IL GIROTONDO DELLE MUSE

The exhibition Il Girotondo delle Muse (The Roundabout of the Muses), featuring the work of contemporary architects and painters trained in Milan, aims to reflect on the ancient but still vibrant relationship between architecture and painting, capturing and showcasing the most interesting and original results of the present day. Five architect-painters have been invited to exhibit their work through a selection of pieces.

Arduino Cantafora (Milan, 1945), collaborator of Aldo Rossi, copyist of Caravaggio in his youth, professor of architecture at several Italian and foreign universities, painter of metaphysical influence with numerous works exhibited at the Pompidou Museum in Paris, is present in the exhibition with four paintings and two engravings.

Giancarlo Consonni (Merate, 1943) is Professor Emeritus at the Politecnico di Milano, where he taught urban planning. He directs the Piero Bottoni Archive, which he helped to found. An architect, visual artist and poet (five collections published in Einaudi's white series), he is represented in the exhibition with twelve small collages.

Isabella Cuccato (Roncade, 1947) began her studies in architecture at the Politecnico di Milano and completed them at the IUAV in Venice, where she graduated with Aldo Rossi. She worked for over ten years in various architectural firms in Milan. Since 1987, she has devoted herself entirely to figurative painting and is featured in the exhibition with ten oil paintings.

Alberto Ferlenga (Castiglione delle Stiviere, 1954), son of the Mantuan painter Franco, is an architect and has been a member of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca since 2019. He was professor of Architectural and Urban Composition at the IUAV, where he held the position of Rector. He uses painting to give shape to the imagination suggested by ancient or modern buildings. He is present in the exhibition with eleven mixed media works (pen, ink and watercolour).

Stefano Santi (Acquafredda, 1965) is an architect and painter from Mantua. After graduating from the Politecnico di Milano in 1993, he has been working as a designer in his family's studio in Castel Goffredo, and since 2000 he has also been painting. He recently won the Marchionni Painting Prize and is represented in the exhibition with eight oil and acrylic paintings on canvas.

The exhibition, curated by Alberto Bernardelli – former gallery owner at the Einaudi Centre in Mantua – and Massimo Ferrari – professor of Architectural and Urban Composition at the Politecnico di Milano – organised by the ‘Francesco Gonzaga’ Diocesan Museum, has been made possible thanks to the contribution of the Fondazione BAM in collaboration with the Mantova Campus of the Politecnico di Milano and the Order of Architects, Planners, Landscape Architects and Conservators of the province of Mantua.

It will be open to the public with free admission until 15th February 2026 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the following times: 10am-12pm and 3pm-6pm, or by appointment for small groups (for info + 39 328 5727 480).

Exhibition catalogue with writings by Alberto Bernardelli, Alberto Giorgio Cassani, Gianni Contessi, Massimo Ferrari, Giovanni Iacometti, Davide Del Curto and Cristiano Guernieri.