MAGNANI COLLECTION. The Bottles Exhibition Exhibition From October 6, 2018 to March 31, 2019 Venice, Palazzo Mocenigo Museum Opening and press preview: Friday, October 5, 12:30 pm .
The Palazzo Mocenigo Museum, in line with other exhibitions on the same theme held alongside the new section dedicated to the history of perfume and essences – which has enhanced the new exhibition layout of the venue since 2013 – presents a significant selection of bottles from the Magnani collection. It is now well known that for centuries, perfume and its containers were reserved for a few privileged individuals who, even through these tiny objects, intended to flaunt their wealth and their love of beauty and the “wonderful.” These extraordinary artifacts represent the passion of Monica Magnani, an omnivorous collector of antique perfume bottles—also known as scent bottles—which began with the purchase of a small silver object from a noble Venetian family. What was later discovered to be a 17th-century German perfume box set the standards that define the over 850 bottles in her collection: their antiquity, their unusual nature, and their size, all less than 10 centimeters. Flourished over time with meticulous and passionate research, discovery, selection and study, the collection ranges from the ‘unguent bottles’ of the first centuries AD to the pieces of the early 1900s, passing through some very rare examples of the 17th and 18th centuries, up to the great variety that characterized the production of the entire 19th century, including the chatelaines worn at balls or used for tiny French love tokens, or for Murano and Bohemian glass or, again, for the many souvenirs of the Grand Tour. The exhibition, curated by Chiara Squarcina and Monica Magnani, presents between the Androne, the White Room and the main floor of Palazzo Mocenigo, a selection of 225 bottles divided into 10 thematic areas – Chronology, Toys, Souvenirs, Techniques, Nature, Love Tokens, Containers, Chatelaines, Tiny and Masterpieces – displayed through an original interpretation that brings out their intrinsic meaning: not only of the A perfume holder, but almost a “materialization” of a state of mind or feeling. The exhibition is further enhanced by a display case displaying rare vintage commercials and another featuring antique books on perfume and cosmetics, lent by the Beauty Library of Cosmetica Italia – Milan. Also on display is Gino Boccasile’s original sketch for Vidal’s Lauro Olivo advertisement, kindly lent by Mavive for the occasion. A fascinating journey, therefore, that began in Venice and finds its logical conclusion in Venice, to discover an extraordinary artisanal production that has flourished over time with singular imagination and technical skill. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog published by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia. Curated by Chiara Squarcina and Monica Magnani
https://mocenigo.visitmuve.it/it/mostre/archivio-mostre/collezione-magnani/2018/02/17720/i-flaconi/
Setting the Exhibition
Presentation and Press conference
Guided tour
The Catalogues
Lorenzo Nasi, Art Director; Chiara Squarcina, Scientific Director of the Venice Civic Museums Foundation, co-curator and Monica Magnani, Collector, co-curator.
