An exhibition titled "Broken: The Power of Fragments" has opened at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, featuring over 80 objects that explore the impact of fragmented sculptures. The exhibition, co-curated by CD Dickerson and Andrew Sears, examines why some works of art may have a more powerful emotional pull in a broken state than when whole.
Among the exhibits is a sculpture of the lips of the 14th-century ruler Akhenaten, described as strikingly lifelike despite being a fragment. CD Dickerson, an expert in Renaissance and baroque art, suggests that fragments can focus attention on specific details, leading to a different perception of the objects.
The exhibition also delves into historical instances of intentional damage to sculptures, such as a decapitated statue from Romainmôtier, Switzerland, likely from the Protestant Reformation, and a bust of Mussolini with a bullet hole after the fall of the fascist regime. Co-curator Andrew Sears notes that destroying images of previous rulers was a common practice in the ancient world during regime changes, as it was believed the images held a life force.
Furthermore, the exhibition explores ancient cultures where breakage was intentional, such as dogū figurines from ancient Japan, which research suggests were made to be broken and shared. The Mexica in the early 15th-century Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan also intentionally decapitated a reclining figure as part of a temple rebuilding campaign, seemingly understanding completion as unattainable.
The show also highlights how the appreciation for fragments and ruins was present in the Renaissance, with Michelangelo reportedly sculpting a fragment of a headless and armless woman around 1533, in homage to excavated antiquities.