Conceived as a sort of wunderkammer, The room of wonders – sky, sea and earth between illusion and reality comprises fossils and minerals from Simon Cohen in Bristol, nineteenth-century models made for teaching purposes, the jellyfish created by Danish artist Steffen Dam, the skull of a sea lion from Peter Petrou and whimsical animals made of glass, plaster and organic materials created by the artist Roberto Bricchi.

The exhibition’s objective is to amaze visitors, to plunge them inside a cabinet of curiosities with a modern twist, where showpieces coexist with specifically made products within the same physical and mental space.

The fossils and whimsical fish created by Roberto Bricchi, and Steffen Dam’s glass jellyfish engage visitors in a game between illusion and reality, where sometimes the sense of magic conveyed by perfect natural geometric shapes gives way to wonderment at the discovery of contrivance. Who can tell a true fossil from its model made of plaster? Who can tell that Roberto Bricchi’s birds, such as his Aramis that could fly forwards but also backwards, are made-up and therefore not stuffed specimens of extinct animals?

Enjoy your visit!

Roberto Bricchi’s bio

Born in Milan in 1965, and graduating from the Scuola d’Arte del Castello, this versatile artist focuses on experimenting with materials, which he applies to the interior decoration of private and public historic houses, ceramics and sculpture. From the earliest stages of his career, his talent was noticed by Giovanni Testori.