Luigi Parmeggiani: reedemed forger
Luigi Parmeggiani emigrated in 1878, he lived in the sparkling Paris of "Belle Epoque" time. In the beginning, he was a desperate anarchist, maybe thief, certainly bomber then wealthy antiquarian, perhaps forger and surely merchant of objects of dubious origin.
Address and contacts
Galleria Parmeggiani - Corso Cairoli, 2 - Reggio Emilia
Parmeggiani art gallery
Historical notes
Parmeggiani returned to his hometown in 1924, he founded the Art Gallery, later purchased by the Municipality of Reggio Emilia which still bears his name.
The european collectionism from the 19th to the 20th century
Around 1860-1890 the Asturian Ignacio Leon Y Escosura, painter, collectionist and art dealer from Oviedo, lived in Paris. The collection, a universal mix of the European output of the Middle Ages and the 18th century, supported his painting characterized by historical reconstruction.
In 1889, Luigi Parmiggiani (or Parmeggiani), after making an attempt on the life of the Socialist representatives Ceretti and Prampolini, took refuge in the Escosura's home in Paris; then he gradually supplanted Escosura in the management of the antique shops (one in Paris and one in London) and, under the pseudonym Louis Marcy, in dealing in medieval forms of ‘minor art’, known as “Marcy productions” that (in the second half of the 19th century) invaded both private and public major collections.
Once back in Reggio in 1924, Parmeggiani transformed the Gallery into an eclectic Gothic-Renaissance style of French and Spanish art forms, and he sold it to the Municipality of Reggio Emilia in 1933 with Adolfo Venturi's support.
The Parmeggiani collection consists of:
- a large part of the Escosura collection (including pieces of furniture, paintings, textiles and costumes) according to an artist’s home-museum in the Paris of the 19th century.
- Escosura's paintings, combined with the other objects.
- the paintings of Cesare Detti from Spoleto (1848-1919), colleague and friend of Escosura in Paris and father-in-law of Parmeggiani.
· the core of the Marcy fakes, a precious and rare collection showing the artistic craft and the collectors' tastes in the 19th century.
a few objects added by Parmeggiani.
- a large part of the Escosura collection (including pieces of furniture, paintings, textiles and costumes) according to an artist’s home-museum in the Paris of the 19th century.
- Escosura's paintings, combined with the other objects.
- the paintings of Cesare Detti from Spoleto (1848-1919), colleague and friend of Escosura in Paris and father-in-law of Parmeggiani.
· the core of the Marcy fakes, a precious and rare collection showing the artistic craft and the collectors' tastes in the 19th century.
a few objects added by Parmeggiani.
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