The masterpieces of the Masters of the Pinacoteca di Brera leave the Museum to enter the Humanitas hospital for the benefit of patients and healthcare personnel. Not in the form of paintings, but full-wall enlargements of carefully selected details, to experience the hospital in a different way and experience an immersion in beauty. All thanks to the “Brera in Humanitas” project, which brings 23 details taken from 15 masterpieces of the Pinacoteca di Brera into the waiting rooms and corridors of the hospital. Enlargements in maxi format, made starting from 680 million pixel reproductions, for a total of about 400 square meters of art.
In the company of Raphael
Take a seat in the waiting room before being admitted and find yourself in the garden of “An after lunch”, under the calm gaze of the women portrayed by Lega. Getting ready for the chemotherapy session in a 40 square meter garden filled with pumpkins, in the company of Campi’s “Fruttivendola”. Rest among the blue brushstrokes of Raphael, in the shadow of the temple of the “Marriage of the Virgin” on a 12-metre wall in the Check Up area. Walking towards the nurses’ changing rooms, in the basement of the hospital, along 23 meters of woods and the bell towers of Bellotto’s Lombard panoramas. Getting lost in the placid waters of a landscape which, in Francia’s “Annunciation”, constitutes the small background of the main scene and which now, in the hospital, becomes an independent 10 square meter work of art. Let yourself be carried away by “Il Bacio” by Hayez on the 8-metre wall at the entrance. Or again, feeling the sweetness of the touch of the hands of Bordon’s “The Venetian Lovers” in the waiting room of the Fertility Center.
Even unexhibited paintings
These are some of the experiences that it is possible to have in the hospital thanks to the masterpieces of Bernardo Bellotto, Paris Bordon, Vincenzo Campi, Carlo Crivelli, Piero Della Francesca, Filippo De Pisis, Francesco Hayez, Il Francia, Silvestro Lega, Lorenzo Lotto, Giulio Cesare Procaccini, Raphael and Simon Vouet. The choice of details to be enlarged on a 1:36 scale (1 centimeter on the original painting now corresponds to 36 centimeters on the wall) focused on gestures of care, intense gazes and landscapes, in a game of parallels between art as care and care as art. This is how, for example, the delicate fingers of the woman holding up Hayez’s “Vase of Flowers” recall the gesture of a nurse setting up a patient’s drip. This painting, among other things, is not currently exhibited in the Pinacoteca and can therefore only be admired in the waiting room of Humanitas Senology.
Unique project in the world
“We are grateful to Pinacoteca di Brera and Amici di Brera for having enthusiastically participated in this unique project in the world – he says Gianfelice Rocca, President of Humanitas – . An example of collaboration between two large institutions, strongly rooted in the territory but with a clear international vocation. An innovative experience whose philosophy is shared worldwide by research and treatment centers such as the Cleveland Clinic. Indeed, hospitals are a crossroads of needs, a vital hub of skills and experience, where the language of care remains human and intertwines with technological innovation: here art and beauty become a factor of contact between people, well-being and reflection for patients and professionals. Beauty has been in Humanitas’ DNA since its inception, starting with the architectural choices, materials and colors for the interiors.
Beauty that helps you feel better
“This initiative – says James M. Bradburne director of the Pinacoteca di Brera and the Braidense Library – makes the difference for those who work, for those visiting relatives or friends or for those undergoing treatment, helping to make the hospital experience less worrying and more reassuring, showing details of some of the Brera masterpieces. Not everyone can always come to the Museum, but Brera is with you when you need it most. A proposal that is part of our multi-year project We need a whole city, which encourages the participation of families, children, with particular attention to people with special needs, reaffirming the fundamental social role of culture, thinking of the museum as a reference point for a whole community”.
Goal for inner peace
“Beauty, art, meditation are acts and gestures that often present themselves as authentic medicine for the soul – he comments Charles Bears, President of Amici di Brera – . They help us feel good. They detach us from everyday life and project us towards a dimension of inner peace. When this project was proposed to us, we immediately gave our assent. Many times as Amici di Brera we have been able to contemplate how much art is an authentic benefit in many different contexts. For example, I mention the beautiful project promoted with Progetto Itaca which made it possible to train some of their clients as museum guides. To think that today patients and healthcare personnel, staff and all those who attend Humanitas facilities are surrounded by beauty makes us hope that those reproductions can give them the strength to face and live everyday life. The Friends of Brera have always set themselves the goal of greater knowledge of the extraordinary works present in the Pinacoteca. Brera is a great museum, more and more in the hearts of all of us”.
Gestures and landscapes
“We have selected 23 details taken from the paintings in the Brera collection, transforming them into extraordinary enlargements that cover the walls of the hospital, showing gestures, looks, landscapes which, with their beauty, become support for patients and hospital workers. A journey started in November 2021 built with care through meetings, reflections, analysis of details and inspections of the departments. I am very satisfied with this journey and with the final result and I am sure that these images will reach everyone’s soul directly”, she concludes Alexandra Fourthdirector of the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, who started the project in 2021, when he was deputy director of the Pinacoteca di Brera.
Wallfilm, QR Code and captions in two languages
The very high resolution images have been printed on a special wallfilm that reproduces the material effect of the canvases, bringing out brushstrokes and small cracks. The project preserves the functional elements of the hospital: lights, temperature regulators, fire extinguishers, emergency exits and monitors are now “set” among the brushstrokes of the Brera Masters. Each artistic wall is accompanied by a caption in Italian and English. QR Codes refer to the project website, with insights into each exhibited work and the video, created with the participation of doctors, nurses, social and health workers (OSS), reception staff and Humanitas staff.
The meeting of two worlds: professionals in dialogue between art and care
More than 900 doctors, 400 researchers, over 1500 nurses, technicians, biologists, OSS and about 600 staff members work in Humanitas. For them, the hospital has organized visits to the Museum and art history meetings during lunch breaks with the Brera Guides and Educational Services, to get a preview of the project and become testimonials for other colleagues and patients. Thus was also born the video of the project, which portrays real Humanitas professionals in their activities at the service of the thousands of people who enter the hospital every day.