Fosca has made 28 drawings for the exhibition "The Fantastic World of Fosca" in the context of the 2014 Venice Biennale "Fundamentals" in the monumental halls of the Correr Museum. This exhibition was the result of intense research work dedicated to the history of the Marciana National Library.
"Napoleon: the Venetian marauder" was censured by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and the Correr Museum for a few days. The theme that concerns Napoleon in Venice is still very sensitive and current. An echo of the story of the statue of Napoleon by Domenico Banti. The statue, unexpectedly reappeared in Venice after almost two centuries, on a winter night in 2002 has cautiously walked the steps of the Piazza San Marco. He had to disturb as little as possible: as we know, the return of the statue of the destroyer of the Serenissima had unleashed the ire of many Venetians, who compared its presence to the hypothetical introduction of a statue of Nelson in the halls of the Louvre , or at the even more provocative erection of a monument to Hitler in the center of Tel Aviv. Hence the decision of the municipal leaders, favorable to the exhibition of the imperial statue in the Correr Museum, available to visitors, but in a secluded position, in a secondary area of the neoclassical room and above all with the protection of a robust bulletproof glass.
To caricature a historical fact was not the main problem of the presence of Fosca's drawing in the exhibition, but the legend chosen by the artist. The words "escape of the marauder" would have risked to run an old quarrel, offending the visitors of the Hexagone or the supporters of the Emperor. Words considered too factious. It was agreed that during the exhibition period the title of the work would have been "Napoleon and his Venetian Souvenirs". The drawing and its temporary legend returned to their original showcase at the Marciana.
Legend
Napoleon: escape of the Venetian marauder
Napoleon and its Venetian souvenirs
the treaty of May 16, 1797, between the Republic of Venice and Napoleon provided for the delivery to the Republic of France of twenty paintings and five hundred manuscripts. Napoleon's interest was not limited to books and paintings, but also to medals, globes, Marcian codes, and three tometti from Savary's "Lettres sur l'Egypte". On October 17 the French began to prepare for departure: they took away everything they could, from the horses of San Marco, to the wedding of Cana Veronese, cameos, weapons and tools of the Arsenal and destroyed the Bucintoro (elements present in the work).