A day dedicated to Italian history and ingenuity in the name of Eugenio Barsanti e Felice MatteucciThis is the guiding thread of the initiative planned for theJune 11, 2026, promoted by Barsanti and Matteucci Foundation and from Rotary Club Lucca, Under the patronage of City of Lucca.
An event that will culminate with the inauguration of a new monument donated to the city and placed in Monsignor Emilio Maggini Square, in the area of the fountain between Porta San Pietro and the descent of the Walls.
The program will start at 17 pm in the Auditorium of the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca (Palazzo delle Esposizioni) with the convention "The Story of a Revolutionary Invention: Barsanti and Matteucci's Internal Combustion Engine", a moment of historical and scientific exploration dedicated to the legacy of the two inventors from Lucca and the international impact of their intuition. The meeting will be coordinated by the president of the Barsanti and Matteucci Foundation, Maria Luisa Beconcini, and will see the participation of speakers from the academic and scientific world.
At 18.30 pm, in Piazza Monsignor Emilio Maggini (inside Porta San Pietro), the official inauguration ceremony of the monument will be held, with greetings from the authorities and the unveiling of the work created by the sculptor Giulia Santarini, in collaboration with the mechanic Paolo Ciorli and the architect Chiara Lazzari who oversaw the architectural insertion.
During the ceremony, the internal combustion engine rebuilt by the Florentine Vintage Motorcycle Club Based on the original designs by Barsanti and Matteucci, this particularly evocative moment will allow the public to see a faithful historical reconstruction of the invention that marked the beginning of modern motorization.
The day will conclude at 20pm in Piazza del Giglio with a musical moment curated byLucca Musical Association.
Giulia Santarini is a sculptor from Lucca, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara. Her artistic research combines natural materials, metals, and industrial elements, transforming them into sculptures and kinetic installations. Movement plays a central role in her work, culminating in the creation of mechanical sculptures in action.
The work consists of the busts of the two characters made with the technique of copper rings soldered together, a technique very familiar to the sculptor; inside, a mechanism of elements set in rotation by the pressure of the water represents the invention, and the whole is enclosed by a circle, also rotating, symbolizing the world of ideas in which the partnership between scientists and their invention comes to life.
