IMAGO E OMBRA – The doll between play, custom and dream

Over one hundred dolls, from ancient Egyptian models to modern Barbies, will be on show at the Lucca State Archive, from 7 December to 8 March, in homage to the ex-vice manager of the Archive Marina Brogi.

The exhibition “IMAGO E OMBRA The doll between play, custom and dream”, which was originally conceived and planned by Marina Brogi who died prematurely a year ago, has now been organised thanks to the support of the Provincial Authorities of Lucca, Lucca Town Council, Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation, Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Centro Studi sull’arte Licia and Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti Foundation, Studio SGRO.

The fulcrum of the exhibition, in the splendid halls of Palazzo Guidiccioni, is the valuable private collection of the Lucca-born antiquarian Renata Frediani that includes numerous types of manufacture, material and places of origin. The collection ranges from ancient figurines from the nativity or other holy scenes, to 19th century French and German dolls, to the extremely rare dolls by Casa Lenci, that contributed to making Italian creativity world known in the 1920s and 30s, to a considerable number of vintage Barbie, with exceptional value on the collectors’ market but above all interesting from a sociological viewpoint.

The exhibition will also feature a section dedicated to the ancient world, featuring a selection of Egyptian pieces provided by Prof. Edda Bresciani, and an illustrative section including posters, catalogues and reproductions, of museums and other Italian and European public and private structures dedicated to dolls or toys in general and old photographs of girls with their dolls.

The exhibition, curated by Renata Frediani and Elisabetta Piccioni, with the gallery space curated by Architect Marco Arrigoni and for Mostre e Mostre by Marco Bertini, aims to valorise the eternal “friend” of girls of every age and pay homage to women and their history. The world of childhood, fashion and costume, the representation of the “double” and the progressive desacralisation of the representation of the female image are some of the connected themes that will also be the subject of accompanying conferences held by academics, historians and experts in the field.