Hits and Misses of Bologna

It so happened that life took us once again to Bologna. If I ever imagined there is an Italian city that I will be visiting regularly, I never imagined that city would be Bologna (nor that I would visit it because we need to see one of the best dentists in Europe every now and then, but that’s another story). However, the topic of this post is not dentistry, but some hits and misses of Bologna from this time: what we saw, experienced, and entertained ourselves with during our fall week in this city of students, political activists, artists, and bohemians. If you are interested to read more about our previous visit to the city, you can click here.

Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio

Much of the time, we were busy typing our keyboards and getting some remote work done at our Bed&Breakfast at Fiera Boutique or at this awesome little café, La Taberna del Re Vallot, one of the few laptop friendly but still nice and bohemian places in Bologna. However, we also decided to do some sightseeing. A random Google search of things to see in the center pointed us to Palazzo dell’ Archiginnasio at Piazza Galvani 1. Of all the hits and misses of Bologna, this palace became one of the definitive hits.

Undoubtedly one of the most important buildings in Bologna, the palace was built quickly between 1562-1563 to be the main building of the University of Bologna, hosting the schools of the “Legisti” (Canon and Civil law) and the “Artisti” (Philosophy, Medicine, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Physics). The building ceased to host a university in 1803. Currently, it houses the Archiginnasio Municipal Library and the Anatomical Theatre.

The palazzo has a beautiful central courtyard with two lines of loggias. Two wide staircases lead upstairs to the rooms where the “Legisti” and the “Artisti” used to study. The library is the largest in Emilia-Romagna with its collection of approximately a million volumes and pamphlets of various kinds.

Gaetano Donizetti directed the first performance of Rossini’s Stabat Mater on March 18, 1842, in a room now named after it as “Sala dello Stabat Mater”. In the same space, Albert Einstein held three conferences in October 1921.

The palazzo’s walls are decorated with 6000 coats of arms and inscriptions, honoring teachers and students elected by others as heads of the student organizations. Indeed, this is the largest heraldic display in the world.

The Anatomical Theatre was built in 1636 by Antonio Levanti. Il Teatro Anatomico is made of spruce wood and has undergone several modifications until reaching its final form in 1736. In this beautiful but uncanny setting, the professors dissected cadavers and delivered anatomy lectures for medical students. The theatre suffered great damage in the Allied bombings in January 1944, but it was restored with exemplary rigor. It is famous for the two wooden statues from the 18th century holding up a decorative canopy. These men without skin, “the Spellati” are an artwork by Ercole Lelli dating back to 1750. We left visiting this part of the palazzo for the next times we will be in Bologna, because the cue to see the theatre was discouraging and we were seeing things on a schedule.

Palazzo Fava: La Riscoperta di un Capolavoro

I insisted on visiting at least one Palazzo, and the choice landed on Palazzo Fava simply because of its central location. Very soon after entering we wished we had read up a little more about the place and perhaps chosen something else to visit instead, because of the hits and misses of Bologna, this one was the biggest miss.

Palazzo Fava is a historic palace at Via Manzoni 2. Currently, it is Genus Bononiae’s Exhibition Centre and houses national and international art exhibitions. The Fava family acquired the palace in 1546 and had it restored in the Renaissance style.

The current exhibition, La Riscoperta di un Capolavoro, tells the story of the Polittico Griffoni, the Griffoni Polyptych, which is a Renaissance masterpiece executed in honor of St Vincent Ferrer, the patron saint of builders. The polyptych is a series of 16 paintings from 1471-1472 by Francesco del Cossa and Ercole de’Roberti. The work was commissioned by the Griffoni family, but when Basilica di San Petronio moved from the patronage of the Griffoni to the Aldrovandi family in 1725, Cardinal Pompeo Aldrovandi ordered the piece to be dismembered. The pieces of the artwork were sold around the world. The exhibition displays the 16 surviving panels that have arrived to Bologna from nine museums and collections from all over Europe and North America for the first time in 300 years since the polyptych’s dismemberment. The paintings depict several saints including St. Pietro and St. Giovanni the Battista, and in their detailed glory, they are truly worthy of a close inspection.

The exhibition consists of “The Griffoni Polyptych Reborn in Bologna”, which focuses more on the altarpiece, and of “Materiality of the Aura. New Technologies for Protection”, which focuses on the work of the Factum Foundation and on the new technologies that are in use in protecting cultural heritage.

The visitor entering the exhibition is handed a mobile-phone-like device to use as a tour guide. The stories you get to hear when pushing the buttons are unfortunately in illogical order, scattered, and too many. Even if you follow the suggested order, you end up hearing about the dismemberment of the artwork before understanding anything about the artwork itself. The narrative is not only incoherent, but also told in an uninteresting manner. The part about the polyptych manages to be somehow fascinating, but the second part of the exhibition is pure self-promotion of the Factum Foundation -you get to hear the name of the foundation and praises of their excellent work ad nauseam, until you really don’t want to press one more button. Again, the audio pieces for the second part of the exhibition are too many, scattered, and this time totally uninteresting unless you are an art history student or a restoration expert yourself.

The whole exhibition is also very small and simple. You see the paintings of the polyptych, but for the rest, there is nothing to see. Basically, we ended up paying 15 euros each of hearing self-promotion of the Factum Foundation.

Hits and Misses of Bologna in Terms of Food

Let’s talk about the hits of Bologna food-wise. To mention a few places, this time we ended up eating in Scrambler Ducati Food Factory, a nice restaurant for lovers of motorbikes and good food, and in the lovely Pizzeria Jari, a Sicilian restaurant where we had excellent pizzas and dolces that were absolutely delicious.

We also tested a new fish restaurant, because a friend from Puglia wanted to show us a restaurant chain originating from his home hoods. Interestingly, Pescaria ended up being one of the rare disappointing food experiences ever in Italy. This miss consists of a fast foodish concept and mediocre food in a sterile environment that could have been anywhere in the world from Chicago to Tampere. My fish spaghetti was only okay and my partner’s octopus hamburger that I got to taste was worthy of one bite. I don’t think we’ll become regular guests in this place.

The Bohemian Beauty of Bologna

Bologna is seldom mentioned when people talk about beautiful Italian cities: it is always Rome, Florence, Venice, and some others winning the gold medals. However, in terms of hits and misses in Bologna, a definitive hit is just taking long walks all over the city. The Montagnola Park with its astonishing statues (see pictures below) is a must. You can also find plenty of beauty in many random neighborhoods. The bohemian and free-spirited city of Bologna invites you to appreciate its unexpected and rusty beauty.

The last time we visited Bologna was in the summer, when the city was particularly empty. The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically reduced the number of tourists everywhere in Italy, and the city was also rather empty of locals. Now, the streets seem to be pretty much back to normal with students and other locals buzzing around. I don’t know whether it’s my imagination or not, but the adherence to the mask using policies seems better than last time. Practically everyone wears a mask at the streets and inside the cafés, restaurants, and shops.

The weather was lovely for the most part -sun and +20 degrees. Not a summer, but neither a real autumn yet, at least not for a Finn for whom + degrees signal summer. This visit was also like getting a bath in sun -living in the Netherlands, cloudy skies and rain are more of the default option for weather.