2020: the images that will remain in our memory

Looking back at it all from the start, 2020 seems like an endless year. Almost destined not to close, certainly to change us. How will we remember 2020? The year of Covid, of the cry of Black Lives Matter, of the koalas saved from the flames in Australia, of the return home of Silvia Romano. Farewell to many unforgettable people, for history and value: from Kobe Bryant to Sean Connery, Maradona, Gigi Proietti, Paolo Rossi, Franca Valeri, Ennio Morricone.

We have chosen to tell this controversial year through twenty images, some will remain in history, others will continue to strike our memory.

There are the coffins of Bergamo, hit hard by the first wave of Coronavirus in Italy, there is the prayer of Pope Francis, completely alone in a St. Peter’s Square that we had never seen so desolate and afraid. «Dense darkness has gathered on our squares. May God’s blessing descend on everyone », Bergoglio repeats, under the incessant rain.

There are the deserted streets, the songs from the balconies, symbol of a unity found in the moment of greatest difficulty, which culminates with the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella who descends alone, with a mask, from the Altare della Patria, on the day of release on April 25th. There is farewell to Willy Monteiro Duarte, to whom Vanity Fair dedicated a cover and a mural created by street artist Ozmo in Paliano, near Rome, where Willy grew up and where he lived with his family.

There is Wuhan, which first fought against the virus and first celebrated the life that was born in the midst of the pandemic. There are the fires that have devastated Australia, the fatigue of doctors at the forefront of intensive care. There is the smile of Kamala Harris alongside the new American president Joe Biden. A sign of hope, which takes a breath and breathes together with the images of the first woman vaccinated against Covid, in England.