MARec: New Museum for Art Saved from 2016 Earthquake Opens in San Severino Marche

On June 11, 2022, the Museo dell’Arte Recuperata (MARec) will open in San Severino Marche, Italy. Housed in the 16th-century Palazzo Vescovile (Palazzo Scina Gentili), the museum is run by the Archdiocese of Camerino and San Severino Marche. It displays 70 artworks rescued from churches rendered unusable by the 2016 earthquake that struck central Italy. The collection includes Lorenzo d’Alessandro’s Madonna del Monte and the wooden statue Madonna di Macereto. Artworks are arranged by place of origin to emphasize their connection to the territory. The museum also features multimedia areas and a documentary by the Cesura photographic collective. Critic Vittorio Sgarbi will attend the inauguration. Director Barbara Mastrocola describes the museum as a “great challenge” and notes the slogan “Chiusi per inagibilità, aperti per vocazione” (Closed due to inaccessibility, open by vocation) adopted since 2016. The building, originally constructed in 1590, was damaged in the 1997 earthquake but survived the 2016 one, leading the Soprintendenza delle Marche to choose it as a safe haven. The project aims to preserve cultural heritage and symbolize rebirth for the affected region.