Collezioni in Villa

7 March – 2 May 2010

The exhibition reveals the breadth and variety of the artistic wealth assembled by the Vela family, which was bequeathed to the Swiss Confederation and is now held in the Museo Vincenzo Vela. Underlying the choice of the 150 works selected from the more than 5500 donated by the family to the community, is the wish to involve the public in the purpose of the creation of the house-museum, and to demonstrate the interest all three Vela artists had in forms of art other than their own. The exhibition makes clear Vincenzo Vela's desire to create a myth of himself as an artist through the formation of a private museum. This process, which is displayed on a themed basis, is documented in the exhibition by an outstanding series of period photographs. The items to be seen include the architectural plans of the villa and its surroundings, paintings and watercolours from the private collections of the three Vela artists, photographs, engravings and precious books on art. Many of the works – such as rare photographs and engravings – will surprise even those visitors who are familiar with the museum.

For first-time visitors, the central room of the villa has been fitted with a new row of large format reliefs exhibited above the busts. This helps to emphasise one of the original concepts that underlay Vincenzo Vela's project, that of the creation of a "pantheon" of the history of the Risorgimento – one that still astonishes visitors, just as it did when it was first built.