Trains are a very common site in Italy, so one could easily overlook one of the trains that is now traveling Italy but has something unusual aboard: a fantastic collection of art from the past five hundred years! The event is titled "From Titian to Street Art: Five Hundred Years of Italian Art" and it sets out from Rome on October 1st. The train will be stopping in over twenty cities in its forty day trek across Italy, stopping in cities for a day or two.
The initiative is in response to the fact that only ten percent of Italians frequently visit the innumerable art galleries, exhibitions and museums across Italy. With this in mind, the curators and sponsors of the 'art train' are bringing the art to the people. Though the train will be concluding its journey in Lombardy, it will spend much of its time in the south, where museums are not as prevalent as in the north.
The initiative is in response to the fact that only ten percent of Italians frequently visit the innumerable art galleries, exhibitions and museums across Italy. With this in mind, the curators and sponsors of the 'art train' are bringing the art to the people. Though the train will be concluding its journey in Lombardy, it will spend much of its time in the south, where museums are not as prevalent as in the north.
There is no admission to board the train and its six different cars, each dedicated to a different era and with its own curator. This is the second year in a row that the art train has made a journey, though last year was a more contemporary collection than this. Over sixty thousand people came to visit the train in its previous year which made it the fourth most popular museum for that month. With the wider array of paintings aboard the train this year, they are hoping to attract quite a few more on the unconventional museum.