Inventing Nature. Leonardo, Arcimboldo, Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Self-Portrait as Bacchus. ca.1653, Galleria Borghese, Rome.

In dialogue with the Palazzo Te’s exceptional decorative scheme designed by Giulio Romano, Inventare la Natura. Leonardo, Arcimboldo, Caravaggio celebrates the relationship between the natural world, artistic production and court culture in the sixteenth century .

Works by great artists such as Leonardo , Arcimboldo , Carracci  and Caravaggio , together with a rich selection of sculptures, drawings, precious objects, exotic materials and automatons on loan from the main Italian and European museum institutions, will lead the visitor to experience nature as a phenomenon to be investigated through science, art and technology.

Constantly balancing wonder and fear, confusion and the desire for control, the exhibition, which includes the spectacular Chamber of the Giants, offers a thoughtful and surprising reflection on the relationship between art and nature . Seven thematic sections —titled Creating , Destroying , Feeling , Reproducing , Knowing , Amazement , and Animating —present the diverse visions of nature present in Renaissance culture : from an instrument of divine will to a destructive force, from a dimension of scientific and collectible interest to an object of curiosity and source of entertainment at court, through artistic research as a means of understanding, controlling, and imitating nature.

With this in mind, the Palazzo Te Foundation has partnered with several important city and local institutions to offer visitors additional exhibition options through their permanent museum and nature collections. Together with Mantua's Palazzo Ducale, Palazzo D'Arco, the Biblioteca Teresiana, the Virgilio Classical High School, and the Bosco Fontana State Nature Reserve – Municipality of Marmirolo, the program will showcase a city-wide itinerary exploring nature in its many forms and artistic interpretations.