Pliny the Elder and the magic of nature between art and science

This month’s artistic destination is how, and for a truly original exhibition. You should walk along the renovated lakeside promenade, on the left side of the cathedral, and stop there Villa OlmoElegant facade and surrounding green garden. Until January, the 2000th anniversary of the birth of the extraordinary citizen of Como is celebrated here: Pliny the Elder.

Como and citizen Pliny the Elder

Few people know that the great prosecutor, imperial admiral, scientist and writer was born in Como, then a province of the Roman Empire, in 23 AD. Pliny passed through the empire of Nero, Vespasian and Titus, always influenced by a boundless curiosity about the world: natural history It is a primary encyclopedic compendium of knowledge that has truly no rival in antiquity. It is not surprising that many of the modern world’s thinkers (first and foremost: Italo Calvino, whose centenary was this year) have been enthusiastic readers.

Pliny died in 79 AD, the victim of the eruption of Vesuvius: he observed the volcano from the sea, where he was with the imperial fleet, and recorded observations and notes attesting to his amazing intuition. The lure of nature’s power over the human mind is precisely what inspires the deep meaning of the original exhibition Universe. Volcano loveran exhibition focusing on the hypnotic and sometimes destructive power of the universe on men.

The elegant facade of Villa Olmo, which hosts the exhibition Universe. Volcano lover

a path Universe. Volcano lover

Promoted BTS Como Arte Foundation Intelligently curated by Sonia DaltoIn dialogue in the neoclassical rooms of Villa Olmo, the exhibition brings together works of contemporaries with finds from the Roman era coming from the Paolo Giovio Archaeological Museum in Como and the Natural History Museum in Milan, as well as ancient prints from the Sforzesco Castle in Milan and the museum collections of the Alessandro Volta High School in Como. .

This journey between art and science unfolds starting from the large textile portal of the art collection Slavs and Tatars Which in turn opens to a large room in which we find exhibits and documents from the era of Pliny, while the Indian artist Lavanya ManiWith its furnishings inspired by Vesuvius, it takes the visitor towards the section dedicated to contemporary works.

Side by side we see works by different international artists such as Jimmy Durham, Aldo Mondino, Mirella Bentivoglio, Mike Kelly. “The artists in the exhibition illustrate the effects of inherited knowledge that is now in crisis due to nature increasingly rebelling against humanity,” explains the curator. Sonia Dalto. “In the exhibition, events take a turn: what humans considered simple to observe explodes in the form of environmental destruction and social disparities.” We begin with Pliny to bear witness, thanks to today’s artists, to our dramatic Anthropocene.