Cesare Battisti exhibition at Castello del Buonconsiglio explores his life through art and history

A major exhibition at Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento, titled "Tempi della storia, tempi dell’arte. Cesare Battisti tra Vienna e Roma," curated by Laura Dal Prà, runs until November 6, 2016. It reconstructs the contexts in which Battisti operated, focusing on the artistic milieu of Tyrol under Emperor Franz Joseph I, featuring works by artists such as Umberto Maggioli, Luigi Bonazza, Eugenio Prati, and Luigi Ratini, who trained in Italian centers, Vienna, or Munich and absorbed Secession models. Battisti, an irredentist, volunteer with the Alpini in WWI, and geographer, was executed on July 12, 1916, by an Austro-Hungarian court for high treason, hanged at Castello del Buonconsiglio alongside Damiano Chiesa and Fabio Filzi. The exhibition includes his publications, maps, and guides promoting mountain tourism, alongside paintings by Giacomo Balla, Fortunato Depero, Achille Beltrami, and Kriegsmaler depicting battles, internment camps, and trench life. It documents his capture, trial, and death with stark photographs, and reflects on the myth surrounding him, including vintage photos and projects for the Victory Monument in Bolzano with busts by Adolfo Wildt, and the mausoleum on Doss hill near Trento. The role of his wife, Ernesta Bittanti, is also highlighted.