Foreword

Written by  Alfredo Santini
We present here a particularly varied issue in terms of subject matter, dedicated not just to major figures in the history of art and literature, but also to ancient traditions, such as hemp growing, and to remembering the early days of industrialisation in the area. Discovering, in other words, a side of Ferrara which is no longer with us but which has left lasting marks in the social, economic and cultural life of the city; think of the Ursuline sisters' school, an institution much favoured for the education of generations of girls.

The centrepiece is the story of a major cultural event: the presentation at the Campidoglio of the book on the d'Este collections which were dispersed in Rome after the Devolution, another sign of the desire on the part of the Cassa di Risparmio and the Foundation to trace the outlines of the d'Este contribution to civilisation and to acquire items from that dispersed artistic heritage, a feather in the cap of the cultural policy operated by the two institutions.

Alongside this we have the recollections of a great musician who has recently passed away, Claudio Varese, of the conductor and composer Luciano Chailly and of Azzalli, the legendary proprietor and operator of the Apollo, the cinema where generations of Ferraresi learnt the secrets of the screen. The Biblioteca Ariostea seen through the eyes of the great journalist and writer Tumiati, the description of the extremely interesting Shakespeare exhibition at the Palazzo dei Diamanti and, above all, the poetry of Roberto Pazzi, the most illustrious Ferrarese writer of today, make for a fitting conclusion to an issue that bears witness to the city's past and present fervour for all things civilised to match that of the great cultural capitals, but also to its willingness to display an economic and entrepreneurial tradition of some stature, exemplified today by the enlightened approach taken by the Cassa di Risparmio and the Foundation.