At the Art Museum of the city of Ravenna (MAR) is exposed an iconic statue for Romagna’s culture and history: Guidarello Guidarelli is featured on a statue for his gravestone on wich, thanks to his myth, hundreds of love letters and bunches of roses are left every year, so many that was also required the coordination of the Local Tourism Authority of Ravenna.
To deeply understand who Guidarello Guidarelli was, you must first know the history of this chieftain who has contributed to change the history of Ravenna.
Born in Ravenna between 1450 and 1460, Guidarello was one of the major chieftains of the Papal State’s army during the campaign of conquer of Romagna’s territory, that was under the rule of the Republic of Venice, known as “la Serenissima”. The papal military campaign was wanted from the Pope Rodrigo Borgia’s family, and was entrusted to the son Cesare Borgia, also known as “il Valentino”. From 1499 to 1500 Guidarello Guidarelli led part of the papal army during its conquer of Imola, Cesena, Rimini and Pesaro. In 1501, during the preparation for the conquer of Faenza, Guidarello was murdered after a quarrel concerning a not returned shirt. The chieftain was then buried in Ravenna, his gravestone was sculpted by Tullio Lombardo.
His statue is a masterpiece that attracts tourists and art experts from all over the word, one of the unique features of this sculpture is the expressiveness of Guidarello’s face, in remarkable contrast with the simplicity of the various parts of the armour and weapons. Visitors are not just intrigued by the mastery with which the statue was made, but also by the myth about it: it is said that women who kiss the statue will be married within the year and those already married will have a baby.
Millions of unmarried women attempted to get help kissing the statue’s lips, among these also the actress Sydne Rome in the movie “La ragazza di latta”.
We don’t know if all these kisses worked but we know that the statue was restored many times to remove lipstick marks from the warrior’s face.
Do not miss the chance to see the statue, for further information:
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