Electa Publishes Giuseppe Ungaretti's Art Writings, 1910–1969, Edited by Luca Cesari

Electa has published "Giuseppe Ungaretti. Pittura cosmopolita. Scritti sull'arte 1910-1969," a volume edited by Luca Cesari that gathers the poet's art criticism. The book documents a lesser-known side of Ungaretti: a constant, attentive critic of art and a fervent interlocutor of many figurative experiences of the twentieth century. Ungaretti is known above all for "Il Porto Sepolto," the slim collection of verses written on casual scraps of paper during tumultuous days in the trenches on the Carso and elsewhere in 1915-1916, kept in his infantryman's haversack. Those poems opened a new era for twentieth-century poetic writing, breaking with any idea of solemn, celebratory, intimate and comforting poetry and initiating a sustained interrogation of the word and its relationship with silence and with music. The new volume, presented by Antonio Prete and Anita Romanello, collects writings spanning 1910 to 1969 and testifies to the breadth of Ungaretti's engagement with the visual arts. The publication is dated Friday, 11 September 2026.