Rome, hotels as art galleries: Arman's "Grande Rampante" at Bernini-Bristol

Even Elon Musk was struck by La Grande Rampante by Arman, the famous bronze installation dedicated to the Ferrari F40. "He was our guest a few days ago," says Bernabò Bocca, president of Federalberghi and owner of the Bernini-Bristol Hotel, in whose lobby the sculpture is displayed, "and even he, who has seen it all, was fascinated by this work."

Now visible at the hotel in Piazza Barberini, the piece was also celebrated yesterday by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Ugo Brachetti Peretti, and Moroello Diaz della Vittoria Pallavicini, among other guests who gathered in the late afternoon to discover the new feature: the Bernini Bristol lobby is now also becoming an art gallery, opening itself to the city.

 

This first installation greets visitors right at the center of the entrance: a bronze assemblage made up of composed and deconstructed replicas of the legendary F40s, reproducing on a smaller scale the Rampante monument installed at the entrance of the Enzo e Dino Ferrari racetrack in Monza.

 

The multiple of the artwork at Montezemolo’s home

Luca di Montezemolo, when talking about owning a multiple of the work in his house in Bologna “in the countryside not far from Imola,” even if “not so large,” seems almost to caress the sculpture dating back to 1999, the year Ferrari won the Constructors’ Championship. “It is a work by a great sculptor that I care about deeply,” adds Luca di Montezemolo, “and when we decided to create this piece with the Ferrari F40, we specifically agreed that its ideal location would be in Imola.” The monument was later inaugurated on April 30, 1999, on the occasion of the San Marino Formula 1 Grand Prix.

 

Art in hotels

Ugo Brachetti Peretti applauds hotels becoming increasingly places of gathering for the city’s residents: “It’s wonderful to have so many tourists at the moment, but it’s also great that Romans can enjoy these spaces and, above all, admire works of art like this one.”

This represents a new way of engaging with art and experiencing hotels for the people of Rome, a new form of hospitality that aims to be inclusive. “This open space,” concludes Bernabò Bocca, “will be a new point of reference for the city, at the heart of Sina Bernini Bristol’s hospitality – also thanks to this sculpture from the Galleria d’Arte Maggiore in Bologna, which proudly promotes the art of our country internationally.”

And last night, in the crowded lobby celebrating the event, were present among others the gallery’s founder Roberta Calarota and Antonia De Mita.