THE MUSEO VELA COLLECTION

• The original plaster models
• The artist's museum
• The central octagonal hall
• The equestrain statue of the Duke of Brunswick (1874-76)
• The octagon's new arrangement
• The ground flour
• The works by Lorenzo Vela (1812-1897)
• The works by Spartaco Vela (1854-1895) and the collection of paintings
• The opening exhibition

The Vela Museum holds in all more than 4300 works of art and miscellaneous items, comprising 639 pieces of plastic art (plaster casts, terracottas, bronzes, marbles); 281 oil paintings on canvas or board; 1048 graphic sheets (drawings or prints); 988 antique phototypes and 79 glass photographic plates; 1500 volumes belonging to the family library; antique furniture and arms, ceramics, and numerous reproductions, some from life and others - treated as study materials - in plaster.

The original plaster models

The main collection is formed by the substantial core of original plaster casts of almost all Vincenzo Vela's sculptures, and is thus one of the most important collections of plaster casts in Europe. Of particular interest compared to othersimilar collections, which contain plaster reproductions executed after the finished work, is the fact that on view here - with very few exceptions - are original models only, done, that is, prior to the final work in stone or bronze, hence signed and of inestimable value.

The artist's museum

The forty-seven year old Vincenzo Vela, at the peak of his career and international fame (he was at the time, around the mid-nineteenth century, undoubtedly the best-known and most admired sculptor in Italy and in the Swiss Canton Ticino), decided to gather together and preserve for posterity this precious heritage in his own home, in the heart of which he installed his private museum. In word and image the result was described with awe and admiration by his contemporaries as the «pantheon».

The central octagonal hall

The earliest representation of the central octagonal hall at Villa Vela dates from 1883, and appeared in the official Journal of the SwissNational Exhibition in Zurich (ill. 14).

ill. 14 Octagonal hall	ill. 15 Alfiere in the octagonal hall	It is clear from this wood-engraving that the sculptor had squeezed all his plastic art into that space, where works of various sizes intermingled in a picturesque design. And the public - also depicted in the scene - could thus admire them together and, if interested, choose models as references for any eventual commissions on their part (ill. 15).

Placed in the upper part of the hall were the numerous and splendid portrait-busts which the artist had executed in the course of his career.

The equestrain statue of the Duke of Brunswick (1874-76)

ill. 16 Brunswick	ill. 17 Brunswick, Bozetto	The centre of the octagon was dominated by the equestrian statue of Duke Charles II of Brunswick (ill. 16), which was to have surmounted a colossal commemorative monument designed for Geneva but never in fact realised. A splendid rough model for it remains in the collection (ill. 17). At the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Vela Museum was opened to the public, and following an initial major restoration of the building, the equestrian statue was dismantled and removed from the museum to a nearby farmhouse.

There it remained, out of public sight, for a hundred years. At the same time many of the statues and busts also were taken out of the central hall and distributed in adjacent rooms on the ground floor.

The octagon's new arrangement

Today, thanks to the new arrangement of the collections by the Museum's curatorship, this central space has in this respect, too, regained its former centrality (ill. 18). The equestrian monument once again reigns supreme in its original position, whilst a large number of portrait-busts (ill. 19) of Italian and Ticinese political figures (ill. 20 + ill. 21) and gentry (ill. 22 + ill. 23) have likewise been returned to their rightful places in the higher spheres of the octagon.

ill. 18 octagonal hall today

By virtue of its select and august members, it may now once more be described as a Risorgimento «pantheon» on Swiss soil!

ill. 20 Beroldingen	ill. 21 D'Azeglio	ill. 22 Von Sprecher	ill. 23 Conte D'Adda

The ground flour

ill. 24 Sala funeria	ill. 25 Allegories room	In the ground floor rooms set around the central hall, which were once used as the artist's studio and private residence, are now displayed, by thematic groups, the sculptural works of Vincenzo and Lorenzo Vela. Also shown are numerous items from the collections of graphic art and antique photography - both of which are notable for the high quality of their contents (ill. 24 + ill. 25).

This new juxtapositioning of different works projects a clear image of the creative process adopted by the sculptor Vincenzo Vela, who always thoroughly researched the historical figures whom he was called upon to represent, an excellent example being «The Last Moments of Napoleon I» (1867) (ill. 26).
The Emperor's effigy in fact appears on a variety of graphic pages held in the collection, which the sculptor relied on as guides to his final work.

ill. 26 Napoleon I	ill. 28 G. Brunel	ill. 29 G. Rota

Other documents also provide a precise record of the realisation in marble or bronze of many of the monuments executed for public spaces, sacred or private buildings (ill. 28 + ill. 29).

The works by Lorenzo Vela (1812-1897)

Next to the models by Vincenzo can be admired the plaster casts and terracottas done by his elder brother Lorenzo, a talented animal sculptor (ill. 30) and decorator, to whom a room is dedicated.

ill. 30 Monkey

ill. 31 Charity

He is also honoured in the upper part of the semicircle by the presence of the six lunettes and their various allegories, that were commissioned from him by the Cassa di Risparmio bank for the public hall of its central headquarters, the «Ca' de' Sass», in Milan (ill. 31).

The works by Spartaco Vela (1854-1895) and the collection of paintings

The pictorial works of Spartaco Vela and those of the family picture-gallery are extensively represented, both in the drawing-room (ill. 32) and in some of the ground floor rooms as well as in two rooms on the first floor: the first dedicated to figure paintings (ill. 33), and the second to landscape painting (ill. 34).

ill. 32 Drawing room	ill. 33 Figure paintings room	ill. 34 landscape paintings room

Among the major artists represented should be numbered:
Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899) (ill. 35), Francesco Hayez (1791-1882) (ill. 36), Eleuterio Pagliano (1826-1903) (ill. 37), Domenico (1815-1878) and Girolamo Induno (1827-1890) (ill.38 + ill.39), Mosè Bianchi (1840-1904) (ill. 40), Bartolomeo Giuliano (1825-1909) (ill. 41) and Enrico Gamba (1831-1883) (ill. 42).

ill. 35 G. Segantini	ill. 36 F. Hayez	ill. 37 E. Pagliano	ill. 38 D. Induno	ill. 39 G. Induno

ill. 40 M. Bianchi	ill. 41 B. Giuliano	ill. 42 E. Gamba

The opening exhibition

The inaugural exhibition held in the reopened museum is titled «Beauty and Truth. The Nineteenth-century Collections». It occupies the remaining rooms on the first floor of the villa and presents recently restored sculptures and paintings normally kept in the museum's storerooms.

ill. 43 Angel	ill. 44 Nymph	ill. 45 Inquisition	ill. 46 Academic study	ill. 47 Sketch	ill. 48 E. Ferrario

Featured in the company of lesser-known pieces by Vincenzo Vela (ill. 43 + ill. 44) are works on literary themes by Lorenzo (ill. 45), in addition to numerous nudes (ill. 46), preparatory sketches by the two artists (ill. 47), and antique photos (ill. 48).

© Museo Vela, Ligornetto