Sept. 17 – Raphael’s Saint Catherine of Alexandria brings Urbino and Sofia as candidates for City of Culture in 2019: the artist’s early masterpiece is exposed until September 22 in the National Art Gallery of the Bulgarian capital for the exhibition “Raphael in Sofia.” The city of Montefeltro was the only one invited to Sofia on the occasion of the celebrations for the presentation of the city as candidate for European Capital of Culture. “A seal that bonds the friendship between Urbino and Sofia,” said the Councillor for Culture, Pietro Marcolini, who attended the inauguration of the exhibition along with the mayor of Sofia, Yordaka Fandakova, the Deputy Minister of Culture, the Italian Ambassador HE Marco Conticelli, and Edreva Malina from the Department of Culture of Sofia. “The two cities walk together toward a major cultural project thanks to a virtual bridge.” Across the hills of Montefeltro, the Adriatic Sea and Mount Vitosha, the two cities developed a joint program based on the harmony of intent, looking to Europe, in an authentic intercultural dialogue. Elements that allowed to officially endorse an agreement between the city of Urbino and the Marche Region and the city of Sofia and the South West Region of Bulgaria on June 12 in Rome, during the official presentation of the candidacy of the ducal city as European Capital of Culture. “The exhibition in Sofia – adds Marcolini – falls into that path of a mutual understanding to promote collaboration and cooperation through culture, art, education, education, tourism and scientific innovation.” The painting by Raphael is the expression of the Marche, a region of culture and the birthplace of musicians, artists and creative people such as Gioachino Rossini Giovan Battista Pergolesi, Gaspare Spontini, Donato Bramante, Raffaello Sanzio and Giacomo Leopardi. The city is the most famous among the art cities of the Marche Region, built around the magnificent Palazzo Ducale, the Renaissance court of Duke Federico da Montefeltro, who welcomed artists such as Piero della Francesca, Luciano Laurana, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, the young Raphael and Bramante. The painter, as the Renaissance, is the symbol of culture, art, and perfection in Urbino, the Marche and Italy. His works detail the genius of his paintings and the ancient culture of the region. The exhibition opening was preceded by a conference “Urbino -Sofia: dialogues on Renaissance culture” by Lorenza Mochi Onori, Regional Director for cultural heritage and landscape of the Marche. On the occasion of Urbino’s candidacy, the Marche Region is mobilizing its culture to support the city. In this regard, it has created a new Cultural Heritage Brands portal www.beniculturali.marche.it thanks to which visitors can inform themselves on works of art and archaeological finds, documents and objects of memory through thematic routes and all cataloged resources connected to the theme of Urbino 2019.
