Contemporary Chimeras - The Works of Silvano Porcinai
Data evento 31/07/2025 - 02/11/2025
Exhibition as part of the “Etruscans 85-25 project”, promoted by Regione Toscana, organised by Fondazione Musei Senesi, in collaboration with Museo “Alle Origini del Chianti”, Opera Laboratori, and Comune di Gaiole in Chianti. Realized with the support of Provincia di Siena, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, and Opera Laboratori.
In the heart of Chianti, the Museo Alle Origini del Chianti presents an evocative exhibition by Silvano Porcinai, a powerful journey through myth and modernity, where the Etruscan Chimera becomes a symbol of contemporary fears and fascinations.
Set within the atmospheric spaces of the Museo "Alle Origini del Chianti" in Gaiole in Chianti, the exhibition envisions one of the most iconic figures of the Etruscan imagination: the Chimera. Renowned Florentine sculptor Silvano Porcinai offers a series of works inspired by the legendary Chimera of Arezzo, reinterpreted through a modern lens as internal demons and moral temptations.
Curated by Marco Firmati, Francesca Petrucci, and Cristina Sanna, the exhibition is part of the wider cultural program "The Etruscans 85–25 project", supported by Regione Toscana.
A passionate student of antiquity, Porcinai is a worthy heir to the Etruscan sculptural tradition. Working masterfully in terracotta and bronze, he engages in a deep and vibrant dialogue with the past. Yet his Chimeras go beyond classical iconography: animal protomes give way to human faces—provocative, feminine, grotesque, and unsettling—personifications of today’s social and spiritual distortions.
Elegant, dynamic, and stylistically pared down, these sculptures transform classical mythology into contemporary metaphor: allegorical figures of deviation, seduction, and disorientation. Porcinai’s Chimeras confront viewers with pressing existential and social questions, challenging the ancient world with both reverence and boldness, and urging us to reflect on the monsters of today as much as those of yesterday.
The exhibition opens with an inauguration on July 18 at 5:00 p.m., and will be on view from July 19 through November 2, 2025.
About the artist: Silvano Porcinai
Born in Grassina, Silvano Porcinai graduated from the Istituto d’Arte di Firenze with a specialization in goldsmithing and went on to teach sculpture and modeling for many years at various Tuscan art schools.
Since 1977, his work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions across Italy and abroad—including Paris, Geneva, Rome, and Venice—and he has taken part in major sculpture symposia and competitions, notably winning the National Symposium of Impruneta in 2005.
His public works can be found in Florence, Grassina, and other Italian cities. Among the most well-known are the Monumento a Bartali, Pinocchio in the Giardino dell’Orticoltura, and La Lavandaia in the main square of Grassina. A Full Professor in the Sculpture Department of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, Porcinai has also created the annual Emoción prize for the Club Taurino Italiano for over two decades.
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The exhibition is promoted as part of "The Etruscans 85–25 project" by Regione Toscana and Fondazione Musei Senesi, in collaboration with the "Museo Alle Origini del Chianti", Opera Laboratori, and Comune di Gaiole in Chianti.
With the support of Provincia di Siena, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, and Opera Laboratori, the exhibition is curated by Marco Firmati, Francesca Petrucci and Cristina Sanna.