ArTchivio Museo dello Smalto Opens in Ponte San Pietro, Bergamo

The ArTchivio Museo dello Smalto, a private museum dedicated to enamel art, opened in October 2018 in Ponte San Pietro, near Bergamo, Italy. Housed in the former Palazzo Littorio, the museum holds a collection of 1,600 works: 600 pieces gathered by Attilio Compagnoni and 1,000 donated by Gertrud Rittmann-Fischer, founder of the C.K.I. (Creativ-Kreis-International) association. The museum features permanent and temporary exhibition spaces, a didactic room for workshops and courses, and a library with over 600 volumes on enamel and other fire arts. Enamel, a glass-like material fused onto metal at 500-900°C, has been used since antiquity for aesthetic and protective purposes. The museum is open Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with guided tours available for groups and schools.