Open on Saturdays and Sundays from 29 November to 21 December 2025
In the splendid rooms of Palazzo Taddei in Ala – the future seat of the Provincial Textile Museum – the Buonconsiglio Castle Museum presents a temporary exhibition dedicated to the refined textile art of the 18th century. The exhibition, structured around nine thematic sections, offers visitors the opportunity to trace the evolution of decorative patterns conceived, employed, and sought after throughout the 18th century. The exhibition is curated by Alessandra Geromel Pauletti in collaboration with Laura Dal Prà, Maddalena Ferrari, and Dario De Cristofaro.
It was precisely during this period that the modern concept of fashion emerged. Although the 18th century was characterised by relatively little change in the silhouettes of men’s and women’s garments, decorative motifs evolved significantly, many of them influenced by the tastes of the French court. The exhibition opens with bizarre fabrics – known for their strikingly abstract, free-flowing, and imaginative designs – and continues with lace-effect fabrics, created to imitate the transparency of exquisite lace. It then proceeds to floral meanders and, finally, to vertical stripes, which became fashionable towards the end of the century and foreshadowed modern aesthetic sensibilities.
On display, alongside fabrics and refined garments from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, will be paintings, porcelain and galanteries that evoke the atmosphere of Ancien Régime. Through a selection of works from the museum’s collection, visitors embarks on a rich journey into eighteenth-century fashion, where – in addition to fabrics – they will also encounter lace, paintings, and everyday objects, forming a vivid portrait of a society devoted to luxury and elegance.
In addition to the exhibition rooms, the visit includes other areas of the palace. On the first floor, a section is dedicated to the noble lifestyle of the Taddei barons, featuring furniture and accessories from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. On the ground floor, visitors can explore the evocative loom room, where a rare example of a wooden velvet loom helps illustrate the complex weaving technique used to produce one of the most precious and highly sought-after fabrics of the 18th century.
The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to explore a historical and artistic heritage of great value and to discover, within the elegant setting of Palazzo Taddei, the cultural richness of eighteenth-century textile production.
VISITS from 29 November to 21 December 2025:
- open on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m;
- open Monday 8 December from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Recent Comments