA) 081 802 9165 https://www.facebook.com/villachiaraortoecucina/ (*) symbol indicating the presence of toilets equipped for the disabled