Gianfranco Selmi has been one of the central people for the cultural life of the city for many years.
His Galleria Marzocco in Barga Vecchia after a long and distinguished run is finally this month closing its doors to the public.
All of those antiques and paintings are now in the process of being moved out of Barga as the gallery is emptied.
Not an easy task taking into account the narrow and steep roads inside the castle walls of Barga Vecchia.
As the video below quite graphically shows, moving a 4 metre table out of the gallery took some considerable muscle power, a degree of space awareness and the incredible three (and sometimes the 4 wheeler) power house that is the APE.
The Piaggio Ape (Italian for bee), sometimes referred to as Ape Piaggio, Apecar, Ape Car or just Ape, is a three-wheeled light commercial vehicle produced since 1948 by Piaggio. At the end of World War II, most Italians, badly affected by the war, lacked means of transport and, more importantly, the financial means to acquire and maintain full-sized four-wheeled vehicles. In 1947, the inventor of the Vespa, aircraft designer Corradino D’Ascanio, came up with the idea of building a light three-wheeled commercial vehicle to power Italy’s economical reconstruction.
More images from the old Galleria Marzocco site can be seen here
