Exhibition on the mansions and objects of Count Hannibal Chieppio opens in Mantua

On view from April 20 to November 3, 2024 at the halls of the Palazzo d’Arco in Mantua is the exhibition Annibale Chieppio (1563-1623). “Rare and Precious Things” between Mantua and the Gonzaga. The exhibition promoted by the d’Arco Foundation and curated by Paola Venturelli is dedicated to this important figure and the objects preserved in his two residences: the present Palazzo d’Arco and the one in Olmo Lungo.

Count Annibale Chieppio (Mantua, 1563-1623) intertwines his biography almost to the point of mixing it with that of the Gonzagas. He managed relations between the court and the dense troop of artists and personalities revolving around it, painters, architects, musicians, scientists, and geographers, accepting their complaints or requests to be forwarded to the Gonzaga. Prominent in the group was the young and promising Pietro Paolo Rubens, who arrived in Mantua in the summer of 1600, forging a lasting friendship with Hannibal. The exhibition and the accompanying catalog seek to ideally reconstruct Hannibal’s residences and the objects contained therein. The purpose of the exhibition is to trace what is left, looking for it among the many beautiful things housed today in this fascinating house museum. Paintings and artifacts, with the entirely new nucleus of devotional ones and reliquaries, will be displayed in the rooms of Palazzo d’Arco, coexisting with other works, witnesses of different moments in its history. The exhibition is accompanied by the catalog Annibale Chieppio (1563-1623) “Rare and Precious Things” between Mantua and the Gonzagas, published by Silvana Editoriale, sponsored by Fondazione d’Arco and edited by Paola Venturelli. The work includes contributions by: Raffaele Tamalio, Raffaella Morselli, Cecilia Paolini, Carlo Togliani, Roberta Piccinelli, Paola Tosetti Grandi, Paola Venturelli, Francesca Rapposelli and Silvia Tosetti. Photographs by Giuseppe Gradella. The catalog is on sale in the bookshop of the Palazzo d’Arco Museum.

The d’Arco Foundation would like to thank the entities that sponsored the initiative: the Municipality of Mantua, the Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana, the Politecnico di Milano Polo Territoriale di Mantova, and the Società per il Palazzo Ducale Aps. Thanks are also due to the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Provinces of Cremona, Mantua and Lodi, which supervised the restoration process, and to the Friends of Palazzo Te and the Musei Mantovani Aps Ets, which offered technical support for the exhibition set-up. The initiative was made possible by contributions from Fondazione Comunità Mantovana onlus, to whom special thanks are due, Baroni Antiquariato, Pane al Pane di Leonardi Maria Cristina and Mantova Soroptimist Club. Thanks are also due to Accademia Teatrale “Francesco Campogalliani,” Società Variazioni, Rotary Club Mantova San Giorgio, Banca Mediolanum, Circolo Aziendale Dipendenti Banca Agricola Mantovana, Ammi section of Mantova, FinecoBank, Opto Engineering, APIndustria Mantova and the private citizens who supported this project

Today sees luxury in having an object that embodies the values of creativity, craftsmanship and Italianness, respect for the worker’s time and environmental sustainability: luxury is wearing a work of art. On the occasion of the exhibition therefore, limited pochettes sewn by Drittofilo with Alchimia fabric and Toile de Venise (designed by Gio Ponti), supplied by the prestigious Rubelli weaving company of Venice, active since 1889, were made. Among the rare and precious objects on display is “A pair of turquoise silk socks,” the result of a collaboration between the Museum of Palazzo d’Arco, the School of Design of the Milan Polytechnic, the Mantuan startup About socks and Filmar SpA of Brescia. Young designers from the Politecnico, under the guidance of Professor Giovanni Conti, studied the decorative patterns and coloring of historical artifacts on display in the exhibition to create a pair of socks inspired by Count Hannibal Chieppio. Among 41 projects submitted, three were selected as winners-Sammarini Paolo, Gallico Giulia and Capparelli Sara. Their creations, 100 pairs of socks, are on sale in the museum bookshop, and the proceeds will contribute to the project to preserve and enhance the textile heritage of the fashion and costume history section of the Palazzo d’Arco. The socks are made from filoscozia, a superior quality yarn offered by Filmar S.p.A, a Brescia-based leading manufacturer of cotton-based yarns with an exclusive “made in Italy” flavor.

Exhibition on the mansions and objects of Count Hannibal Chieppio opens in Mantua

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