Pietro I - VIII Duke of Piazza Pontida
Pietro Polenghi da October 1986 a January 1989
His three-year reign was undoubtedly demanding, as, succeeding directly after Duke Gibellini, he had the fresh reference of a management style set by his predecessor with almost managerial criteria, yet at the same time faced comparisons that were not always easy to sustain.
However, all things considered, it is always better to follow a well-trodden path than to carve out a new one from scratch.
Thus, Duke Pietro I could comfortably rely on a well-tested and cohesive staff, consolidated over the course of his three-year reign, during which the only new addition was lawyer Franco Offredi in the field of dialect prose theater. Over the years, as the success of the Theater Festival initiated by Duke Gibellini grew, his successor, the reigning Duke Pietro I, had to work to replace the now inadequate Sala Greppi with a much larger venue, which was identified as the San Sisto Theater in Colognola.
Almost three decades later, the reign of Duke Pietro I still retains contemporary relevance, as it was precisely during this period that some projects were sketched out—originally started by his predecessor, Duke Andrea Gibellini, together with architect Sandro Angelini—concerning some statues depicting Arlecchino, intended for Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe; not placed on a pedestal or flowerbed as usual, but clinging to the walls of surrounding houses in a gesture of a stealthy climb.
This fact testifies, if further proof were needed, to how long our Duchy has been committed to enhancing the three native masks, asserting in particular the authentic Bergamasque origin of Arlecchino. In issue 14 of GIOPÌ, dated July 31, 1987, a biographical profile of Duke Pietro I appears, written by the poet Elisa Faga Plebani, which I like to quote in full because it is both effective and accurate, as only a poet of her caliber could achieve:
"Our Duke Pietro I has undoubtedly been, and continues to be, a man of action. The initiative and imagination that are his by nature he seeks in his collaborators, and, as Most Serene Duke, among all the people of the territory stretching from the ridge of the Orobic mountains along the valleys, and in the plain between the Adda and Oglio rivers, up to the borders of the Cremonese lands."
The search for insights for the drafting of these biographical notes, concerning the latest Dukes who succeeded to the ducal throne, offered me the opportunity to leaf through old issues of GIOPÌ and immerse myself in an unexpected yet pleasant "revival" of a three-year period spent working elbow to elbow with him in the late 1980s, during which Duke Pietro I generously dedicated himself, putting at the disposal of our association his numerous and influential contacts, both within the influential circles of Bergamo and in public offices.
It should not be forgotten that Engineer Polenghi was, for several years, the director of S.I.P. (later Telecom) for the province of Bergamo, a lifelong councilor of the A.C.I., of which he is now an authoritative President, as well as having served as president of the M.I.A. – Opera Pia della Misericordia Maggiore, and of the Litostampa Graphic Institute.
The caricature of the duke
