The exhibition that opens the autumn season of the Scuderie del Quirinale "Metaphysica," curated by Ester Coen, starts out from Giorgio de Chirico. Alongside his works, the exhibition presents a whole series of artists who were fascinated by the atmosphere of de Chirico's work, both among the Surrealists (Ernst, Tanguy, Magritte, Miró, Dalí, Giacometti) and among the Abstract Expressionists (Gorky, de Kooning). The approach adopted by Ester Coen succeeds in grasping-in a wholly Original fashion-the new sense of that way of seeing things and representing them that de Chirico sought in his early years and which was to make him internationally famous. With "Metaphysica" the Scuderie del Quirinale has successfully presented its first ten exhibitions. The programming has ranged from the inaugural exhibition, "100 Masterpieces from the Hermitage," to "Botticelli," the Brazilian photographer "Salgado," "Masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance," "Rembrandt," and a reinterpretation of nineteenth-century art with the recent "Majesty of Rome," to cite only a few of them. A rich and thoughtful calendar of events, which we hope will reflect both public demand and developments in the critical debate and which has attracted some 1,300,000 visitors in just three years. A survey underway this year shows that 60% of these visitors live in Rome, 30% are from other parts of Italy and 10% are foreigners. These figures are highly interesting. They reveal essentially two things: they confirm the fact that foreigners come to Rome basically to see its museums and the city out of doors, while on the other it highlights the local citizens' growing interest in culture. Visiting an exhibition at the Scuderie has, in fact, become a regular event for the art-lovers of Rome. The sense of cultural vitality that is perceptibly in the air is confirmed by figures which are a highly gratifying sign of appreciation, and for all of us this is a stimulus to work to achieve ever-higher standards of quality. My hope is, therefore, that this exhibition will meet with the favor of the public and enjoy the success we all hope for. (Fabiano Fabiani, President Azienda Speciale Palaexpo Scuderie del Quirinale)