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Starting Wednesday, September 9, the exhibition Mirabilia Graphica. The Micrographic Calligrams of Ignazio Muligino, running at Museo Galileo until October 18, will be enriched by a precious new calligram by Ignazio Muligino. The work comes from a private collection and portrays Pope Innocent XI, born Benedetto Odescalchi.
Executed in pencil, ink, and gold powder on parchment and enclosed within a wood and hardstone aedicule frame, the calligram conceals, within the outline of the pontiff’s figure, a full compendium of his life, with a central reference to the historic defeat of the Turks at the gates of Vienna in 1683.
Signed and dated November 13, 1699, the work stands as further proof of the artist’s exceptional technical skill: the portrait contains microscopic writing, invisible to the naked eye, reporting Odescalchi’s deeds and celebrating his role in the Christian victory over the Ottoman Empire. The work is also notable for an unusual iconographic choice, depicting the pope wearing the triple tiara and papal mantle rather than the traditional mozzetta and camauro.
This recent discovery represents an important new piece in reconstructing the graphic œuvre of an artist who, until now, was entirely unknown. The addition of this masterpiece also offers a valuable new occasion to visit the exhibition, curated by Filippo Camerota and produced with the support of Fondazione CR Firenze, which shines a spotlight on a remarkable meeting point between art, calligraphic virtuosity, and scientific revolution in Baroque Europe.
Created with the aid of the microscope, Muligino’s calligrams are, as far as is currently known, the only known examples of this particular artistic application of the instrument. They recall the ingenious forms of writing and visual representation that the Jesuit Gaspard Schott termed, in the 17th century, Mirabilia Graphica.
For more information, visit the exhibition’s website.
