MAMIANO DI TRAVERSETOLO.- Dreams, myths, and mystery take center stage this spring at the Fondazione Magnani-Rocca, where a sweeping exhibition is shining new light on one of the most fascinating yet often overlooked movements in Italian art.

Titled “Symbolism in Italy: Origins and developments of a new aesthetic, 1883–1915,” the exhibition opened on March 14 and brings together more than 150 works, including paintings, sculptures, and graphic works, to explore how Italian artists embraced and transformed the Symbolist movement at the turn of the twentieth century.

Running through June 28, 2026, the exhibition unfolds inside the Villa dei Capolavori, the historic residence that houses the Magnani-Rocca Foundation near Parma. Visitors encounter the exhibition just steps away from masterpieces in the foundation’s permanent collection by artists such as Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Titian, Dürer, and Goya—an environment that underscores the international artistic dialogue that helped shape Symbolism.

A visionary chapter of Italian art

While Symbolism flourished in France, Belgium, and Central Europe in the late nineteenth century, Italy developed its own distinctive interpretation of the movement.

The exhibition demonstrates how Italian artists drew inspiration from figures such as Arnold Böcklin and Gustave Moreau, as well as from Pre-Raphaelite ideas circulating across Europe, while simultaneously forging a language that blended spirituality, mythology, and landscape.

Instead of depicting reality as it appeared, Symbolist artists sought to evoke deeper emotional and psychological states. Nature became a living organism, myth took on unsettling and mysterious dimensions, and landscapes transformed into reflections of the inner world.

As curator Francesco Parisi explains, the exhibition also attempts to clarify a long-standing art-historical question: which artists truly embraced Symbolism as a philosophy, and which merely borrowed its imagery.

Masterpieces and rare works reunited

The show includes works by many of the leading figures associated with Italian Symbolism and related artistic currents. Among them are Giovanni Segantini, Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, Gaetano Previati, Giulio Aristide Sartorio, Galileo Chini, Leonardo Bistolfi, and Adolfo Wildt.

International influences are also present, with works by artists such as Edward Burne-Jones, Franz von Stuck, Max Klinger, and Böcklin, whose time in Florence had a profound impact on Italian painters.

Many of the works come from major museums—including institutions in Rome, Turin, and Milan—as well as rarely accessible private collections, making the exhibition a rare opportunity to see these pieces together.

Seven thematic sections

The exhibition unfolds through seven thematic sections, guiding visitors through the development of Symbolism in Italy.

At the threshold of Symbolism examines the literary and theoretical climate of the late nineteenth century, shaped by figures such as writer Gabriele D’Annunzio.

From history to symbol shows how traditional historical painting gradually gave way to myth-laden and spiritual imagery.

In the forests and seas of the gods explores mythological and visionary worlds inspired by classical antiquity and northern European symbolism.

Poison, desire, and redemption focuses on the complex and often contradictory Symbolist portrayal of women—as saints, temptresses, and mythical figures.

Geographies of the invisible examines landscapes that evoke emotional states rather than physical places.

The dark mark highlights the importance of drawing and illustration in Symbolist expression.

Later developments traces how Symbolism continued to influence artists even after 1910.

Together, these sections reveal the movement’s extraordinary range—from mystical allegories and mythological scenes to haunting landscapes and psychologically charged portraits.

A setting that enhances the experience

The exhibition experience extends beyond the galleries themselves. Surrounding the Villa dei Capolavori is the Romantic Park, a twelve-hectare landscape of English-style gardens, Italian gardens, and contemporary plantings inspired by the New Perennial Movement.

The park, conceived by collector Luigi Magnani as an extension of his aesthetic vision, allows visitors to continue their encounter with the Symbolist spirit outdoors, wandering among quiet paths, monumental trees, and the estate’s famous white peacocks.

A renewed look at Italian Symbolism

Accompanied by a scholarly catalogue published by Dario Cimorelli Editore, the exhibition represents one of the most comprehensive explorations of Italian Symbolism in recent years.

By tracing the movement’s roots, influences, and lasting legacy, the exhibition reveals Italy not as a peripheral participant in Symbolism but as an active laboratory where artists experimented with new ways of expressing mystery, imagination, and the invisible.

For visitors to the Magnani-Rocca Foundation this spring, the exhibition offers an immersive journey into an artistic world where dreams, myths, and inner visions were transformed into powerful images that still resonate today.