«Art and Science Are Free, and Free is Their Teaching». For a Critical History in the Lecture Hall of the University of Rome La Sapienza

Focused on Mario Sironi’s fresco for the Magna Hall of Sapienza University, the article underlines the asymmetry between the representation of knowledge embodied by the painting and the repressive policy implemented by the regime, indicating the possibility of a critical conservation of the work. The intertwining of Sironi’s painting and the stories of the teachers who refused the oath imposed by the regime constitutes the tool capable of overcoming the difficulties raised by the painting. As a place of contrast, the Magna Hall can become a space for a critical operation capable of broadening the spectrum of observation of the past and making the presence of the fresco significant in the present.