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Costa Diadema features modern art on a regal theme

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'For a Prince of St. Petersburg and a Prince of Kiev,' by French artist Nathalie du Pasquier
The new Costa Diadema will be dripping with 7,671 pieces of specially commissioned modern art to complement its interior design. The 132,500gt ship, under construction at Fincantieri's Marghera yard, is scheduled for delivery Oct. 30.

Costa Diadema will exhibit a wide array of original art, reproductions and silk-screen prints by 41 artists, 38 of them Italian. The artists were commissioned by Costa to interpret the regal theme through painting, sculpture, photography, graphics, architecture and design.

'We are trying to evoke different feelings through the ambiance of the interiors on Costa Diadema,' said architect Joe Farcus, who has designed Costa newbuilds since 2000's Costa Atlantica. 'The art and design elements are essential to achieving the emotional dimension we want guests to experience.'

Curator and artistic duo Casagrande & Recalcati selected both recognized and emerging artists to take inspiration from contemporary culture. Among them are well-known artists Sam Havadtoy and Mario Donizetti, as well as rising Italian artists Vanni Cuoghi, Resi Girardello, Andy, Roberta Savelli and Claudio Prestinari.

Among the art pieces are 190 original works, including paintings hung in suites and in the stairwells, and other mixed-media works placed at the entrance to the theater. Public areas such as the Corona Blu Restaurant, Costa Diadema Club Restaurant, Eliodoro Atrium and Lido Diana will feature 260 works of digital art and 26 sculptures. On the open-air Promenade, which circles the ship on Deck 5, Roberto Bixio's two large glass mosaics titled 'Riviera Ligure' showcase imagery from the Mediterranean coasts and cover a total area of 1,442 square feet on the port and starboard sides.

Italian artists contributing to Costa Diadema include Piero Addis, Andy, Davide Avogadro, Bixio, Manuela Carrano, Casagrande & Recalcati, Cuoghi, Marco Dezzi Bardeschi, Donizetti, Titti Garelli, Girardello, Eloisa Gobbo, Marco Grassi, Riccardo Gusmaroli, Cristina Iotti, Vittorio Locatelli and Carlo Ninchi. Further Italian artists are Tiziana Lorenzelli, Flavio Lucchini, Francesca Marzorati, Francesco Merletti, Alberto Nodolini, Matteo Piazza, Annalisa Pirovano, Prestinari, Elisa Rossi, Savelli, Luisa Valentini, Antonella Piro, Virgilio Rospigliosi, Augusto Vignali and Toni Zanussi.

Artists from abroad include Roger de Montebello and Nathalie du Pasquier of France, and the Hungarian-American Havadtoy.

Costa Diadema's preview cruise from Trieste is set for Nov. 1, followed by the christening in Genoa on Nov. 7, then a trio of seven-night inaugural cruises.

Beginning Nov. 29 and for the rest of the 2014/15 winter season and through summer 2015, Costa Diadema will sail from Savona on seven-night western Mediterranean cruises to Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Naples and La Spezia.