Treccani presents 'Wonderful Italy'

One hundred years of history, art, and culture condensed into a volume that offers a true journey into the heart of Italy: the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia Institute celebrates its centenary with "Wonderful Italy," a photographic work by Massimo Listri that transforms palaces, gardens, and squares into scenes suspended between light and silence. Starting November 7th, readers will be able to immerse themselves in a mosaic of timeless beauty.

Through the unique lens of Massimo Listri, a master of art and architectural photography, "Italia Meravigliosa" takes the reader on an unforgettable journey through Italy's most fascinating palaces and gardens: from the majestic Diana Gallery at the Royal Palace of Venaria Reale to the baroque splendor of the Royal Church of San Lorenzo in Turin; from the scenographic elegance of Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella, suspended between sumptuous halls and lakeside gardens, to the evocative beauty of Racconigi Castle, with its historic cabinets.

Alongside the architecture, there are masterpieces of landscape and garden art: the romantic park of Villa Durazzo Pallavicini in Genoa, with its exotic temples and kiosks; the celebrated Nymphaeum of Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta in Lainate, a jewel of ingenuity and imagination just outside Milan; and the elegant Italian garden of Villa Arconati, another Milanese treasure trove adorned with Baroque fountains and statues. The journey also touches the heart of the capital, where Listri's gaze rests on authentic symbols of Roman grandeur, from the solemn perspectives of Palazzo Colonna to the rooms of Palazzo Farnese, capturing the essence of a city that is both a cradle of history and a laboratory of beauty.

This itinerary of wonders is introduced by a text by Massimo Bray, director general of Treccani, and a preface by philologist and historian Luciano Canfora, which intertwines historical, cultural, and civic reflections with Listri's visual narrative.

"Wonderful Italy" is not just an art book, but a true declaration of love for Italy: a mosaic of eras, styles, and landscapes that conveys the reader's extraordinary continuity between nature and culture, a hallmark of our heritage.

"Photograph after photograph, Listri's gaze reconstructs what President Sergio Mattarella recently called the 'evocative mosaic' of our cultural heritage, dominated by an impression of harmonious coherence yet, at the same time, extraordinarily heterogeneous," says Massimo Bray.

As in previous publications dedicated to major Italian art venues, Listri's gaze transforms spaces into metaphysical scenarios, suspended between silence and light, capable of restoring the continuity between nature and culture that characterizes our country's heritage. Each photograph thus becomes a testimony to an Italy where time overlaps and eras interact, offering the reader a sense of eternity.

Featuring an elegant format and refined editorial care, "Italy Meravigliosa" is a collector's item, intended for scholars, enthusiasts, and anyone wishing to discover or rediscover the most authentic soul of our country. The volume is available in two editions for the bookshop circuit, one in Italian and one in English, on sale starting November 7th. The "Grandi Opere" version, with texts in Italian and English, is enriched by a selection of additional images captured in "Un Ultimo Sguardo," a final chapter featuring fifteen breathtaking photographs, published on a double-page spread. All versions will also be sold through the e-commerce channel Emporium. (by Paolo Martini)