After the great acclaim received at Villa Reale di Monza, the exhibition “Stregherie. Iconografia, fatti e scandali” arrives in Bologna from February 17 to September 8, 2024, at the extraordinary 15th-century Palazzo Pallavicini.

Conceived and produced by Vertigo Syndrome and curated by the dramatist, performer, and esoteric expert Luca Scarlini, the exhibition presents a new edition with major innovations, surprises, and unpublished items, making it a completely new exhibition.

In addition to the collection of prints and engravings from the renowned “occult collector” Guglielmo Invernizzi, many new artworks from both Italian and international private collections have been added, as well as new items related to witchcraft. These include pieces loaned by the legendary Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Cornwall and by the Museum of Civilizations in Rome, which is showcasing for the first time its extraordinary collection of 19th-century silver amulets—true jewels used by or against women labeled as witches.

Traversing an esoteric journey through nine themed rooms, visitors will be invited to access and discover the ancient religion of Diana, the Great Mother, experiencing its history, places, and rituals.

The exhibition will begin with an immersive experience of a genuine witchcraft trial held in an Inquisition court in 1539, and will conclude, after a lengthy journey from room to room, with the experience of writing in an authentic Book of Shadows where visitors can record and share their personal spells.

THE EXHIBITION

Macabre Symbolism, Ancient Texts, and Magical Artifacts for a Unique Perspective on Witches and Their History

Stregherie brings justice to the fullest sense of the term “witch,” asserting that in a world that seems to have renounced any sense of the sacred and many of its ancient ties with nature, there still exists today, as in the past, a society of women dedicated to the occult and using magic to address daily problems. Witches have always existed and are still among us.

The Stregherie exhibition, supported by the Municipality of Bologna, features around 300 prints, sculptures, and paintings dedicated to witches and magic, some by the greatest engravers of the 19th century, and others by excellent anonymous illustrators. Alongside the core engravings of Guglielmo Invernizzi, already presented in the Monza exhibition, come the works of three extraordinary collectors—Emanuele Bardazzi, Edoardo Fontana, and Luca Locati Luciani—who have made Macabre Symbolism their research focus. The exhibition thus presents a stark repertoire of sorceresses, witches, women of power, and even deviant saints, but alongside scenes of torture, sabbaths, and terrible malefactions, it also showcases luminous images of white magic, good witches, and gypsies who heal people.

The section will conclude with works by contemporary artists who have revisited the theme, such as Oppy De Bernardo, Franco Rasma, and Mirando Haz.

Alongside the artworks, Stregherie presents precious exorcism manuals and some indispensable historical treatises dedicated to witchcraft. These rare books, found in convents closed by the Savoy after the unification of Italy, come from the Biblioteca Teresiana in Mantova. Notable among them is the Malleus Maleficarum, the most used manual for witch hunts by the church, detailing, case by case, the tortures and penalties to be inflicted on those accused of witchcraft, presented in its valuable second edition, printed in 1520.

The exhibition also features a series of original objects related to witchcraft. From the renowned Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall, come ancient cauldrons, fetishes, amulets, talismans, and magical wands. Noteworthy among them is a wand made from elderwood, inherited from a local necromancer, known for its immense magical power, as even the pages of Harry Potter suggest. The Museum of Civilizations in Rome has opened its incredible vault to reveal an astonishing collection of amulets, collected from various regions of Italy, crafted in different materials throughout the 19th century and featured in Italy’s first major ethnographic exhibition of 1911, which later gave rise to the Roman museum and has not been shown to the public since. Among the silver wonders, true jewels, are less ornate but still valuable amulets, including the famous manuscript found in the scapular of the witch Conti in Tuscany, dating from the late 19th century.

The auditory element, highly evocative, accompanies visitors throughout the exhibition. Voices, whispers, and piercing screams evoke ancient rituals, and through the words of playwright Magdalena Barile, the witches themselves narrate their stories, from their initial calling to their full realization through the use of magic.

Of particular local interest is a room dedicated to Gentile Budrioli, “the enormous witch of Bologna,” whose story is narrated through images and videos in the exhibition.

THE WITCH WITHIN

The Inquisition Court, the Hall of Shadows, and the Sound Carpet

Immersive rooms have always been a hallmark of Vertigo Syndrome exhibitions, and drawing inspiration from theater, they seek to make the visitor an active participant in the experience, engaging their senses and emotions.

The first room, created in collaboration with the State Archive of Modena, is dedicated to a witchcraft trial that took place in 1539. Visitors will sit at the defendants’ bench and be subjected to the intense scrutiny of the inquisitor’s accusations and the increasingly exhausted responses of the accused woman, willing to confess obscene acts to end the torture.

Stregherie concludes with a second immersive room composed of mirrors, lights, and a central podium on which the Book of Shadows rests—a fundamental tool for every true witch. Armed with pen and inkwell, visitors are invited to permanently share their thoughts and personal spells with future visitors.

The room is accompanied by a sound system that makes the experience moving and deeply emotional.