This visit presents some relics and curiosities, well-known and less well-known, from Manfredo Settala’s Wunderkanmmer to the lock of Lucrezia Borgia’s hair, from spectacularly carved reliefs of Bambaia’s Monument of Gaston de Foix, to astrolabes and colures and the discovery of all those objects, works and bizarre oddities that make the Ambrosiana a true chamber of wonders.
Faces made out of the wing-cases of beetles, marble carvings that look like fluffy white lace, a frog sprawling on its back, potions… these are just some of the many curiosities and oddities hidden between the walls of the Ambrosiana. We will travel together through the history of the taste for wonderful and bizarre objects, which have fascinated people ever since ancient times and were showcased in the museum complex in which the Ambrosiana was built in the 17th century.
At left, Goblet made from a shell (Turbo marmoratus) in a case, early 17th century, Christoph Lencker (c. 1556-1613), silver gilt, emeralds and rubies, enamel; on the right, Armillary sphere, first half of the 17th century, silver-plated brass
The themes of wonder, strangeness, the unknown and the curious have been investigated in the history of art and culture both as poetic in themselves, and as a consequence of the new geographical conquests, the pomposity of the Baroque and the Scientific Revolution. On this visit, pseudoscience mingles with fantasy, with the urge to astonish overpowering the aesthetic appeal and surprise is the primary principle for stirring the interest of the world. Here the madness of artists is seen as part of their genius, on a complex and original tour that approaches art from a decidedly unusual point of view.
The exhibition reveals the profound resonance that Leonardo's teaching in the field of design had on his students, his followers and the Lombard artists of the time.
Presentations of ancient Roman epigraphs from the Ambrosiana collections.
