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Presentation : Museum Vito Mele |
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I give praise to the Lord and to the Holy Virgin
of Leuca for the long-desired realisation of this
museum, which we willingly name after Vito Mele
in recognition of our gratitude.
This project has been on my agenda since 1989,
when I was offered the post of Rector of the Sanctuary
- now the Basilica Minore of Finibus Terrae.
Setting up a museum which would gather together
local artefacts and works of art has always been
among the projects dear to my heart, some realised
and others still in the pipeline. This dream,
thanks to the will of the Madonna, is on the way
to becoming reality.
Several lapidary relics dating back hundreds of
years are now housed in the Basilica's atrium.
At the same time we have managed to restore two
beautiful adjacent rooms, each with centuries
of history behind them, and they now house the
bronze sculptures and original plaster models
of noted
19th century and contemporary artists. There are
already more than one hundred works in our possession.
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It is my wish that the Vito Mele Museum should continue
to develop, hosting not only the works of our local
Salentine artists but also those of
national and international fame.
My heartfelt thanks go to Vito Mele, who was born in
Presicce and is thus a native of the Leuca peninsua
although he has for years lived in Milan,
for having welcomed my proposal and donated his large
collection of bronzes to the Basilica.
My warmest thanks are also due to the master crafstmen
Francesco Petracca, who made the wrought ironwork for
the display cabinets for the
smaller works, and to Arnaldo Frazzetto for the splendid
portal, this too in wrought iron, which divides the
two rooms of the museum.
I wish to express my gratitude to all those who believed
in our project and who contributed to its realisation.
I am more than ever convinced that every Sanctuary worthy
of respect - and the Sanctuary of Leuca certainly is
- should have not only space
dedicated to religious services, prayer and charitable
works, but also an area dedicated to art and beauty
which one approaches with joy, a beating
heart, and due respect. Beauty as an apparition always
induces a yearning of the heart and a longing to make
time stand still so that we can feast our
eyes on something so grandiose and yet elusive.
Mons. Giuseppe Stendardo Rettore - Parroco Basilica
Santuario “S. Maria de Finibus Terrae”
Other presentation of :
- Vito De Grisantis
- Monsignor
Giuseppe Stendardo
- Nicola Cesari
- Vito Mele
- Giorgio Seveso
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