Nadia Righi

Graduated in Medieval and Modern History, she is Director of the Diocesan Museum of Milan

A year and a half after her appointment as director of the Carlo Maria Martini Diocesan Museum in Milan, after a year full of commitment, satisfaction and success collected for the exhibition of Perugino's work The Adoration of the Shepherds, for the Sibillini Masterpieces review, for the Gaetano Previati 1852-1920 exhibition. The passion, for the photographic exhibition Magnum and Italy and now with Veronese's The Adoration of the Magi we meet Nadia Righi, Milanese, born in 1969, graduated in Medieval and Modern History at the Catholic University of Milan.

Dr. Righi, how and when did your passion for art begin?

To tell the truth, I enrolled in the Faculty of Modern Literature at Università Cattolica because I had the intention of studying to become an Italian teacher since middle school. Then the second-year Medieval Art course was a real shock.  Professor Daniele Benati, who that year replaced Professor Miklos Boskovits in his sabbatical, began the first lesson by projecting, in the Cardinal Ferrari hall, the great Crucifixion by Annibale Carracci. Painting at the end of the 1500s was certainly not one of my passions, yet I was struck and fascinated by the way of teaching and the method followed by the professor. So I decided to biennial, and then triennial, the exam and, from the following year, I began to work on my thesis with Professor Boskovits, a truly extraordinary teacher.

Why did you choose to study at Università Cattolica?

I had talked about it with many friends and acquaintances, who were already attending the University or who had just graduated. I have wonderful memories of my years of study at Università Cattolica: I spent whole days studying with my classmates in the library, in the classrooms and in the cloisters of the University. I remember with pleasure, in particular, the new friendships born among books, the relationship with older friends who were always available to lend a hand, and who helped us to prepare for exams, the interesting lessons with professors and with assistants or researchers who always stimulated us to deepen the subjects. All this meant that I chose to stay at Università Cattolica also for the School of Specialization in Art History. Università Cattolica also allowed me, through the working relationships and relationships of mutual esteem that had been created with some teachers, to come into contact with the world of work. Slowly, in fact, after graduating and while I was attending the School of Specialization, I began to collaborate with some publishing houses, to gain experience in cataloguing artistic heritage, to catalog works in museums... My first small, but significant, work experiences.

Then in 1999 she was contacted by the Diocesan Museum...

That year, while I was engaged in cataloguing work at the Diocese of Bergamo, I was contacted by Paolo Biscottini, professor of Museology at Università Cattolica and director of the Diocesan Museum, who needed an art historian collaborator to support him in the work of research and selection of works destined for the Museum's itineraries, which at that time had begun its exhibition activity but did not yet have a permanent collection. He called me for an interview and that's how - on my return from an interesting internship at the Louvre museum in Paris - I started working with him.  Professor Biscottini was a great teacher for me, he taught me so much. When the museum was inaugurated in 2001, it was he who appointed me curator.

Is there an exhibition, an exhibition to which you feel most attached?

That's a tough question. Perhaps the first exhibition in which Professor Biscottini involved me, because it was the one that anticipated the inauguration of the permanent collection of the Diocesan Museum by a year: it was entitled Splendors at the Diocesan Museum. An exhibition that was the result of an intense research in the field of the territory of the Diocese, which has often been the main protagonist of our proposals. Among the most recent exhibitions, certainly Marc Chagall and the Bible, an in-depth study of the biblical theme in the production of this extraordinary artist. And then, the series of A masterpiece for Milan, which every year allows an extraordinary or little-known work to be brought to the Museum.

Inaugurated in 2001 by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the Diocesan Museum is the culmination of an important project aimed at enhancing the immense artistic heritage of the Ambrosian Diocese, considered both in its specific historical and artistic value and as a testimony of an interrupted history of faith and Christian beauty. 

That's right, currently the permanent collection of the Carlo Maria Martini Diocesan Museum now consists of almost a thousand works, between the second and twenty-first centuries. Works that have come in the form of bequests, deposits or donations, which constitute a testimony to the rich Ambrosian artistic production and offer an interesting panorama of the collecting taste not only of the archbishop, but also of private individuals.  The Museum, since its foundation, has aimed to tell the story of the Ambrosian faith and culture through art and to help each of us, through our tradition and our history, to understand who we are today.

As director of the Diocesan Museum, how do you manage to implement this project today when you conceive, plan and organize an exhibition?  

We are trying to think of an increasingly wide offer, which is able to bring food for thought to a wider audience, also using different languages.

This year's initiatives had precisely this aim. For example, in the Masterpiece for Milan, the reflection on only one work at a time serves precisely this purpose: to give oneself time to contemplate beauty, which is a sign of true Beauty. In front of a masterpiece, one cannot help but wonder not only about the style, history or iconography of a work, but also about the deeper meaning that it embodies. The exhibition on the Passion of Previati, created in collaboration with the Vatican Museums, was inspired by a work in the Museum, and allowed us to reflect on an extraordinary artist, on his spirituality, but also on the theme of the Via Crucis. What does it mean today to look at Christ suffering?

The photographic exhibition Magnum and Italy has helped us to involve a different audience, young people, who do not usually frequent our museum. It was a starting point to reflect on today, starting from a story of the history of our country, thanks to extraordinary photographs.

What advice would you give to a young person who wants to follow your own path?

First of all, I would say to get to the bottom of what you want, to come to terms with your passions: studying art history is a wonderful experience. As in any aspect of life, it is necessary to be very determined, and not to fear defeat, but also to be very realistic and ready to welcome opportunities – perhaps not immediately in line with one's interests and desires – but which may later prove to be important or give rise to other useful professional opportunities. In short, don't preclude anything. I realize that today, compared to twenty years ago, there are more and more young people who want to deal with art and work in this sector and that therefore the difficulties are increasing exponentially. But it's worth the risk and belief.

The last question is a provocation, how do you imagine the idea, the possibility of going to see an exhibition for free?

It has been talked about for a long time, and, as is well known, the recent abolition of free Sundays in museums has aroused much controversy and heated debate among insiders. I think it is much more engaging to offer other free initiatives to visitors, such as, for example, guided tours on some special occasions; or offer significant reductions to the entrance ticket or even free admission, when you can get financial support from a sponsor, on some special days or in conjunction with some events. Whenever possible, we try to do so.