Academy of Fine Arts · 18th–19th century · Carrara, Tuscany

Carrara Academy of Fine Arts — Cybo Malaspina Palace

The Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara is a public tertiary arts academy housed in the historic Palazzo Cybo Malaspina in the centre of Carrara, Tuscany. Founded on 26 September 1769 by Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara, it traces its roots to 1757 when she established the earlier Accademia di San Ceccardo on the advice of sculptor Giovanni Domenico Olivieri. In 1807, under the orders of Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, the academy moved to the Palazzo Cybo Malaspina, which remains its seat to this day.

At a glance

Type: Public academy of fine arts
Period: Founded 1769; moved to Palazzo Cybo Malaspina 1807
Style: Neoclassical palace; late-18th-century institutional architecture
Location: Carrara, Province of Massa-Carrara, Tuscany, Italy
Coordinates: 44.0784° N, 10.0994° E

Overview

The Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara is one of Italy’s oldest public art academies, internationally recognised for its tradition of sculpture, architecture, and painting. Situated in the marble-producing capital of the world, the academy has shaped generations of artists who worked with the prized Carrara marble quarried from the surrounding Apuan Alps. The Palazzo Cybo Malaspina that houses it is itself a landmark of the city’s aristocratic heritage.

History

The academy’s origins date to 1757, when Duchess Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina — acting on the counsel of sculptor Giovanni Domenico Olivieri — founded the Accademia di San Ceccardo, with curricula covering sculpture, architecture, and painting. To house the institution, she commissioned architect Filippo del Medico to design a new building. The academy was formally constituted on 26 September 1769. In 1807, Napoleon’s sister Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, then ruler of the Principality of Lucca and Piombino, ordered its relocation to the grander Palazzo Cybo Malaspina, a dynastic palace of the ruling family. Giovanni Antonio Cybei led the sculpture school in its early decades.

What you see

The Palazzo Cybo Malaspina presents a refined late-Renaissance and Neoclassical facade facing onto one of Carrara’s central piazzas. The interior contains teaching studios, exhibition galleries, and a collection of academic plaster casts and historical artworks accumulated over more than two and a half centuries of activity. The building is closely integrated into the urban fabric of the historic centre, surrounded by the characteristic white-dusted streets that testify to the city’s marble industry.

Cultural significance

As the birthplace of Italy’s most celebrated marble-sculpting tradition, the Accademia di Carrara holds a unique position in European art education. Its alumni and faculty contributed directly to the Neoclassical sculpture movement, and the institution continues to attract students from across the world drawn by proximity to the Carrara marble quarries used by Michelangelo and Canova. The academy is a living monument to the intersection of artistic training and natural heritage.

Practical information

Address: Piazza dell’Accademia 1, 54033 Carrara MS, Italy
Hours: Check the official website for current visiting and exhibition hours
Admission: Varies by exhibition; check official website

Getting there

Carrara is served by the A15 motorway (Autocisa) and is approximately 100 km northwest of Florence. The nearest railway station is Carrara-Avenza on the Genoa–Pisa line; from there, local buses connect to the city centre. The Palazzo Cybo Malaspina is a short walk from the central Piazza Alberica.

Sources & resources

The Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara, known by the acronym ABAC or ABACARRARA, is a public university for the study of the visual arts based in Cybo Malaspina Palace.

According to the training offer of the MUR, the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara is included in the university sector in the sector of higher artistic, musical and dance education and issues 1st level (degree) and 2nd level (master&#39;s degree) academic diplomas .



The Carrara Academy of Fine Arts adheres to the Erasmus project.

The official foundation of the Carrara Academy of Fine Arts dates back to 26 September 1769: its patron was Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara (which in effect at that time was a principality), wife of Ercole Rinaldo d &#39;Este, Duke of Modena.

The sculptor Giovanni Antonio Cybei was called to direct the institute, who held the position of &quot;Primary Director&quot; of the school until his death in 1784.



Already a few years earlier, the foundations of an academy had been laid, dedicated to Saint Ceccardo, accepting the proposal of Giovanni Domenico Olivieri, a Carrara sculptor who had lived at the court of Philip V of Spain and collaborated in the foundation of the Madrid Academy: Maria Teresa had promulgated the statutes of an Academy in Carrara, which provided for the teaching of the three arts, painting, sculpture and architecture, already in 1757, but this project never had practical implementation.



In 1923, with the Gentile reform, the Academy became an artistic institution without university value with only the School of Sculpture; after the Second World War, starting from 1969, new schools began to be created: Painting, Scenography, Decoration, and New technologies of art enriched the educational offer of the Apuan institute, finally arriving at the return of university equipolation in 1999 with the creation of the AFAM sector.

Starting from the end of the 2010s, under the direction of Professor Luciano Massari which lasted from 2016 to 2023, the university activated the establishment of four new schools in January 2022: Comics and illustration; Cinema, photography and audiovisual; Art education; Design.



Furthermore, still under his management, the artistic university of Carrara went from 800 enrolled to 1150 in June 2023.

From the 2023/24 academic year, the new general director of the Academy will be Professor Silvia Papucci, former deputy director under Massari&#39;s management and teacher at the School of Graphics.

https://culturalheritageonline.com/places/carrara-academy-of-fine-arts-cybo-malaspina-palace-l5086/

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Carrara Academy of Fine Arts – Cybo Malaspina Palace