Eighty years after the September 2nd 1944, liberation of the city during World War II, the exhibition “From War to Liberation” recalls at Palazzo Blu the dramatic period experienced by Pisa in the broader context of the conflict.

The images in the exhibition, curated by Prof. Gianluca Fulvetti, of the Department of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge at the University of Pisa, were found at institutions and archives, including digital ones, local (such as that of the Pisa Foundation), national and international. Splendid above all, the photos produced by the U.S. Army preserved by the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, recovered thanks also to Mr. Stefano Villani, professor at the University of Pisa and now working at the University of Maryland: the bombing of 31 August 1943, which brings the war inside Pisa, the Allied soldiers approaching the city and fighting to liberate it, its slow rebirth and the extraordinary work of the “Monuments Men” to recover the Monumental Cemetery, burned in July 1944.
The tour, divided into four sections (Axis War, War in the City, Resistance and Repression, Liberation), is preceded by a general introduction to the history of World War II.
On the events that are the subject of this exhibition and their interpretation there are a huge mass of documents and endless libraries. “From War to Liberation” cannot and does not therefore want to be a complete and exhaustive treatment of them, but only wants to urge, especially young people, to learn about events that still influence our lives and to reflect on them. The exhibition will be open until May 2025, so it will also be a useful opportunity for students in our schools to learn about it.
The topics and images covered in “From War to Liberation” have been collected in an agile publication full of images, edited again by Fulvetti and enriched by in-depth essays by Stefano Gallo, Gabriella Gribaudi, Daniele Menozzi, Paolo Pezzino and Matteo Pretelli.
In the auditorium of Palazzo Blu, the exhibition will be accompanied between September and November by a series of in-depth meetings curated by Professor Daniele Menozzi. In the first meeting, on Sunday, September 29 at 11 a.m., Professor Paolo Pezzino will speak on the theme “From Fascist War to Civil War.”

Fig.1) The crowd in Piazza Garibaldi listens to Mussolini’s words announcing entry into the war over the radio.
Fig.2) West Gallery and Piero Di Puccio’s Ptolemaic Cosmos from Orvieto on the north gallery. Credit National Archives (photo no.239-RC-17-63-W180)
Fig.3) American bombers flying over the city. Credit National Archives (photo no.342-FH-3A25520-62550AC)
Fig.4) The effects of the bombardment on the Navicelli Canal near the Stampace bastion. Credit National Archives (photo no.111-SC-221-1659-192178)
Fig.5) An American patrol on the outskirts of Pisa. Credit National Archives (photo no.208-AA-53U-31369)