My library is hung on the walls

An immersive journey through time via the writer and art critic’s Milanese home Giovanni Testori, restored to its original appearance as it was between the 1950s and 1970s. The exhibition reconstructs the intellectual’s critical workshop and passion for collecting, thanks to exceptional loans from private collections and works that have remained hidden from the public for decades. The exhibition itinerary guides visitors through the rooms of Testori House a Novate Milanese, where the walls come to life, showcasing masterpieces from 17th- and 18th-century Lombardy that have been rediscovered alongside Roberto Longhi.

Among the paintings on display, the works by Giacomo Ceruti, known as ‘il Pitocchetto’, Fra Galgario, Tanzio from Varallo, Carlo Ceresa e Giovan Battista Moroni, alongside previously unpublished drawings and studies on Valsesian drawing. The historical element engages in a constant dialogue with the masters of contemporary art favoured by the critic, in particular with the seminal canvases by Ennio Morlotti — amongst which the following stands out Hill in Imbersago —, works by Renato Guttuso and works on Gianfranco Ferroni. The experience is enriched by archive documents and period photographs by Giacomo Pozzi Bellini, the correspondence with the great intellectuals of the 20th century and 19th-century French works attributed to Théodore Géricault, providing tangible evidence of the origins of one of the most fascinating and dynamic art collections of the last century.