The Labirinto della Masone in Fontanellato presents the calendar of initiatives designed for the 2025 Christmas period, a schedule that brings together activities for the public, cultural events and proposals aimed at families. The complex designed by Franco Maria Ricci, made up of more than 300,000 bamboo plants belonging to twenty different species, confirms itself as a place where the natural dimension is intertwined with the artistic and museum dimensions, a context in which the program for the weeks leading up to the festivities is set. The celebrations open on November 27 with the arrival of the work Le Ballon (The Balloon), a painting from Francisco Goya ’s atelier and dated between about 1816 and 1824. The loan, granted by the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Agen, represents a new chapter in the institutional relationship between the French museum and the Franco Maria Ricci Collection. The collaboration also includes the transfer to Agen of the portrait of the Duchess d’Aiguillon, a masterpiece by Philippe de Champaigne belonging to the Labyrinth’s permanent collection, which will be exhibited from December 5, 2025 to March 8, 2026 at theÉglise des Jacobins as part of the exhibition Lumières françaises. De la cour de Versailles à Agen.
The painting coming to Fontanellato depicts a balloon suspended above a mountainous landscape marked by gorges and reliefs, while on the ground appear groups of soldiers on foot and on horseback crossing rocky passages. At the top of the image, two figures in flight wave flags, an element that hints at a possible episode from the Spanish War of Independence. The theme of the hot air balloon occupies a recurring role in the visual imagination of Franco Maria Ricci, who elaborated on it in the Eteria volume of the Guide Impossibili series and in several issues of FMR magazine, where it appeared as a poetic and metaphorical symbol. Thus, the exchange between Le Ballon and the Duchess d’Aiguillon allows for a reinterpretation of the Labyrinth’s exhibition itinerary until March 8, 2026, offering a new balance to the layout and the dialogues between the works.
Alongside the exhibition content, the Labyrinth offers initiatives dedicated to younger audiences. From Dec. 6 to 21, and on Dec. 8, children ages five to 11 can participate in Lost Toys... and Other Messes. Christmas Adventure at the Labyrinth of the Masone. The activity takes place among the museum rooms and the paths of the bamboo path, through clues, trials to overcome and characters to meet, with the narrative goal of helping Santa Claus recover on the most awaited night of the year. The initiative is included with admission, does not require reservations and runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on designated weekends. Participants receive a play kit until 3:30 p.m., a tool that accompanies the tour and allows them to keep their memories even at the conclusion of the visit.
On Dec. 13 at 4 p.m. there will be an in-depth look at the exhibition Knock Knock Knock. Iron Guardians from the Cesati Collection, running until Jan. 6, 2026. The meeting, titled Open Doors to Closed Doors, will take place in the Borges Room and will offer a reading of the sixty-five works on display, iron door-knockers forged between the 14th and 18th centuries from the collection of Alessandro Cesati. Objects of use that present a remarkable formal and symbolic variety, they are flanked by photographs by Massimo Listri and Roberto Bigano, which document their craftsmanship value and visual impact. The planned dialogue involves figures from different fields: Stefano Salis, journalist and essayist, author of the texts that guide the exhibition’s conceptual framework; Carlo Donà, professor of Romance Philology at the University of Messina and author of an essay in the catalog devoted to the symbolic dimension of pickets; Marco Biraghi, architect and architectural theorist, who has addressed the theme of the door in a volume of his own; and Alessandro Cesati, antiquarian, gallery owner and curator of the exhibition. The meeting is included in the Labyrinth’s entrance fee. On the same day, guided tours of the art collection and temporary exhibition are scheduled at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The Christmas program concludes on Dec. 20 with a musical event. Starting at 4:30 p.m. in the Labyrinth’s entrance court, the Joy Voices Youth Choir, a formation formed in 2008 and composed of young performers with a repertoire focused on the Anglo-Saxon and Afro-American tradition, including gospel and spirituals, will perform. The initiative is organized by the restaurant-bistro Il Labirinto by 12monaci. Access to the court is free, an element that broadens audience participation and allows the performance to be attended without a reservation.
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| The Labyrinth of the Masone welcomes the Goya of the atelier: the Christmas 2025 program |
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