Percorso accessibile Montecatini - EN
TRAVELING EXHIBITION
IL NOVECENTO DI CATARSINI. DALLA MACCHIA ALLA MACCHINA
MONTECATINI TERME FROM NOVEMBER 15, 2025 TO FEBRUARY 15, 2026
DESCRIPTION OF THE EXHIBITION ITINERARY, ACCESSIBLE FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED
The exhibition at MO.C.A. – Montecatini Contemporary Art
The exhibition is located at MO.CA. – Montecatini Contemporary Art, the exhibition space dedicated to contemporary art located on the ground floor of the Montecatini Terme Town Hall.
The Town Hall was built in the 1920s and inaugurated in 1920; It stands majestically on Viale Giuseppe Verdi, a frequent visitor to the spa, and was designed to house public offices, which were used until 2007.
The Town Hall was embellished in 1918 by the Florentine artist Galileo Chini. He designed the tempera murals that decorate the ground floor, the wide staircase, and the high ceilings of the first floor, which, through balustrades, connects with the entrance hall and the central hall, once used as a post office. He also created the series of stained-glass windows in the central hall above the service windows and the skylight in the staircase, around which the murals are arranged.
Chini’s pictorial cycle celebrates the return to peace after the First World War, as reflected in the mottos “Working/Building/Knowing/In Peace” and the figures symbolizing work, commerce, and art, which thrive in times of peace. His sculptural and sinuous figures harmonize with geometric and multicolored motifs, subjects chosen for the important public building that was to house the city’s government. This important decorative complex, typical of Central European culture, showcases Chini’s unmistakable style, rich with the poetry that distinguishes all his work.
The traveling exhibition “IL NOVECENTO DI CATARSINI. DALLA MACCHIA ALLA MACCHINA” has toured many cities in Tuscany, stopping in Montecatini Terme and recounts his long artistic career with a selection of 58 works chosen from his production from the 1930s to the 1980s, divided into four exhibition rooms.
Accessibility for the Visually Impaired
The exhibition is part of the multi-year project “Accessible Art for All,” promoted by the Alfredo Catarsini 1899 ETS Foundation, which aims to make art, cultural sites, and tourist attractions accessible to everyone.
For this reason, the exhibition was designed to be accessible to the visually impaired, who can explore it independently and at their own pace. Accessibility is ensured by audio descriptions (in Italian and English) accessed via a QR code on a smartphone. Each photo, forex, roll-up, and artwork has a QR code tag that provides a detailed, adapted description and recorded audio in Italian and English.
Furthermore, the exhibition includes an Experiential Workshop with an installation reproducing a work from the exhibition. The workshop is equipped with typhlodidactic tools, such as a sculptural high relief and relief drawings, created by the Omero State Tactile Museum. Braille transcriptions in Italian and English, produced by the Tuscany Region Braille Printing House, complete the display.
The Experiential Laboratory is open to all, and the Catarsini Foundation offers free guided tours and workshops.
Entrance to the Palace and MO.C.A.
Once you enter the Palace, the large atrium leads to the central staircase. To reach the exhibition rooms, keep right and walk about 10 meters to the base of the staircase.
Next, turn 45 degrees right and, after 3 meters, another 45 degrees left. After 3 meters, turn right again 45 degrees to reach the entrance to the MO.C.A. – Montecatini Contemporary Art rooms, once used as a post office.
Beginning of the exhibition route
After passing the MO.C.A. entrance and continuing for about 4 meters, you reach a perpendicular corridor with several options:
On the left, about 3 meters away, there is the bookshop where you can buy gadgets and ask for information about the toilets.
On the right, after about 4.5 meters, you enter the antechamber to exhibition rooms 1, 2, and 3.
Straight ahead, continuing for about 1 meter, you enter the Central Hall, where the exhibition tour begins.
Central Hall: Self-Portrait Room – The tour begins here
The exhibition begins in the majestic Central Hall, a spacious and bright space measuring 9 by 7.5 meters, completely free of obstacles.
Looking up, you can admire the magnificent perimeter decorations of the ceiling and a balustrade overlooking the hall from the first floor. The three walls (left, front, and right) are punctuated by eight counters from the former post office, divided by square columns. Each counter has a wooden frame with beveled glass of various sizes and is topped by tall polychrome stained-glass windows from the Manifattura Chini, depicting themes of communication, such as a boat, an airplane propeller, or a telegraph.
On wooden shelves, positioned at each door and displayed on table easels, are a selection of 11 small self-portraits in black and white on paper and one in oil, as if Catarsini himself were welcoming visitors and guiding them through the discovery of his art. They document the evolution of Catarsini’s artistic journey and his complex and multifaceted personality in an artistic genre he cultivated throughout his career and interpreted, with remarkable expressive variety, through various graphic and pictorial mediums. Additional self-portraits in oil can be found in the following rooms.
