Vincent City/Eremo di Vincent [Vincent’s Hermitage]Vincent Maria Brunetti (b. 1950)

Born Vincenzo Brunetti, the artist carried on an artistic career in Milan for some twenty years before returning to his native home in Guagnano. Vincent City started first as a votive church, but by the mid-1990s he had transformed it into an idiosyncratic – and egocentric – house museum.

The most arresting component as one first views the house is the high front gable, filled with statues of all kinds (including Madonnas, cherubs, snails, elephants, donkeys, and a reproduction of Michelangelo’s David), as well as multicolored tiles and writings in biblical style. Inside and outside alike, Brunetti has combined everything together – his own works along with those of coworkers, copies of well-known artworks, ready-mades of recovered and decontextualized items, large and small staircases, low and high ceilings, and small doors opening into the most unlikely rooms.

A separate house hosts a selection of his paintings that are available for purchase; here, on Sundays, the “Master” performs music for visitors.

Brunetti continues to work on expanding the house-museum, although it has been threatened for removal for unpermitted construction, and in the past it was temporarily closed. It is well-known in the area as a local attraction.

~Lina Pispico

www.costruttoridibabele.net

Via Case Sparse
Guagnano, Puglia, 73010 it
Latitude/Longitude: 40.3953959 / 17.944238

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