The works we see presented during exhibitions are most often only a tiny fraction of a museum’s overall collection, the entirety of which is held in private storage vaults. These tightly guarded spaces contain countless treasures – some of which are simply too valuable to be put on display. Italian photographer Mauro Fiorese was granted unprecedented access to the archives of Italy’s most renowned museums – including the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna and Galleria Borghese, both in Rome – for his ongoing series ‘Treasure Rooms’, which recently made its US debut at Robert Mann Gallery in New York City.
The images document the vast, labyrinthine hallways of these underground archives, lined with innumerable racks and shelves, and stacked with masterpieces. A tension emerges between the sumptuous oil paintings and the sterile, meticulously ordered environment in which they are housed. These vaults are not as romantic as we might have imagined them to be, but there is a beauty within the precision. The photographs reveal that underneath the ground of our beloved museums is a kind of parallel exhibition space, as carefully considered as the central exhibition galleries (sometimes the clusters of objects even appear to be curated) yet weaving alternative strands of art history.
Fiorese stages his photographs to echo the subject matter: the compositions mimic the perspective constructions of Renaissance paintings and the resulting images are printed on cotton paper, and encased in glass and a gilded museum-ready frame. The striking absence of a human presence in this mysterious world creates the sense of being in a slightly surreal, imaginary art gallery – one made entirely for the figures inside the paintings, to stand guard and quietly wait.
The images document the vast, labyrinthine hallways of these underground archives, lined with innumerable racks and shelves, and stacked with masterpieces. Pictured: Treasure Rooms of the Galleria Degli Uffizi – Florence, 2014
The photographs reveal that underneath the ground of our beloved museums is a kind of parallel exhibition space. Pictured:
Treasure Rooms of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna – Turin, 2014
Fiorese stages his photographs to echo the subject matter: the compositions mimic the perspective constructions of Renaissance paintings and the resulting images are printed on cotton paper, and encased in glass and a gilded museum-ready frame. Pictured: Treasure Rooms of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna – Turin, 2014
The striking absence of human presence in this mysterious world creates the sense of being in a slightly surreal, imaginary art gallery. Pictured: Treasure Rooms of the Depositi Della Galleria Borghese – Roma, 2014
Treasure Rooms of the Museo Correr – Venice, 2015
Treasure Rooms of the Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Roverteto, 2015
INFORMATION
'Mauro Fiorese: Treasure Rooms' is on view until 22 October. For more information, visit the Robert Mann Gallery's website
ADDRESS
Robert Mann Gallery
525 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
-
Step inside this Upper East Side jewel box apartmentThis radiant Lexington Avenue home is a harbinger of good things for the Upper East Side, and the latest focus of The Inside Story, our series spotlighting intriguing and innovative interior design
-
A new hilltop California home is rooted in the landscape and celebrates views of natureWOJR's California home House of Horns is a meticulously planned modern villa that seeps into its surrounding landscape through a series of sculptural courtyards
-
Is a tiny tattoo the best holiday souvenir? Kimpton Hotels think soIn partnership with Tiny Zaps, Kimpton Hotels is bringing city-inspired tattoo pop-ups to five U.S. locations
-
Desert X 2025 review: a new American dream grows in the Coachella ValleyWill Jennings reports from the epic California art festival. Here are the highlights
-
This rainbow-coloured flower show was inspired by Luis Barragán's architectureModernism shows off its flowery side at the New York Botanical Garden's annual orchid show.
-
‘Psychedelic art palace’ Meow Wolf is coming to New YorkThe ultimate immersive exhibition, which combines art and theatre in its surreal shows, is opening a seventh outpost in The Seaport neighbourhood
-
Wim Wenders’ photographs of moody Americana capture the themes in the director’s iconic films'Driving without a destination is my greatest passion,' says Wenders. whose new exhibition has opened in New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery
-
20 years on, ‘The Gates’ makes a digital return to Central ParkThe 2005 installation ‘The Gates’ by Christo and Jeanne-Claude marks its 20th anniversary with a digital comeback, relived through the lens of your phone
-
In ‘The Last Showgirl’, nostalgia is a drug like any otherGia Coppola takes us to Las Vegas after the party has ended in new film starring Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
-
‘American Photography’: centuries-spanning show reveals timely truthsAt the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Europe’s first major survey of American photography reveals the contradictions and complexities that have long defined this world superpower
-
Miami’s new Museum of Sex is a beacon of open discourseThe Miami outpost of the cult New York destination opened last year, and continues its legacy of presenting and celebrating human sexuality
