A delicate shadow, the rustle of silk, the scent of violets; a journey back in time, deep into the Belle Époque, the richly carefree and progressive golden age, steeped in elegance and transgression, that is now coming back to life with vibrant intensity thorugh the halls of Palazzo Martinengo in Brescia.

From 25 January to 15 June 2025, the exhibition, curated by Francesca Dini and Davide Dotti, the exhibition celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Association “Amici di Palazzo Martinengo, an organisation that has opened the doors of this treasure trove of art to more than half a million visitors.

Divided into nine sections and with more than 80 works from prestigious private and museum collections, such as the Gallerie Uffizi of Florence, the Giovanni Boldoni Museum of Ferrara and the Civic Museum of Palazzo Te, Mantua, the exhibition transports visitors to Paris at the turn of the century, when the Ville Lumière was the beating heart of this glorious era.

With his unmistakable hand, Boldoni immortalised the essence of modern life, capturing the energy of the Boulevards and the effervescent atmosphere of the salons. De Nittis, an acute observer, leads the viewer through the city streets, weaving between carriages and pedestrians in a whirlwind of light and colour. Zandomeneghi, with his delicate palette, takes us into the sophisticated cafés, where elegant ladies enveloped in billowing dresses delight in small talk.

Then there is Corcos and his sensual and melancholic portraits of women, and Mancini, who celebrated childhood and the more common aspects of life. Their works, windows onto a lost world, evoke the beauty and the sophistication of a unique era.

Yet the Belle Époque is also expressed in other forms beyond painting. It was an era of significant transformation that shaped modern society. It was the period of department stores, the café chantant, advertising posters and the first films. An era of innovation and experimentation, a time when the elegance of the past met the boldness of the future.

Silk dresses, feathered hats, blown glass and sparkling jewellery; this is an immersive experience for all the senses, a journey in time that plunges visitors into a magical and captivating atmosphere.

With its carefully selected works and evocative staging, the exhibition expresses the very essence of the Belle Époque, not as a closed chapter in history, but rather as a dimension of the spirit, a sense of longing for beauty and joie de vivre that transcends time itself. Through the vibrant brush strokes of the Italian artists in Paris, the exhibition presents a complex and multifaceted image of the era, in which the search for aesthetic pleasure was interwoven with the tensions and contradictions of a rapidly changing society.