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Quirinal Palace, Massimo Listri & NFTs

by Guido Wannenes

The last year has been a year of change for all of us. Work, habits, life itself, everything has been reviewed, remodelled, adapted to a new context. Our magazine, which is nothing other than the mirror of our passions, could not fail to change as well.
The cover story of this issue is not dedicated to an auction lot but to the Quirinal Palace, one of the symbols of our country. You can admire it thanks to Massimo Listri’s splendid photographs, a dear friend and undisputed master of architectural and environmental photography.
We continue with an interview with Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, a complex of unique collections that are all different from each other. We continue with an interview with Gabriele Ciaccio, leader of the insurance sector dedicated to works of art and the luxury sector for Big Broker Insurance.

Last year’s balance sheet also reveals a change. In fact, 2020 was the year in which participation in auctions via the Web surpassed participation via traditional methods, as the figures show: 65% of auctions were conducted online and 35% in presence, via telephone or written bids.

How all this will shape the future is illustrated in the editorials by Alessandro Secciani and Giuseppe Calabi. The former puts us in front of a stimulating economic dilemma while the latter presents us with two new digital authentication tools, blockchain and NFT.
Roberta Olcese makes us “travel” among the shots of the Thomas Walther collection exhibited at the Masi in Lugano until 1 August while Tomaso Montanari shows the importance of looking at our ancient churches with a different eye.

The previews range from the finest wines to the big names in design, modern art, silverware, ceramics, sculptures, old and 19th-century paintings, and end with jewellery and watches from Monte Carlo, to which an important selection of Hermes bags will be added this year.
Because although everything has changed, our passions are still the same and in the second half of 2021 they will be even more interna