The Works and the Beginning of the Visit
On the first shelf on the left wall, there is an information panel with two QR codes that provide access to audio descriptions of the exhibition and the tour. Next to it, a second panel illustrates the works displayed in pairs on the remaining seven shelves.
The exhibition features 12 self-portraits by Alfredo Catarsini, created on paper using various techniques (pencil, charcoal, pen, lithography, monotype) between the 1930s and 1980s. These portraits show the artist’s face from a full-face, profile, or three-quarter view, capturing his mood at the time. These are complemented by an oil self-portrait and two other works, described on separate pages.
After visiting all the shelves, before leaving, two roll-ups are placed on either side of the entrance. One displays the Foundation’s logo, while the other, with Catarsini’s biography, contains QR codes for accessing the audio description.
Continuation of the Exhibition
Returning to the initial corridor, about a meter to the left, you’ll find the first information panel with a description of the exhibition and QR codes for audio descriptions. Continuing for a meter and a half, you’ll reach the antechamber, which leads to the next three exhibition rooms.
These rooms form a horseshoe around the Central Hall, sharing its left wall.
ANTECHAMBER
This space measures 2 meters by 2 meters. Hanging on the opposite wall is the exhibition colophon. Continue for a meter, then turn left at a 45-degree angle to enter the first exhibition room. Each connecting door between the rooms is approximately 1 meter wide.
The three rooms follow the perimeter of the Central Hall, which is also on the left, forming a horseshoe. The left wall of Rooms 1 and 3 features windows and shelves corresponding to the cabinets, as in the Central Hall, while there are none in Room 2 and the room dedicated to Joan Miró.
The Antechamber and the Beginning of the Exhibition Rooms
After passing the corridor, you enter the antechamber, a space approximately 2 x 2 meters. The exhibition colophon hangs on the opposite wall.
To reach the first room, advance one meter and turn left 45 degrees. The opening connecting the rooms is approximately one meter wide.
The three exhibition rooms are arranged in a horseshoe shape around the Central Hall, which is to the left of the direction of travel and can be glimpsed through the small windows in the doors of Rooms 1 and 3, where the shelves are also located. Room 2 and the room dedicated to Joan Miró do not have these features.
Room 1: Works and Experiential Workshop
Room 1, 8.5 meters long, features three windows with three shelves on the left wall, like those in the main hall. Each shelf holds two works on small table easels, each accompanied by an informational sign. The six works are small.
The right wall and the one perpendicular to it house three more works, until the path ends at a point where a staircase leading to the basement interrupts the route. To continue, turn left until, after about two meters, you come across two sofas with their backs resting against the stairway balustrade. By following the direction of travel through the room, you can avoid the staircase. After passing them, turn right and reach the wall. The Experiential Workshop is set up on this wall, allowing visitors to explore a high-relief sculpture from the work “Marina con Figure” (Seascape with Figures), exhibited in the same room.
Nearby, on a table, are the QR codes for the audio recordings and Braille descriptions in Italian and English. From here, the tour continues for about two meters with two more works, until the end of the wall and the opening that leads to the second room.
Room 2
The passage from Room 1 to Room 2 is along the left wall, which is shared with the Central Hall. Measuring 5.5 meters long and 4.5 meters wide, this room has no windows or shelves, and 15 works are displayed on all four walls, while the sixteenth is displayed on an easel.
To proceed to the next room, walk to the end of the left wall and turn left 45 degrees.
Room 3
12 meters long and 6 meters wide, Room 3 features 12 works hanging on the walls and four small works displayed on two shelves. The room also features a photograph depicting Alfredo Catarsini at the 1942 Venice Biennale and a forex poster with detailed information about the exhibition, also accompanied by audio descriptions.
Upon entering, on the left is a 5-meter wall, followed, on the right, by the wall bordering the Central Hall. Here, there are three windows with shelves: the four works on easels are displayed only on the first and third.
Turning right and following the left wall, you reach the entrance to the room with the permanent exhibition dedicated to Joan Miró.
The Joan Mirò Room and Video Screening
From Room 3, you enter the Joan Mirò Room. Crossing this 10-meter-long room, you reach a small video screening room.
This room is furnished with chairs facing a screen showing videos on the life and works of Alfredo Catarsini.
Exit
After visiting the video screening room, return to the Central Hall, near the bookshop. From here, proceed left along the entrance corridor for 2 meters, then turn right for 1 meter to reach the door that leads to the Palazzo’s atrium and, finally, to the exit.