Mario Giacomelli Terra e Luce – Visit independently

First Step

It starts from the first station (A,B) located in the hamlet of Sant’Angelo, at the beginning of Borgo Marzi, in the lay-by in front of the primary school. To continue, go towards the provincial road, turn left and, after 100 m, turn right into Strada del Ferriero.

A – Through some photographs Mario Giacomelli communicates the changes that man’s work brings to the landscape. This house (present in the series Happiness reached, you walk) has been reproduced at least twice: before and after the facade was painted. Small interventions to modernize and beautify the house. In some way these two photos are emblematic of the attention that the artist places on the work of man over time.

B – Mario Giacomelli came to this place several times to portray the painter Walter Bastari (present in the series Il Pittore Bastari). We are in the farmyard of a privately owned house, accessible only with a guided tour. Here Mario takes many shots among which the most significant are: the one with clothes hanging in the background and the one in which Bastari is framed with a canvas in his hand. In both cases, the urban changes that have taken place in the hamlet of Sant’Angelo cannot be overlooked: where previously only a few houses and trees could be glimpsed in the background, today the presence of latest generation terraced houses is mandatory. This is perhaps the most important urbanization of the hamlet.

Second Step

After 30 m, turn right again onto Strada Costa dei Fabbri and follow it to the end where the Sant’Angelo B&B is located. We are thus at the second station (A,B).

A – This is the place of portraits, of animals: dogs, pigeons, scarecrows and masks of political figures. All strictly fake elements,
of ceramic, plastic or cloth, brought to the site by the author. The hill of the Strada dei Vasari, near the Waste Collection Center, is the background for some of these photographs with clear shapes and stark black and white contrasts. Thanks to the testimony of Roberto Cerioni, owner of the land, we have reconstructed the modalities, the link with the place, the assiduity and style of Giacomelli in his last period. The landscape, characterized by superficial landslides today much more accentuated, is engraved by drainage furrows dug by farmers to collect the runoff waters. Mario Giacomelli was able to grasp this testimony of historical plowing that is no longer visible today.

B – In other photos you can see, in the distance, the hill of Monte Solazzi, on the northwest side. From a geological-environmental point of view, the comparison between the photograph taken by Giacomelli and the current situation is worrying.

Third Step

To reach the third one you have to go back to the provincial road and follow it uphill for at least 1.5 km until you take Strada della Querciabella on the right, after about 1.2 km you will find the third station on the left.

This is certainly the most important and most significant station of our itinerary and the heart of our project. Mario Giacomelli portrays the same hill several times, taken in different shots, seasons and times (present in the series The land that dies). Thanks to the multiplicity of shots taken between 1955 and 1977 we have the opportunity to capture a series of important changes in the landscape. From a sharecropping management of the agricultural land, within a few years we arrived at an intensive monoculture management, causing strong impacts on the territory, on the quality of the land and on the geological structure of the hills. A heavy impoverishment of the countryside emerges mainly caused by the strong reduction of the human presence. These were the years of the massive introduction of mechanized agriculture, of the exodus from the countryside to the coast.

Fourth Step

To reach the fourth and last station, continue along Strada della Querciabella and, at the crossroads, turn right onto Strada del Crocifisso. At this point you descend for about 500 m and you reach the place where the itinerary ends.

Also in this station the plundering of the farms in the Senigallian countryside is highlighted: the small
plots. Already in the moments in which the various photos were taken, there are signs of the automation that has taken place in the management of the countryside: the hill is completely devoid of ditches, trees and human presence. In some of these shots we find the painter Walter Bastari, a figure with whom Giacomelli had a long human and artistic relationship.

Ritorno al punto di partenza

To return to the starting point, continue along Strada del Crocifisso for about 500 m and then take Strada della Ruffina on the right, which will lead us to the provincial road. From there, turn left and, after about 400m, reach the starting point in the hamlet of Sant’Angelo. The individual stations are signposted on site.